63. Chapter 63

Chapter 63

W hat had she done?

As Jackson deepened the kiss, his heart hurt for the little girl they had left behind. Whatever Layla was thinking of doing wouldn't work. After the Hunters killed them, they would still hunt the others.

It didn't matter to them how long it took. Once they confirmed werewolves in the forest, they would tear the whole place down if they had to.

"You shouldn't be here," Layla repeated in a whisper against his lips.

"Where else would I be?"

"I'm so sorry."

The hounds surrounded them. Their vicious snarls startled Layla and made her jump to her feet. She'd masked herself so well as she'd run from him that he'd had to rely on their bond to guide him. But now her heart pounded like crazy, and her fear clogged his nostril. Cain automatically reared forward, ready to eliminate the threat, but he shoved Cain deep down inside him. Now more than ever, he needed to act human.

He stood more slowly, sizing up the beasts in case he had to fight out of this one. They were giant beasts almost as big as werewolves and drooled as if rabid. He had never figured out what they did to those dogs because they didn't look like dogs. They didn't behave like dogs. Their sole mission was to kill, like their owners.

He looked towards the depths of the forest and saw the men running out of it. They were dressed in combats but wore soft shoes instead of boots. It helped them keep their footsteps quiet, as well as all their other enhancements.

The scent of death reached his nose as dozens of them came out. He could sense the other teams closing in from the other side.

The men drew up their weapons. Huge guns that were likely full of silver bullets. Layla began to tremble as they approached. He looked down at her and prayed to the Goddess that she could control her emotions perfectly. Even the slightest flicker in her eyes would get her shot before she could blink.

Why the hell had this woman done this?! They had almost finalised a plan to get the children out first.

The Hunters jogged in formation like machines like the rogues the witch had controlled. He had seen a few Hunters in his life; in such numbers, they were intimidating. Cain would have come out to try to dominate all of them if he hadn't locked him up so tightly. But he knew his beast remained alert, ready to wrest control from him and step in if he needed to, even knowing that if they fought the Hunters, there would be no winners. People would die before sunset.

Maybe it was for the best that Layla had lured them away from the other wolves. If he couldn't talk them his way out of the shirty situation, then fighting would be the only choice that remained. He could try to take them all on while the others escaped. And they could set up their homes in a different city because this one would become overrun in a couple of hours.

He pulled Layla behind him and watched as they surrounded them.

"Sit!" one of them said.

The beasts stopped snarling and sat down in their spots.

The man who'd spoken put his hands behind his back and strolled towards them. He had run further than Layla had, but he wasn't even breathless. Only the sweat dripping down his face and drenching his t-shirt showed how much he had exerted himself.

The man was as big as he was, the biggest of all the Hunters. He had a short buzz cut like all of them were required to have, as if their organisation was part of the military. They did like to believe they were doing a huge service to the world.

The man was expressionless, and his brown eyes were dead as he looked at them. He had scars all over his face, much like Alpha Ryker, showing he was never afraid of a fight. There were tattoos all over his arms, like sleeves, and he knew if the man was to take his t-shirt off, there would be a huge Hunter tattoo on his back. His senses were wide open, but he felt nothing from the Hunter. No fear. No remorse. No empathy. He was just a shell of a human, full of darkness and evil.

"What's going on?" he asked the man, eying all the guns pointed at them nervously.

He didn't have to fake that. There were too many of them. He and Layla would be dead before he finished shifting if he tried it at the wrong time.

The man looked at the sweats he had thrown on and then his chest. Hunters knew what to look for when looking for wolves. He might have already given himself away even though he hadn't shifted when he had run after Layla. He hadn't left Cain's huge prints for them to track.

"Is this them?" the man barked.

He watched the men part to his left, and the Amber sauntered to the front. And surprise, surprise, Miss Roberts stood next to her. Even Layla gasped when she saw her former boss standing among their enemies.

"Miss Roberts? What is the meaning of this?" he asked.

His Housekeeping Supervisor gave him a cold smile, and the cold reached her eyes. It was how she had started to look at him after his final rebuke of her advances. She looked just like a Hunter. Had she been in contact with Hunters all along? And seeing that she was with Amber, they likely met several times. He hadn't imagined Amber's scent at the hotel the night he'd seen her at the front desk.

"I know what you did to Costas. He disappeared right under my nose. I know what you are," the woman snarled.

Amber laughed as if what Miss Roberts said was the funniest thing in the world before she looked at the man who had asked the question.

"Yes, sir. That's them."

The man nodded at someone, and another Hunter came forward and took a rucksack off his shoulders. It fell to the floor with a heavy thud, and whatever was in it rattled and clinked together. The fact that he had run for hours with that on his back proved that these men were no longer human.

"Who are you?" he tried again. "And why are you looking for us?"

Something hard struck his face and dropped him to his knees. He put his hand to his likely broken nose to stop the blood from gushing out and looked at the man who had done that to him. With his fists. He'd thought something metal had hit him.

Layla screamed and dropped to her knees beside him. Her hand was trembling when she put it on his face.

"What the fuck?" he screamed, adding a little anger to his tone. "What are you doing?"

"Hold your hand out," the leader barked.

"Excuse me?"

Another shot, this time from the other side. He knocked into Layla as they fell, and Cain thrashed around inside him. But he didn't try to take control. Perhaps his beast now understood the gravity of the situation.

He spit blood from his mouth and pushed himself up before he put Layla behind him again.

"What do you want? I own a hotel; I have mon—"

"Hold your fucking hands out!" the leader spat out again.

Layla was first to do as the Hunter ordered. Her hands shook, and she looked like a terrified, weak human. But he could sense none of that from her. He felt her anxiety, but Layla seemed to have accepted their fate. It felt like she was okay with sacrificing herself for the others.

He frowned as he held his hands out, too. He was the one who should have sacrificed himself. Layla had her whole life ahead of her.

The man with the rucksack unzipped it and pulled out two silver chains. And that was when he felt a little hope for the first time since that morning.

The man put one chain across Layla's wrists and stepped back. Nothing happened. The man looked over at Miss Roberts as if waiting for an explanation.

"She's... She might not be one of them; she used to work at the hotel before she became his girlfriend," Andrea stammered. "But she's changed. Her hair... She looks like them."

A muscle ticked in the leader's jaw. He sensed his annoyance—the first emotion he'd got from him since they had surrounded them.

The other man put the second chain across his wrists. Again, there was nothing—no sizzling flesh. No burning. He looked down at the chain, the little thing that could seal his fate, and decided to give the performance of his life. Would this be the first time he'd used his wits instead of Cain's strength to escape sticky situations? Possibly.

"What do you want us to do with these, sir?" he asked.

Amber splattered and tried to rush forward, but two men crossed their rifles in front of her to block her.

"But that's impossible!" Amber said. "He's one of them. He's an Alpha."

What was her motivation? Was this because he had not responded to her advances? Because she felt slighted when he picked a human over her? The subtle scent of dark magic clung to her, but not like it had stuck to Brax or any of the wolves the witch had taken over. Amber looked like she was in control of herself. Like she had chosen her side.

The man's jaw ticked again, and he looked from Amber to Miss Roberts. Miss Roberts looked away, and she started to tremble. Her fear wafted to his nose, like a little snack for his darkest side.

"Costas said they were attacked by wolves, sir. I played you the recording," Andrea stammered. "And then he just disappeared in the hotel.'

"The same hotel you have been fired from?" the man asked with a growl.

"Yes," Miss Roberts whispered. "But the man you sent to visit me, he sensed them in the hotel—"

"Just because there was one there at the time, it does not mean it's this one," the man snarled. "If you can't tell yet, then you have failed. You will never be one of us."

"But sir—"

"There are many of them in the woods! I don't know what magic Jackson has used, but if we catch another—" Amber shouted desperately.

"You've had us running through that forest for hours, following nothing but your haunches. You're not a good enough witch to join us, either."

Witch? That was the story she'd told them?

"No!" Amber said, pushing the guns away and closing the distance. "Try another way. Wolfsbane, or threaten his girlfriend. He's the worst of them all."

Amber grabbed the silver from his wrist and froze when her fingers started sizzling. He'd never sensed so much fear from anyone in his life.

She threw the chain and backed away.

Something whizzed through the air.

Blood and pieces of flesh splattered across his face.

And then Amber's lifeless body fell in front of him.