33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

" W hat's going on?"

Jax shoved Gerald against the wall and clamped a hand over his mouth. The Hunters couldn't hear them but they could sense them. Maybe they would sense their movement, too. He kept his focus outside the wall as more of them gathered. Security would have seen him head for the camera's blind spot; it wouldn't take them long to find the door.

Gerald struggled, bringing his attention back to the drunk man.

"Stop. If you don't want them to catch you and torture you, just keep your mouth shut and follow me," he hissed.

It was hard enough to keep pushing Cain back without having to baby a grown human. Could he not use his logic? Or was he already drunk?

That wasn't fair, though. Like any human, Gerald was unaware of the darkness that fell over the hotel.

He released Gerald and started walking down the stairwell. If both the hotel and the motel weren't safe, did that mean they had their eyes on all his properties? The motel wasn't under his real name, but it was common knowledge that Hunters had access to technology they had no business owning. If they found one link between the two properties, they could easily find another.

Or was all of it just dumb luck? Had the Hunters accidentally stumbled on his scouts while they were on their way to meet Ambrose? The hotel's Head of Security had no idea how vast his business holdings were. If they looked up anything about him, they would only find the hotel and one house in the city in his name.

But then again, how would they have found Faith among a bunch of college kids?

Not knowing things sucked.

Cain rammed against the walls he put between them, showing his displeasure even though he understood doing anything would put Layla at risk. It was probably the only reason the beast hadn't already taken over. Cain could take control of him so easily after marking Layla that it worried him.

Gerald's footsteps were loud as he followed behind him. He'd forgotten how loud humans were; it was why they were so easy to hunt. Gerald was still polluting the air with his fear, teasing an agitated beast who craved fear and spilt blood as if it were his purpose in life.

Gerald stumbled and would have fallen the rest of the way down the flight of stairs if he hadn't grabbed him by his collar and pulled him back.

"Sorry. I can't see anything."

He'd forgotten to account for his human eyesight, too. With a sigh, he placed Gerald's hand back on the rail.

"Just keep walking."

It didn't take long to reach the ground floor. Instead of continuing to the basement, he put his palm on the security panel leading to the first room he walked into. The Hunters kept up with them, and several gathered in the staff hallway. Even more of them were outside.

There was only one thing he could do now, even if it put all the wolves in the city in danger.

He turned around to Gerald and handed him the car key.

"There's an old blue car in the last parking spot on the right. When I open this door and make a way through for you, you must get to that car and start driving. I'll find you."

"I don't understand. If it's not Layla who sent you, what are we running from?" Gerald whispered.

"I can't tell you. What I will say is, don't look back. Drive as if your life depends on it because it does. I'll find you."

Trusting a drunk was never a good thing. He would have worried about putting Gerald on the Circle's radar if he weren't already on their shit list. But all that mattered now was getting out alive. They would worry about everything else later.

He pulled the revolver from his waistband and put it in Gerald's hand. Hunters had evolved, but they still had some human vulnerabilities.

"Use it," he ordered. "Shoot at anything that gets in your way. There are more bullets in the bag on the passenger seat."

"Who are you, Mr King? What have you got my children into?" Gerald whispered.

It was funny how he was suddenly using the plural. The man never once showed any concern for Layla; it was always Britney that he'd been desperate to see.

"Just keep your head down and get to the car. Head north."

He opened the security panel and looked back at Gerald. He'd stopped pushing Cain back, so he knew his eyes were already glowing. Layla's dad stepped back and clutched the gun to his chest. His fear notched up, filling up the little hidden room.

Cain pushed forward, taking control as he took a deep breath and savoured it. If there was enough light in the room, Gerald would have seen the smirk that formed on his lips as the beast salivated. As his face tightened, and his jaw stretched, ready to do something he'd waited his whole life for.

"Stay alive, Gerald."

The door slid open when he placed his hand on the panel. He rushed out and pressed the panel on the other side to close the door again. Gerald had already seen too much. If they survived this, it was possible Layla still wouldn't want her father in her life. He didn't want to expose any more secrets and risk another argument with her.

Seeing the sea of Hunters turn their heads in his direction simultaneously like they had some sort of radar was disconcerting. That was strange. Different. They could always track and hunt using their enhanced senses, but now even the way their eyes hardened when they set on him looked different.

They moved in sync, as they always did, turning towards him and again, that struck him as different. It was almost robotic.

But there was no time to worry about that. The Hunters still in the hotel were already making their way out on the other side. He had seconds to make a way out for Gerald before they reached him, but he had to stay in the security camera's blind spot.

His claws extended and the t-shirt stretched as his body accommodated the beast. The closest Hunter lunged at him, moving through the air effortlessly until his booted foot connected with his chest.

And that hurt like fuck.

He stumbled back and looked at the Hunter preparing to attack again. It was the first time in his life fighting one. Though he'd read all the texts and listened to all the stories passed down, he did not expect that.

The hunter swung his fist, and this time he dodged and caught it, twisting the arm so far up the Hunter's back that he heard a crack.

But the Hunter didn't scream. He didn't even grimace to show he was in pain. Were they on drugs? What the fuck was this shit?

He shoved the Hunter with the broken arm away in time to dodge a punch from the one behind him. And the Hunters in the parking lot pressed forward, surrounding him. It was broad daylight, so he hoped they wouldn't pull out any weapons, but with how different they seemed, he wasn't sure what to expect.

‘We can't fight all of them. End this quickly.'

Cain was more than happy to comply. He grabbed the Hunter by the throat and ripped it wide open. Adrenaline pumped in his veins as the scent of blood filled the air. He grabbed the next man from the air as the Hunter launched at him and sank his teeth in his neck before he threw him against the wall.

Cain's rage surged inside him, and along with it was something else. Something that he knew came from his bonding with Layla. He'd felt the same when he'd gone through the Circle's assassins. All his senses were on alert, picking up the slightest movements as each Hunter attacked. It was worrying that they were almost as evenly matched as the vampires. It wasn't supposed to be like that. The Hunters' greatest strength was their numbers and weapons, not the enhancements they developed over generations of hunting.

But as he ripped through them and caught several blows to his head, he wondered if they could go toe to toe with the wolves. They were much more than he was taught to believe.

He smashed the last Hunter into one of the parked cars just as the others rounded the corner of the hotel. Without wasting his chance, he rushed back to the hidden panel and put his palm on it.

Gerald was shaking when he came out. He'd told the fucker to keep his head down but the first thing he did was look at all the bodies littered around him.

"Go," he growled.

Gerald looked up at him—way up since he was a lot bigger because he partially shifted—and then stumbled backwards. He tripped over a body behind him and fell ass first onto a puddle of blood.

"Go!" he repeated.

Gerald didn't wait any longer. He ran to the end of the lot and quickly picked out the old car. By the time Gerald switched the engine on and started reversing, the Hunters had almost reached him. Cain rushed forward, not waiting for them to attack as he speared into them with his shoulder.

Cain was made for battle. He was made to cause bloodshed. But there were too many Hunters still coming; it was too risky to fight them all.

As Gerald peeled out of the car park, he turned and ran back the other way, shifting back into his human form as he went around the hotel towards the busy car park next to it. He sensed the Hunters chasing him, but he didn't look back. Humans screamed as they moved out of his way. His clothes, hands and face were bloody, but there was no time to worry about them as he made his way to the main road.

He didn't stop running until he saw his car. Gerald looked like he wouldn't stop for him until he ran into the road to force him to stop.

"Are you crazy?!" Gerald screamed.

"Drive!"

The chase wasn't over. They would keep coming for them. It was what they did. He'd have to stop and warn the others, but the damage was already done.

He officially started a war with the Hunters.

Fuck.