BLUNT. | Liam Dunbar

A Huntress - Chapter Forty

A N N I E

I sat with my head in Liam's lap, his legs folded together, knitting the perfect human pillow. My family's old building smells of sawdust and mildew, and I notice that my sense of smell is heightened, making me more alert and attentive with every change.

Derek and Braeden looked around the group of people, all of them werewolves, and then back to Scott, who's standing with his arm wrapped around Kira's waist. I looked up at Liam, who had his head sitting on the concrete wall, and was fast asleep. Even though he was asleep, one his hands continuously petted my hair, creating a rhythm that made me sleepy too.

Derek sighed, walking back to Scott, holding his handgun tightly. Derek with a handgun? It doesn't seem real. Ever since what Kate did to him, his powers have been slowly fading... he's been slowly fading. If only Allison could see him now.

I slowly stood up from Liam's lap, walking over to the group to hear what Braeden and Derek had to say. Derek said something that I didn't catch, but Scott nodded, "They'll be okay."

Derek huffed, "They've got claws and fangs, but they're not fighters."

Scott shrugged, "That's why I called you."

Derek looked around us, "Well, try to remember that I don't have claws and fangs anymore, either."

Braeden smirked, "That's why he called me."

She held a huge rifle in her hands, one that my father used to carry. It looked comfortable in her hands, and that alarmed me. Anyone with a gun should not look comfortable with it.

"Am I the only one still hoping that this is all just a false alarm?" I raised my hand in the air, dumbfoundingly. "I mean, it's possible we could wait here all night and nothing happens, right?"

Everyone stayed silent, until Braeden looked at Scott. "Scott, you heard anything from Stiles or Lydia yet?"

Scott nodded, "Lydia's talking to Meredith. Stiles and Malia are headed to the Lakehouse. They're trying to stop it."

Brett walked over to the group, obviously he had been listening in on the entire conversation. "What if there is no stopping it? What if it doesn't end until we're all dead?"

Derek huffed, "Then let's send them a message." he pointed to the floor with his gun. "Let's make something perfectly clear to anyone with a copy of that list." Liam stood up and walked over to me. "It doesn't matter if they're professional assassins, hunters, or amateurs who just picked up a gun. Anyone who thinks they can hunt and kill us for money, is going to be put on another list. Our list." Derek looked around at us all, "They get to be a name on our dead pool."

Braeden cocked her gun for emphasis, making my smile grow even wider on my face. Who knew Derek was such an inspirational speaker? Maybe without his wolf powers, when he's vulnerable, his true side comes out... and if this is his true side, I like it a whole lot more than "Asshole Derek."

Scott looked over at me, and I nodded. I knew he was worried about me being number two on the dead pool, about me being the second most valuable. That's what I get for becoming something that only occurs every thousand years. That's what I get for being stubborn, for having Isaac take Mason first.

That's what I get for wanting to be with Allison.

I get karma. That bitch.

I smiled, nodding, and Scott looked over at Derek, nodding his head in a direction, signifying that he wanted to talk some more. I turned to Liam, sighing as he engulfed me in a hug. "It's going to be okay," he said into my hair. "Want to know why?"

I hummed, breathing in his chest, listening to his heart beat flutter. "Because I love you."

I looked up at him, smiling, looping my hands around his neck. "I love you, too, Liam."

Liam leaned down, kissing me passionately. When our sweet, sweet kiss finally ended, he shook his head, leaning his forehead on mine. "Oh, Annie Argent, what are you doing to me?"

I giggled, looking up at this amazing guy that I could call my own. "Annie?" Satomi spoke out, "Not to interrupt..."

I shook my head, sliding my hands down Liam's arm, trailing off his fingertips... just because I know the effect that it has on him... and smiling. "Oh, no. Of course, what do you need?"

Satomi sighed, "I'd like to speak with your father and yourself, alone."

I nodded, then turned back, seeing my dad messing around with something in the corner of the room. He was here dropping off some kind of yellow wolfsbane, I know because I could feel it's affect as he put it away. It was a kind I've never seen before... it was powerful.

"Hey, Dad!" I shouted, and he looked up at me. I waved my hand, gesturing for him to come over, which he happily did. I think he likes to feel needed. When he stood in front of Satomi and I, I knitted my fingers together, "Satomi wanted to have a word with both of us."

My father nodded, turning back to Satomi. He glared at her, as if trying to figure her out, "I remember meeting you, but you weren't a Buddhist back then."

Satomi raised her eyebrows, "And you weren't protecting werewolves, you were hunting them."

A picture of Allison popped into my mind, and I carelessly pushed it away. I couldn't worry about that now... I couldn't.

My dad swallowed, getting his stanza for questioning someone. I shook my head, "Please, Dad." I pleaded, begging him not to go there.

"Three things cannot long be hidden... The sun, the moon, and the truth." My dad eyed Satomi. "What exactly does that mean?"

Satomi inhaled, "The truth cannot be hidden."

"I know what the saying means," my dad said harshly. "What does it mean for you?"

Satomi gulped, looking at her pack but speaking directly to us. "The truth for me is that we, my kind, are violent creatures, who eventually will not be able to control their violent impulses. The mantra helps subdue our nature."

I raised my eyebrows, shaking my head, "But you're still violent creatures."

Satomi smiled, "Aren't we all?"

Suddenly, an ear piercing alarm set throughout the top floor of our building, and I quickly ran towards it, turning it off and looking at the downstairs camera. Several men, twenty or so, dressed in SWAT gear, armed with slick, black, rifle machine guns threw flash bangs and smoke bombs, setting the entire first floor up in a blurry blob. I could see them marching towards the door that leads upstairs, and I turned to everyone. "They're coming."

In less than a second, I was across the room, hiding the small children behind tarps and mats and garbage cans... anything to protect them. When it came to Lori, I kissed her forehead, tucking her beneath a small wooden desk. "It'll be okay," I nodded.

Then I sprinted off to where Liam was standing with my quiver of arrows and my bow. I might be a werecheetah now, with werecheetah strength, but I've never been the best at hand to hand combat. Now, I'm the fastest animal on the planet, and I'm a huntress that never misses.

I grabbed Liam's hand and pulled us behind a grimy tarp, shielding us temporarily. Liam stared down at me, I locked my eyes on his lips, as the first blow was heard. It was to the door, and the next, the door was on the ground. I leaned forward and kissed Liam quickly, and then armed my arrow, pulling back a bit of the slack.

Two aerosol cans were thrown, and I turned away from them yelling, "FLASH BANG!"

Liam shielded my body with his, getting most of the impact as the bang tingled my toes. I looked up and saw as the smoke filled the room, making my eyes burn, but I quickly ignored the pain.

I watched as the red lasers floated around the room, and then I heard it. Scott's roar, my father's warrior holler, Liam's growling, Brett's fangs clicking together, and I pulled the slack of my bow back, bringing the butt of my arrow to my cheek...

and I fired.