Night Hunter

Denial

I spent the night arguing with myself, my wolf was mostly quiet but he tried to respond to all my childish vents as he referred to them until I eventually fall asleep.

I wake up the next morning, still on my couch. God, my neck is killing me. What time did I fall asleep last night? I swing my feet off the couch and take a moment to myself, cracking my neck to get some life back into it.

Last night didn't go well, either I capture Ginevra's brother and beat the shit out of him until he starts talking being nice and chatty is obviously not an option. I hope Jake stays home, after last night there's no telling what Ginevra's brother will do if he finds him.

I head to the kitchen, I still haven't unpacked all my stuff because I'm so used to moving around. If shit goes down, I'm already prepared to get out of here, no need to waste time packing.

I take out some ingredients for breakfast while thinking about my next move. I don't have much strength as a werewolf and if I dare use rune magic then I am as good as dead. The angels know when someone who isn't of pure blood uses their runes. I'm not sure how, but it's believed every angelic rune used borrows power from beings called the Higher Angels.

I shake the thoughts out of my head and break some eggs into a bowl.

I need help with this, I can't go at it alone. Who can I trust? I don't even bother thinking of names, because I do not know anyone.

Sometime later, after I finish my breakfast, I put on some warm clothes and go on a walk into the woods, it's part of my daily routine. Wake up, eat, take a walk, repeat. Sometimes I wonder if this is all there will be to my life. I can't work because I might attract the wrong attention, it's like I'm bound to be all by myself. I can't live in the city where it looks more fun because most cities are crawling with Night Hunters.

I don't even know what I want to do with my life. All my life goals were based on being a Night Hunter and now that I cannot do what a Hunter should be doing, I feel worthless, like someone without a purpose.

I continue to walk the path and decide to shut down my mind for some time and focus on the nature around me. The mornings here were always very cold, even when the sun was shining brightly, peeking through the large trees. This morning is no different, sunshine, the singing of birds, and dew falling from the leaves of the trees. It was lovely.

As I got closer to my destination I could hear the thundering sound of water hitting against rocks. A smile grew on my face as I emerged from the forest trees into the waterfall. No matter how many times I come here, it always feels like the first time.

I sit down a little further from the waterfall, only enough to feel the gentle spray of water over my face without getting wet. I lean back against a high rock, closing my eyes as I listen to the rolling sound of water.

"Good morning Blake." The voice comes from behind me, I don't need to look. I already know who it is.

"Good morning Cecilia," I smile brightly, opening my eyes to see her walk past me and into the water.

I don't know how she does it. At this time of the morning, the water is too cold for a swim, but she always walks right in.

"Do you come here to watch me, Blake?" Her tone is teasing, she was the one that introduced me to this place, I hiked past her home one morning and she was a little shocked to see me, said nobody in all her years of living on the mountain has set foot near her home.

I watch her in awe as walks deeper until the water is up to her torso, and then she cups some water into her hands and raises them into the sky.

"Why do you always do that?" I ask curiously.

"Do what?" She smirks, knowing quite well what I'm talking about. She draws something into the water and immerses herself completely before walking out.

"Get into the water and then do all those things?" I roll my eyes.

She laughs softly. "Why do you think you come here every day Blake, why do you think no one else comes here?"

I think about it for a while, sometimes I see people hiking in the mountains but they never come to this side. I really never thought to ask myself why nobody stops by here. It's not like it's hidden.

"I mean, for me, it's peaceful here, I don't feel out of place, I don't feel alone...," I pause, and it finally dawns on me

I don't feel like a reject, I feel like this place has accepted me.

Cecilia laughs again as if reading my thoughts.

"What you feel is love, Blake. This place has been blessed by the Goddess Oshun. And only a few chosen have set foot here."

"Only a few chosen... chosen for what?" I raise an eyebrow, confused.

She gives me a bright smile and then leaves.

It's never any use asking her questions, her answers always leave me with more questions.

I remove my shoes and dip my feet into the river. "Yeah, no," the water is definitely too cold. Maybe witches have this special nature to them that I know nothing of. I put my shoes back on and sit a little longer.

Soon, I'm in the woods again, walking back to my cabin, admiring the wild plants that surround me. I am almost home when an unfamiliar scent fills the air.

Flowers? I look around confused. The woods have a few flowers, but not the kind that I am smelling.

Maybe it's a seasonal plant. I shrug it off, but as I walk up to my cabin, the smell gets stronger.

"What the hack?" There on my front porch are a few baskets of flowers.

"Did someone get the wrong address?" I look around for a sign of whoever delivered this before stepping up to my porch and picking up the flowers.

All I smell are a bunch of flowers. Wish I could at least smell whoever dropped these off. I take the flowers inside to inspect them and there's a small note attached to one of the baskets. "I would love to get to know you better, on a romantic level of course" I snort a laugh. This is so cheesy

I don't know who these are from, why would anyone send me a bunch of flowers? If I didn't live in the middle of nowhere, it would make more sense to say they got the wrong address.

However, I see no need to keep them, I will put them back outside where I found them.

As I carry the flowers back out, the silk scarf wrapping around one of the baskets falls out. The moment I bend down to pick it up, a familiar light floral earthy scent fills my nose and immediately my mind goes to Ginevra.

"Maybe I'm just imagining things." I place the scarf over my nose and smell it, for a little bit longer than I should have.

Some of these can grow if I put them in some flower pots outside. I know I wanted to leave them outside, but I change my mind, it would be a shame if these beautiful flowers were to just die on my porch, plus, my small garden needs a little bit of colour. At least that's what I try to tell myself. I mean, I'm not keeping them because they're from Ginevra.

I take the Alcea rosea and plant it near the entrance of my cabin.

Wait, if they're really from Ginevra does accepting the flowers mean I want to get to know him too? my eyes stare at the flowers in my hands. Heat creeps up my face, "On a romantic level?" I whisper the words to myself.