War isn't over • LM / SS

Chapter 29 - the huntress

"my god, in god we trust,
we'll never really know what got discussed,
click boom then it happened,
and no one else was in the room where it happened."

word count: 7.4k

Malia had been the one to give the go-ahead on the plan. Hearing that she had a bad feeling was the last thing any of them wanted to hear. Sneaking past the army trucks, wariness and alertness accompanied them every step of the way.

It came as a shock when they rounded the bumper of one of the trucks to see Deaton, his wrists and ankles bound to the chair. Squinting through the harshly lit fluorescent light on the back wall, his eyes glistened with fear upon the sight of them, a gag in his mouth stopping him from warning them that they had played right into the desert wolf's trap.

Braeden was quick on the uptake, shotgun pointed at Theo as she spun to face them. They grabbed hold of the barrel, free hand blocking her kick before putting her in a choke-hold. She clawed at her throat, feeling the wind knocked out of her when they slammed her to the ground. Theo struck her in the temple with the butt of the gun, knocking her out cold.

Malia bared her teeth, snarling and growling, feeling the betrayal stir up old issues. With only a second of a warning, the gun was pointed at her and Lilith, the were-coyote pushing the huntress behind her as the shotgun fired off. She was pushed backwards by the force of the bullet in her abdomen, groaning as Lilith looped their arms under her shoulders, lowering her to the ground.

"It was me, wasn't it?" Theo grimaced, worrying that they had spent too much time with Phoenix and Max when a pang of guilt pulled at their morality. Lily felt a red-hot anger clawing its way up her trachea, their knuckles paling, grip on a pistol tightening. Her hips would have a permanent mark from laying on top of the gun, inching it out of the waistband of navy jeans slowly. Malia hid it from eyeshot, maintaining their hiding spot as she bled out. "You caught onto a chemosignal—— probably regret. I didn't want to do this but I didn't have a choice."

Theo slid the gun across the ground, a black combat boot stepping on the weapon. A woman attired in all black tossed her ebony hair over her shoulder. From her tanned skin to her eyes that held a piercing gaze, there was no doubt that it was the desert wolf. Tugging a jar out of her back pocket, she threw it to Theo, who caught the glass jar with ease.

Theo examined the jar under the light, a pair of talons that they had seen before being their recompense for double-crossing the group of girls. Their eyes glowed gold, the talons lighting up inside the jar. "You should've listened to Braeden," they commented, leaving through the back door and not looking back.

Malia gasped through the pain, clutching the wound in her stomach, using her other hand to hold Lilith's, desperately trying to apologise for getting her caught up in this mess. For the very first time since entering the army base, Malia was starting to feel scared.

"Your name isn't really Malia," Corinne taunted. She circled the two girls, predator versus prey. Snatching fistfuls of Lilith's hair, she pulled the huntress to the other side of the room, returning to Malia, who tried to stand to her feet. It took them a second to recover from having chunks of her hair practically ripped out of her scalp, which was just enough time for Corrine to squeeze Malia's throat and choke the oxygen from her lungs. "You don't have a name. Talia Hale took you away from me before I could give you one."

Corrine drew her hand back, cracking Braeden's gun into her daughter's head as she fell backwards. Lilith felt what could only be described as someone trying to touch her territory, a possessiveness that had her moving on autopilot. Their fingers enclosed over the pistol, Corrine explaining that the rumour was true— she had lost part of her power and her daughter had been the one who stole it.