Hunters' Shadow (Book one of the Hunter Chronicles)

Chapter Twelve (Edited)

The water from the small stream glistened in the moonlight, the steady flow of water trickling steadily through the trees bringing life to the forest around it. There might have been a path once. A thin trail leading up to what should have been a small log cabin nestled against a rocky outcrop, almost flush to the water's edge.

There had been a landslide at some point long ago and the debris had half-buried the remains from sight, the wooden structure had broken down under the pressure. Time and the weather had done the rest and there would soon be no evidence that someone had ever lived there.

Rothan took a drink from water's edge, his senses alert for anything out of place. But, as always, it was eerily quiet. Tired from his long run, he curled up under an ancient oak - a tree that had watched over the clearing long before the cabin or indeed, any of the other pines nearby.

Blake was left to his own thoughts once again - his mind drifting back to the last conversation he'd had with his brother before he'd left, another worry to add to the growing list:

Asher had delayed his return to his own pack just long enough to examine the surviving rogue from the hospital attack with Marcus and it had thrown up a surprising complication.

"There's no tattoo."

"What?"

"We've examined him from head to toe. There's no sign that there is, or has ever been a tattoo anywhere on his body," Asher declared, throwing himself into one of the office chairs.

"So what are we saying?" Marcus asked, once again pouring over the hand drawn map of the territory. "That these are a different group of rogues?"

"That would be far too much of a coincidence, don't you think?" Asher raised an eyebrow towards his brother, seeking support.

"Honestly? I don't know what to think anymore." Blake dropped the last of his paperwork into a drawer and leaned back, frustrated by the new discovery.

Alex, leaned over the desk and added his own set of forms. "Transfers and training schedules," he shrugged by way of explanation.

"The attack was clearly coordinated," Marcus continued to argue with Asher. "Every rogue we've seen so far has had that tattoo."

"I just don't think we can count the possibility out that this was a separate group, maybe with a different agenda." Asher's voice was tinged with scepticism.

"Well, that's just perfect." Blake concluded in disgust.

"We might be jumping to conclusions a little prematurely here," Marcus stubbornly countered. "Everything up to now has indicated one large group, coordinating their attacks and – "

"So, we assume that this one was, what?" Alex argued, "New to the group? Uninitiated?"

"Maybe our man in black didn't want him to have one so he couldn't be linked back to them." Marcus continued, irritated. "After all –"

"Are we going to continue to call him the man in black?" Alex interrupted. "There has to be a better name for him –"

"After all," Marcus snapped loudly. "You said they might be specially trained for missions?"

"Rogue one, or The Assassin..." Alex mused to himself.

"Will you shut up?"

Alex shot him a hurt look and continued to spout increasingly ridiculous names for the assassin under his breath until Marcus was forced to sit on his own hands to keep from strangling him.

Ignoring them, Blake turned back to Asher, a look of frustration on his face.

"What now? If we don't find out who's behind this, they'll probably try again."