Where blood lies
~
Accalia
~
Accalia Larren felt like a delicate lamb when she first laid eyes on Lycus Fenris.
And that's what she would be deemed as, that is, if she wasn't a hunter.
She never meant to cross his path, cross into his territory and most definitely not cross that unnatural line that shouldn't even be there, to begin with. A lycan mated to a hunter.
It made her sick to her stomach even thinking about it as her knuckles paled against the steering wheel.
She didn't even realise her foot pushing harshly on the accelerator that drifted vastly down the winding roads, everything flashing before her.
"In a rush?" A voice mused from beside her.
Accalia briefly gave her cousin a side-way glance, a fixed look cutting across her face. "Get your feet off the dashboard, what have I told you, Cadence?" Accalia berated loudly and whacked her ankles.
Cadence frowned and removed her legs, but placed them on the seat, unable to sit still. "You're freaking out over nothing, we left his territory; we have the upper hand, Accalia."
No, we don't, Accalia thought doubtfully.
Lycus Fenris is the prime example of a predator. He's the beast of prey, the tracker, the Alpha. When he finds his catch, there are only whispers through the grapevine that have spread over the years of what he'll do to a person as they never make it out from his clutches. All speculation and theories.
His name is stamped in books, tainting a hunter's tongue and smearing his bloodline in nothing but blood and war.
The Alpha of Alphas.
Lycus Fenris, the Alpha of not only his pack but the ultimate ruler of every other one.
"I still think I should have burnt his house down when I had the chance," Cadence chimed in making Accalia smile.
"You're sick—"
"Only if I knew where his room was," said Cadence, picking at her nails and pulling her brows together in thought, "I'd place dead bodies on his bed and with their blood—"
Absolutely mental, Accalia thought.
"Maybe that's a bit extreme. I'm only joking, maybe joking. Kinda."
It urged a laugh out of Accalia which was lightening enough for her low spirits.
All their lives, the Larren cousins, Accalia and Cadence were told not to be fearful of anything. Not when they know the existence of Lycans, their descendants, werewolves and the damnation they impelled to the human race.
They can't be afraid of something they are made to kill.
But now, Accalia wasn't scared of that, but something entirely different.
Mated to a Lycan, she thought numbly to herself. What could that even mean?
Accalia was familiar with the term, coming across it in history books and such. Lycans and Werewolves can be tied to anyone, even a human and it is out of their control and choice. You can't be without them and they most definitely can't be without you.
And Accalia was most certainly not that to a lycan. She merely misplaced it as the soulmate concept and thought nothing else on it.
Growing up in a hunter family, a part of your duty is to digest as much information on lycans and werewolves as possible. You have to know every piece of detail on your threats.
She knew mates were considered to be a direct link to a Lycan's humanity, nothing more than that. Any other useless information was from the words of hunters or a sentence from a book.
How could a Lycan and hunter be bonded together? That's nothing but a curse relayed on both of them.
Anger writhed inside Accalia, a surging feeling she hasn't felt in years, not since her mother's passing. The feeling is binding and even worse, harsh. She wanted out of this and would do anything to make it happen.
Accalia's only intention was to flee, be unbound to Lycus and never see him again. That's all she wanted, all she craved and wouldn't stop until she got it.
"Our bloodlines deem that we are nothing but enemies, but we're something else to each other. Due to my Lycanthropy, you're a necessity to me — my mate."
His voice drifted through her mind like misty smoke, clouding her vision.
That's what he said to her after he captured them trespassing on his lands and locking her up in a cage.
He was in his lycan form when Accalia first saw him. That day, her fate was sealed and marked with darkness.
The beast was matted in fur and muscle, no ounce of humanity connecting to its beastly form. The height of it was a force to be reckoned with, the canines yapping out of its mouth and eyes pure black.
Accalia had stepped back stunned, mouth falling open from fear as she tried to register what to do.
It was rare, for even a werewolf, you come across a Lycan in its other form, and the chances of a hunter encountering it is even lower.
And Accalia almost felt like a fragile lamb when the beast made direct contact with her.
Its chest fell up and down rapidly, head tilting to the side to observe her and then next thing she knew, it was in front of her.
Accalia's bravery slipped from her grasp like liquid and her body couldn't help but shudder.
Regret swelled in her heart at this simple mistake. The mistake of thinking a Larren hunter could cross the line into Fenris territory and come out unscathed.
The crescent moon had struck out behind the beast, outlining its form. It was huge, mangled in fur and unlike anything Accalia had ever witnessed in her twenty years of life.
It simply wasn't human.
The eyes were dark, void of anything, like a hollow and endless abyss. Accalia swore she could see flecks of amber filtering through the darkness.
And he did nothing but watch her, taking her in before phasing into his other form. The shape of a man that had no comparison to the beast he had inside of him. Beneath his skin.
From then on, everything blurred as Cadence and Accalia were dragged to the dungeons by Fenris wolves, securing them tightly behind the silver bars and unable to even sleep a wink that night.
The following day, Accalia remained awake, almost tempted to slam her head into the bricks to escape the silence that welcomed her. Cadence had fallen asleep and hadn't woken up, even when the Lycan came to visit.
"Might want to add your mate to the list, sweetheart."
He merely observed her after he said that, awaiting her reaction which was nothing but grave. But in the realms of her entire being, she wanted to shatter into a million pieces upon hearing his words.
Why didn't he kill her when he had the chance? He had the instinct, the ability and offer to do so and yet, he didn't. He locked her away and left her to her maddening thoughts.
Any other Lycan would've killed Cadence and her on sight. They'd just kill their prey without thought. After all, that's what a Lycan was created to do. To destroy and kill, nothing more. Their bodies were made for it, harvested into creatures that stalk the night and harm people for their gain.
But they're bonded to a person that is to make them feel human. Humane.
She only saw Lycus once more after that, haunting and tormenting her before he left his Beta to watch over them.
Accalia's knuckles still throbbed with pain from knocking her out.
"We should be back home in a few hours, Accalia," Cadence said as the minutes waned on by painfully slow.
Accalia meekly nodded, the exhaustion raking over her body more heavily than it did ten minutes ago.
They haven't stopped driving since they left his territory. That was yesterday now, the two cousins currently driving into the dawn as the sun breaks through the cracks of the forest, emitting sun rays on the girls.
"We'll have to fill the car up soon. I have twenty dollars on me." Accalia informed Cadence.
"I have eighty. I think that should get us back to the house before the tank is empty." Cadence responded, locking her dark eyes on the road as they weaved onward at a rapid pace.
"Father will be ... annoyed by this. We had one job and it wasn't to cross into his lands." Accalia murmured.
"I know," Cadence drawled out coldly, "everything just got out of control when we took down the Alpha's Pack members that just crossed into their territory. Your Dad isn't going to take kindly to this. He won't take kindly to the fact that you're—"
"Don't." Accalia rasped out, a strain in her tone as she nibbled at her lip. "He's not my mate."
Cadence bit the inside of her cheek and only nodded. "He doesn't seem to think that."
"I don't care what he thinks and I won't need to know. I'm never seeing him again."
"But Accalia, do you think Lycus will come after you?"
His name even being mentioned made her recoil, but Accalia considered the question, finding herself in an endless field of possibilities. "I don't know, I can only hope he doesn't. I'm a hunter and he's a Lycan. We're enemies and if he sees that, he won't bother with me."
And that's all she wanted from him. Not to bother her, not even consider her a person worthy of his time and to treat her like every other hunter.
She wanted nothing from Lycus. Accalia wanted to be dismissed and seen as a pathetic being that garnered no time for him, a person that would typically be ripped and mauled by his own hands like a typical hunter that crossed into his lands and stirred up trouble.
A ragged sigh left Accalia's throat as she looked at the lowness the small tank icon was showing. Almost empty.
"We gotta fill the car up, it's nearly low," Accalia announced.
"We just drove past a sign that showed a nearby station. We'll stop there." Cadence responded, stiffening in her seat and it didn't go unnoticed to Accalia.
Cadence was as nervous as Accalia.
This will only delay things, setting their goal back by minutes and minutes wasn't something they were willing to let waste away like it was nothing.
Jamming her foot on the accelerator, the SUV took off and sped down the road.
The forest on each side of them blurred serenely and all could be soon was flashing dark green as they neared their destination.
"At least it's a good thing we have a car, aye?" Cadence said, whacking up a cunning grin and smacking the dashboard.
Accalia rolled her eyes and rested her forearm on the console. "You mean, we stole it."
Cadence waved her off, "I would hardly see it like that,"
"Borrowing then?"
"You can't borrow something you're not going to return."
They locked gazes, a stubborn wall being built around them and it looked like neither were going to see eye to eye.
"You said you wanted to thrash the car before we stole it," Accalia recalled, looking back to the road with a tight lip grin.
Cadence laughed mirthlessly and said, "And I still intend to do so. But we have to use this to get around for the time being, anyway,"
"That we do," Accalia murmured.
They bustled down the road for another few minutes before they came to their destination. An isolated, dodgy and rustic petrol station. There was no one else but them.
"I'll do it," Cadence enthused and unbuckled her seatbelt to hop out.
Accalia leant back with closed eyes, silencing the thoughts that danced around her head, unstoppable and commanding.
Her father and brother came to mind. How would they react to this? Most likely would want to start a war.
If anything, they'd most likely urge Accalia to slay the beast. But despite her family's commandments, Accalia struggled to abide and preach them.
Peeved with herself, she knew her brother would make judgements toward her. Her brother didn't take cowardice kindly, he'd rather you stick it out and do what you have to do.
And Accalia's Father ... he was a completely different story.
In Accalia's defence, she'd rather not know so much. Not out of fear, but peace of mind. She didn't want to know of a werewolf's heart being ripped out or a hunter being mauled to death. She didn't want to commit such acts by her own hands.
But it would seem she would have to, to fulfil her duty as a hunter.
The car suddenly jolted with a bang, like a body just rammed right into it and Accalia perked up. Looking around, her stomach did a flip when she didn't catch sight of her lanky and tall cousin.
She was nowhere to be seen.
Unbuckling her seatbelt, Accalia got out of the car and looked around, fear spiking in her insides as she caught sight of what stood behind the car.
A massive and bulky man with a jagged scar wretched across his face and scratch marks ridden all over his body was ready to lay a scar onto Cadence, who he currently had in a headlock.
"Let her go." Accalia's breathing hitched, eyes widening at the redness on Cadence's face. He was choking her.
"We have to return the both of you to the Alpha," the werewolf rasped out.
We?
A pair of strong arms suddenly encircled themselves around Accalia like a snake readying to cut off their prey's air-pipe and crush their bones.
"I have eighty dollars," Cadence hollered with a smug grin, a look of challenge on her face. "I'll give you that and you let us go, aye? You don't even need to inform your big bad Alpha about this." Cadence reasoned unreasonably.
Accalia swallowed, thrashing against the werewolf's clutches as disgust rotted in her insides. No way in hell would she be going back to him.
The Larren family couldn't falter at the sight of blood, they'd have to welcome it. They had to wield silver like it's embedded in their skin and harvests their fate, through bloodshed and chaos.
And Accalia would do just that if it meant not returning to him.
"Fuck up, bitch," the wolf holding Cadence snarled.
"Fine then," Cadence gritted, unnatural malice lacing her tone, "I'll just pour petrol all over you ... and light you up."
Cadence dug her foot into the wolf's boot, catching him off guard as he released her with a wince.
She didn't stop there as she jabbed her fist into his throat, bringing him to his knees as he wailed for air.
Air Cadence wouldn't allow him to have.
Werewolves, the Half-breeds were limited. They, unlike Lycans, can't fully transition into their other form unless it's a full moon. But if they're bitten by an Alpha, they're much more powerful. But for these common ones, every ability they possessed wasn't at their full extent, their only reliance was the primitive nature that urged them on with their half abilities.
Cadence used that to her advantage as she stumbled to the petrol pump and unhooked it.
Accalia eyes widened, thrashing against the other wolf's hold as she dealt all her weight in slamming him in the side of the car, trying to get out of his hold.
"Such a pity the Alpha didn't send us to kill the both of you," the wolf spat in Accalia's ear causing her to freeze, face stilling. "But maybe he'd rather do all the things we want to do."
Accalia's face was ridden in disdain, but not of the creature she's made to kill, but the death that will become of it.
"Ahh," Accalia screamed into the air and smashed the back of her head into his face, making his clutches loosen for her to gain the upper hand.
Slipping out of his arms, Accalia spun around and rammed him into the car with all her might.
Accalia jabbed him in the nose, enough to draw blood and to garner his attention, his glowing eyes beaming up at her.
"You give the Alpha a message," Accalia ushered out between ragged breaths, "if he tries to hunt me down, he'll die for it."
The mutt laughed manically, falling against the car and he didn't bother getting up, amusement written all over his face.
"You like the taste of petrol?" Cadence asked brightly, coming over to them and Accalia looked back to her and it didn't go unnoticed, the other guy that lay bloodied and edging back to his feet.
The wolf peered up at the two towering huntresses, shock spilling across his form as he took them in and sensed the shift in the air.
"I'd rather taste your blood,"
Cadence shrugged and came down to his level, her black eyes sharpening daggers. "A shame I don't have silver on me, otherwise the both of you would be dead. But we want you alive for one thing and one thing only."
Silver. The greatest threat against the werewolf species and a hunter's most liked choice of weaponry. How simple things would turn out if the girls still had their weapons on them.
The statement lingered in the air like a foul stench as Cadence brewed her words into a sentence.
And it would be heeded.
"Send Lycus Fenris our regards."