The rain pounded hard against my cloak, but I ignored it while we ran towards somewhere. It was cold and wet, and I was shaking, but I didn't care because it meant that my body was still working, even though my heart was in pieces.
Tears blurred my vision while I rode my horse, and I let Riser have full control of his head because I had no idea where I was going or where I needed to go, even though all I wanted to do was go home.
All I could do was hold on while he went somewhere, taking me away from the male that was supposed to be my mate but who was a "monster" instead.
My heart ached and screamed for me to go back, even though I knew that it wasn't possible.
I couldn't live somewhere where I was a prisoner...
I couldn't take any more heartbreak.
I bit my lip to keep myself from crying out in the dark, not wanting anything to find me, even though I knew it was pointless because of my horse's thundering hooves on the ground.
Da dum, da dum, da dum. His hooves pounded against the soft ground, not even slipping as if he was so sure of where his footing should be to make sure that both of us stayed safe and alive.
I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth together while I leaned closer to my horse's neck, making sure that I didn't squeeze Pippa too tight. I didn't want to hurt her like I was hurting, hurting the further away that I got from the kingdom and my "mate.
I had no idea where we were going, no idea how far away from the castle we were, nothing. All I knew was that I needed to continue to get away from there, praying that I would find a way home and back to my father and the life that I wanted to make here but couldn't.
However, that all changed when something knocked me off of my horse, and I landed on my shoulder hard.
I bit back a scream of pain while I rolled, making sure that I didn't hurt my dog in the process.
Riser snorted and shook his head before he started running away while I got to my feet and looked around with Pippa by my side.
My adrenaline and fear spiked, but I made sure to act calm and pulled out my bow and arrow. My hands were shaking from the cold and fear that I felt, and I silently cursed myself for being so stupid and afraid but still acted strong and in charge.
"Who's there?" I called out and pointed the arrow in the direction that the thing came from. I narrowed my eyes and scowled while I gripped the bow tighter, ignoring everything that was happening around me. "Show yourself."
Thunder rolled overhead while the rain pounded against me and everything around us, but I didn't care while I waited for the thing to say something.
"Are you Man, Wolf, or both?" someone asked from my left, and I instantly moved my bow that way with the arrow ready. They didn't appear from the trees, and I couldn't help but wonder as to who was out there, wondering if they were Wolves or these Hunters that I shared my blood with.
"Wolf?" I asked, shocked and appalled, trying to make it seem like I didn't even know what they were talking about. "Both? What do you mean? Who are you?" I paused. "What are you?"
"She's merely human," another person that was near the first person that had spoken said with a small hiss. "Let's go before she gets hurt."
"I don't think so..." the first person to speak said.
There was a bit of rustling in the bushes before someone appeared, and a flash of lightning showed that it was a man holding a gun.
My heart leapt into my throat, and my dog barked and jumped in front of me while I took a step back.
"Pip, hush," I said, my voice barely above a whisper while the male raised his hands in surrender. I nudged her a little to quieten her, and my dog moved to my side, growling with her teeth bared.
"Turn on the lights," the male said. He kept his eyes on me while he set the gun down on the ground, and I followed his movements with my bow and arrow.
"Gr-"
"Now!" he exclaimed, interrupting who was talking.
I stayed silent and still while I kept my arrow pointed at him while he stood again and kept his hands up in surrender.
Lights from whatever were turned on and other people stepped out until there were six total.
I was surrounded.
My heart leapt into my throat, but I made sure to keep my face neutral and not afraid while I looked at them.
"Who is your kin?" the main person asked gently, and I looked at him and bit back a gasp because he looked exactly like my father but taller and thinner.
I didn't respond and tightened my grip on my bow. "Who are you?" I asked instead. "Why are you out here?"
The male chuckled and was about to take a step forward but stopped while I pulled the string tighter. "I could ask you the same thing, Child," he said, and I silently bristled about being called a child. "I am Schmit, Conner Schmidt, son of Valter Schmidt."
My heart skipped a beat when he said my grandfather's name, and I bit back a startled gasp while I took a step back.
"You're my brother's daughter, aren't you?" he asked. "You're Dalen's daughter."
I didn't respond and swallowed back a sob at the mention of my father's name. My heart yearned to see my father, to ask them for help to get back to him, but I must protect my pack.
They were too close.
"And what if I were?" I asked instead, speaking while I tightened my grip on my bow, silently praying that they wouldn't try to come and find me. "What then?"
"Then come with us. We are here to save you."
And to kill the pack...
I had no idea why I thought that, but I had this feeling that they would try and kill the pack that I served to protect.
"What if she isn't her? Are you sure that she is his daughter?" the male asked and glared at me. "She is near the area where they are "supposed" to be located."
The thunder rolled overhead, but none of us paid any attention to the storm while we stared at each other, the rain drenching our clothes and soaking us to the bone.
The male, my "uncle", took a step toward me, and I raised the bow higher and pulled back on the string.
The others aimed their weapons at me, but I didn't relent nor lower my weapon. They didn't attack when the man raised his hand, but they still had it pointed at me, which made me nervous.
"Lower your weapons," he said. "We do not threaten kin."
"She has her weapon pointed at you, Grandfather. She is not our kin," the male spat and didn't lower the weapon he glared at me, and I held back an eye roll.
"She doesn't know us," Conner said. "Put down your weapons, now." His order was sharp and carried throughout the woods, and they, we, flinched while they did what they were told to do and lowered their weapons.
Conner took a step back away from me, and I lowered my weapon but only a bit. He kept his hands raised but this time in surrender while I watched him. "So are you Dalen's kid?" he asked again softly.
I set my jaw and didn't respond. I didn't care that he could help me get back to my father or not because like my father, I didn't want anything to do with that side of the family, a family that killed innocent lives just for the heck of it.
Conner chuckled and shook his head while he took a step to the side, and I followed him. "You have the same stubbornness as him," he said. "I can see it in your eyes." He chuckled and shook his head again before he cleared his throat. "But you have your mother's eyes. Even I can see that."
His voice shook when he said that, and I made sure to keep my emotions in check while I shifted my grip on my bow, and again, they lifted their weapons higher again toward me.
I set my jaw and didn't respond while I looked at him. My whole body was tense while I waited for them to lower their weapons again, but they didn't; they were watching me and making sure that I wasn't going to harm him.
Conner sighed and moved a hand across the bridge of his nose, and I followed him with my bow. "Idiots," he muttered under his breath, and I raised an eyebrow but didn't say a word while I looked at him.
"Grandfather," the person that had spoken in the beginning said aghast, amazed that he could call them idiots. "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean what I said," he snapped. "Now lower them, and keep them lowered even if she raises her weapon at me."
The other people lowered their weapons with disgruntled mutters of distaste. They narrowed their eyes at me because I didn't follow their lead and lowered mine.
I blinked but didn't say a word, not caring that they were upset that I kept my weapon pointed at him.
Conner didn't seem to care and didn't bat an eye. "Look," he said softly. "Please, are you Dalen's daughter? Annabelle? Yes?"
I set my jaw when he called me Annabelle, even though that was my name. "It's Belle," I replied. "I go by Belle."
Conner chuckled and nodded while he relaxed a little, and I had a feeling that he was sure it was me. "Of course," he said. "Dalen sa-"
He wasn't able to say another word when a loud murderous growl broke through the trees, and everyone became on high alert.
"It's a trap!" someone exclaimed and pointed their gun at me. "It's all a trap!"
"Set-"
He couldn't finish his sentence because both Riser and the king came out of trees, and the king started to attack his companions with another loud roar.
They yelled in shock and horror, and they started to shoot their guns at him, and I stumbled back in shock because I didn't expect him to come for me.
Conner shouted orders to his companions, but they weren't listening to him at all. He looked at me with an almost apologetic look while he tried to get a handle on his men, but it didn't work.
Riser and the king seemed to be leaving him alone for some reason, and I had no idea if it was because he wasn't attacking them or not, but I didn't care and only watched them, shocked.
My horse backed off first and ran over me. He snorted and nudged me, trying to get me to get onto him so that he could get me away from the fray.
However, after seeing the king getting shot almost near his heart and him screaming out in pain, I could not do it; I couldn't leave him to die when the Moon Goddess had said that he was mine.
"STOP!" I yelled, my voice sounding different in my ears. I dropped my bow and arrow and ran towards Conner, who was the only person to pay attention to me.
He opened his mouth to say something but didn't when I punched him straight in the face and kicked his legs from underneath him.
The male didn't fight me when I wrestled the gun from his hands and put him into a chokehold, and still the others didn't care and kept shooting at the king, who was on his knees and didn't try to defend himself, much to my surprise.
I lifted the gun in the air after I cocked it and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The shot was loud, louder than the other gunshots, and it seemed to break them out of the haze of shooting at the king and turn their attention to me.
I cocked the gun again and pointed it at Conner's head. My whole body was shaking and so was the gun, and I was still surprised that he hadn't turned this around and shit me.
"Nobody, move," I shouted and pressed the gun harder to the side of his head. I narrowed my eyes and scowled while I looked at them. "Or else, he will die."