Hunter
I wore my gloves and I came to a stop, three feet away from the punching bag. It was four in the morning. I had woken up from a nightmare, cold sweat washed me up. I turned to sleep more, but eventually, I realized that I couldn't. I slowly stood, not wanting to wake Logan and Parker, and made my way to the gym.
Parker couldn't sleep alone. He was a wreck. I couldn't leave my brother alone, I was worried about him. He hadn't broken like this before. I couldn't handle the situation well, but I was trying my best for him and the others. All the situation had scared me. I had thought that she had left and lived with her brothers. But I hadn't imagined this. I couldn't believe Monica was dead. This perfect and sweet girl had vanished under our noises.
It was our fault that we didn't notice anything. My fault that I let that psycho bitch with us. I couldn't take it. Her smile, her sweet smile. Every time I teased her, she furrowed her brows, or she glared at me. My insides that did that flip-flop when she was near. Her touch.
I aimed my first punch as anger boiled inside me. The bag swung back and forth. I punched it again.
Hey, big head.
That's our alpha.
Hunter.
Her voice circled my mind. Her sweet and melodic voice. This time I kicked hard the bag and I came back with a punch. Sweat dripped from my forehead. When I learned that she was dead, something stirred inside me. I couldn't believe this. That strong and fierce girl had died. At that moment, I realized that I cared for her. I cared a lot too close to...
Loved her.
She was taken from me, from us. Before I could say to her how much from disliked her, I had ended up loving her. But my Sunshine was dead.
A tear slipped to my cheek. I punched again in fury. And again. I slammed my fists into the leather bag until my hands hurt. Overwhelmed by all the many and different emotions, I took a few breaths and stood.
I couldn't let this happen. I didn't take my things as I stormed out of the gym to our dorm. We had to do something. I had to do something.
I opened the door so hard that it slammed loudly on the wall. I burst into the first room, not caring to stomp on the things on the floor. Blake and Noah opened their eyes as I grabbed each one of their collars and dragged them to the living room.
"Hunter, what are you doing?" Blake asked confused. I haven't heard his voice in so long. I didn't answer, instead, I shouted, "Get up, you dogs! Enough of this!"
Micah, Ethan steadied Parker with his arm around his shoulders, and Luke came from the hallway. "What is going on?" Micah asked.
"Why are you shouting, Hunter?" Luke questioned me.
"Did something happen?" Parker whispered.
I dragged my feet to the last rooms and I threw Ian over my shoulder while he asked what was happening. To the last room, I grabbed Tristan from his hand and went back to the living room. I dropped Ian on the couch and turned to the guys, chin lifted. "Why are we here, Hunter?" Tristan asked.
I glared at them. "From now on, we will return to our schedule, and we will practice more and harder."
"What are you talking about? We-" Noah cut me, but I shushed him.
"I don't fucking care what you think. We will start by cleaning this mess-" I gestured with my hands around the room, "and you will be dressed up for practice. Enough of this."
Ian stood. "I don't want to do this. You can do whatever you want, but I just want to lie down and do nothing. Anyway, I'm not feeling well."
"I don't fucking care. This was it. Enough of your grieving. You have to get your asses back to work."
"What don't you understand? All this time you were quiet, and now you woke up demanding shit!" Noah shouted.
"Noah..." Logan warned.
"Noah is right. Monica is dead, what don't you understand-" Tristan said, and I came forward and slammed my fist into his jaw. He fell with a groan. Blake and Luke went to him. "What the fuck, Hunter?" Micah asked.
I had enough. "You have hidden yourselves inside a big hole, not wanting to face the situation! You don't eat, drink, walk, talk! Do you think this is normal?" I was shouting.
"But-" Ian interrupted me.
"Do you want to continue like this? How long will you be like this? It will kill you! Monica wouldn't want this. She would want you to restart your life again, even without her." My words felt harsh on my tongue, but they were true.
I pointed to my heart. "She will always be here. She won't be forgotten. We love her, and we will remember her until we die. No. Even to our next life. What do you think Monica would do in your place?" I asked them. Noah was again crying and Luke hugged him.
"She would have fought." Parker whispered.
I nodded. "That's right. The Monica we know would get back on her legs and fight. That's what we are going to do."
"Is this about the battle?" Ethan asked me.
"What battle?" Blake stared between us.
"Aiden is preparing for war. His army will be waiting to murder all humanity, and we will be standing at the front ready to fight. For Her."
I clenched my fists and as I looked at Ethan and Logan, they gave me a proud smile. "You are right," Parker said.
"She wouldn't want this." Noah stood too.
"We will fight and destroy them." Ian exclaimed.
I turned to Tristan. "What do you say?"
He lifted his eyes. Determined. "Yeah, captain, for once you are right." I smiled as I extended my hand to help him. He took it and slowly stood. "When do we start?" Luke asked.
I smirked. "Now."
•••••••••••
"Keep going, you motherfuckers!" I shouted to them as each one punched their punch bag. A week had passed since the talk we had. That day we cleaned the room, took long showers and we went for two hours running.
The next day, we got to our classes and after our last lessons, we headed to the gym. Since then, we have exquisite ourselves with the hard training. We gained back our lost weight with Logan's and Ethan's food. We had made great progress. In the afternoons, we would go outside in the forest to let our beasts out. They were angry.
Luke came and gave me a bottle of water while Micah was giving towels to the guys. Sweat dripping from our bodies. Logan came beside me. "We are doing great."
I nodded.
"We won't be as great and powerful as Monica, but we will win." Ethan agreed.
"We have to ask for new equipment. This one is trashed." Ian gestured around.
"This is what? The fifth time." Noah exclaimed.
"Mr. Clearborn will be furious." Blake chuckled.
"Have you heard from your father?" Luke asked Tristan.
He placed the bar in its place. "Yes, yesterday. Nothing."
"How will we know when this Aiden will appear? What if he attacks first, and we are not ready?" Parker made the question.
"We don't know-" I said when Mr. Aaron appeared out of nowhere. The guys came closer. "Dad, is something wrong? Why are you here?"
Aaron looked at each one of us, and he settled his eyes to mine. "It's time."
"What are you talking about?" Ethan asked him. Aaron ran his hand through his hair. "Aiden's army has appeared somewhere deep into the fae world out of the citizen's place. They have settled, and they are waiting for us."
A weird feeling crawled inside me. "It's now."
He nodded. "Mr. Clearborn has informed the best and the strongest of the academy students to participate if they want. The others will treat the injured. You have been ordered to get ready and leave."
The guys and I exchanged glances. Logan nodded. "We should go."
"There have been delivered to your rooms weapons and clothes. Please be ready. In two hours, we leave."
"Let's go and smash them," Tristan said as we started to walk to the door. Before I passed Aaron, he patted me on the shoulder. I turned to him. He wore a proud smile on his face. "You did a great job, Hunter. Thank you."
I gave him a nod. "Thank you, sir."
"You care for them." He tilted his head to one side.
I thought about my answer. "Yes, sir. I care for them. They are... my family."
He nodded. "Go ahead, son." He gestured me to the door. I walked fast to catch up with the guys.We will crash them for taking Monica away from us.