"What the—"
The voice came from the woman in the driver's seat, just as I picked myself off the van's floor. My cheek still pulsed from the slap, while I examined the dark surroundings for Aiko. She was sitting on the floor just like me, but with two male hunters sitting on either side of her. I scanned her from the top of her head to the ankles peeking above her socks, and luckily, there wasn't a single lock of hair out of place.
"Move!" The same woman shouted.
"What's going on?" The unfamiliar hunter staggered over to the front and leaned his body against the back of the front seats.
"One of the stupid beasts," the woman hissed. "It refuses to move off the road."
"Kill it." The male hunter didn't hesitate for even a second. "Let the van smash it."
"No." I struggled to get off the floor, but a sudden lurch caused me to fall back onto my butt.
A beast could only mean one thing. A werewolf in wolf form.
"Are you—"
Before the woman could even finish her question, the van lurched again. However, this time the push came from a different direction. My back smashed against the wall behind me, while Aiko and the other hunter flew forward. The vehicle's front turned into a sharp left, making it feel like something had smashed right against the side of the van and sent it spiraling down the road.
The van spun for three further circles before it crashed against something. The second we stopped moving, the side door swiped open. Because of the bright light from the outside, I rose my hand in front of my eyes to shield them. Yet the moment I lifted my hand, a warm hand wrapped around my wrist and pulled me forward.
With one swift tug the floor of the van underneath my feet disappeared and I landed on the hard gravel road. The small stones dug into my legs, but I ignored them as I looked up to the person still grasping my wrist. For a moment all I saw was a pair of pitch black eyes and two sharp canines peeking underneath an upper lip. Then the sharp features molded with a familiar top of dark hair and I finally recognized Dyson.
Before I could relax at the sound of his name on my lips, the van roared back to life. The spinning of the wheels sent a swirl of gravel and dust flying in all directions, almost blinding me in the process.
"Aiko!" I pulled on my wrist, which was still in Dyson's hold. "Aiko is still inside the van."
The said werewolf immediately let go of me and in the next second lunged after the speeding van. His clothes ripped to shreds as a dark fur replaced his skin. A second later he was on four feet and jumped into the open side door of the fleeing van.
The wolf's tail didn't even make it fully inside the van when the animal already jumped back out. This time, however, it had Aiko's arm in its snout. She was screaming as the wolf forced her out of the speeding vehicle.
She wasn't the only one whom the wolf pulled out though. The blonde hunter—Kevin—had his arm wrapped around Aiko's waist, and apparently his hold was strong enough to pull him out of the van as well.
The wolf was the first one to land on its side at the edge of the road. It was followed by Aiko and then the blonde hunter as they both landed in the gravel. The van, on the other hand, continued to speed down the road, never stopping even for a moment.
"Naia!"
Jared skidded to a stop right beside me and grasped my chin in between his strong fingers. He turned my head, so I was forced to tear my eyes off the disappearing van.
"Are you hurt?" His eyes swiped all over my body.
But I didn't have time to worry about myself right now. Instead, I pulled my face out of his hold and jumped upwards.
"I'm fine," I shouted, while already sprinting forward. "Aiko."
The small stones dug into my knees when I knelt next to my sister, but I ignored their sting.
"Are you okay?"
I helped her into a sitting position and grasped her arm; the one Dyson had had in his wolf mouth. Red imprints of his wolf teeth colored her frail skin, but luckily none of them had been sharp enough to pierce the skin and draw blood.
"I'm fine." Aiko coughed through the dust still levitating from the now long gone van.
A strong grip on my ankle suddenly tugged me forward and I turned my head just in time to see Kevin's hand wrapped around my foot. He pulled me forward, however, before I could even come near him, Jared stepped over him. With one quick swing he smashed his fist into the hunter's face. The said guy's head reverted to the side and a second later his hold on my ankle turned limp.
"How dare he put his filthy fingers on you," Jared growled, while staring down at the hunter's now motionless figure.
"Is... Is he..." I couldn't even bring myself to say it.
"He's still alive." Jared spat at him. "You okay, Dyson?"
"Fine."
I glanced in the direction of the Beta, but then quickly snapped my eyes back to Jared. While Dyson was in his human form again, he was now completely naked.
"Jared?"
Both Jared and I turned to the sound of the new voice, where we found Conner kneeling next to giant ball of fur several feet behind on the road.
"What—" I couldn't remember any other wolf jumping at the van.
"It's Ortiz," Jared said. "The idiot head-butted the van from the side. But I have to give him that it worked. Conner, take him to the pack hospital."
"You have a hospital here?" I asked.
"Of course." Molly came out of nowhere and grasped my arm before I could even blink. "What do you think we are? Savages?"
With one swift tug she pulled me up to my feet and then did the same for Aiko.
"What were you doing out here?" Jared's still dark eyes pierced through my eyes.
"We..." A big lump formed in my throat, but I forced myself to swallow it. "We went for a walk."
"You—" Jared exploded, but then suddenly spun away from me. "Molly, take Naia and her sister back to the pack house. Dyson, take the hunter scum to the pack prison. No one is to touch him until I return."
With the cold string of orders finished, he marched into the forest and within a few strides disappeared out of my view.
"Jared?" I took a step after him, but Molly's strong grip on my hand prevented me from going anywhere.
"He's pretty pissed right now. Just give him some time to cool off and then you can talk to him. Come, I'll take you and your sister back to the pack house."
"No." I tore my wrist out of her hold and spun around to meet her pair of wide open eyes. "You take Aiko back to the pack house and make sure she isn't hurt. I need to talk to Jared."
Without waiting for her response, I whirled around and stalked off into the direction Jared had disappeared into.
"She finally sounds like a Luna." Molly's whistled words cupped my ears, but I forced myself to ignore them. Later I could think about what they meant.
"Jared!" I called out and continued to march forward.
No matter his wolf speed, I was sure he couldn't have disappeared far enough not to be able to hear me.
"Ja—"
I didn't even get to finish my second call when the said guy appeared three steps away from me. His eyes were ink black, his teeth sharpened into deadly tips, and yet I didn't stumble even a single step backwards.
"Leave," he growled.
"No." I shook my head and forced myself to ignore the white color of his clenched fists. "I need to know why—"
"Leave. I can't control my wolf right now."
"Then shift."
Instead, of immediately complying, his dark eyes widened and his sharp teeth retracted for the smallest inch.
"But you're afraid of wolves."
"I know. But two humans tried to kidnap me, while two wolves protected me. I think I'll rather trust a wolf right now."
He stared at me for three heartbeats, searching my eyes for any sign of hesitation. But there wasn't any. No matter how uneasy the thought of a big fury wolf made me, I would rather be around one then go back to that van.
"Don't move."
With four quick strides he disappeared behind a bush. A second later a shuddering sound of snapping bones filled my ears, but I forced myself to remain nailed to my spot. From behind the bush drifted a light brown wolf, with its dark eyes focused straight on me. Three steps away from me he stopped and planted his behind onto the ground.
With my heart thudding in my chest I waited for him to start edging closer toward me. Yet as nothing happened, I slowly realized he was giving me a chance to approach him at my own pace.
While observing his every reaction, I took a step closer. Only when I was sure he hadn't moved a single muscle, I took another. And another, until I stood right in front of him. I lifted my hand and touched the tip of his nose. Yet he remained as still as a statue.
Heartbeat after heartbeat I grew braver, until the wolf and I ended up lying on the forest ground. While he was lying on his stomach, I was sprawled on my side, with my head and upper body resting on his soft fur.
"Are you now finally calm enough to talk?" I ran my hand up and down his soft fur, which lured a huff out of the wolf's snout. "I'll take that as a yes. Those were hunters in the van, weren't they?"
He turned his big wolf head to the side and bobbed it in a small nod.
"I thought so. What I don't understand is what they want from me. I get that the first time they came because of Ryou, but now both my father and my cousin are gone. So, why are they back?"
The wolf only moved his head back to the front and laid it onto the ground.
"I can't help but think that they're after me because of either my father or my cousin. Do you think they're doing this because of my family? Or do they think I know some secret my father failed to tell them before he died? A secret I don't even know I know. Or—"
Before I could form another theory, the wolf's muscles underneath me flexed. Startled by the sudden move, I flew into a sitting position. More curious than actually scared I watched the wolf as he jumped to his feet and trotted behind the same bush as before.
The same gruesome sound of breaking bones filled my ears and in the next moment Jared walked back from behind the bush. This time he was back in his human form, while dressed in a pair of basketball shorts and in the middle of pulling a dark green shirt over his head.
"I don't know." He stopped beside me and offered me his hand. "I don't know what it is the hunters want, but I'm going to find out soon enough."
"The hunter..." I thought back to the unconscious blonde that had been part of both kidnapping attempts.
"Don't worry. I'll make him talk no matter what." Jared pulled me up onto my feet, but didn't let go of my hand. "So, instead of coming up with more theories, you can keep your eyes on the look-out for the traitor with the peanuts."
"The lemonade." For a second I almost forgot about the whole lemonade incident.
"Yes, the lemonade." Jared let go of my hand, and cupped my cheek instead. "Do you realize that making sure you're okay is turning into a twenty-four seven job? It's getting a little tiring to always be worrying about you."
"Sorry." I glanced down at my feet, suddenly feeling like the heaviest burden on this planet.
"I'm joking." He tugged me into his chest and wrapped his strong arms around me. "You're more than worth it."
I wiggled out of his hold, to tell him that I would make sure not to get even into a speck of trouble for the next twenty-four hours, when I noticed the soft fog covering his eyes. Before I could even start to wonder what he was being mind-linked about, he blinked and his eyes turned back into their beautiful denim color.
"The hunter's awake. Come, I'll take you to the pack house, and then go figure out what the hunters want with you."
"You don't need to." I snuck my hand out of his hold. "I can go back on my own."
"No, you could—" He began, while I narrowed my eyes. Surely he wasn't back to thinking I could get lost.
Before he could continue, the snap of a twig pulled our attention.
"I'll escort the Luna back to the pack house." Ortiz emerged from behind a tree. "You can go deal with the hunter."
My eyes were immediately drawn to the purple bruise covering most of his forehead.
"The pack doctor already cleared you?" Jared asked.
"Yes, I'm fine." Ortiz waved his question off. "You can go deal with the hunter."
"Okay." Jared agreed before I could even open my mouth.
With a chase peck on my forehead, he turned around and disappeared into the opposite direction from the pack house. With only Ortiz and me left, I found myself hesitating for a heartbeat before I followed him through the forest.
"Why did you do it?"
Ortiz planted his feet into the earth the moment the question left my tongue and spun around to face me.
"Why did you help save me?" I asked again.
Ever since he had been ordered to stick to my side in the second rescue camp I had been wondering the same thing. What had triggered the sudden change?
"Because I'm the one who almost killed you."
***
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- E