I crouched down as I held my hands out in front of me for the small child to punch.
His little fists balled up, and then hit my palms. He was stronger than other kids his age, but that was to be expected when someone is training to be Alpha someday.
"Did I hurt you, mom?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowing in concern.
I smiled as I shook my head. It would be years before he was strong enough to do any real damage, but I knew that someday he would be the strongest Alpha in the world, if his lineage had anything to do with it.
"Dad says that it hurts when I punch him," The pup pointed out, and I rolled my eyes. Cain always made sure to boost his son's confidence, even if it meant pretending to be hurt by a four year old's weak punches.
"It does hurt," Cain called out from a few feet away. He tended to fall back when I was training the pup, as he knew that I was much more qualified than he.
The pup beamed at me. "See, mom? Told ya. Watch me fight him!"
I laughed at their antics, but I couldn't deny that my heart warmed when Cain pretended to fall to the ground when our son kicked his ankle.
Suddenly, Cain grabbed the pup's ankle and pulled him to the ground. The boy cried out as his head hit the ground, blood soon pouring after it.
To my surprise, instead of comforting the pup. Cain snarled and grabbed him by the throat. The child cried out and choked. I was too stunned to move, so I watched in sheer terror.
When the pup's eyes rolled to the back of his head and I could no longer hear his heart beat, Cain tossed his body to the side like a rag doll.
My vocal chords also seemed to be frozen, and I couldn't even screen in horror. Cain grinned. "You should never f**k with an Alpha. Isn't that right, Ares?"
I gasped as I awoke, and snarled when I saw that it was Cain who was shaking me awake. I wound my fist back and punched, hitting him square in the jaw.
Cain clutched his jaw and jerked it back into place with a quick snap. "Ares, calm down. You were dreaming. It was a dream."
I winced as I realized that I had just punched my poor mate who was just trying to save me from yet another nightmare. Sorry, I mindlinked him.
He smiled weakly. "I suppose I don't need to ask whether it was me or him?"
I cringed as I recalled the way he smiled after he strangled our nonexistent child. I need to leave, I told him, getting out of our bed.
Frowning, Cain objected. "You're not going anywhere. It's five in the morning."
I'm going out of our territory. I need to kill something, I snarled at him as I put on leggings, boots, a long sleeve shirt, and my black cloak.
"Then I'm coming," Cain invited himself as he got out of bed.
No. I'll take Axel and Lucas if I must, but you can't come, I spoke directly, even though I knew my words wounded him.
His eyes filled with despair, but he nodded. "Very well. Mindlink them to meet you here so I can ensure that they are going with you and you're not sneaking off alone."
I rolled my eyes. He knew me too well. I did as he said and mindlinked them to meet me here to be my hunting babysitters. Lucas professionally agreed, and Axel complained about the early hours before eventually agreeing to come immediately when I threatened to tell Cain on him.
Axel and Lucas arrived in under ten minutes. Cain kissed me goodbye and told me to mindlink him if we ran into any trouble. I rolled my eyes. I was intentionally seeking out trouble.
We went through the pack border, after being stopped by the guard on duty. He double checked with Cain to make sure that I was allowed to leave the territory, much to Cain's delight and my annoyance. Even Axel and Lucas' presences were not enough to reassure the guard that I actually had permission to leave. After the Jax-Wilson incident, Cain made sure to increase border security to the maximum.
Lucas and Axel must have picked up on my mood quickly, because they made no attempt at small talk. Which was lucky for them because small talk was almost certain to drive me to stab them.
After stalking through the territory for an hour, I finally heard the familiar sound of footsteps retreating. A rogue trying to escape his fate, no doubt.
Don't either of you dare interrupt me, I warned my hunting party. This kill was mine and mine alone.
I listened carefully for where the sound originated. I grinned as I summoned a knife and launched it into a nearby bush. I heard a female cry out in pain.
I walked over to the bush, and grabbed the she-wolf by the throat as Cain had done to our pup. I grinned wickedly as the girl, probably no older than me, cowered away in fear.
Are you sure you want to kill this one, Luna? It's a she-wolf... Axel's voice trailed off. He didn't particularly like me killing off female wolves, which I assumed had to do with the fact that he hasn't found his mate.
I don't discriminate, Axel. That would be sexist of me, I informed him.
I dropped the girl, and she crumpled on the ground. She tried scooting away, the knife still lodged in her lower stomach.
I stomped on her ankle, relishing in the crunch that I was rewarded with. The girl cried out again, and I could hear Axel's heartbeat quicken.
"Please! Don't kill me," The girl begged with tears streaming down her face. "My parents were rogues when they had me, I didn't have a choice on becoming a rogue!"
"Where are your parents, girl?" Lucas' gruff voice asked.
Her face went from one of pain to one of pain and sadness. "They passed away."
I flashed my canines. See, don't worry, Axel. I'm reuniting her with her parents like the good samaritan I am, I mindlinked Axel.
I put my hand through her chest and tore her heart out with my bare hands, tossing it to the side.
That felt fucking amazing, and like exactly what I needed.
Axel's face looked slightly pale, but he didn't say anything. Lucas looked indifferent.
Alright, boys. I guess that's good enough for today. I'm ready to g- My mindlink was interrupted by more rustling.
I grinned as my eyes flashed in excitement. Today was my lucky day. It was typically harder than average to find rogues near Blood Lake due to its reputation and historical background.
I held my breath while I tried to hear where the sound was coming from. I waited for about a minute but heard nothing else. Strange.
Axel, Lucas, and I spread out to try to find the rogue, but we were surprised that we could not see anyone. Oddly enough, I could even smell another rogue, but couldn't see anyone.
"Weird. I guess whoever it was fled quickly," Axel deduced, but frowned.
Lucas was crouched down by the body. "Ares, did you take the knife out from the girl?"
What? I asked in confusion. Sure enough, the she-wolf that laid dead on the ground had no knife in her.
Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my side. I grabbed the hilt of the dagger I was stabbed with, and sure enough, it was the same one I threw into the girl.
"That's impossible," Axel stated in disbelief. "We were by the body the whole time."
"Luna, are you okay?" Lucas asked in concern. I shrugged as I put the dagger in my boot after wiping it off on my cloak. It was just a stab wound. I've had worse.
I put my hand on my stab wound to stop the bleeding so it could heal faster. It definitely wasn't a fatal blow.
Out of nowhere, it felt like my head was turning to the side, like someone was trying to break my neck. I resisted, trying to keep it straight. Whoever was attacking me certainly lacked the strength of an Alpha.
I kicked behind me, where I hit a solid figure. I turned around and didn't see anyone, despite me being positive that I kicked someone.
I punched out in front of me hard, where I once again, made contact with something, despite not seeing anyone.
I heard the sound of someone running away, but again could not see the perpetrator. I summoned a bow and arrows and shot multiple arrows in the direction of the footsteps, but if I hit someone, they didn't make a sound.
The forrest was silent again.
"Invisibility," Lucas murmured. "The attacker has the Gift of invisibility."
You think? I sarcastically retorted, wiping the blood off of my hands.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
After ordering Lucas and Axel not to tell Cain about the invisible man incident, we head back to Blood Lake.
Luckily, Cain was in his office when we arrived, and I directly went into our room, showered, and changed my clothes to get rid of the evidence that I had been stabbed. Luckily, I had so many scars on my body, Cain wouldn't be able to tell that there was a new one.
I went to Cain's office when I was done cleaning up, and he looked up at me from his paperwork. "How was the hunting? Kill anything interesting?" Cain questioned me.
I shrugged. Nothing too terribly eventful happened, unfortunately.
Cain narrowed his eyes. "So you didn't kill anyone?"
I laughed. I didn't say that. Cain rolled his eyes at me, but I could see some amusement in his eyes. His bloodlust wasn't nearly as severe as mine, but he enjoyed the hunt as much as I.
"I'm glad you're back now, actually. Thane said he texted you last night but you didn't respond," Cain frowned at me, and I shrugged. I haven't checked my texts since we went to Red Crescent. "He said he wanted to talk to us, well, you specifically."
My interest piqued. Thane and I texted somewhat regularly, but it must have been important if he felt the need to call Cain and I.
On cue, the phone rang, and Cain answered immediately.
"Cain," He gruffly stated, but smiled at Thane's response, which I was able to hear, as Thane told Cain to stop being so uptight with family, and to put him on speaker. "Alright, you're on speaker. What did you want to talk to Ares about?"
Thane's voice was calm as always, but I could hear a pinch of stress in his answer. "I need to borrow your mate for awhile."