Vindicator

Chapter 25

Karma eyed the man before her curiously. He was easily the most muscular man she'd ever seen, aside from the King and possibly the Prince. She was impressed with herself for keeping up with him so well.

"So far" Alessia reminded her, not wanting her to get cocky.

Karma internally rolled her eyes, but outwardly gave Hunter a smile. "At the Forsaken pack, where she's safe" she told him, knowing it didn't answer the question how he'd wanted her to. Despite the wolf's annoyed growling, she added a thoughtful "but tell me, Hunter..."

"Father. I'm your father" he bit back, cutting her off.

"Right" Karma said flatly, clearly having no intention of acknowledging him as such. "Anyways," she paused, gesturing to the now-unconscious Theo, "was this your idea?"

Hunter frowned, his glowing red eyes dimming a bit as he realized what Karma was implying with her question. He looked over at his son, and clenched his fists tightly, suddenly angry at himself for letting Russell do this. "No" he gritted out.

Taking in his change of demeanour, Karma figured what it meant. "Mom once told me that you were one of the only things that kept her going; being able to spend time with you at the full moon" she said with a sigh. "She loved you, despite everything you let Russell put her through...But having let him do this to her son" she said, motioning up and down at Theo, "how do you think she'll react?"

Hunter just ground his teeth as he stared at his son, his nostrils flaring as he tried to contain his rage. This time, his rage was directed inward.

"Why didn't you stop him?" She demanded.

"...Without my mate, I had nothing left but my pack...I couldn't let this spoiled brat take that from me...If he died, he could never do that" he answered quietly, honestly.

Karma frowned, stunned by such a stupid answer. "Are you kidding me?!" She screamed at him.

He growled at her, some of his anger and energy returning. "Don't disrespect me, girl."

"Don't make me laugh" she retorted hotly. "You know, something you Alphas don't seem to get through your thick heads is that respect doesn't have to be given, it needs to be earned! And you have done EVERYTHING to ensure that I never, ever give you a shred of respect! You claim to have loved my mother, but you wanted to destroy the only piece of her you had left so you could pathetically cling to the last shred of power you had?! Again, are you KIDDING me?!"

Karma's angry outburst was enough to ignite the simmering embers of rage within Hunter. "That is enough! I'll just kill you two pathetic disappointments, and find mate myself!" He shouted.

"My turn!" Alessia said, sensing what was coming. She mentally shoved Karma aside just in time to take control and physically dodge as Hunter pounced at them. The sound of ripping clothes could be heard as he soared towards them, shifting in mid-air.

Mirroring Hunter, Alessia shifted mid-motion to be on equal footing. When she landed, she skidded to a stop on her paws in the dirt, turning to face her opponent.

Hunter was unfazed by the luminescent appearance of his daughter's wolf, seemingly oblivious to the ethereal glow of her fur. His rage had completely taken over, and he let the forest know it with a roar that shook the leaves in the trees around them. Suddenly, he lunged again and despite his large size, he was extremely fast and nimble on his paws.

Fortunately, Alessia was faster. She ducked out of his way, then pivoted to lunge back at him. He was mid-pivot, too, but not fast enough for the speedy she-wolf. Just as he was turning, she landed on his neck and clamped her jaws down.