Chapter 9: Jax
Kai hadn't come back home yet and I was starting to get worried. I knew he could handle himself but I couldn't shake the paranoia that something bad might have happened. What if he stepped on a trap? What if the hunters found him? I just had to know.
I sniffed the air and started tracking his scent. I followed it right up to the Welcome to Orora West sign. Kai was hunched over hiding behind some bushes.
"Kai, what are you doing out here?" I ask him.
"Shh!" he says, pulling me down beside him.
"Kai, what's going on?" I whisper.
"Look," he says, pointing at a convoy of trucks that had stopped at the petrol station just across the road.
"Who are they?" I ask him.
"Hunters," he says, "and lots of them."
"This isn't good," I say, "we need to warn the others."
"I'll go," Kai says, "it could be risky, I don't want to put you in danger. You just stay down and keep watch. Call me if there is any trouble."
I nod my head and Kai sneaks off, keeping himself low to the ground. I look at my watch making note of the time. When forty-five minutes have passed and I still haven't heard back from Kai I get concerned. I decide it's best to go looking for him and make sure he hasn't been captured. I'd only been looking for ten minutes when I felt something metal being pressed against my back.
"Don't take another step," a deep voice threatens from behind me.
I stop dead in my tracks. I look over my shoulder and see a man dressed in jeans, a white button-down shirt and a Hunter's Association jacket. He's holding a gun against my back.
"I know what you are," he says, disgust thick in his voice.
"Alright, I'll bite, why haven't you shot me yet?" I ask him.
"You're going to call for your pack," he orders, "and you're going to lead them right to us."
I'm not going to do that. There's no way I would lead the others into a trap.
"You sure you want me to do that?" I feign confidence and hope he doesn't call my bluff.
"I do, actually. There was only one werewolf in this area before you and your friends showed up. That's the Farlan's girl. There's four of you and eleven of us," he answers cockily.
Well, they underestimated us by one, but I doubt that's going to come back to bite them in the ass.
"How do you know that?" I ask him.
"We've been keeping an eye on those Farlan's, disgusting sympathisers," he spits, "which means we've been keeping an eye on this town. You're the only people who've moved here in the past five years."
They've been watching Luna all that time?
"Now call for your pack, Mutt," he demands.
"I'm not going to call them," I tell him defiantly.
"I was hoping you would say that," he lets out a low, sickening chuckle, "I've been in a bad mood all day."
It's going to be either a very long or a very short afternoon for me. I'm not sure which I'd prefer at this point. If he drags it out long enough, I might have a shot of getting out of here. If he does it quickly, at least if I die it's not going to hurt that much. I hear the last thing my brother said to me repeat itself over and over.
Just stay down and keep watch.
Just stay down and keep watch.
Just stay down and keep watch.
