The Hunt

Prologue

This was the feeling he had been waiting for. The wet weather didn't add any difficulty to tracking the lost human as she frantically ran through the trees.

This woman was just a test of his ability. If he could just get this over with, his father would be proud of him. He wanted nothing more than his father to look upon him with proud eyes.

The werewolf crouched beside a fallen log. She was running towards him. She'd been herded to him by his father.

Anxiousness coursed through him. His father told him all about killing, but hunting humans was different. They were smart… well, most of them were smart.

This woman wasn't proving to be much of a challenge. Her breathing was labored, suggesting from the short run that she wasn't in the best shape to be out in this weather. Running in the trees had probably sounded like a good idea, until it had started raining. It had been easy enough to lead her away from the paths.

When the pair had spotted the woman stretching for her exercise, they had known that she was the one. She called out to the pair more so than the couple on bikes had. She was young, no older than twenty. Her running pants were skin tight to match her second-skin shirt. This woman wasn't on this path to get a good exercise. No. The makeup smothered on her face suggested that she was out here looking for a man. Her hair was even in a tight, fashionable bun.

With an exchanged glance they had reached an agreement, then had gone into the woods to change. They had picked up the woman's scent well enough without having to cross the main path. She had sprayed herself with perfume.

His father hadn't even needed to show himself to her, she had voluntarily ran into the unknown after hearing a growl. It was the worst mistake she would ever make, had she stayed on the path she might have had a chance at meeting another person and getting back to her car alive. But she didn't. She was lost now. She was panicking. The scent of her panic went straight to his bones. He reveled in it. With his enhanced hearing he could hear her footfalls. He could scent his father through the rain. They were getting close.

Then it would be his turn. This was his chance to prove himself and he wasn't going to mess this up. Until then the roles had been reversed.

He had been the one who did the herding. He had been the one who brought the prey to his father. He hadn't earned the right to kill his own prey, but now, he had it. He wasn't going to ruin this opportunity and go back to herding for his father. He was a man, and damn it, he was going to prove it.

The wolf in him would have preferred someone smarter than the woman, someone who would've created a challenge, someone who could've fought back. But no, his father thought that it was best to start off with this woman.

He could hear her breathing now. This was it. When she ran past him, he could have laughed. This woman was supposed to be running for her life. He could catch up to her without much effort. It would be quite the anticlimactic kill, but a kill regardless.

He quickly caught up to the skinny brunette and howled. She hesitated a step at the sound and nearly fell. She caught herself, but it had slowed her down.

She glanced over her shoulder and her eyes connected with the wolf’s. The human thinks we're a normal wolf. The wolf inside him growled.

The woman's eyes widened in terror just before she tripped and fell, having not been looking where she was going. Had she ran into a tree and been rendered unconscious, it would've taken away all the fun from the kill. Luckily, the woman fell onto her hands and knees.

Her once polished appearance was now ruined by rain and mud. She gasped as she looked at the mud in front of her face in what could only be described as shock.

One growl was enough to get her attention again.

Her head jerked up and she froze. The woman didn't even breathe. "Oh, God." She pushed herself back, away from the werewolf in front of her. The human didn't know that this wolf baring his teeth at her was actually a werewolf, but it didn't matter.

She's the prey, the wolf whispered to his human half. Nothing more than a doe, meant for killing so the strong can survive.

But he didn't need the motivation to kill the woman; he just wanted to play with her a bit before he killed her. He wanted to gain her trust before he ripped it away and showed her what a real monster was. One day he'd show his father exactly what he had raised.

One or two more kills would be enough to earn respect. One or two more women slaughtered, then he knew he would be changing things. Things would be much different when he took control of what these hunts meant.

Once he was the one in control.

It only took one leap to close the distance between the werewolf and his prey.