Oath of the Hunter

17 - What a Night

Rowan

The drive to Lakeside is quiet and sombre. Lachlan is driving, with Teo up front in the passenger seat and Kay on my right. River is melted against me, his head resting on my shoulder, his form all lax with sleep. I sit as still as I can, not wanting to disturb him. He's had a taxing night— first with the hunters out in the woods, then the ordeal with the bullets and the blood loss, not to mention the lycanthrope revelation, and now we're heading towards yet another fight. I desperately want to take him somewhere safe so he can recover, get a full night's rest, and stay out of harm's way. But he's right about the hunters left over. If we leave them to their own devices, they'll try again — perhaps with reinforcements — and with that monster roaming the woods, we cannot afford any distractions. The hunters need to be dealt with.

The shadowed woods flit past in a blur as the car hums steadily along a ribbon of asphalt. Above the swaying canopy, the sky is a blanket of navy punctuated with twinkling stars. Dawn creeps over the horizon.

The air in the car is laced with the distinct, sharp scent of silver belonging to the weapons Darius and Milo fetched from the dead hunters. Crossbows with silver arrows and a pile of bloodied, silver knives. We've put them all in the trunk, save a few knives on River's belt, but their scent persists regardless.

The windows up front are open, in an attempt to let the fresh air whisk away any hint of silver. Instead, it stirs River's woods-after-dark scent around me. As such, I'm fast sinking into a world of bliss.

Matteo scrubs a hand down his face, exhausted. "Fucking hell," he breathes, breaking the quiet between us all and drawing my focus. "I'm so sorry. If I'd known—"

"You have nothing to apologise for," I cut in swiftly as Kay bristles at my side and Lachlan sends him a sharp look of disapproval. "You didn't know. None of us did."

"You don't have to stay," he forges on, turning a little in his seat to regard us all. His dark, springy curls frame a face twisted with something awfully close to agony. "They're my former pack. Milo raised me like I was his own when I lost my mum. So did Darius and Imogen. I can't leave them like this. But you guys owe them nothing. You can get out."

"Like hell," Kay retorts sharply. When River stirs a little, they continue in a softer tone, "I'm not leaving you alone with that... that thing out there, Teo. If you're staying, so am I."

"I don't think any of us are going anywhere," Lachlan muses, his eyes flicking up to meet mine in the rear view mirror. "Riv won't want to leave like this, will he? Which means you're staying, Ro. So I am, too. We came here to sort out hunters— and now we've got another sort of hunter to deal with. The mythical, shouldn't-even-be-real kind."

Absently, I run my fingers through River's tousled hair and he melts a little further against me with a soft sigh. Lachlan's right. My fated isn't the sort to run from a fight, and I will not leave him behind— no matter what. "I know."

"They seem to think he's their only chance," Kay muses, leaning forwards a little to regard my fated curiously. "All that talk of legacies and destiny and curses. Do you think any of it is true?"

"That lycanthrope definitely looked cursed," Teo comments with a little shiver of revulsion. Lachlan snorts a laugh.

Unwillingly, my thoughts drift back to the dark woods, to the horrific caricature of a wolf, to the blood and grizzle dripping from gaping jaws. Horror scuttles down my spine. My idle hold on River tightens a little, as though that creature could reach through the open window and snatch him away from me if I'm not careful. Recalling the way his markings seemed to blaze like bottled lightning at the sight of the lycanthrope, and the way the beast backed up as though hesitating, a cold shock of certainty lances through me. Imogen is right. River might be the only one who can kill this thing, but that won't stop me from fighting by his side.