The Hunted

Seven

Red

Lucy was telling Red about her new pregnancy cravings – which included putting pickles on peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwiches – when the first gunshot rang out.

They'd been in the field, talking and laughing as Henry humoured the children with a game of 'pin the tail on the wolf'. It was an age-old party game except instead of giving blindfolded kids a tail to pin on a poster of a wolf, they had adapted the game. What resulted was a version whereby the only person who was blindfolded was the Alpha. The goal was for Henry to evade the kids using the rest of his heightened senses as they chased after him with ribbons that they tried to stuff into his back pocket.

Monroe and Toby had organized all of the games that were to be played during Annalise's eighth birthday party despite the fact that they weren't in attendance at it. They'd left for the Venenum Silvas Pack to keep an eye on Kassius Thorne while the issue with the wall was further investigated.

Red should have known that sending away their Beta was a mistake. Especially as that shot sounded from the western corner of the field and pandemonium ensued.

He had no time to think – not as subsequent shots sounded, coming from all directions. Red threw himself over Lucy, shielding her from harm as a bullet soared over his head and the screaming started.

People ran, reaching for children and dashing into the woods flanked by wolves who had Shifted and were now ushering the vulnerable to safety.

Distantly, Red heard a roar of fury. Henry, he thought with a flash of relief. But he didn't have time to dwell on it as Lucy whirled around, screeching for her daughter.

"Go!" Red shouted at her, shoving her towards the forest and the cover the trees provided. "To the house! Go!"

"I've got Annalise!" Amanda, Lucy's sister, shouted and Red glanced over his shoulder long enough to see her covering the young girl with her body. They darted into the woods a few hundred feet away, Amanda Shifting to protect her niece.

Seeing that, Lucy didn't need to be told again to run and Red was relieved that it was still early enough in her pregnancy that Shifting wasn't dangerous for her or the baby.

Red Shifted too, flanking Lucy's brown-black wolf skin as he forced her into the dense brush ahead of him. The Shift brought an array of panicked voices into his head. Terror laced through the pack's link but Red forced himself to stay calm as he began barking orders to his warriors, though many had known what to do without being told.

They'd divided into two groups – those who were protecting the vulnerable, and those who were combing through the dense woods in offensive positions.

Red sorted through the disorder of the link and found Henry's mind, clear and focused. I've got Lucy. Bringing her to the house and then circling back. What are we looking at?

Hunters, Henry replied. They got through the fucking wall, Red.

How many?

A few dozen at least. They're moving in tactical units. They know the layout of our pack, Red. They're trying to move towards the house.

Where are you now? Red asked as he pushed on, keeping pace with Lucy and watching the surrounding trees carefully as if a hunter might appear in his periphery at any moment. The urge to fight, not flee, was high. Luckily, he and Lucy were nearing the house – it loomed through a break in the trees ahead.