The Hunter's Pack

The Gate

Grayson has been sulking for 3 days now, probably because I threatened to kill him. At first he would just glare at me, and whenever I turned to look at him he would just scowl harder. Day two, he was giving curt replies. Still glaring and scowling, but talking again. It was already 11 pm, and Grayson had to control himself carefully not to accidentally comment on something. It was actually quite funny, and the silence was nice as well. 

Today we had to camp outside, as there were no towns nearby. We had continuously ran northeast for some time now and could now feel the early winter chill seep into our bones.  I glanced at the moody alpha, noting the dark bags under his eyes and disheveled look. I chuckled, finding it oddly comedic that such a cocky alpha was reverted to this state. 

My abrupt noise caught his attention and a pair of angry icy eyes turned towards me. 

"Is something funny?" He growled out. 

"Maybe." I replied while starting to scale a nearby tree, a small smile on my lips. "We will be sleeping here for tonight."

The blond man curtly nodded, before his look on anger was replaced by one of confusion. 

"Wait, why are you climbing a tree? Aren't you going to get cold or-" He cleared his throat. "Why not just shift into your wolf form? It would be warmer as well as simpler." 

I found a suitable cluster of thick branches and comfortably positioned myself on them, readying myself for the night. 

"I like it better on trees. Goodnight." I signaled the end of the conversation and closed my eyes, prepared to sleep. 

There were a few seconds of silence before I heard a soft "goodnight" and the shuffling of clothes and bones cracking.

~*~

"Are we close yet? We've been walking since 6, Alpha Cross." I asked persistently. I ended up giving in to my strange love for talking today; my brother and I both have that in common. Well, the silent treatment didn't seem to work anyways and might have actually made her happier instead. 

"If it made her happier, we should go back to being silent." My wolf helpfully spoke up. 

"Oh, look who finally appeared after 4 days. Done sulking?" I mockingly replied.

"Shut up. You were moping as well." He replied crossly. 

"Fine, but it was only because..." I trailed off. Why had I been sulking? I hate the woman, and as a murderer of course she would be ok with killing me. 

"Because...? Oh, you don't know? Well, I do. You started to like her; you started to see what I see. But then when she reinforced the notion that we are nothing to her, you were hurt. We were hurt. That's why we definitely have to make her happier. If we want our mate to love us like we love her-"   

"Be quiet, fool. That's just the mate bond speaking. Why would we love someone that mows down innocent people like their lives are worth nothing? She killed the King and Queen." I cut him off before he could continue. I would never love a cold hearted killer like her. 

"Still using that excuse? Last night you were worried about her well-being, but hey, if you're so sure then just kill her now. What's the point of waiting until she proves herself, am I right?"  He growled out and angrily closed himself off from me. I sighed; what an irritating wolf. 

"We are here." She suddenly said, bringing me out of my thoughts. 

"What..?" I looked around, but nothing looked special. The trees were the same, the ground was the same, the patches of grass were all the same. 

She approached a nearby tree and quietly spoke something; her words were too soft for me to catch. A few minutes had passed with nothing happening. 

"Are you fucking with me? Nothing is here,-" I had just started to rant before the ground shuddered, followed by a complete and eerie silence. I quickly jumped towards a nearby tree with a shout, holding onto it for support as the ground under me seemed to crack and split apart. I anxiously looked around, trying to find Alex through the clouds of dirt. 

"Alex? Where are you!" I couldn't see her, and with the ground loudly splitting apart and the dust floating around me, my hearing and smell were compromised as well. 

"Shut up please; my ears can't really handle much more noise. I am right here." An annoyed voice calmly sounded out behind me. I turned and let out a relieved breath, seeing her on the other side of my tree. Assured of our safety, I focused my attention onto the now gaping crevice in the ground. 

I squinted, noticing something shiny and black slowly appearing. I felt my heart hammering in my chest, my breath quickly cutting short at the sight. An enormous metal dragon rose 20 feet into the air, coiled around a dark gray metal pole in the shape of a half circle with curving designs. The dragon's mouth was wide open, revealing a threatening row of sharp teeth. My gaze traveled up towards it eyes, which were closed. I jumped up in fright when they suddenly opened, seeming to stare straight into my soul. Its head moved, looking at Alex. It sized her up and down before, seemingly satisfied, it nodded and closed its eyes. 

The ground had stopped shaking by now, and Alex smoothly walked towards the gargantuan gate. She turned towards me, a question in her light eyes. 

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go."