The Hunter

Trackers

“Give me the shotgun.” Mira reached her hand over Collin’s shoulder. When Collin hesitated, Mira growled. “It’s either I get the shotgun or I run. Your choice.”

“You know if you run, I’ll just follow.” Collin reluctantly put the gun in her hand.

“I know, which is why I want the shotgun.” Mira grabbed it and cocked it. “We need to draw them out. I don’t feel like walking into an ambush. They won’t kill me, but you and Claude are another story.”

“Why do they want you again?” Collin tightened the strap keeping the swords on his back. Without knowing it, Mira had apparently grabbed some pretty nice throwing knife holders as well. Collin looked like he was getting ready for guerilla warfare as he slung the rifle over his shoulder and stuffed extra clips into his pockets. “Oh, and just know, right now, you are the best girlfriend. Ever. I mean look at this stuff.”

“So I didn’t grab too much, huh?” She couldn’t help but smile at his boyish grin. After taking a deep breath, she refrained from commenting further. He’d be furious if he knew she had been shot at while getting his guns. “Well, let’s wait and see what happens before we start anything. I don’t want to accidentally hit someone.”

“Nah, you grabbed all the essentials.” He held up the sniper rifle and smiled as he loaded it. “This is just right. Oh, and do you know how to shoot that thing?”

He looked at her over his shoulder and she chuckled. “I know enough, and part of why I wanted the shotgun is because I don’t have to be a good aim to still do damage. At least if I hurt them before they get to me, it’ll be easier to rip their throats out when they do.”

“You never answered my question.” She involuntarily cringed at the reminder. Oh, how she wished he would forget it.

“Which one was that?” Mira busied herself messing with the shotgun and refused to meet his eyes.

“Mira.” Her eyes drifted over to Trevor without stopping on Collin. After a second of her not acknowledging his question, he pushed further. “Mira… Why do they want you?”

How did she answer that? The last thing she wanted to do was explain. For now, it seemed like luck was on her side in form of a distraction for Collin.

“Are those wolves part of his group?” Collin sat straight up and his eyes darted to the tree line.

Mira followed his gaze and groaned—three wolves in human form had walked into the parking lot. “No. Most definitely not.”

“Are you going to tell me who they are?” Collin asked, as Trevor nodded his head to the side and one of his wolves dashed behind the convenience store.

Mira involuntary wiggled in her seat. “The trackers from Yellowstone. Now we don’t really have a choice, because this just escalated.” With a heavy sigh, Mira opened the back door of the truck before turning to look in the cab at Collin. “Oh, and don’t hesitate to kill any and all Redwood wolves, but avoid shooting any of the Yellowstone wolves.”

The door slammed shut behind Mira. She could sense Collin following her as she rounded the front of the truck. The eyes of Trevor, his friend and the Yellowstone wolves all shot over to Mira. Trevor pushed himself off the side of the building and sauntered towards where Mira had stopped in front of the hood. An arm slipped around her waist as Collin pulled her up against him. She leveled the shotgun at Trevor’s chest, and he paused midstride and smirked at her.

Claude walked up to the other side of Mira as the Yellowstone wolves maneuvered over to them. They only had three wolves, but they were strong and could definitely hold their own. Depending on how many wolves Trevor had with him, they now stood a chance.