The Hunters Mark

6

{ Aleksander ~ Al-exs-an-derr }

-✧-

"Get up." commanded a low voice above Cora. His broad figure managed to block out any flicker of sunlight from its rise and he chucked Cora's bows and arrows on her. She spluttered as they hit her chest, surprised by the sudden force. A hand latched on hers and pulled her up to her feet. Cora dusted off the dirt covering the backs of her legs and finally looked at her rude awakener. Aleksander.
"God, your dark circles are awful." He commented, causing Cora to scowl.
"Really? I didn't realise." She replied angrily, spitting her words out. The sector was already up and ready waiting for Cora when she had finally prepped her bow and she wondered to find Ilana. As expected, Ilana was right by Damien's side while he chatted with Harry and the others, looking awkward and shy. Cora couldn't help but giggle as she ran over to save her friend from the awkward situation.
"Sorry, let me borrow her!" Cora shouted, grasping Ilana's hand and pulling her up, laughing loudly as they ran. It was only Cora who laughed as soon enough Ilana returned to biting her nails and tapping her foot, staring intently at the ground.
"Stop, you'll get wrinkles." Cora told her, trying desperately to wake Ilana from her trance.
"I'm worried." Was all Ilana said.
"I know." Cora replied, rubbing her friends back. Despite there being many things she could have said to comfort her, Cora said nothing and continued to pat her back.

-✧-

The jog was not long to the pack. Soon enough the stench of death was thick in the air and the trees seemed to loom downwards. Elijah positioned himself behind one of the shacks, watching the were-wolves carefully. The rest of them positioned themselves behind bushes and trees. Cora ended up behind a trunk with Aleksander and Ilana, Damien and Harry were behind a nearby tree. She watched Ilana's hand wrap tightly around Damien's and the terrified glint in her eyes glow brighter. Damien lent down and placed a gentle kiss on Ilana's forehead and stayed there, the two relishing the time in each others presence. Cora prayed to every God she could think of that they would protect Ilana. She couldn't die.
Cora inspected the pack carefully, searching for any weaknesses. There weren't many people; they were gathered around the fire cooking what seemed to be a rabbit. In their human forms they didn't look threatening at all. They didn't possess angry faces nor did they bark or growl. It was as if there was no wolf there to begin with. Cora noticed that the remains of the pack were mostly young children and women with the occasional male. Part of Cora wished they would have been shifted, for at least then she wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between male and female, child or adult. It was obvious which male was the alpha when he approached the fire. His eyes burned yellow as he looked around their camp, searching. Cora already knew that he knew. He knew they were there.
"Do not hide in the shadows. I know you are near." The alpha growled. He whispered something to the pack members, causing their eyes to glow a bright green. It was when he howled that the pack shifted, all snarling loudly in their beast forms. The children, seemingly unable to shift, rushed inside and Cora heard the distinctive click of a locked door. The wolves stood proud, jaws snapping harshly, ears and tails standing tall. Elijah caught Cora's attention and began to mouth something to her. Confused, Cora scrunched her eyebrows until eventually she understood what he was saying.

Shoot him.

Cora's arms shook as she raised her bow, pulling back on the arrow slowly. She aimed it straight into the Alphas head. If she shot now, it would definitely hit him. Her bow began to shake aggressively as Cora began to lose her cool. A small bead of sweat trickled down her forehead.
"Do it!" Aleksander whispered in her ear.
She couldn't do it. Even with his eyes glowing saffron, she couldn't bring herself to shoot him. This was so different to a stuffed dummy. Aleksander rested his hand angrily on Cora's arm, pulling them down.
"You cannot hesitate." He told her sternly before pulling his own arrow back and shooting the alpha himself. Cora breathed sharply as the familiar whistle of a flying arrow screamed in her ears and the steel tip flew towards the alpha. As it sore through the air Cora watched intensely yet she looked away just before it pierced his forehead, not wanting to watch him fall. Scrunching her eyes closed, Cora prepared for the thump but, there was nothing. She slowly opened her eyes and peered out from the cover of the trunk to see that the alpha had caught the arrow mid-air, just before it hit him, inches from his face. His face was calm but dangerous as he brought the arrow to his knee and snapped it cleanly in two.
The pack let out a deafening roar, shaking the sleeping birds out of their nests. Elijah screamed himself, setting the sector into action. Without question and fear, Cora watched as the friends she grew up with jumped out from their cover and charged, releasing their beasts too. To her horror, she watched as wolves snapped and bit at hunters however their growling was matched by the hunter they were facing.
Abruptly, Cora was thrown to the floor, two large paws gripping her shoulders. The beast above her bared it's teeth, drool dripping down from its stained fangs. Unable to move, Cora simply stared into its green eyes, pleading. Somewhere inside her, Cora found the will to reach for an arrow, shuffling her herself to the left, reaching out for her arrow. She flinched as she felt it's claws sink into her shoulder. It brought its head down close to hers and growled once more, before raising its paw, claws elongated, aiming for her throat. Cora took a deep breath in and closed her eyes, waiting for death. She must have looked pitiful, one of the organisations best hunters, close to tears under a snarling wolf.
There was a loud shot noise from somewhere infront of Cora, followed by a loud whimper from an unsuspecting wolf. A large weight was suddenly on Cora's body and the paw on her shoulder became limp. Cora opened her eyes to see the previously snarling beast lying dead on top of her, oozing blood out from a rather mangled hole in its head onto Cora's upper chest. Bloody foam came pouring out of its mouth dripping onto the ground to her left. Unable to scream or whimper Cora breathed heavily, eyes not wavering from the hole in its head. There was a loud crack of bones as the beast shifted back into its human form - a young girl, no older than Cora herself, with dirty blonde hair and a gruesome gap in the centre of her forehead, bleeding out with no intention of stopping. Cora's uneven breaths became louder and switched to whimpers as she reached up to her face and brought her hand back down to find it covered in blood, someone else's blood. She was dragged out from under the lifeless body and pulled up to her weak feet. Her chin was brought up roughly for her eyes to meet with Elijah's glowing blue ones.
"Wake up Cora! This isn't you. Get your head out of the skies. Do you want to fucking die?" He screamed, not quite looking at her. While her bottom lip wobbled she shook her head.
"Don't die on me Cora Banks." He said, finally meeting her wife eyes. He grabbed her bow and arrows and handed it to her, giving a small smile. She watched as he ran over to help Emilia with the Alpha. The alpha would definitely die. His front paws had been impaled by two spears, immobilising him while Eifa whipped at him and Emilia threw knives. Cora had to look away when Rae brought down a machete on his neck. When his body hit the ground and the deafening noise of his bones cracking pierced the air, the remaining wolves seemed to slow, each of their eyes losing any determination they had. Still, they fought proudly, willing to die for their pack. Cora began to jog to the shack, her jog quickly turning into a run as she dodged through battles. She opened the door slowly, dagger in her hand. The shack was empty, all apart from one little boy, shaking profusely in the corner. His eyes shot up as Cora entered and he tried to push his body further into the wall, as if he was hoping he would become it.
"I won't hurt you." Cora said slowly, putting her dagger away behind her. She crouched quietly down to the ground, more than aware that anyone could come in at any second.
"What's your name?" Cora asked. No reply.
"I will bring no harm to you, please talk to me." She told the boy, giving him a smile.
"Mummy said that I can't speak to you. She said that I should stay in here until she comes back and all the bad men are gone. Are you one of the bad men?" He replied, looking into her eyes with fear. Cora didn't want to scare him anymore than he already was. His cowering stance, sitting patiently in the corner reminded her of when the organisation took her and how she hid in a cupboard in silence.
"No, I'm not. I promise that the bad men will go soon, okay?" Cora said, doing her best to comfort the shaking boy.
Suddenly, the door swung open and Damien strode in, spear at the ready.
"Oh Jesus Cora you scared me! Why are you on the—" Damien screeched when he spotted Cora on the floor. When he noticed the boy, his spear began to rise slowly.
"No! Damien don't hurt him." Cora shouted with urgency.
"Elijah's orders are that everyone must die. This kid will be just like them in a couple years, a yapping dog." He spat, staring at the shaking boy. "If he dies then he can join his family."
The boy gasped, his hands trembling as he gripped the table leg. It was as if her voice stopped. Cora tried to shout, to yell, to scream at Damien yet no noise came out. She was unable to stop him from pointing his spear. Cora wasn't thinking. The only thing in her mind was to keep the boy safe. She forgot that Damien was her friend. She only remembered when her dagger was stuck in his throat. His eyes were open wide and he stumbled backwards, knocking against the chairs, crashing against the wooden floorboards.
"Damien!" Cora screamed, crawling over to him, cupping his chin with her hands.
"Oh fuck, oh my God! Damien, don't close your eyes, I swear to God Damien if you close your eyes I'll, I'll," Cora's cries quietened to a whisper as his eyes fluttered close and his breathing became staggered.
"I'm so sorry, no, Damien, Damien! I didn't mean to, I wasn't thinking, I'm so sorry!" She whispered, clutching onto his chest. Her tears fell silently against his cheeks as she watched his last breath leave his chest and his face flush white.
"Damien.." Cora whispered through broken sobs. Cora took in a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.
"Oh my God I just killed someone." Cora whispered to herself, repeating the world 'kill' over and over. She brought her hands to the dagger lodged in his neck and wrapped them around it, pulling it out of his neck. As she did so, thick blood came spilling from his neck, staining the carpet below. She knew that someone would find him, someone would find him with a dagger wound. They would find out it was her, there was no doubt about it. Slowing her breathing, Cora allowed her nails to grow sharp, similar to those of a wolf's, and brought them down to his neck, slashing deeply over the stab wound, trying to conceal it. She attempted to clean the dagger and shoved it back into her pocket.
This wasn't right.
During the time, Cora had completely forgotten about the now petrified boy behind her. She tried to calm him but her bloody hands and face seemed to only frighten him more.
"My name is Cora. I promise I'll protect you from now on. You can trust me.I promise." She whispered, hating herself for saying those words, similar to the ones she said to Ilana. She had broken her promise, Ilana will be crushed when she finds out.
To her surprise, the boy nodded.
"I need you to help me, I need you to say that it was a wolf that clawed at his neck, not me." Cora told him, hating herself further. She was going to have to lie to her whole sector, her family.
When he nodded again, Cora turned back to Damien. She stroked his long brown curls back from his face, biting her lip to hold back a sob. Cora silently cried and brought her hand to close his eyes. She took in a deep breath before wailing as loudly as she could.
"Elijah!" She screamed as she cried, clutching Damien's lifeless body. There was a loud rustle of footsteps outside and the squeak of shoes on floorboards as Elijah came barging in through the door, his gun up to his face. He searched the room before looking down, finally noticing Cora.
"Cora, are you oka— holy shit."

-✧-

End of Chapter 6! Wow that was a long one, I'm sorry, he had to die! I'm sad myself he could have been a real nice character.
How do you think Cora will deal with telling everyone about Damien?

Do you like Cora?

Tell me what you thought of this chapter!
—>