The Abused Mate

Chapter 25 - Lena's POV

I rolled over and my hand went through empty space hitting the pillow next to me. I opened my eyes and found myself alone. Sitting up I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and noticed that the bathroom door was ajar and the light was on. I quietly crept out of bed and peered through the cracked door but it was empty.
"You lazy butt" I muttered as I turned the light off and went to the closet.

"Hey Lena you wanna go on a hunt?" Dylan's voice piped up.

I was heading downstairs five minutes later with my shoes in hand when Bryan popped his head around the corner "Found her!" he said swinging his arm around my shoulder as we walked towards the kitchen.

"I wasn't missing." I told him as I shrugged his arm off and put my shoes by the back door.

"Here you go dear." Carol said handing me a plate with eggs, bacon and pancakes, "Eat up you need the energy to catch tonight's dinner."

I looked over at Dylan who couldn't answer past the eggs in his mouth.

"We have a monthly BBQ where we catch a few older bucks and some doe to control the population and keep the herd strong while at the same time feeding us. We make a game of it by splitting the younger wolves into groups and seeing which group can haul in the biggest deer." Duke answered for him.

"Good job little bro, finally one who can keep up with you." Lexi said walking behind Dylan and punching lightly in the arm. He chocked on his food and for a second there was only silence before everyone else started laughing.

"Nothing happened Lexi, we Marked but that's it." Dylan argued getting up and chasing her around the couch.

She continued to mock him before the both of them joined back at the table and glared at each other for the rest of breakfast.

"You two ok to join in the hunt?" Duke asked Sebastian and Sky.

"We should be ready to go. We're not the fastest but we can lend our part." Sky answered carrying his dishes to the sink.

Duke nodded, "Meet us out front when you get what you need." Duke told them ushering the rest of us out the door.

Over the next half hour the rest of the pack members under the age of 25 met up in front of the Big House as they called it and waited to be put into groups.

"Is everyone ready?" Duke asked the group once everyone had arrived. "We have 30 members this year so you're going to be split up into six groups of five." "Ok listen for your name and group number I don't want to have a repeat of last time. Group One: Carrie, Luke, Jackson, Emily, and Phil. Group Two: Dylan, Bryan, Lena, Brandon, and Courtney."

He continued on with the names with Sky and Sebastian in Group four and Lexi being part of group five. There were high fives as friends and siblings were put in the same group and a few "your going down" and "it's on".

"Get in your group and follow me. We'll be starting from the same place as last time but with 30 seconds between each start." Duke announced moving off to where the woods were deeper and trees were closer together.

I walked over to Duke, "I wanted to ask you, the other day when you guys were looking for me Dylan told me my scent had faded away but I was only gone for a few hours. How is that possible." I asked.

"A wolf can sometimes do that when under extreme stress or when they want to hide. It's difficult to do but in your case you're wolf knew how to do it. Consider it as a useful thing even when you're not in danger." he answered patting my shoulder. "Now go join your group."

Bryan jogged up and walked on my right side with Dylan on my left. Brandon and Courtney followed behind giving me a sideways glance when they joined us. When we got to a good spot away from the other groups we got together to form our plan.

"I'm the fastest so I'll run it down, Brandon and Dylan are the brute strength so they can take it down. Lena, you and Bryan make sure that another buck doesn't come in to save it if it's a doe and to keep it from running off." Courtney ordered.

"I have a better idea. Lena you're slimmer and faster so you can take it down. Courtney and Brandon you two are larger so you can make sure to keep it on track. Bryan, you stay with Lena and aid her if you need to. I'll take it down and keep it down with Bryan's help so Lena can get a good hold on it's neck and not make it worse for the poor thing." Dylan said looking at each of us while telling us our jobs.

Brandon shrugged in agreement not wanting to argue with his future Alpha. Courtney on the other hand had other ideas.

"You're just letting her do that because she's your mate. I'm faster and quieter than she is, besides she's never run in a pack before." she said stomping her foot and huffing.

"For one thing you shouldn't talk to your future Alpha like that. And another thing, you don't know me, you've never seen my wolf and I have in fact run in a hunt with my cousins so I know how it works so do some research before you start assuming. And not trying to be a bitch or anything but I'm also going to be you're Alpha and while I won't be harsh and demand anything, I don't like being talked to like I'm an outsider." I interjected before either Dylan or Bryan could  back me up. "Now let's stop this nonsense and pay attention I'm not losing because you're wasting time."

She shut her mouth and looked in a different direction but I knew that she had more to say.

"Good job on you're part, I've never seen her that flustered before." Bryan whispered in my ear as Duke finished the rules. "And I think you'll be ok on any does but give me a signal if you need any help if we find a buck."

I nodded and broke off from the rest of them to shift. I left my clothes in the notch of an old tree and trotted over to Dylan's black and gray wolf and Bryan's brown one. We waited until Brandon's pale cream wolf and Courtney's stark white wolf walked out, together we walked to the other groups.

"Alright look's like everyone is here. Now without any hesitation Group One you can go." Duke announced. The five wolves started off and headed west. Silence fell except for the occasional chirping and rustling in the tree tops. After 30 seconds Duke spoke again, "Group Two you can go now."

We headed west and in our heads we heard Duke announcing the last four teams.

"You're all on you're own now. Good luck and have fun and while one of you will catch the biggest deer all of you are considered winners. And remember only one deer for each group and no cheating. Best of luck to you all." Was the last thing that we heard from Duke after all the teams had been sent out. 

The competition was on.