Outlawed Hunter

1.

The sound of metal clanging filled the air as storm clouds loomed in the near distance. From the balcony of a three story mansion stood an older man who was physically fit despite his age of fifty three. As he gazed into the distance another man approached him from behind.

"I'll never understand your fascination with lurking up here, Brysen." The man came to a stop behind the other.

"And I'll never understand why you haven't settled down yet Vinka." Brysen glanced over his shoulder at his brother-in-law. He watched as Vinka merely shrugged with a sly grin before he came to stand next to him.

Both men stood there and looked out over the small town they had. Everyone was busy, men in varying ages spared or were busy forging new weapons. The woman also spared but some chose to attend to the children. The silence between the pair was disrupted by footsteps coming up the wooden stairs. Both men waited as Brysen's right hand man, Hendrix, appeared at the top of the stairs slightly red in the face.

"Sir." He greeted tensely as he stepped closer. "Preparations are under way for the next attack, all new warriors will have completed their training in the next two weeks and the crops have been harvested."

Brysen nodded as he stared once more at the approaching storm clouds.

"Very well," he murmured as he pried his eyes away from the sky and turned his dark gaze onto Hendrix. "Now tell me, where are my children?"

°°°°°°°°°°°°

The wind howled through the trees high above as Haiden crashed through the forest, his speed picking up the steeper the forest floor got. He smacked tree branches out of the way and pushed himself to run faster as he heard two sets of footsteps thundering after him. Haiden grabbed a branch using it to pivot himself to the left as the pair following him continued past before they quickly turned and continued after him.

Haiden wasn't sure if he'd be able to outrun the pair for much longer considering he didn't have much of a head start. His thought was proven correct when a pair of hands grabbed the back of his shirt before throwing him to the ground. A muscular man pounced onto him, his knee digging into Haiden's back.

Chest heaving, Haiden tried to suck in as much air as he could despite the extra weight.

"Get off me," he wheezed.

He grunted as weight was added when the man leaned down, his hand on Haiden's head and pressing it painfully into the dirt.

"Why," he hissed. "So you can just run again?"

The man was flung off of Haiden by a scowling woman with bright red hair. Haiden didn't feel relieved at seeing his younger sister though.

"How many times have I told you 'don't kill him'?"

It was times like this when Haiden wished his brother would succeed in killing him before his sister intervened. Raelynn barely spared a glance at him as she turned back to a pissed off Keon who looked like he was wishing death upon her.

"Why?" Keon snapped as he lunged to his feet. He glared down at the tiny woman as he angrily pointed a finger at Haiden who simply rolled over and laid in the dirt. "He's useless! He doesn't help out in the town or attend battle training. Instead he sits there and has his head filled with bullshit ideas about the mundane world."

"Father doesn't care, he's already said to not kill each other."

"And I don't care, I'll say it was an accident."

Haiden snorted as he regained his breath. "You were an accident," he muttered under his breath.

Unfortunately for him, Keon heard this and became enraged. He jumped onto his younger brother and wrapped his hands around his throat as Haiden fought to pry him off. Though he didn't attend training with the rest of the town that didn't mean he never learned how to fight.

Haiden searched the ground with his hand, desperate for anything solid. His fingers brushed against a rock and he snatched it up without a second thought and drove it into the side of Keon's head. His older brother jerked away from him as blood streamed down his face, a look of murderous intent clear on display.

Before he was able to act upon those thoughts a rustling in the brush not far from the trio startled them. They froze as a pair of half naked men stalked out of the bushes, a lethal air about them as their dark eyes darted between the siblings.

"Lookie what we have here," the tallest of the two practically purred. His partner said nothing as he took his time staring. Haiden shivered when those eyes turned to him and he saw the hunger swimming in them. Hunger for what? Haiden didn't know but he was certain he didn't want to hang around to see if he was going to be someone's dinner.

"Who gave you permission to enter our lands beast?" Haiden wished his brother would shut up. He didn't mind if he got eaten but Haiden rathered he had a fighting chance, or a fifteen second head start on the running.

The men seemed stunned for a moment at the open hostility but soon a slow grin spread across the tallest's face. The more stoic of the two snapped his gaze to Keon, as if he was trying to determine who he would kill first.

Dear God, please sacrifice Keon first.

Haiden immediately scolded himself as soon as the thought formed but, really, he didn't feel bad in the slightest.

The taller man stepped forwarded, almost tauntingly, seeming delighted when the siblings tensed.

"Whatever do you mean?" He teased.

"You're on hunter land, wolf." Keon puffed his chest out trying to present himself as the bigger opponent, his ego always has a way of controlling him. The men before them exchanged bemused glances before they took a predatory stance, wicked smiles and a dangerous glint danced in their eyes.

"Oh you foolish boy," the second man purred. "You left that territory at least a football field ago."

Keon's face paled as did Raelynn's at this realization. Haiden didn't care as he quietly pushed himself to his feet, ready to bolt and leave his siblings behind before Keon tried to kill him again. Haiden took a quiet step back but Keon lashed a hand out, grabbing a solid fistful of his shirt.

I'm fucked.

Keon whipped his head so quickly Haiden was sure he had given himself whiplash but didn't have time to enjoy his own humor as Keon dragged him close enough that their foreheads were touching. The rage that poured off of Keon was suffocating.

"I'm going to murder you," Keon threatened quietly. "You brought us into wolf lands. You can die in their land."