Betrayed

Chapter 13

Inhale. Pause. Exhale. Despite my efforts, my breath still catches in my throat. My head throbs with my pounding heartbeat and my knees threaten to give out. I tighten my grip on my knife. The handle is slick with sweat. Once again, I try to master my panicked pulse. It's useless. Calmness is impossible when the reek of death and hate is so strong. Rushing footsteps sound and I press closer against the cool bark of the shadowed tree.

The hunters are clumsy and loud, lacking the stealth their names implied. They're so incompetent I would have laughed, if my life wasn't at risk. Clumsy or not, the brute force of the hunters is nothing to be mocked, especially when you're surrounded. I stifle a sigh, kicking myself for having been too stupid to pick a hiding spot with an escape route. Maybe I'm dumb enough to be a hunter after all. A nice distraction from my fear, but fear is what will keep me alive. The closest pack is miles away, so hoping for backup is pointless. I steady my breath again and readjust the grip on my knife.

I had been standing in the shadows at the back of the courtroom when I saw Axel slip out the door, trying to be sneaky. That wasn't suspicious at all. I had followed, hoping for something incriminating but not expecting much. I hadn't been ready for the hunters. Dumb luck had kept me from being discovered so far. Despite my fear, I find myself smiling. This is perfect. I knew I wasn't just paranoid. There has always been a strange tension around Axel, something dangerous that makes the hair on my arms raise whenever I'm around him. I could never bring myself to trust him and I'm glad I didn't.

Once a traitor, always a traitor. It takes the threat of the twenty well-armed hunters around Axel to keep me from slitting his throat. Fear, hate, and bloodlust churn my stomach, filling my mouth with a bitter taste. I can't understand why he's still betraying us to the hunters, but in all honesty, I'm not as surprised as I thought I would be. The distrust of a pack leader, as difficult it makes friendships, is good for something after all.

Slowly, Niel emerges from the crowd, the hunters making gestures of respect as they step aside for him. Interesting, how quickly their loyalties have shifted. I find myself wondering if Axel ever held them at all.

All that I know of Niel is from Sierra's accounts of him, which is scarcely anything since Sierra doesn't tell me much. Alyssa says it's because I'm too uptight. Uptight...okay maybe a little. But it's not entirely my fault. Sierra does whatever she wants and Cassidy is the only one who tells me what she's doing. I shake my head again. I must focus, I scan the area. The hunters have their weapons trained on Axel, but he seems unfazed. Strange. I run through what I know so far.

Niel is the hunters' leader. He tricked Sierra into falling in love with him then poisoned her. He's friends with Axel and....and...that's all I know. I look over to the two. They seem deep in conversation and in a few minutes Axel shakes Niel's hand. In that moment I'm certain I cannot trust Axel.

Suddenly Niel removes...a whistle. What a strange thing to bring to the forest. I had been anticipating a knife or a sword. Axel looks confused as well. Niel flashes him a secretive smile and begins to blow the whistle. As the first note pierces the air, I realize the danger is so much worse than I had thought.

The shrill notes feel like needles being driven through my skull and I collapse to the ground in agony, blinded by the pain. My hands claw at my ears but it does nothing. I can't even hear my own screams. In the haze of nausea and pain, I can see flashes of Axel writhing on the ground as well.
My head is pounding. I have to run, crawl, drag myself, anything if only to get away from that awful noise. My legs wobble as I struggle to my feet. The noise grows louder with every step and I lose my balance. Sprawled in the rocky undergrowth again, I begin rocking back and forth. "Make it stop." I whisper, my voice hoarse from screaming. I begin shrieking the words, I feel like my head's going to explode. Niel finally looks calmly over to where I've collapsed in the dirt, with no trace of surprise on his face. He steps over Axel like any other log in the forest, and stops a short distance away from me.

The hunters have their weapons aimed at me now as they all come closer, in case I put up a fight. As if I can do anything. The only thought I can form is make the noise stop. Niel bends down in front of me and his fingers jerk my head up roughly by my hair. The pain is nothing compared to the agony in my head. My senses dull as the world starts to darken. "Hello Alpha. I've been expecting you." I see the blur of his fist and the world cuts

Axels pov: Sometimes  I wonder why I'm still doing this. Why I'm still meeting with Niel. For Sierra. Everything I did was for Sierra.  But I also missed Niel. My only friend, if anything he would help me and Sierra, he's always been there for me. I have been walking in the forest for a few hours. I had to get so far away that no werewolf could hear us. And I constantly turned around to make sure no one was following me. Because if anyone knew that I was meeting with the hunters new leader I would be executed immediately.  I looked up as Niel walked towards me. "I knew you would come." I said. "Of course, I never break my promises." Niel smiled. I saw hunters come from behind him. They were all armed,alert and ready to do anything. I remember when they would do anything for me.

Niel gave  the hunters a nod and they lowered there weapons and looked around at the forest instead. "So Axel explain to me why you wanted me here?" He had to help after all I was running out of options. "Sierra, she's sick with the poison a hunter gave her." I knew it was him..he not only found Sierra but he tried to kill her. "Axel" he laughed. The man laughed at my sisters sickness. It made me furious "Shes  strong however I am surprised she lasted this long. After all most die by the third week of poisoning. And let me guess you want me to cure her?" I nodded, knowing if I punched him an arrow would go straight through my heart.

All I needed was a sentence. One sentence. I wonder if Niel realized how desperate I was. Because if Sierra didn't live I could never forgive myself. "I'll do it." "What?" I stared at Niels face. He was serious, "I'll do it." He repeated. Perhaps he was doing it because he wanted to help a friend in need. Maybe in the back of his mind he still remembers me as Axel his friend not a traitor to the hunters. "But" there it was, he wanted something in return. "But you owe me a favor." "A favor? What kind of favor?" He extended his hand out. "Whatever I need." His voice was surprisingly calm. For Sierra, I thought as I extended my hand and we made the deal.