The Hunting
Chapter 5

He lost her scent near the Western entrance, he could tell she'd been moving inward, towards the middle of the woods. But somewhere along the way he'd lost her - or had she lost her scent? If so, who was this girl, and why was she hiding from him?

He decided to just keep walking in the same direction he had been going since catching her scent, if she was hell bent on hiding from him he could use it as an advantage. The advantage being that he could probably understand her train of thought and her decision making process, if she wanted to hide, she'd do it near a water source. So he'd keep walking until he found one and start there.

A few hours into his walk he heard the sound of running water, using his wolf senses he zoned in on the sound and determined its general direction. The sounds of wolves growling and howling filled the air, he could smell at least a dozen males around and that unsettled his wolf.

"What if we don't find her? Or worse, what if we do and she's already claimed ?" his wolf kept playing over countless scenarios inside his head and he did his best to ignore him and focus on his task.

"Would you shut up and help me? The sooner we locate her scent, the sooner we can find and claim her." he snapped at his wolf, who responded by grumbling unintelligible insults at him.

Deciding to call it a night and continue his search in daylight, he settled down against a rock next to the stream. He closed his eyes and sighed.

" Where are you? "he whispered into the night.

A piercing scream that made the hair on his neck stand to attention, woke him up. He noticed that the sun was slowly rising. His wolf was on edge immediately, because it wasn't a scream of fear or panic, but rather one of brokenness, pure mourning flowing out.

"Mate!" his wolf growled out.

He didn't understand why his wolf was suddenly so adamant that the scream belonged to his mate, what would she have in here to mourn over?

Following the general direction of the scream he came upon a terrifying scene. There was a wolf, dead and half-gutted on the ground, lifeless eyes staring at the sky and a rock tomb with a shaking, blood covered girl sitting in front of it, crying and singing.

"... soon when the wellerman comes

he'll bring us sugar and tea and rum..."

"Remember that song Lay? Dad use to sing it on our fishing trips." she said, laughing. "Gosh we hated when he did that."

She was quiet for a while.

"What I wouldn't give to be in that damn boat, with his off-tune ass singing away carelessly, your searching eyes making sure no one was around to witness the horror that was dad's singing." she whimpered, making his heart break for her.

"Are you alright?" he asked, slowly stepping forward.

When he walked in front of her, his breath caught. She was completely covered in blood, her bright green eyes glowing in between all that red. She was naked, probably had to shift quickly, he thought. He looked back at the wolf again, shaking his head.

"Mate is strong." his wolf purred, reading his thoughts.

"I don't think she's the one who killed him, she's so small." he said to his wolf, looking at the girl again, he could smell the lingering scent of another male.

Before he could argue back, the girl got up and started walking away.

"Wait!" he yelled after her but she just kept walking. He ran up after her, placing his hand on her shoulder to stop her from leaving. She grabbed his wrist and in one smooth motion he was flat on his back.

"She definitely killed him." his wolf huffed out, giving him a goofy wolf grin.

"Look, I'm not here to hurt you. I'm sure you're well aware of the fact that we're mates, so whether you want me to or not I'm going to keep following you." he told her, getting back to his feet.

"I'm Tobias." he introduced, holding out his hand. She gave his hand a look, then looked at him, tilting her head a bit.

"Strange accent you've got there." she said, before walking off again.

Tobias sighed but followed her anyway, she was heading to the stream.

"Uhm... My family has Scotish heiratige." he mumbled as he caught up to her. She knelt down in the water and started rinsing off the blood, he could see tears running down her cheeks as they made a path through all of the blood.

What happened to you? He thought as he stared in silence.

"Your shirt." she said as she stood up and turned to him.

"What?" he asked, looking down tonsee if there was something on his shirt.

"Your shirt dumbass, give it to me." she snapped.

Tobias gave a short chuckle and started removing his shirt.

"You know, in some places it's considered polite to say please." he mocked, handing her his shirt. She pulled it over her head and his wolf growled in approval.

Tobias wasn't a small man, he was twice the size of any regular wolf, so his shirt looked like a dress on this exceptionally small girl.

She glared at him and he averted his eyes. He felt her checking him out and smirked. By the look in her eyes he knew she liked what she saw, which surprised him. Normally when girls saw all his tattoos they freaked out, thinking he's dangerous and then when he told them where he's from they'd run away.

"So, you are?" he asked, twiddling his thumbs.

"Kia." she said flatly.

"Nice to meet you, where are you from?"

She growled at him. "Listen Casanova, I don't want a mate. I don't want you. So just run along and go find some other unfortunate soul to mate with."

"Unfortunate?" he smirked. "What, are my good looks not working for you?"

He walked closer, studying her. She was breathtaking, long dark red hair and beautiful green eyes. She had some freckles and gave off an aura of innocence, but the cold look in her eyes told him she was dangerous.

"Kia.." he said and stopped because he just loved the way her name sounded coming out of his mouth. He cleared his throat. "Kia, I don't care what you say. The fact that you're talking to me, means you want me. Maybe subconsciously, but you do."

Kia laughed at him.

"You're very egotistical. The only reason you're here, is because I needed your shirt. And the only reason you're still alive, is because I don't particularly like killing without reason." she gave him a stunning smile, but he saw the threat in her eyes. "So please, give me a reason." she said, her glare unwavering.

She was being serious, she really didn't want a mate.

"I'll make you a deal?" Tobias said, when she raised her eyebrow at him he continued.

"Allow me to keep you safe until tomorrow afternoon, and if after that you don't want anything to do with me then I'll let you go home." he finished. His wolf was growling and shouting profanities in his mind but he ignored him.

"And I'm just supposed to trust you on that?" Kia laughed.

"Yes." Tobias growled out, he hated when people thought he was lying.

"Fine, you can stick around. But I'm agreeing only because you'll do it anyway. I don't need your protection." she snapped.

She took off into the woods, with Tobias running after her again.

When she got to her hideaway she climbed up the tree and settled into her spot, she'd been awake all night and felt overtired.

"Are you just going to stand there staring or are you going to come up?" she yelled down.

"Uh..." Tobias walked closer, scanning the tree. "How did you?"

Kia burst out laughing, even though it was hollow and joyless.

"Fine, I'll guide you." she said, carefully instructing him where and how to place his hands and feet. Before long he was in the tree with her.

"Never done that before?" she questioned as he settled in.

"No" he said shaking his head.

Kia leaned over to grab the bag behind him and scrunched up her nose in pain, wincing she gasped, holding her side.

"What's wrong?" Tobias asked, searching her for wounds.

Kia lifted up the shirt she had on to reveal a huge, angry, blueish looking bruise.

"Fuck..." Kia mumbled. "he broke my rib."

Tobias stared at her in confusion and admiration.

"You're only now noticing?" he asked, eying the bruise. It looked painful.

Kia shrugged. "I've had a lot on my mind." she pulled the shirt down again and took the bag, opening it to reveal some snacks and water. She handed most of it to Tobias, since he was huge and probably needed it more than her.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, sipping some water.

"It'll heal, we're wolves remember?" she mocked.

He shook his head, "No, that's not what I meant. When I found you.. You were... That grave... The blood... I mean... Are you?" he fumbled over his words, not really knowing how to approach the subject. She was a ticking time bomb and he wasn't good with emotional instability.

"My sister..." Kia said, looking down at the ground. "I had a twin, last night her mate showed up and she went to him. He told me he knew my father so I felt we could trust him, no way I was keeping Lay from him anyway..." she laughed dryly. "That black wolf attacked him, trying to claim my sister. I did what my father asked of me and protected her, she wasn't much of the fighting type. Too soft, too trusting. Anyway, her emotions got in the way and she wouldn't let me handle the wolf. Long story short, he attacked, I killed. But it was too late, Layana was already gone." she rubbed away a stray tear." So that's why the grave and the blood and the dead wolf." she said flatly.

Tobias was speechless for a while. "Tell me about her?" he asked, hoping he didn't overstep.

Kia smiled, a genuine one. You could see she loved her sister dearly.

"Layana was always the better half. She was kind and lovable, she was a true lady. She looked just like my mother, got her personality as well, very outgoing and she kinda reminded you of sunshine. Warm and bright." she sighed. "She never liked training, or killing, she was soft and her wolf was too, they'd take the merciful way out every time. But she was perfect. I loved her so much, it's just so strange... It's like a piece of me is missing, my wolf is losing her mind, she's absolutely insane right now. It's exhausting trying to keep her in.... " she looked over at Tobias." Having you here helps though, I think your wolf is calming her down a bit." she shrugged again.

"Yeah, Timber told me she seemed a bit wild." he replied.

"Timber?" she asked.

"My wolf." he answered, giving her a small smile.

"Oh... Strange name." she said and he gave a knowing nod. "Mine is Niri."

"I know.." Tobias said.

They fell silent for a long time and he just stared at her, she might be small but he could see she was very strong, from the hideout he could also tell she was intelligent and skilled.

"Is your father a warrior?" he asked suddenly, making Kia jump a bit. "Sorry..."

"Yes and No. My father is the Beta and Enforcer of the Riverdale pack, he..." she answered, but he cut her off.

"Clayton is your father?" he asked, eyes wide with surprise.

"Yeah?" she said, raising her eyebrows.

"Well, makes sense, you do look a lot like him..."he said, chuckling. "Now I get why your sister's mate chose to tell you that he knew your father." he laughed.

"He values his life, he said." Kia answered, looking over the trees.

"I do too, by the way." he said in all seriousness.

"I get why you're afraid of him." she said, giving him a reassuring pat.

"I'm not afraid of him Kia, I know he's a great warrior but I don't fear him. I respect him, there's a difference." Tobias said.

"Fair enough." Kia eyed him for a moment. "So Tobias, where are you from?"

He gave a huff. "If I tell you, you'll never look at me the same." he said, a hint of sadness in his eyes.

"Try me." Kia said, turning to face him fully.

"I'm from Blood Moon." he said and Kia gasped. He shook his head, "Yeah, you probably think I'm some ruthless maniac now."

"No, I'm just surprised. You're nothing like they describe your pack." she said.

"You might be the first one not to run away." he joked.

"Broken rib remember? Can't run even if I wanted to." she said seriously, before giving him a smile. "Tell me about your pack."

"Well everything you heard is probably true. My father is a cruel man and he often forces his views on the others..."

"Wait... Your father is the Alpha?" she asked.

"Yeah, but don't look so surprised. Besides, I'm not going to be Alpha." he answered.

"Why not, do you have an older brother?" she asked.

"Yes, two actually. I'm to be Delta when my brother takes over, but I'd much sooner go rogue."

Kia laughed but stopped when she realized he was serious.

"I was hoping to move to my mate's pack. But considering you don't even want me. I'm not sure anymore." Tobias sighed again, staring off into the distance.

"I'm sorry you got stuck with me Tobias." Kia said.

Tobias gave her a small smile, "I'm not."

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