Moon Crossed (Werewolf Hunter Series): Season 1 (Episodes 1-6) (Crescent Hunter) (22 page)

“I know this
pack; they don't follow the rules. They won't hesitate to kill a
hunter, even if they aren't moon-touched.” Cole hangs his head.

Locke shifts into human
form. “When Cole told me where you were going, I couldn't trust
that you'd be okay.”

“I always am,”
I point out.

“You aren't right
now.” Cole ticks his head to the other three wolves closing in
on us.

I draw my sword from my
scabbard slowly. None of these wolves are moon-touched, so I'm
confused that they are making an offensive move.

Cole shifts back into
wolf form and jumps in front of me, taking a defensive stance
against, what has grown to five wolves closing in. A low growl comes
from deep within his belly. He's posturing against the other wolves,
as though he's staking a claim and daring them to challenge.

Locke gives me a look
of concern mixed with heavy disapproval. “What did you do?”

“What are you
talking about?”

“He's claiming
you.” He squints one eye at me.

“What?” I
didn't want to believe it; I thought that's what he was doing. I
bring this conversation to a silent one so no one hears what we are
saying.
He's just doing it to protect me, but honestly I can save
myself.

Claire, stop,
Locke calls out.

I step in front of Cole
with my sword held high and my dagger also drawn, posturing for a
fight. “I am a hunter. I mean you no harm unless you are
moon-touched. Retreat now, do not attack. If you do, I will have no
choice but to defend myself.” My voice is strong and resonant.

They don't retreat; one
of them comes closer. He approaches me with a low growl and stops
directly in front of me standing my ground. Cole tries to move
forward in challenge, but I stop him, holding him in place with my
power.

The wolf shifts to
human form. “I will not allow you to harm our moon-touched.”

A defiant look crosses
my features. “I will not suffer a moon-touched to live.”

“Then we have a
problem,” the wolf says with a contented smile.

Locke moves forward to
my side. “Yes, we do have a problem, Pike. I won't allow you to
harm her nor will I allow a moon-touched wolf to roam free.”

Pike looks Locke up and
down. Cole's threats through growls and barks intensify, as do the
rest of the four who are still in wolf form.

“We are done
letting the hunters kill off our pack,” Pike declares, looking
at Cole with a fiery brand of contempt.

Locke opens his mouth
to speak, but I cut him off. “You need to stand down. Having a
moon-touched wolf running rampant in your forest is a danger to you
and others.”

“Back off,
asshole.” Locke just can't stop himself.

“Listen, little
cub. We are declaring a war on the hunters.” He pauses and
glares at Cole and Locke. “And any wolf that sympathizes with
them.” After a pregnant pause, he repeats himself, looking
directly at Cole. “
Any
wolf.”

Power and strength run
through my body from the ground up, flooding my heart and mind with
fortitude. With my dagger and sword pointed toward the ground, I say,
“Don't be fooled by my size. I'm stronger and faster than any
of you. If you want a go at me, let's do this.”

“Claire,”
Locke warns.

“Take Cole and
get out of here. I don't need you. You are only complicating things.”
I never overt my gaze from the challenger.

Cole's growl deepens
with warning. “I'm not leaving,” Locke insists.

“Locke, get out
of here.” I growl the words through gritted teeth.

Hayden comes through
the trees, also ready for a fight. “Claire!”

“Hayden, I've got
this.” I turn to Locke. “Go!”

Locke shifts into wolf
form, urging Cole to follow. Cole looks up at me with pleading eyes.

I set my jaw, letting
the words out low and serious. “I said go.”

Cole follows Locke into
the trees. I can still feel his presence; they haven't gone far. They
never should have come here.

“What's the game
plan, fellas?” Hayden asks the wolf Locke called Pike.

“We're going to
protect our pack,” he answers, never taking his eyes off me.

“We don't want to
hurt the pack; we just have to make sure that there are no
moon-touched that will be a threat,” Hayden challenges.

“We will protect
our entire pack.” His jaw pops with tension.

I slide my silver
dagger into my sheath, replacing it with my regular dagger. When I
disable these wolves, I want them to be able to heal from any wounds
that I inflict.

“Alright then, I
have a lot of ground to cover. If you aren't going to get out of my
way, then I'll move you myself.” I slide my sword back into the
scabbard on my back.

He shifts into wolf
form and lunges for me. My goal is to disable them temporarily. I
focus my energy, and without touching Pike I throw him against a
tree. He's not unconscious, but he's dazed for a moment. I give the
rest of the wolves a chance to reconsider. “I don't want to
hurt you. Retreat, now. We don't have to fight.”

None of them respond. I
look to Hayden, who is standing at the ready, and shake my head.
“Disable only.”

Hayden nods and the
fight begins. Two wolves jump on me, but with ease I throw them out
of the way. Another wolf is frozen in place; he howls and whines at
being unable to get to me. “Three down, one to go.”

I look to where Hayden
is fighting with Pike. Hayden's struggling and needs my help. Pike
won't listen to reason. I ready my dagger and stab him in the
shoulder, causing him to howl in pain.

“Hayden, let's
go.” I run through the wolves I've already disabled, saying a
silent apology.

Pike gives chase, but
he's slowed by the wound I've given him. Hayden and I are faster and
put plenty of ground between us before we both sense the moon-touched
wolf nearby.

“You feel that?”
I pant.

“I sure do.
What's the plan?” he asks.

“I say take to
the trees to be sure he's alone. Get a lay of the land, and then do
it.” I look up to be sure that there are ample branches. “I'm
not a climber,” he says in a worried tone.

“Just fly,
Hayden.” I scramble up the nearest tree.

“Shit,”
Hayden hisses.

Pike catches up with us
and brought his friends. Sometimes it's so hard when you don't want
to really injure someone to keep them down long enough. Hayden
resists the urge to look up and give away my location. He surveys the
situation, and we both feel the presence of the moon-touched wolves.
There's a good chance that we aren't going to be able to take all of
these wolves and the moon-touched.

Hayden must know; he
takes off running again, drawing some of the wolves away. It's my
hope that the moon-touched wolves won't follow.

I drop down out of the
tree, landing hard on the ground to be heard.

The two moon-touched
wolves come into view from two different directions. One of them is
normal-sized; the other is pretty damn big. Too big for me to throw
around with my powers. My stomach where Brogan clawed me starts to
ache again. My hand finds the spot, and I really do hope that's
sweat, not blood. There's no time to worry about it now. With my
silver dagger and sword drawn and ready, I pop my neck from side to
side.

They slowly close in on
me while I stand my ground. The first kill will be easy; the smaller
one is unable to maintain a solid stare. She won't be able to track
my movements since she's out of her mind. I dart to the left and
slide down beside her like I'm stealing third base, jabbing my dagger
into her chest from the side. She lets out a sharp yelp before she
falls.

The other wolf will be
more of a challenge due to his size. He spins around to face me and
lunges straight for me. I lift my sword for a quick chest shot, but
he swipes it from my hand. I wasn't expecting that. I find myself
flat on my back with a snarling wolf snapping at my face. I'm holding
him just far enough away that he can't reach. His massive paws are
tearing at my shirt as he scrapes and claws, trying to get at me.
With focused energy, I throw him off and get barely enough time to
sit up and try to get to my sword before he's back, snapping at my
face. He pins me down before I can get it.

My fingers stretch to
try to get it, but the sword is just out of my reach. I scramble
backward, trying to reach it. I get a stronger grasp on his head and
do the only thing I can: twist hard enough to break his neck. It
won't kill him; only a silver blade to the heart will. But the broken
neck will give me enough time to get the sword.

With my sword in hand,
I approach where he's lying on his side. Dropping to my knees, I
tenderly pat his head and lean down close to his ear. “I'm so
sorry, my friend.”

This never gets easier,
taking a life. A single tear flows down my cheek as I rise up, lift
the sword above my head, and plunge it down into his chest, piercing
his heart. My hands are gripping the hilt too tight to let go. I
pause there for a moment and let the sorrow flow through me. I'm
overwhelmed by the sense of his spirit being released.

They say you can't see
it, but I always do. A dim, blue light appears to rise from the body
of the wolf. My heart drowns in despair at the life I've taken. My
moment of reflection is broken when I feel the presence of more
wolves. One of them is Cole.

I take the sword from
the wolf's chest and clean the blood off. Cole and Locke enter the
clearing, watching me intently. I shake my head, regretful of what
I've done. They look at both wolves, then back at me. “I'm so
sorry. I didn't want you to see this.” I slide the sword into
my scabbard. “I have to find Hayden. Please go home.”

There's no way I can
look at either of them in the eye, I'm too ashamed . Starting off at
a trot then a run I feel the burn of the cuts, scratches, and bruises
forming from whipping through the briars in the woods. This should be
healing, but it isn't. When I get back to Aunt Rain, I need to talk
to her about it.

The tingling sensation
I have when Cole is nearby doesn't subside with distance, meaning
he's right behind me.

If I have to make any
more kills tonight, I'd rather that he not witness them. My level of
irritation is rising, and it's taking all of my self-control to not
scream at him to go away. Something on the wind catches my attention:
Hayden's scent. I turn in that direction and start running.

Hayden is laying in
pool of blood, his chest is rising and falling fast with his labored
breaths. “Hayden!”

I slide down onto my
knees beside him. “Hayden! Talk to me.” I grab the walkie
talkie from his pants pocket.

“Hayden is down.
I repeat, Hayden is down. Requesting assistance...” I pull my
GPS out of my pocket and read my coordinates. At the same time I'm
trying to use my healing powers, but it isn't working. I can feel
Cole nearby, but for whatever reason my healing powers will not work.

“Claire? Are you
okay?” It's Aunt Rain.

“Yes, but I need
help.” My voice is frantic and I'm trying to focus on my
surroundings, Hayden, and listen to Aunt Rain.

“Heal him.”

“I can't. I'm
trying,” I scream helplessly into the radio.

“Don't you have a
wolf?” she asks with panic at the edge of her voice.

“Yes, but it's
not working.”

“Help is on the
way,” she lets me know, and I throw the radio down to focus on
Hayden.

He's been in and out of
consciousness while I've been trying to heal him, bring him back, but
my energy just won't flow. I look up and see Cole at the tree line.
There's a longing in his eyes that he wants to be closer to me.

Spotlights cut through
the darkness, followed by the sound of trucks making their way
through the trees. I look at him with the same yearning, but I do
what's right. “Go.”

He shakes his head and
I yell again, “Go!”

Cole takes off running,
but doesn't go far, just out of sight. One of the first people to
arrive is a wolf-borne in human form. “Hey there, I'm Ben.
Let's see if we can get him patched up.”

Ben puts his hand on my
shoulder and I focus the healing energy. Hayden's wounds begin to
close, but it's slow, not like it should be.

Before long, there's an
entire circle of hunters around us, watching and waiting to see if
Hayden regains consciousness. Aunt Rain comes up behind me. “He's
stable. Let's get him into one of the trucks and back to the cabin.”

I step back. wrapping
my arms around myself guarding against the chill of the early morning
air. Aunt Rain comes to where I'm standing. “You okay?”

“Yeah, just
worried.” I shake my head. “I'm not sure what was wrong,
why I couldn't heal him.”

“We'll figure it
out. He's going to be okay,” she reassures me, and throws a
cloak around my shoulders. “You need to warm up.”

“The chill has
settled in.” I look down at the
ground. “Shit!”

“What is it?”
she asks.

“I made two
kills, but I had to find Hayden and I'm not sure I can find them
again.” I can't believe I did that.

“We'll find them.
Can you tell us a direction to go in?” she asks.

“I'll find them.”
No way I'm having someone else handle my kills. I start in the
direction that I think I came from, but so much of this has been a
blur.

“Claire, you need
to go back to the cabin, not staying out here.” Aunt Rain is
mothering me. While it's appreciated, I would prefer to be treated
like a grown-up.

“I'd rather
finish what I started. I don't want anyone else doing it,” I
insist.

Ben stands next to Aunt
Rain. “Don't worry, you'll get credit for the kills.”

“This isn't about
credit; it's about respect.” My tone is full of venom. It
pisses me off that everyone thinks that this is about getting
acknowledgment. It's so far from the truth; if I could hide this, I
would.