Jaded Anchor: The Hunter

Chapter Three - Adira

“Gramma, can we have cookies?” Adira’s niece Everleigh had no sooner gotten the words out of her mouth when they heard the signal. The signal that meant hunters were there. It was a signal that they had waited on for months and one Adira had started to believe they would never hear. For a moment no one spoke, a feeling of disbelief seemed to spread across the room.

“They’re here.” Dean looked across the table at his sons. For once everyone was on the same side. Everyone jumped up ready to defend their family.

“Ivy take the children and go down to the basement. Hide there.” Nora told her newest daughter-in-law. Ivy was pregnant which meant she wouldn’t be able to shift. She would be more useful in keeping the children hidden. Adira could see Ivy was about to protest but a look from Coen stopped her. She knew Nora was right.

“Yes ma’am.” Ivy said gathering all the children.

“Adira help Ivy get the children downstairs then stay close in case anyone tries to get in.” Her mother ordered. Adira knew better than to protest.

“Let’s go! No more wasting time.” Dean barked out already headed for the door. Adi watched as her brothers, mother, and Alexandra ran after him.

“Come on guys. Let’s go play hide and seek.” Adira told the girls before grabbing their hands. She led them down the stairs to the basement with Ivy, who was holding Parker, following behind them. Once they were in the basement she looked around until she found a pile of boxes.

“We can hide there!” Lux pointed seeing the boxes at the same time as Adira apparently.

“Great idea, Luxie! You guys hide and be very very quiet.” Adira put the girls behind the box then stepped out to see her sister-in-law watching her.

“Thank you, Adi.” Ivy told her sincerely with a worry in her eyes that she just couldn’t hide.

“Hurry hide. Don’t try to come out. I know you’re a wolf now and tough as hell but you can’t help us right now. You gotta keep them safe.” Adira hugged Ivy before heading back upstairs. Ivy had only been a wolf for about a year, but she knew Ivy could fight. Wolves couldn’t shift when they were pregnant. Ivy would be a sitting target if he had gone outside to fight. She pulled the basement door shut and locked it. Once the lock was secure, she shifted. She knew it was time to get her mind in the right place.

Adira wanted to be out there fighting with her family, with her pack, but she knew someone needed to stay and protect the children and Ivy. If hunters got into their house Ivy and the children would be helpless. Adira heard a stream of shots. There were more hunters than last time based on all the shooting. She knew when one of her own died too, the howls of heartbreak were almost unbearable.

It wasn’t long before she heard someone in her house. She knew it was a hunter by the scent. Adira held back a growl. She didn’t want to make her presence known just yet. Not before she knew exactly what she was facing. She inched forward slightly knowing exactly which boards to step over to keep the floorboards from squeaking. This wasn’t the first time Adira had found herself sneaking around the house. 

Finally, she saw him, the hunter who was in her house. He was alone. No one else had followed him inside. Odd She thought to herself. Usually, hunters stuck together. They were like wolves in that sense. There was security in numbers. The male was tall, probably the same height as her brothers. Adira noticed he had long blonde hair which was tied up neatly in a bun on top of his head. So this was a man bun. Not bad actually. The male pulled it off nicely. What the f**k Adi. She was thinking about the dude’s hair while he was there to kill her? Priorities girl.

She must have stepped on one of the squeaky boards because the hunter jerked his head in her direction. Without hesitation, Adira knocked the gun from the male’s hand and slowly cornered him against the wall. She had him cornered on the opposite side of the house from the basement.

He didn’t try to fight her, didn’t lung for the gun. She also noticed that he hadn’t called out for help. Surely one of his men would have heard him scream. Adira drew closer her black lips curled over her teeth. She snapped at him, begging for him to try and move. Give me a reason to kill you. She thought to herself.

“Please…” It was a simple word and not one that she hadn’t heard before. Most people said please when they were about to die, but this ‘please’ was different. Adira didn’t know how but she knew he meant it. He wasn’t fighting back because he didn’t want to be there. He didn’t want to hurt her. He was asking her to spare his life. She should have lunged then, let her teeth sink into his throat, but she couldn’t. Adira didn’t know why she did it, but she stepped aside and let him go.

She watched as the hunter stood there for a few seconds simply watching her. She lowered her head and growled softly as if to say Go before I change my mind. Eventually, the hunter seemed to understand. He reached down for his gun but Adira stepped on it before he could pick it up. She was sparing his life, not giving him the chance to kill any more of her people. The male nodded seeming to understand their silent conversation. He left the rifle and walked out of her house.

Adira watched him go. She didn’t move to stop him. It went against everything she knew to allow that hunter to live. It was a betrayal to her pack, her family, and worst of all her father. Never in her life had she ever done something to incredibly stupid or reckless. What she didn’t understand is why she did it. Sure, he was hot as hell, but he was dangerous to her entire species. A sound at the door had her caused her eyes to pull in that direction. At the door, she saw Coen.

“Adi… you need to come with me now.” He sounded breathless and serious. Coen was never serious. He was in his human form. She quickly shifted back.

“Coen, I can’t leave Ivy and the kids… what’s going on.” She was starting to worry. If Coen wanted her to leave his pregnant wife and the children unattended something serious had to have happened.

“The hunters are gone. We chased the last few out. Adira, you need to come now. Alexandra is on her way to get Ivy and the kids. Come on.” Coen tossed her a long shirt and waited on the porch.

She had been officially freaking the hell out when she reached her brother’s side. He didn’t say anything else he simply led her down the road. She saw the crowd gathered and knew something bad had happened. Leaving Coen behind Adira ran towards the commotion knowing who she would find before she even reached the crowd. A hand caught her arm and she looked up to see her mom. She noticed the tears staining her cheeks.

“Adira, baby…” Her mother started but Adira didn’t want to hear it. She wouldn’t, couldn’t believe it.

“No! No!” Adira screamed breaking free from her mother’s grip. She pressed forward ignoring the whispers coming from the people she passed. “Daddy! No! Oh no! No! Please!” Adira lost it, she fell to the ground clinging to her father’s body.

…

Dean Blakesley wasn’t the only casualty that night. The WestBeach pack lost over half of their remaining members. It had been a slaughtering. Bodies littered the ground. Hunters and wolves alike. No one won that night. No one won. It had been a scentless battle that didn’t need to happen in the first place.

“Adira, you need to try to get some sleep.” Her mother told her. She couldn’t though. She couldn’t stop thinking about her father’s lifeless body. Her father was the toughest man she knew. How was he gone?

“I can’t sleep.” Adira said stubbornly. While her dad was dying she had been in the house letting one of those murdering assholes live. The guilt had been eating at her the entire night.

“Take this. It’ll help.” Alexandra handed her a pill and Adira looked at it between her fingers. This tiny little pill was supposed to make her forget everything long enough to fall asleep?

“Thanks Lexie.” She said before swallowing the pill with the assistance of the glass of water her mother handed her. She hoped it worked. She wanted to forget everything. She wanted to go to sleep and pretend the shitshow of a night hadn’t happened.

Adira watched as Nora flipped off the bedroom light and left. She could hear whispers outside her door. They had all lost Dean, but Adira had by far taken it the hardest. Adira lost her father, her hero, and her entire world in that fight. Adira knew her father hadn’t been perfect, he had been an awful person at times, but with her he was different. Or maybe she had just grown so used to his form of love that she didn’t know any better.