Chapter Nineteen
Genie
The moment I opened the envelope and saw the word predator I knew what would happen tonight.
There was never going to be another choice, especially after I listened to the counselor explain the rules of the hunt.
I knew the minute I shifted that my wolf would demand control.
She made it very clear that she wouldn't tolerate another wolf stalking her mate, and she is completely disgusted with the collar Drew will be wearing. Disgusted and offended.
I can't believe he agreed to wear it. I can't believe any of them agreed to wear it.
I wouldn't, and if I'm ever required to wear one I won't participate in the hunt.
Those collars are made to control rogues and to keep wolves from shifting if they're too injured to survive it.
That's the only reason to wear one at all.
The fact that Recovery is utilizing them for games doesn't sit well with me.
I can't see how keeping us from shifting would benefit anyone.
I'm not exactly hunting Drew and Parker.
I am, however, stalking them. My wolf was determined to keep anyone from capturing Drew to begin with, but after I overheard a couple of whispered conversations about running down the Cross wolves and catching and keeping Cross busy until sunrise there was no chance in hell that I would let that happen.
He's not mine, but I refuse to stand by and watch someone trap him like that.
I'm glad Parker is with him, but based on a third conversation I heard just before I shifted, I don't know how helpful he'll actually be tonight.
Parker has never been interested in making friends outside of his pack.
He has always been himself, intentionally and unapologetically.
He's never pretended to be anything he wasn't and what he is is a Pack Cross enforcer and the future Second to the Alpha.
He isn't nice because he doesn't have to be.
That combination of attributes has made him a target in some circles.
Add to it that he has turned down the attentions of more than a few high-ranking wolves in favor of Drew, and he has a short list of actual enemies.
Not that he cares. He couldn't be bothered to care.
Still, I heard the plans that Billings and his friends had for him.
I don't like Parker. We seem to have an understanding right now, but I don't like him.
It doesn't matter. He is at a massive disadvantage tonight.
He can't shift with the collar and those assholes are coming for him with the intent to hurt him.
The rules were clear. Do not damage the bodies of your prey.
Do not render your prey unconscious. Nips and small scratches are acceptable due to the nature of the chase, but no more than that.
Essentially, it is supposed to be like catch and release.
If the prey somehow manages to capture one of the predators, the predator must shift back and allow themselves to be escorted back to the main courtyard.
I don't know how many predators intend to actually follow the rules, but the staff is supposed to be monitoring closely.
I have to believe that they will step in if necessary.
Drew and Parker have stayed together since stepping into the trees.
I have followed from a small distance, but I'm not the only one.
They are the focus of more than one group of wolves who have decided to make this a team assignment.
A pair of she-wolves are following from the right, and Billings's trio is somewhere to the left.
I am torn. Protecting Drew and Parker isn't something my human emotions are interested in, but my wolf is seething in her possession.
If one of the female wolves gets close enough to give Drew so much as a thorough sniff, she will attack and there are no rules regarding predators attacking predators.
I don't know if that was an intentional oversight, but it is a fact that will be utilized tonight if it becomes necessary.
She is also deeply offended that a member of the pack that was supposed to be rightfully hers is being hunted.
I have reminded her multiple times that we are not Luna of Pack Cross, but she doesn't care.
She's possessive and territorial and intensely protective, everything she's meant to be as Luna; and she refuses to listen to facts or reason.
As far as she's concerned, both Drew and Parker are hers to protect tonight and my feelings about that don't seem to matter.
Don't pretend you want something bad to happen to either of them, she says with endless patience.
That doesn't mean I want to spend the night babysitting them, I counter.
A branch pops on the right and I watch Drew and Parker exchange a look and position themselves back to back between two trees up ahead. For some reason I thought the pair on the left would make the first move. All movement dies as we all wait.
I need to be closer.
Another snap sounds from the left and I have a second to read the scene before I rip through the brush to barrel into the pair on the right who are suddenly much closer than I realized. We roll in a tangle of fur and snarling teeth, each of them clawing and snapping to force me to back off.
That's not happening.