Chapter 24 #2
Another gasp. I might have exaggerated a bit, but Layla made talking to the hunter difficult. He smiled now, seeming to enjoy the show.
“I’m asking nicely, hunter,” I said, lowering the crossbow. “Call your men off and leave. The werewolves are my family, and I’ll always protect them.”
His eyes widened, but so did his smile. He must have seen the determination in my eyes.
“Only because I admire your loyalty and understanding for another race. A quality I don’t possess,” he said. “I also don’t kill for fun.”
I blinked repeatedly. Had I met an honorable hunter? Had anything changed in the strained relationship between hunters and werewolves that I didn’t know about?
The hunter took the glove off the uninjured hand and put his fingers in his mouth. The whistle that followed shook the forest. Then silence.
My shoulders felt lighter. My breathing normalized.
“I’m walking away only because a human will be the future Queen. The werewolves need a change,” he said, still smiling.
The hunter walked away as promised but halted after a few steps. He sent a glare to Layla and then glanced at me.
“I have a feeling we’ll be meeting again, future Queen.”
“I’d rather not,” I said quietly, but the slight tug on the hunter’s lips told me he had heard me.
For a human, his hearing was more than excellent—another strange thing I’d noticed about him. I watched his back as he retreated deep into the woods, followed by the other hunters. He had a commanding presence, and he had an athletic body with a rugged build.
The unsettling feeling in the pit of my gut had formed when I’d noticed the hunter leader’s deep-seated hatred for werewolves.
He believed the existence of the werewolves threatened the safety of innocent human lives.
But he also possessed a solid resolve to protect humanity from the savage nature of those beasts.
What fueled this man’s desire to eradicate werewolves from our realm?
Did a personal vendetta against the supernaturals drive him?
Regardless, I was grateful that he’d backed down upon seeing I was the next Queen in line.
A human. I’d never thought my human heritage would save me in a dangerous situation.
After the hunters went away, Hayden dashed behind a tree and returned dressed and in human form. I nodded at him. My thoughts spun out of control until our warriors shouting something cut through my hazy mind.
I should have been thrilled about saving my cousin’s life and getting the hunters to leave before more blood stained the snow. But I wasn’t.
I turned to watch Layla, who stood quietly next to me, her head bowed, gazing at the shiny snow. Why did she look defeated? Why wasn’t she spewing hurtful things at me? At least I would have known she was happy.
She didn’t thank me for saving her life, though I didn’t expect her to do so. Because of me, Layla had suffered all these years growing up without a father.
It’d never be enough to make up for her loss. Even when the King treated her as his child. Even after I apologized numerous times for causing her dad’s death. Even after I saved her life.
My dad’s brother died when he was on a mission that had something to do with me, although I didn’t know the details.
As a ten-year-old, I remembered Layla yelling at me during one of her tantrums, “Because you always have to be saved. That’s why Papa died. If you were a werewolf, he wouldn’t have had to go on a mission to find out why you were human.”
She wanted to make sure I suffered as she did.
Was this what Uncle Derek’s mission was all about? My human heritage?
I let the weapon drop on the snow with a soft thud.
Saving Layla didn’t erase years of overwhelming guilt. Layla was right that I had to be protected by Hayden. I didn’t want to burden others with my deficiencies as a human.
I needed to live among my kind. The hunter leader’s words rang loud in my ears. He was also right to emphasize I didn’t belong among the werewolves.
Go far away from the kingdom.
I couldn’t pretend to be something I wasn’t. My plan for the year after graduating high school formulated in my mind.
Although the hunters had left the forest, the chaos was not over. Dad’s warriors shifted and dressed behind trees. Others helped the wounded and barked orders. My chest tightened as my gaze fell on the blood-stained snow.
I whipped my head left and right in search of Dad.
Hayden nudged my side. “The King’s over there.”
I followed to where my bodyguard pointed to find a small crowd gathered in a circle. Their heads bowed to the ground.
No, no. It can’t be. Dad is the strongest.
Although I kept repeating it to myself, I knew Dad wasn’t as strong as before he fought the vampire Queen. What if Dad couldn’t protect himself with his weak shoulder? Even in his wolf form, he limped.
My heavy legs couldn’t shove the snow out of the way fast enough.
The snowflakes fell more quickly now, and I couldn’t see past the gray translucent wall they created.
The short winter day had gone by while we’d hiked and fought the hunters.
With it, dark shadows struck the trees. It was almost nightfall, and we would have to hike back in the darkness.
Breathless, I finally arrived at the middle of the circle. The men stepped aside to let me through. A young man lay on the snow, and a bright-red puddle spread underneath his body. An arrow stuck out of his chest, too close to his heart. No one dared to move him.
The man let out a painful groan, and my heavy sigh escaped my mouth in a small, steamy cloud. The warrior was still alive.
“Anna,” my dad said, and he stood beside me when I turned to face him.
He scanned my body and then embraced me.
“Thank goodness you’re okay, Dad,” I said and hugged him back extra tight.
After he released me, he looked behind me and nodded to Hayden. My bodyguard’s presence was like an invisible blanket of protection over me.
Another warrior stepped close to Dad. “No other serious injuries, my King. Nothing that won’t heal by the time we go back.”
“That's good news. Now let’s take care of Isaac,” my dad said.
Moving closer, two men took off their backpacks. One pulled out a blanket and placed it over the injured man’s lower body. The other unzipped a rectangular bag that looked like a folded beach umbrella.
After taking off the cover, the man extended an emergency foldable stretcher and placed it next to the man on the ground. Several other men helped to move Isaac to the stretcher while he groaned in pain. His eyelids fluttered, fighting to stay awake.
“Let’s carry him back,” Dad ordered and moved to one end of the stretcher.
Another man took the other side.
“Anna,” Dad said and looked at me, “we need to decide whether to pull out the arrow now or after we arrive at the cottages.”
My eyes grew bigger. Was he asking me to help make a decision? Was it a test? If I made the right decision, would I be deemed worthy to be the next Queen?
I gulped for air and swallowed hard. Now was not the time to stammer.
Hayden’s hand grasped my shoulder. He just rested it there, but I felt his message. My bodyguard supported me even with his silence.
“We can’t let the arrow stay inside, poisoning him, but if we pull it out now, he may bleed to death before we get back,” I said.
The pack doctor waited for us at the base, but it wouldn’t be helpful if the warrior didn’t make it there on time.
Silver arrow wounds were more severe to werewolves than any other type.
Hence, the crossbow was the weapon of choice for the hunters.
Silver bullets would be expensive and easy to track, even on the black market, leaving a trace.
Bullets could also go through the flesh, making it easier for the werewolf to heal the wound quickly. But being struck with a silver arrow stuck in the flesh, especially near the heart, poisoned the werewolf’s bloodstream with the toxin.
Being the King was not all that was cracked up to be like some people thought. Dad was asking me to make a tough decision that would affect someone’s life and the lives of his family. Isaac might have pups and a mate in the kingdom.
Leave the arrow or pull it out?
A heavy weight sank deeper into my chest. Every minute I hesitated was detrimental to this man’s survival. More acid formed in my stomach, making me nauseous. What kind of future Queen couldn’t decide when needed?
“If he were a human, it would be better to leave the arrow in. But given the silver tip, he’d be poisoned in no time as a werewolf. I hope the wound is not too deep and hasn’t severed an artery,” I said. “Taking it out may be better for him to let his wolf heal him.”
The King nodded. “I was thinking the same.”
I let out a heavy sigh, but my stomach still churned. Had Dad said that to show his support?
My father wrapped his fingers around the wooden part of the arrow, and with one steady pull, he took it out. The man arched his chest and screamed, making my heart ache. His shrill cry pierced the silent forest.
I stared at the man’s chest as bright blood seeped out, soaking his shirt. Hayden stepped closer, taking off his shirt. He pressed it against the raw wound, and blood quickly soaked the fabric.
Had I made the wrong decision?
“D-dad?”
The King lowered himself to the ground and lifted the stretcher at the same time as the other man did on the other end. Another warrior pulled a long-sleeved shirt out of his backpack and handed it to Hayden.
“We need to hurry back,” Dad said, his face scrunched up in pain. It must’ve been his shoulder since I couldn’t find another wound on his body. “Hayden, see if you can press on the wound and keep up with us. Anna, stay close.”
We started back on the path to the cottage. I had to jog to keep up behind the men carrying the stretcher with Hayden to the side, one hand pressing awkwardly over the warrior’s chest.
“He should stop bleeding now, right, Dad?” I asked as I made my feet move fast behind him.