02.

Nathanial Grey P.O.V

Being the most wanted by the most influential people on earth wasn't the easiest thing in the world. I always knew my life was going to be packed with so much responsibility, a pain in the ass, but I didn't know it was going to be a living hell.

“Please—” The man's lip quivered as he begged.

He sounded so terrified which was quite surprising because a few moments ago, he was brave enough to come into my territory to shoot an arrow at me. He wasn't experienced enough, and I could see that. Hunters never showed weakness and that was one of the reasons, even as humans, the werewolves feared them.

They were nothing like humans—no sympathy, no heart. They killed worse than monsters, they had no mercy. I came closer and his pleas increased, I circled around while wondering why they would send an amateur to hunt me down. it infuriated me, to think that the hunters had started to see us as weak that they sent a pickle to fight me!

“Who sent you?” I moved around him examining his state, having my doubts about the hunters underrating us. Maybe he held a bomb implanted in him or he was a distraction? I pondered on these, hoping they were correct speculations. He kept begging.

“I’m not going to repeat myself again,” I glared at him as the anger threatened to let my wolf out to tear him apart “Who. Sent. You?” I yelled out.

“Nobody...“ He pressed himself against the tree he was tied to. “Nobody!” he repeated when he saw i wasn’t satisfied, he screamed as tears fell from his eyes. “I just wanted to prove that I wasn't weak to my family and decided to come and look for you. I was foolish and wrong, please forgive me”

This satiated my ego a bit. I wasn't sure he was saying the truth, so I came nearer as he begged to sniff out any emotions, but it was just fear. He looked like he was in his late teens and I actually felt pity for someone who would have had my head on a silver platter as a prize to his parents. But I wasn't sure what to do to him.

If he had discovered our hiding place then he was a threat to the pack and myself, as the Alpha, I had the responsibility of getting rid of threats but I couldn't just judge rashly considering the fact he could find the location of the pack, this was  a good sign that he could be useful to us.

“Take him away!” I commanded. The wolf guards took him away but I knew they were surprised on why exactly I hadn't slashed his throat considering the fact that he wounded some of the wolves while trying to get to me. Today was supposed to be a free day from my responsibility, not me pondering on what to do with a child who could be a big threat. I looked at my loyal men standing beside me, knowing that these men could put their life on the line for my sake. It filled me with joy. They were my friends and took the protection of the Pack almost more seriously than I did. Their faces were hard as a rock, they all looked like robots built for war, nothing amused them and their only purpose was to fight and defend.

“We are all going out” I spoke out loud, careful not to smile and not look too unserious, I wanted them to take it as a command because I didn't want any excuses. They didn't smile, they just stood and collectively responded in the affirmative to me. I wondered how I had coped with them for this long. I turned to walk back to the palace away from the bush and they followed behind me. I passed the small house and watched the little children playing around with sand and some conducting a wrestling match, while the mothers cooked with firewood and some in their house. We had lived like this for so long that dropping old habits like cooking outside was not easy to leave behind; families helping each other, working as one. The village wasn't so big but we were comfortable enough and moreover, peace and joy prevailed. That was all I ever wanted and would fight for to uphold just like my father and mother did before me.

Slowly, as they saw me, they started to bow in respect with smiles on their faces. I hadn't even noticed I had almost knocked over a small girl and when I looked down, I saw her with a wide smile holding flowers made into a crown and I bent down to meet her height.

“Is this for me?” I smiled at her. She nodded.

She was so cute, her hair was dark brown and her eyes grey with little pink lips, she was an angel in a werewolf form.

“What is it?” I asked in fake curiosity

She laughed “A crown”. Her voice was so light and high pitched like she was screaming and her giggling made me laugh a little more.

“Okay okay” trying to control my laughter “ Can I have it?”

“Sure.”

I took my crown away from my head and they were murmuring and that was when I realised the whole village was looking at us when the crown carrier came and took it from me and  placed it on a red small puffy pillow.

Her smile grew wildly visible showing her broken teeth and the growing ones. She was absolutely adorable then she took her flower-made crown, and placed it on my head. “You look like a princess “ She said in between laughter and surprisingly, everyone joined her to laugh including my stone-faced men, and I found myself laughing louder as I chased her about and started tickling her

“Is that funny now?” I laughed and chased the poor girl who finally fell on the floor laughing and pleading that I stop.

There was so much joy and laughter in the pack and that was all I wanted, nobody worrying about their safety just living in this moment forever and that was while I needed to kill the root of the fear. The Hunters.