The Female Wolf Hunter

“We will begin our attack on the southern side of their territory, with the Vaughn family leading the attack,” my uncle and right-hand man, David, spoke while I and a few other leaders from various hunter families stood around the large conference table discussing our line of attack.

It was going to be our largest battle yet, and my body was bubbling with excitement, ready for it – ready to win this war and finally put an end to werewolves.

We’ve spent the last couple of months planning and recruiting as many hunters as we could to ensure that we get a landslide victory and finally bring down Moon Howlers’ pack, a pack that has been tormenting my sleep for nine years now. A pack that took away the only man I had in my life—my father.

I could still remember his death as if it were just yesterday. It was me and him in our little home having dinner when the pack of wolves ambushed us, with their alpha, Alexander Pierce – a name that I will never forget – ripping my dad’s skin off.

“Adelaide, you and Taylor,” my uncle said to me and my boyfriend of three months, who was also a leader in his hunter family, “will lead the Hawthorne family towards the northern border. It’s heavily guarded, but I know our family is strong, and you will be able to easily access the pack house and, by extension, their alpha. As soon as you spot him, kill him and don’t hesitate.” He gave both of us a stern look, and we both nodded, with me knowing exactly why he gave me the task of killing their alpha.

Everyone at the table knew how important it was for me to kill him, and I’m glad none of them objected. At least they gave me the impression that they respected my father’s memories and were okay with letting the 19-year-old female successor of the Hawthorne family have the pleasure of killing the alpha of the largest pack in the world.

“ Vancouver, you and my son Trey will lead the attack on the eastern side of the territory. The nursery will give you enough coverage to sneak into their pack grounds and cause just enough chaos that will make the little ones run for their lives. I hear the Betas' and Gammas' pups are in that nursery so you will most likely get all the attention from the ranked members. Kill the pups, and you will weaken the ranked members, which will make it easy for you to eliminate them,” I snapped my eyes toward my uncle, wondering why he would even suggest killing the little ones. But before I could even voice my thoughts, he continued,

“Grey and I will lead the attack on their west. And remember, don’t leave anyone. Kill them all!” He said again, this time looking directly at me with his eyebrows raised, probably sensing my displeasure. I hated killing children; they were nothing but innocent creatures. It’s their parents who were wrong, not the children!

I opened my mouth, about to disagree, but he quickly cut me off, saying,

“No, Adelaide, if we leave these kids alive, they will grow up, form another pack, and kill us all.”

“But, Uncle, we can’t just kill children, they are innocent.”

“What’s the motto of the Hawthorne family?” he asked randomly, his arms crossed, looking at me.

“End all werewolves,” I replied.

“Exactly, and the only way to end them is by killing all of them.”

“We should start with that little brat she claims is her trophy," I let out a human growl, glaring at Grey, daring him to say it again.

“What? Don’t look at me like that,” he scoffed, continuing, “Everyone here knows that that little wolf has alpha blood in her, once she hits sixteen, she’s going to know her heritage and turn against us! I say we feed her wolfsbane now before she——”

“Touch a single hair on my trophy and I promise I will cut off your balls!” I promised, my nose flaring in anger.

How dare he even suggest hurting her when she’s done nothing to him!

Taylor, who was standing next to me, snickered, but one look from Grey had him covering it up with a cough.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Grey said, instead completely disregarding my comment about turning him into a eunuch.

My uncle dismissed the meeting, and everyone left, leaving me standing there.

“Killing children? That’s against everything I believe. Children are innocent, and they shouldn’t just be killed off like that because of their parents’ mistakes,” I mumbled to myself, picking up my bow and arrow, while Taylor, who was still standing next to me, placed an arm around my shoulder, saying,

“Your uncle is right, Lailai.” I looked at him with a raised eyebrow, wondering why he would even agree with my uncle, while he continued,

“The wolves left you alive because they don’t kill children, and now look, that same little innocent girl they left is now about to wipe out their entire existence.”

“Taylor—"

“If those wolves had killed you too when they attacked your home nine years ago, do you think we would be here planning this revenge? No, right? Exactly,”

I let out a sigh and brushed past him, exiting the conference tent, completely ignoring his words.

Our camp was set up in the woods just a few kilometers away from the Moon Howlers' pack. We were about four thousand hunters from different families around the world, all gathered to fight the Moon Howlers and finally end their dominion over North Carolina.

Even though we knew just how powerful and feared moon Howlers pack was non of us was going to let that fear bring us down infact it encouraged us to train harder so that we can be known as the mighty hunters that took down Alexander pierce the alpha of nightmares.

Everyone else's goal was to wipe out the pack and, by extension, eliminate all werewolves from the face of the earth, but for me, my goal was different. Yes, I wanted the wolves dead so that no child could ever lose his or her parents because of them, but it wasn't my main goal. My main goal was to avenge my father, to kill Alpha Alexander Pierce the same way he killed my father.

“Think about it, Lailai,” Taylor said, jogging until he caught up to me.

“Leaving children alive will just end up biting us back in the behind, and I know this will make you upset, but you should kill Charlotte before she kills—“ He didn’t get to finish his sentence as a loud slap harshly landed on his right cheek, his head snapping to the other side.

“No one is touching Charlotte, got it!” I yelled in his face while he just stood there scratching his cheek. “I don’t care what you all think. Werewolf or not, Charlotte is MY trophy and I will kill anyone who dares hurt a single hair on her head, even if that person is you!” I finished, pointing my gloved hand on his chest.

“Lailai—“

“Adelaide!” I corrected him. “Never call me Lailai again. We are done!”

I turned and walked into my tent while he yelled behind me,

“You will be the first person she kills when she turns. Don’t say we didn’t warn you,” I tuned him out, dressing up into my combat suit while wondering what I even saw in him. It was obvious we had different beliefs. I mean, how could he just be okay with killing a child? Especially a child that his girlfriend has been raising and loving for the last five years.

“Everyone is right, you know,” Samantha, my cousin, said from behind me. With a heavy sigh, I turned around, and looked at her.

She was already dressed in her combat suit, with a large belt around her waist that housed various weapons, such as knives, bottles of wolfsbane, bombs filled with silver powder, and guns.

Her face was already covered with the mask, which was our signature look, leaving only her eyes.

“Not you too, Samantha,” I sighed, finishing dressing and putting the mask on my face, concealing my identity.

“I know it sounds like we are trying to push you, but Lailai, a leopard never changes its spots. It’s because of us that Lottie is an orphan. What are you going to do when she finds out that we not only killed her parents, but also wiped out her entire pack, leaving her as the only survivor? She will be devastated and will probably try to get revenge and ——”

“Lottie won’t end up like me,”