CHAPTER TWO

How to destroy an enemy

ONE YEAR LATER

Star zipped through the forest with her bow in hand and the contents of her backpack slamming against her lower back almost painfully. She managed to lose the first three wolves that had her in its sights, but her relief was short-lived when she was ambushed by a group of five rogues, ones who were currently responsible for the adrenaline coursing through her veins. 

Star saw a tree with a fallen trunk beside it and decided that it was time to abandon flight. Her left foot stepped onto the fallen tree trunk and boosted her enough for her to grab hold of the first branch, with her bow between her teeth, she swung herself upwards and intertwined her calves around another branch just as the wolves caught up to her. 

Star didn’t waste time lining up an arrow on her bow and watched as the silvertip pierced the side of one of the rogue wolves, feeling satisfied at the howl of pain that escaped its lips.

The second arrow flew through the air, nearly missing the head of the wolf clawing against the tree she was on, instead, it lodged itself in his neck. The assault of the silver was instantaneous as it lost its footing and tumbled to the ground in pain. 

When she looked away from the disarmed wolf, it was too late that she noticed one of the five had gone missing, before a hard bump shook the tree from behind and Star lost her footing. 

The last arrow in her bow whizzed through the air missing its target completely as Star landed unceremoniously on the ground.

The three wolves wasted no time in closing in on her, growling and snapping their teeth as their red eyes stared deep into her soul with pure hate. 

Star didn’t see the swipe of its paw till the stinging on her face alerted her of its attack and the blood dripped onto her trouser. She was well aware of the disadvantage, but she wasn’t going down without a fight, so she abandoned the bow and unsheathed the silver dagger that was strapped to her ankle, swiping it across the wolf’s throat. 

The wolf’s blood spilled onto her combat boots at the same time that it howled in pain and swayed on its feet, but before it could fall on her, she sent a hard kick its way, sending it flying backward.

The remaining two wolves didn’t seem to like the predicament they were in and pounced on Star at the same time, the attack was sudden and the weight of both creatures left her vulnerable to them, but just as she felt teeth on her neck, both wolves were ripped off her. 

She watched with her heart beating wildly in her chest as three larger wolves ripped into the jugular of her attackers, from the corner of her eyes she saw more wolves come into view and fear engulfed her. 

She caught the eye of the largest wolf in the group and held its hazel brown eyes. Its body was pitch black and its paws a contrasting white, she couldn’t help but think it was the most beautiful wolf she’d ever seen. 

The group surrounded her, but no one made a move till the black wolf yipped and disappeared behind a tree. Star could feel the throbbing pain in her ankle from her fall and the stinging pain of the wind on her face, she still held the dagger in her hand, but the blade laid against her green cargo pants, catching the light that streamed through the trees. 

Star’s eyes lifted when she heard footsteps from the direction the black wolf disappeared in and from behind the tree emerged a handsome young man with the same hazel eyes that held hers in wolf form earlier.

His gaze locked with hers as he approached her and kneeled in front of her, they were still surrounded by his pack and she assumed he was a high-ranked wolf. Star watched his movements with hawk eyes, flinching back slightly when he gripped the hand she held the dagger in and pried it from her hand. 

“You’re a new hunter.” He stated and she nodded slowly watching as he chucked the dagger out of her reach, strangely the action didn’t make her feel fearful. 

The man lifted his hand to the slashes on her face and ran his thumb over the raw skin and his eyes landed on the blood seeping through her shirt, the blood loss was making her lightheaded and the pain in her ankle caused her to shift in pain. 

Seeing her discomfort he took her ankle between his hands causing her to hiss when he rotated it, she didn’t think it was broken, but definitely severely sprained. The pain across her body made her head spin, which didn’t go unnoticed by the man before her. 

“Who are you?” Star whispered, breathing heavily as black spots appeared in her vision, but instead of answering her the man drew a knife from his waist and gripped her hand, Star’s body erupted in panic, but she could hardly struggle underneath his stronghold, watching helplessly as he made a long cut on her palm. 

The last thing she saw before her eyes dropped closed was his own blood mixing with hers in her palm and the protest died on her lips. 

***

The first thing Star felt when she awoke was the uncomfortable pain that shot through her body and her eyes fluttered open. The streams of light that came through the opening in the trees assaulted her eyes, but the quietness of the forest caused her heartbeat to speed up. 

She was still in the same position she passed out in with her back against the tree, but the earlier sight of werewolves surrounding her was missing. A few feet away from her lay one of the wolves with the silver arrow sticking from its side, but the other four were nowhere in sight. 

Star’s hand instinctively moved to her face expecting to feel a scar from the attack, but there was no sensitivity. Pulling down her shirt she saw the dried blood from the earlier attack, but no wounds remained much to her surprise. 

Shuffling up from her seated position she felt a slight pain in her ankle, but nothing quite as bad as earlier, and as she stretched, the stiffness left her body. She had no idea what happened, but she was sure it had something to do with the werewolf’s blood. 

She could hardly fathom the fact that he let her live, besides the fact that he saved her life and she had no idea how to feel, but what she did know was that she needed to get out of the forest. 

Plucking the GPS from her pocket she saw that she was only two miles away from home, she knew if she moved fast she would make it home before sunset, so she slipped the dagger back into its holster on her leg and took the bow in her right hand before grabbing hold of the rogue wolf’s fur to drag it behind her. 

This was the final test of The Academy, two days ago they dropped Star off in the middle of the woods, twenty miles from home, her only task was to make it home alive with a dead wolf in tow and she would have passed her hunter training. 

The trek home was difficult, but Star was grateful that she had no more run-ins with angry wolves. When her house came into view excitement bubbled inside her, She couldn’t wait to see the pride in her dad’s eyes or the smirks on her brothers’ faces. 

Dropping the wolf’s body outside the back door, she threw open the door and stepped into the house, “Dad, Noah, Joe?” she called out, but received no answer.

Star looked around the kitchen noticing that not a thing was out of place yet the door was unlocked and weariness settled within her. Star walked further into the house, coming to a halt at the entrance to the living room and bile rose in her throat. 

A few feet away from where she stood laid the bodies of her brothers and father with blood pooled below them. 

The paleness of their skin told her that they had been dead for a few hours already and she felt acid force it's way up her throat. 

Star’s head keeled over the guest toilet as she emptied the contents of her stomach, the image of her brothers with gunshot wounds to the head and her father with a knife sticking from his chest was imprinted in her mind. They had been murdered and for whatever reason they were, she knew she needed to get out of there before they came after her. 

Rinsing her face in the sink beside the toilet she stared into the mirror, she hardly looked anything like the young woman who stared into that mirror a year ago. Sucking in a deep breath she swallowed her tears and ran to her bedroom. 

Star stripped her body off the soiled clothes and hopped into the shower, scrubbing away the dry blood till her skin itself turned pink before shutting off the shower and throwing on comfortable clothes. 

She made quick work of packing a bag with essentials and rushed out of the house, avoiding the living room altogether. She grabbed her brother’s phone from the kitchen counter and dialed 911. 

“911, what’s your emergency?” The female operator’s voice sounded through the phone. 

“116 Wood Avenue, three men have been killed,” Star answered mechanically.  

“What’s your name ma’am?” She swallowed the lump in her throat. 

“It doesn’t matter.” Star cut the call, not giving the woman any more information before she grabbed hold of the wolf’s fur again and dragged it back into the forest, in the direction of the lake. 

Star chucked the rogue’s body into the lake along with the cellphone that rang off the hook before trekking further to a nearby cave she and her brothers discovered as kids. 

She didn’t want to believe that they were really gone, she couldn’t come to terms with the fact that her whole family was dead.