Hunter's Rose (First Draft)

Chapter Twenty-Five

We had been stumbling through the woods now for at least ten minutes. Our footsteps were the only sounds through the forest, thankfully it was daylight this time. Luke still hadn't caught up to us, and my stomach clenched in worry.

"So," Lisa panted beside me. "You have a brother?" I let out a breathy laugh as I glanced over at her.

"Not what was on my mind at the moment." I teased lightly. "But yes, Luke is my brother. Well, he's pretty much my brother. He lived in one of the homes I was at."

"Any reason I'm just now finding out about this?" She sent me a mock glare, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Honestly? I tried not to think about him much." I admitted softly, I winced as pain shot down my back. I took a deep breath, trying to numb it away. "After they kicked him out I never heard from him again."

"Ah. So we consider him a jerk, right?" Her question brought a smile to my face. "I mean, you make the call girl. I'm already a little sketched out that you're first time seeing him is in the same place you've been kidnapped by a swamp freak, but ya know." She gave a small shrug.

"Yeah, I'm not sure how to feel about that." I furrowed my brows. "I mean, they called him by a completely different name. And, he did get us out of there."

"True, true." She panted out. "How far of a walk is this again?" I couldn't help but laugh at her dramatic tone, regretting it as the wounds on my back stretched.

"I don't know. It was dark the first time I did it, and I had to stop a few times." I let out a wince as pain radiated through my body again. It seemed to get worse with every step. "Speaking of, I could actually use a small break."

She glanced at me in concern. "I think we're far enough away, we could stop for a couple of minutes." She looked around as we came to a stop. "Look, there's a log." My gaze followed hers, before I slowly made my way over.

"I didn't want to say anything, because I was hoping if you didn't think about it then maybe it wouldn't hurt as bad, but your back looks awful." Her voice was full of sadness and anger as she glanced at the marks on my back. I let out a rough, forced laugh.

"Yeah, it doesn't feel too great." I closed my eyes as another wave of pain washed over me. "I could definitely use some of Mak's magic medicine right about now."

"Magic medicine?" She mused. "I could go for a blunt myself." I couldn't stop the laugh that escaped me, groaning in regret.

"Wrong kind of magic medicine." I panted out. "Though, it wouldn't surprise me if there was some of that in it."

My eyes shot open as a rustle sounded from the direction we came from. Lisa stood up, reaching over to help me stand. Adrenaline washed through my body, numbing the pain in my back.

Relief flooded through me as Luke came barreling through the trees. My stomach turned at the blood dripping from his forehead and the slight discoloration below his left eye.

"You should see the other guy." He said with a slight smirk, before wincing and grabbing his side.

"You're so dumb." I laughed, rolling my eyes. I glanced around at the surrounding trees. My gaze zeroing in on an opening, stepping closer it seemed to lead to a small path. "We should get moving."

I turned back around to see Lisa and Luke sharing concerned looks, their gaze moving from each other to my back. "I'll be ok." I promised, turning and making my way through the trees. "If we ever get out of here " I mumbled under my breath.

We had been walking another 10 minutes when a sound echoed through the woods, I jumped as birds came flying through the trees.

"Rose!" My heart dropped, the color fading from my face. I glanced over at Lisa, her face mirroring mine.

"Faster." I urged quietly, speeding my pace. Luke came up on my left, his face void of any emotion.

"You stupid bitch! When I find you, I'm gonna shoot your brains out!" My heart thudded violently at Jacob's words. I grabbed ahold of Lisa's hand, urging her to move faster.

I let out a small whimper as my foot caught on a tree limb protruding from the ground, the wounds on my back tearing from the sudden movement. I stumbled slightly, tears filling my eyes as I took a shaky breath.

"Keep going." I croaked out, keeping my gaze down to avoid the looks of pity.

I wasn't dumb, I could only imagine how bad my back looked. It felt horrible, and if it wasn't for the adrenaline rushing through my body I probably wouldn't have made it this far.

I tried to focus on the sounds surrounding us, hoping to hear how close he was. But I could barely hear our own footsteps over the sound of my heart pounding.

A gun shot sounded, causing our steps to freeze, a slight ringing rang through my ears. Straight ahead, the tree just to the right of me, had a fresh bullet imbedded into it.

Lisa let out a small screech, causing my body to whip around in her direction. The blood drained from my face as I noticed Jacob's arm wrapped around her body, a gun pressed firmly against her head.

"The running stops now!" His voice boomed throughout the forest, causing me to flinch. I quickly nodded, raising my hands in surrender.

"Ok." I croaked out. "You win. No more running. Just let her go and I'll go with you, willingly." I pleaded.

"Do you think I'm fucking stupid?" He laughed out. Out the corner of my eye I noticed Luke take a step forward, Jacob pulled the gun away from Lisa to aim it in his direction. "Not another step." He warned, a sinister smile appearing as Luke stepped back and raised his hands.

"I won't hesitate to put a bullet through her head." He pulled the gun back, pressing it harder against Lisa. My heart clenched, guilt wracking through me, as she let out a small sob.

"Jacob." I called, trying to direct his attention back to me. His gaze met mine, curiosity burning in them.

I closed my eyes as a wave of dizziness washed over me. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have ran." I opened my eyes, taking a small step towards him. Many emotions flickered across his face, confusion, want, betrayal. "I want to go back with you." I tried, pushing as much sincerity into my voice as I could.

"You're lying." His brows furrowed as he stared at me. "You'll just run again. They always run." He stared at the ground for a moment before glancing back up, a sinister grin on his face. "But they never make it far."

Three things happened in that moment- Lisa's body was shoved to the ground, I stared down the barrel of Jacob's gun, and a shot rang through the trees.

My eyes stared at the space where Jacob was standing, before glancing down at his body that now laid on the ground.

I felt like I was under water, I could hear the faint sobs coming from Lisa and a murmur of voices as I stared at the blood pooling on the ground under his head.

It was over. Jacob was dead and I didn't have to worry about him anymore. Relief flooded through me at the realization.

My legs buckled as my senses started to come back, exhaustion taking over. My knees were an inch from hitting the ground when an arm wrapped around my stomach. Butterflies swarmed inside, causing me to glance up in confusion. "I got you, Darlin."

A soft smile pulled on my face as my gaze met Hunter's concerned one. "Fancy meeting you here." I tried to joke, my smile turning into a sheepish one.

He sent me a playful eye roll before turning my body around and picking me up. He gazed down at me, a soft look on his face. Just as he opened his mouth to speak again, another voice sounded.

"We should get going, man. I called Mak, had him bring one of the trucks." I glanced over Hunter's shoulder, sending a small wave to Jai as our eyes met. His mouth quirked into a smile as he sent a wave back. "Hey little wolf."

I glanced back at Hunter, who was now staring towards the trees with furrowed eyes. I brought my hand up, pushing one of my fingers against the crease on his forehead, smoothing out the lines. He glanced down at me, giving me another soft smile and pecking the top of my head, before he sent Jai nod and began walking.

One of my hands grasped onto Hunter's shirt as my eyes began getting heavy. I blinked a few times before they fluttered shut as my body swayed back and forth with each step.