The Hunter's Queen (ICS Book Two) - Wattys2017

Chapter One - The Hunter's Savior

The Hunter's Savior

Northern Lithuania, Present Day

Vincent stared up at the blurred canopy of trees looming above him. The leaves swayed in the chill breeze. The sky was dark, drifts of snow falling around him. The puffs of white coated the thick old branches that arched above his prone form. The tiny specs of ice cooled his feverish skin, causing him to shiver as if he were a child.

He recognized these woods, the familiar scents drawing memories from his childhood. His pack had once roamed here freely. How ironic that he should teleport here when his life was nearing an end, the very place where he'd first lost it all.

The Teleportation Amulet still lay around his neck - he could easily leave - but something stayed him. Instinct told him this was where he was meant to be.

His inner wolf was quiet. It had been so long since he'd last heard it speak. If only he could hear it one last time, even just a whisper.

There was nothing but silence, his mind empty.

It was maddening.

He lay in the falling snow, letting the cold seep into his bones. His once powerful body was weak and tormented with pain. He could feel the poison coursing through his veins like fire. Dark spots began to filter over his vision.

Shit, he was really going to die here, on the ground like a damn animal. He attempted to lift his head and nearly passed out from the agonizing pain coursing through his skull.

How had it all gone wrong?

A dark shadow fell over him. A chill that had nothing to do with the cold ran up his spine. A face emerged from the darkness, red eyes glowing with madness.

Gabriel?

No, he was hallucinating.

An evil grin spread across Gabriel's pale face, revealing small sharp teeth. His face may have been handsome once, but the centuries of insanity had turned it cruel and sharp. A long vicious scar slashed from his left eye, over his nose, and down to his right jaw.

Vincent opened his mouth, blood trailing between his lips.

Gabriel laughed, the sound reverberating in Vincent's ears.

Not real. Can't be.

This was the poison, giving him one last vision of his ultimate mistake. He never should have joined the Legion. His impatience had made him weak. As soon as he'd signed a pact with Gabriel the Mad, leader of the Legion, his fate had been sealed.

The Forsaken vampire betrayed him, coercing him to take on a powerful enemy - the Demon King, Sebastian the Vanquisher. Weakened by Gabriel's leash, a vile poison that slowly killed an immortal, his inner wolf had grown dormant. Without his wolf Vincent could not turn, forcing him to resort to desperate measures in an attempt to kill the demon.

And still he'd failed!

His left arm burned where the Demon King had clawed him during their battle so many weeks before. Such a wound should have healed in minutes, but the poison kept it open, allowing it to fester. He could smell the rot.

In truth, he'd never stood a chance.

Should have ran. Lost everything.

Such a thought was nearly incomprehensible. Vincent Shaw should not lose; he was a dominant werewolf from a strong bloodline. Yet he continued to fail, over and over. Now he would die with nothing.