Moon Bound

1

A hunter to hunt
~
Tala
~

The Beta tipped her head forward, a spurge of blood spilling out and falling to the ground in a waterfall of blood rain.

She cringed at the pain, the infliction to the bridge down to the tip of her nose and crimson liquid continued to ooze out. But, to her luck, it was healing.

"Wretched hunters," Tala Avan spat with disgust.

The blow her nose had endured was beginning the healing process now. The bleeding was becoming tiny red droplets and she was finally able to stand up straight, no longer trying to choke up the blood and wheezing for air.

Tala huffed in relief. She had to admit, it could've been worse for her and she supposed she had one specific person to thank for that. The very person that did this to her.

As a Beta, the second in command to the Alpha, her duty is to abide by the leader's commands and orders, all the while having her own power due to her ranking. A ranking Tala believed she'd surely lose now.

One job. One order she had to follow and that went straight to the darkest pits of hell.

In all her years of being a Beta, not once has Tala failed the Alpha, but with one of the biggest challenges he threw on her shoulders, she cracked in a matter of days.

Tala's duty was to enforce commands as well as follow them, and she failed.

She wouldn't be surprised if her head would be on a stick in the next few minutes as she stumbled along the long and winding driveway leading up to his home.

The last thing she wanted to do was report this. Tala was already imagining the conversation they'd share before her blood splattered along his office walls. The Alpha wouldn't be pleased, after all, he gave this challenge to Tala because he deemed her fit enough to take it on.

But who could possibly take on two huntresses that had intended to flee the moment they got here?

But within all of this, Tala stood well and sound, alive. For now ...

They hadn't killed her, although one of them was about to, leaving Tala to rot like an animal carcass.

"That's it, I'm killing her!" Tala recounted hearing when her back met the floor when trying to stop the two hunters. Since then, she had no idea how much time had passed but she could still hear the threat of the huntress drill into her ears.

But someone stopped her. The other huntress. The Alpha's mate.

"No, Cadence, you don't need more blood on your hands. Let's just go." Her voice was gentler. Soft and ... kind, almost.

"The dog will report it back to him. He'll find us!" The other huntress, Cadence, claimed.

Tala had seen a fierce look sharpen across the Alpha's mate. "He can damn well try."

Right then and there, the hunter landed a punch to Tala's face, jabbing her square in the nose as those final words were muttered into the air and Tala felt her body become numb, head swaying to the side from the hit.

She had been knocked out.

When she came to her senses, a throbbing sensation pained her nose and something worse pained her. The huntresses had escaped after trespassing into the Alpha's territory.

She was still stumped by their plan and how skilfully they devised it. They weren't supposed to do that. They weren't supposed to leave.

And yet, they did. With great success and flair, the car they stole left marks in the dirt roads where it lead up towards a hill. It was clear they would've left the territory by now, the sun spoke that to Tala of where it was now positioned. Tala didn't know how much of a head start they had, an hour or two maybe, but they had the ultimate advantage.