Torn Between Packs (book 2) COMPLETED

Chapter 4 Hunter

It slipped away. I couldn't hold on to it. Whatever I was dreaming was not a good dream. My heart pounded through my chest and my body shook but it wasn't from the cold. Damp but not cold. Damp? What the...Ahh why did I hurt everywhere! What happened? I slowly, very slowly made my way to a conscious state. Now I had to figure out if that was a good thing or not. My body ached, my head pounded, and I was laying on a very hard and lumpy mattress. It was dark but I could vaguely make out shapes. Blurry shapes. Opening my eyes was a mistake. The little light there was shot right into it my brain which brought on excruciating pain. A moment after that I thought I was going to throw up. I couldn't stifle the groan.

"Shh. Hunter. It's ok. Everything is ok now. You're safe." Someone whispered, rubbing small circles on my back as I curled up on my side.

No not someone. I knew that voice. "C.J.? What happened? Where are we?" I started to remember. We were running through the other tunnel. Grayson left me to stop whoever got through the last line of defence. We were running then he stopped then...it all went black.

"Shh. Here take these. Your head will feel better soon. I promise." C.J. said as he helped me to a sitting position. The light grew a bit brighter. Enough for me to notice I was still in the damn cave. I so wanted out to see the sky and smell the fresh air. I was really beginning to hate closed in spaces. In his hand he had a bottle of water and two pills. I took them gratefully and downed the water.

"Thanks. Where are we and what happened?" He never did answer me and I needed answers and now.

He shifted beside me and didn't answer right away. I was getting frustrated with the silence and was about to demand he tell me when he finally spoke. "We escaped. I got you away from them. You're safe now. We're safe." His tone was off. He didn't sound happy or relieved. More like desperation. Desperate for what I wasn't sure. Yet.

Something wasn't right. Didn't feel right. I didn't feel right. My body hurt from head to toe but I also felt fuzzy. Like everything was moving but I was three steps behind. Not able to catch up. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts was not a good idea. A sharp pain shot through the back of my head and down my spine..

"Wow. Don't move so fast. You hit your head pretty hard. Hunter, you have been out for hours. I was starting to get worried. Here drink this." C.J. passed me mug. "It will make you feel better. Drink it fast. It tastes like crap." There was the smile I so missed seeing.

I did what he told me and almost spit up the fowl drink. It was even worse than the stuff Grayson made me drink before. I didn't think that was possible. "What is it with you guys giving me the most horrible tasting drinks?" I was doing my best not to throw it up. C.J. just laughed. Trying to ignore the foul aftertaste I asked him again. "What happened?" Him telling me I hit my head wasn't right. I just didn't know why but it didn't feel right.

"Just relax. We can talk about it later." C.J. was back to sounding worried and refused to look at me.

"No. We will talk about it now." My gut was telling me something was really wrong. If only I could remember what happened after we ran down that damn tunnel!

"Oh thank heavens. Lupa you're up!" James came in sight. C.J.'s dad.

But I thought Uncle Adam said he was dead. I thought him and the other pack members with him were all dead? Were killed? Staring up at him with my mouth hanging open I wasn't sure if I was dreaming. Looking over at C.J. he had guilt written all over his face. That helped me snap out of things.

"What. The. Hell. Is. Going. On?" Every word got deeper and deeper. "You," I said to James, pointing my finger. "Are supposed to be dead. And you," jabbing my finger into C.J.'s chest, "don't look at all surprised. If anything you look guilty as hell. One of you better tell me where the hell I am and what the fuck is going on. Now!" I was practically panting by the end.

"Lupa..." James took a step towards me at the same time C.J. reached out to touch me. I was up and back five feet from them in a blink of an eye. And let me tell you my head and body was not happy with the move. I didn't think I could have stood much longer.

"Please, let us explain. We had too. It was to protect you from them." James snarled the last.

Keeping my hands up, letting them know not to come near me, I took a deep breath. "Explain now or I am out of here. And who is "them"?" The pain in my head and body started to fade but my brain was still foggy. It took everything I had to stay focused.

James sat where he stood. Maintaining eye contact. I knew I wasn't going to like this. Not one bit. "First let me ask you a few things. Don't answer right away. Just think about them." He waited for my reluctant nod before he continued. "Doesn't it seem weird you were shuffled around year after year to a new home but always went to the same camp? Even though that too moved from location to location. Isn't it weird that after all these years, right before you shift, all of a sudden you have family? Where are all your family photo's? Shouldn't you have at least one of your family? Why do you think you felt weird around some of the wolves, I mean the borns? Didn't they make you uncomfortable? I think you said they creeped you out. And don't you think it's covenant that after all this time they need to keep you safe has escalated so much that they closed the camp down after it being up and running for 45 years? Please, Hunter, think about it." James was dead serious.

What was he saying? The people I had known for years were lying to me? That my family was not my family? That what I felt towards the borns was false? True they did creep me out at the beginning but it was more from fear on how they made me feel than anything. They felt like home to me. Right? I didn't have any photo's but wasn't that to protect me? Wasn't I shuffled from house to house to protect me? And the new threat was because Aunt Grace was killed. Wasn't it?

I was already shaking my head. No. No. No, what they told me was the truth. It had to be...But was it? I was so confused. Why couldn't I think straight! "I don't understand." I didn't know what else to say. My head was fuzzier than before.

James sighed. Looking torn and exhausted. It was then I noticed his clothes. Stained and torn. Was that blood! "You see Hunter I have been wonder some of those questions for years plus others. Adam's pack, my old one, is the second largest pack. So I am told. Even that I started to second guess at because even though they said we had more pack members I never seen them. I always seen the same members. I do know that I never knew your dad and I never heard that he was Adam's brother till after the accident. Was he really his brother? Are you really his niece?" James shook head. "No, Lupa, I don't think he was. Don't think you are. What I think is he was the one who stole you from your parents. He wanted you for his own pack. No matter the consequences. You see, Hunter, you belong to this pack. We have been searching for you for years. To bring you back home to your real family.

I was already shaking my head violently. No, it was all lies. I didn't want to talk to them anymore. I wanted to go home. I wanted to put my fingers in my ears and scream so they would leave me alone.

"It's the truth, Hunter. Look," C.J.'s soft, concerned voice had me look at him. He was holding out something in his hand. "If it wasn't true then how would we have these?" He reached over dropping pictures a foot from my legs.

Five of them to be exact. Three with a couple and their baby, one with the same man and the same baby, and the last was the woman with the baby. A very happy family it seemed but what did it matter to me. I was about to say just that when one of the pictures with the three of them sitting on a blanket caught my eye. There behind the father, I presumed, was a green bag. A green bag just like mine but in a lot better shape. Not as warn. Not as old. My father's bag. The one thing I had of his. Besides the choker that is.

"You see it don't you? You know. How else would we have those if I wasn't telling you the truth?" James' voice was soft with sympathy.

I didn't know what to believe. I was more confused now than I had been in my entire life. Could this be true? Was my life before this moment all a big lie? "I...I would like to be alone, please." My voice was barely a whisper but I knew they could hear me. I needed time. I needed to think. I needed not to have anyone look at me, especially the way they were. With pity screaming from their eyes.

They left after a moment's hesitation. I didn't think C.J. was going to leave at all but after James cleared his throat C.J. stood and followed him out. Not a moment too soon. I completely fell apart. Collapsing in a ball hugging the pictures to my chest. Could all this be true? I just didn't know anymore.