The Selected

Attack

Present Day

Despite the fact that these hunters are quite literally bred with the design to kill us, there are some flaws that we'd been able to expose and use to form a plan to capture one for questioning. While they're very good at sneaking up on even us wolves, they also have that off scent that is a dead giveaway. By preparing every patrol wolf with that knowledge and scent and running rounds in at least a group of two, the odds were that we'd capture one of those bastards easily and soon, if Alan's reports of their frequent sightings were accurate.

By the time we'd finished planning and Alan had given the information and orders to the rest of the pack the sun had set and I barely managed to stifle a yawn.

Mary Anne picked up on this, "Why don't I show you to your rooms, then?"

Conrad and I nodded in thanks.

So she led us up the steps and to a familiar door. She opened it, and I stood in the doorway, staring at the room that looked utterly untouched from the last morning I'd spent here over five years ago.

"Adelaide, you can stay in your old room," Mary Anne offered a small smile. "Alpha Rhodes, I can show you to the guest room."

"Not necessary, I'll be staying with Addie," He declared.

Mary Anne looked surprised, eyes darting between the two of us, and I knew this would only encourage the idea in her head that something more was going on between the two of us. She stumbled over her words, a rare occurrence, "O-oh, of course. Here or the guest room?"

"The guest room," I answered instantly. My feet wouldn't move into the old room even if I wanted them to.

She nodded, a sad smile on her face, before she led us down the hall to the guest bedroom, "Here we are. Holler if you need anything. Sleep well."

With one final smile, she shut the door behind her. Conrad led me into the attached bathroom and began running the bath water before murmuring to me, "You alright?"

His standoffish, cold exterior had dissipated the moment that door shut behind us, and back was the Conrad who was my best friend, the one who always knew exactly how I was feeling and when I was close to exploding. The only one who I ever showed any vulnerability to, just as I was only one of two people he would show this tender, nurturing side to.

I shrugged, "I don't know."

"Okay," he spoke softly before pulling me into a hug, "why don't you shower first and then we'll get some sleep. I'm here if you need me."

"Thank you," I whispered so softly that it was nearly lost to the sound of the water pouring out of the tub faucet. I knew he had heard me, though, as his arms around me squeezed me once in acknowledgement before releasing me.

-

A pounding at the door sent both Conrad and I flying, jolting awake and jumping out of bed. Conrad opened the bedroom door, keeping me slightly behind him, to reveal Jordan standing there in his pajamas, but a grim expression on his face.

"What happened?" I was the one to ask the question, voice flat.

He frowned, "There was an attack. Come with me, please."

Quickly grabbing shoes and jackets, we followed him out of the house and through the woods until we reached the border of Phoenix Pack territory. I smelled it before I saw it or heard other people murmuring and whispering. I smelled the blood and the stench of death. I smelled a lingering, tainted human scent.

I took in a deep breath and focused on keeping my face neutral as we entered the small clearing, littered with bodies. Five wolves lay dead before me, along with the mauled body of one hunter. Immediately, I approached the hunter's body, feeling Conrad tense behind me as I did so. Nudging his head with my foot, I found what I was looking for.

Two arrows crossing one another on the side of his neck.

"There were two of 'em," A trembling male voice pierced the bubble of thoughts and memories that began to swell within me. I looked over to see a bloodied man sitting on a log near the edge of the clearing, naked save the blanket wrapped around him, speaking with Alan.

I strode over to them, trying my best to keep my eyes averted from the fallen wolves underfoot, "Where's the other one then?"

He looked to me, eyes flickering to Conrad behind me, before widening and returning to me. He shook his head, "I don't-- we couldn't-- he got away. They moved so fast and they didn't miss, I couldn't even take out that one over there until he was distracted, trying to... to cut off Dan's head."

His sorrow-filled eyes fell to one of the dead wolves.

"Which direction did the other one run off to?" I questioned.

Alan's head snapped up at me, his expression disbelieving and incredulous. I could practically hear the words he was thinking. This man was attacked and saw his friends murdered, Adelaide, and all you can focus on is the hunter that got away? I ignored the look, tucked away the pang of guilt and hurt that I felt from it.

I kept the surviving man pinned under my gaze until he shook his head, "I don't know, I'm sorry. He--he was just laughing while slaughtering us and all I could do was take out this one here."

"What did he look like, the hunter who fled?" Conrad interrupted, stepping up behind me so close that our bodies were touching.

The male's eyes widened as he took in Conrad, paled a bit. Sometimes I forgot how much power he held, how it felt to feel it rippling off of him. I spent so much time with him that I barely felt it anymore, it barely affected me. But this man was now trembling all over again.

"He was blond, had this scruffy beard and dark eyes," He finally breathed out, "he looked insane, had claw mark scars across his cheek."

At the description, I turned and walked away, headed through the woods and back towards the house.

"Addie," Conrad called out from behind me, but I kept walking. He sighed before jogging to catch up to me, gripping my elbow, "Addie, stop."

"What?" I snapped.

He frowned, his brows creasing together, "The description of the hunter that got away, it sounds an awful lot like--"

"Don't be ridiculous, Connie," I snorted, rolling my eyes. Sure, the description might be a direct match to the hunter who had made my entire life a living hell, but it just wasn't possible. "I killed him, remember?"

He didn't look convinced.

"He's dead! Gone! No longer here! I. Killed. Him," I ground out.

"Alright," He said softly, "I'm sorry, you're right. It's just-- I have a bad feeling about all of this. It feels off, like we're missing something."

That missing something came when we arrived back to the house to find everyone, Alan, Mary Anne, Jordan, and Samaria all sitting at the table looking grim. Alan's anxious eyes found mine as we stepped in, "We've received several calls."

"About?" Conrad questioned.

"It seems we aren't the only pack that was attacked tonight by this species of hunters," He spoke, and for the first time in forever he seemed unsteady, unsure, "It would appear that nearly every pack last night was attacked in the same pattern; two hunters, five wolves dead, one hunter escaped."

This wasn't just an attack, then. It was all out war.