Oneshot Origins!

Hunter Becomes the Hunted (SNO)

Xylo's POV:

It was the middle of mating season and things couldn't be better. Sure Alpha has only gotten a little better since the Wild Hunt but there were plenty of other good things. I was the beta of the pack, the Wild Hunt was gone, the vampires and werewolves were at peace, and most importantly, I had the most amazing mate anyone could ask for, even if she did try to kill me and burn down Packhaven. In fact, here she is now.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the lovely Re." I say from behind the bar of my inn. She promptly sat on the couch and didn't say anything, and I immediately knew something was scaring her. She was sitting at the end of the couch closest to me and she had a very downcast and distressed look on her face. Her tail was curled up in her lap, fur ruffed up in a panicked way. Her ears were perked up and twitching at the slightest sounds, from the hustle and bustle of the town, to the light clink of me putting glasses away. I jump over the bar and sit next to her, but it's only when I place my hand on her shoulder that she snaps out of whatever trance she was in.

"What's wrong babe?" I ask and I scoot closer to her and put an arm over her shoulders, which she immediately leans into.

"I, uh... I, ran into something on the way back from my hunt near the vampire territory." She explains quietly after taking a minute to compose herself. "It was the camp of a group of werewolf hunters. They had caught something and were talking about how proud they were of themselves. I tried to get a look to see if I could save them but..." She paused for a minute while I could see tears start to form at the corners of her eyes. "...They were already killing the wolf when I got there." She brought her knees to chest and curled into my side. I was in shock until I remembered that I needed to be a good mate and comfort her.

"Hey shh, shhh, it's okay, it's going to be okay." I gently reassure her as I cuddle her close and intertwine my tail with hers. "You know I won't let anything happen to you. Did you tell Alpha about this?"

She sniffles a bit and continues. "No, I guess I was too distracted to think about that. But, well you know how he is, he would probably try to deal with it himself, even with his illness. Besides, these hunters, they're unlike any that have come around here." She goes on to tell me that they are more ruthless and vicious, their traps look like they either kill you in an instant or give you a slow, painful death, as well as their weaponry and choice of clothing. It sounded horrifying to say the least.

"Okay how about this. I'll tell Alpha what you saw and we'll tell the vampires too so hopefully they can help take this group down. Until then, you just avoid that area entirely. How's that sound?" I come up with a plan that will hopefully calm her nerves.

"Okay, sounds good." She relaxes and snuggles up to me. "But can that wait for later? I'm really, yawn, tired." She yawns to add to her point and I agree. So we spend the night curled up on the couch.

~~~The next day~~~

The sun is already starting to set when I'm leaving Alpha's house along with Jackson. We just finished the meeting about the new werewolf hunters group and had agreed on a date where we would take out the group, with a predetermined plan in place. I decide to walk Jackson back to his place when a familiar scent caught my nose. I stopped and took a big whiff of it. It was a scent that was hard to pick up at first but the moment I did, I panicked and called Jackson back over. Re had been using her masking potions often when we went hunting, so I got used to the scent. 

"What is it Xylo?" Jackson asks when he approached me, looking around for any signs of danger as he pulls out his staff.

"I'm smelling my mate's scent and it's fresh, but alone. She told me she wouldn't be going out alone after we made the plan-" I stop myself. I didn't tell her the plan... What if she was coming after me and got caught, or worse? Without a word I take off into the dense forest and follow her scent as best as I can. The only time I stop is when I suddenly smell humans with wolfsbane. I search through the bushes with Jackson's help and find the source of the potent smell of wolfsbane. Under a bush I find an arrow coated in a ridiculous amount of the stuff and a few spots of blood. It's still fresh so I search more and we finally manage to get an idea of what happened. But as soon as we did make the connection, I was furious. We guess that Relena was trying to catch up to us but was lured here somehow and then she was ambushed. From the amount of blood that was hers and lack of bodies, we figure she was captured and wound badly.

"Relena! Relena!" I call out, desperate for some sign to say that our assumption isn't true. I then pick up a trail with Re's and the hunter's scent heading towards the area we know their camp is in. "RELENA!!" I roar as I shift into my beast wolf form and storm through the forest following the trail. I only vaguely hear Jackson call after me until I can only hear my ragged breaths and only focus on the scent. I slow down when I'm able to hear faint voices and I stalk them until I reach the camp, then I lurk in the shadows and circle while peering through the trees to get a look at what I'm dealing with.

She was right when she said they were more vicious than normal hunters. They had some much silver covering them I almost winced at the idea of how much it would hurt to just touch them. They had a few wolf skins hung up and plenty of silver swords and arrows. A few of the swords that were hung up had blood on them. Then I see a sight that had my blood boiling. They had my mate in a cage made of silver and covered in clumps of wolfsbane they just tied on to the bars. They were bickering about who out of the five- no six of them would have the 'honor' of killing her. I could barely see her through the flowers of poison tied to the bars, but she was curled up in the center of it covered in blood, staying as far away from the sides as possible. She was glaring and occasionally snarling at them when they tried to get close, but they ignored all that. I was trying to come up with a plan but they finally had agreed that one of the shorter people in the group would finish her.

I remember his exact words were, "Let's make this long and painful." That's when I lost it. I rushed out of the trees, completely unaware that their camp was closely lined with wolfsbane, yet I ignored it's effects and started to tear them apart then all I could see was red. I vaguely remember ripping the cage in half at some point but after that it's all red. When I came back to my senses I realize that I completely demolished the camp and I couldn't tell limb from limb in the mess of blood.

"X-xylo?" I heard a weak voice behind me. I turn around and see my mate leaning against an empty weapon rack near the cage and she was more injured than I thought. I rush to her side and look over her injuries. She had a lot of cuts and arrow wounds, a broken leg, and a black eye. I nuzzled her closer to me and started to try and clean the wounds, except I was still in wolf form. I hear the bushes rustle behind her and I instantly get protective and curve my body around her to face what was coming and growled harshly.

"Woah, relax Xylo it's just me. Relena! You okay?" He walks up to us and I let him take a look at her injuries while I calm down enough to transform back. When I look back at them Re is leaning heavily on Jackson and she looks like she's on the verge of passing out. "She needs help quick. She got hit with a lot of wolfsbane." I myself am starting to feel the effects of whatever I was attacked with as the adrenaline starts to wear off.

"Alright let's go." I start to quickly leave the area when Jackson yells at me to stop.

"Stop, this whole area is surrounded in wolfsbane! And plenty of it." I look a few feet in front of me and low and behold, there is a thick line of wolfsbane flowers surrounding the camp. Once I see I instantly feel weaker and fall on my knees. "Xylo!?" I hear Jackson alarmed and soon enough he's by my side helping me to feet. I sway a little but I stand regardless. "Stay here for a second while I move the wolfsbane so we can get moving." He walks off and starts pulling the plants out of the ground. I make my way to Re who was sitting on a log near the camp fire and I sit down next to her. I hold her close and she passes out on me as the effects of the wolfsbane and silver really start to take effect.

"Okay come on, let's head to Mythspire it's closer." He helps me to my feet as he carries Re and we walk down the path he cleared heading to the vampire castle. However, I can only imagine what could have happened to my mate had I ignored the scent.

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So what do you guys think of the new cover? I spent at least a few days on it so I want to know if you guys like it. Anyways hope that you're having a good day/night, bye!