Huntress (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #0.5)

Huntress (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #0.5)
Trina M. Lee





The faintest sprinkle of rain descended all around. The chilly drops landed on my hair and eyelashes as I looked up into the dark night sky. I shivered and rubbed my arms briskly. I couldn’t decide if it was the cold or fear that caused me to shake.

Watching the others bound off into the night left me feeling alone and more than a little abandoned. More than enough time had passed. Being a werewolf had grown easier in many ways. Yet, I still couldn’t shake the terror and insecurity that came with both the nudity as well as feeling like an outsider among my own pack.

I felt like I was still so new, a stranger amid the rest. Shaz was a newer addition than I.

Even he seemed to fit in better than I did. I didn’t belong here. I knew it deep down, in every part of me. It may have been the fact that I was born with metaphysical abilities, able to work energy.

Or it could have been something else entirely. Either way, I couldn't shake it.

Shaz had hung back upon noticing my hesitance to join the others. I stood in the clearing, watching our pack disappear into the forest. The weight of his jade green gaze was heavy and I almost wished he’d gone on without me.

“Are you ok, Lex?”

I met his eyes steadily. “Yeah, I just don’t feel like I belong here. With them. And with him.”

I could be honest with Shaz. In fact, he was pretty much the only person I felt like myself around. At just nineteen, he was so young yet wise beyond his years. He would have been like the little brother I never had if he hadn’t been a werewolf. And strikingly beautiful whether in wolf form or not.

Shaz nodded as if he understood. Maybe he did. “You love him.”

Hearing someone else say it struck a chord deep within me. The truth really does hurt at times. In fact, it could cut like a knife.

I laughed but it sounded fake, even to me. “Is it possible to love and loathe someone at the same time?”

I was painfully aware of our nakedness. I angled my body away, trying to hide what he and the rest of the pack had already seen countless times. The self consciousness wasn’t something I could easily shake. I’d been a naive teenager when I was attacked. Entering into this world of creatures that stalk the night had proved incredibly difficult.

I owed Raoul for everything he’d done for me. Taking me into his pack, teaching me that werewolves were not just B movie characters, he’d done so much for me. He was rough and ruggedly handsome with his long black hair, strong physique and take charge attitude. He was Alpha wolf for a reason.

He was also maddeningly appealing to me in every way. Despite the fact that he was seventeen years older than my twenty-two years, I’d fallen for him. Hard.

“If you just want to hang out here, I’ll stick around.” Shaz’ eyes were all wolf, not a speck of white showed. He needed to shift.

“No, you go ahead. I’m fine. I’ll catch up.” He gave me a look of disbelief so I added,

“Promise.”

His hand on my shoulder was warm and unexpected. I could feel his wolf in his touch, waiting impatiently. He squeezed gently and nodded before turning away. The change stole over him swiftly and suddenly a large white wolf stood before me. His fur was just as white as his shock of platinum hair.

He gave me one last look before trotting off into the trees. I waited until he was gone before giving in to the ache within me. It hurt to deny the change but at least it was possible. It hadn’t always been so.

The shift from human to wolf felt like true freedom. It was fast and fluid and despite what one may assume, only hurt for a split second. Then it was absolute pleasure.

Though part of me longed to run with Raoul, Shaz and the others, I wanted to be alone with my thoughts. When I was wolf, I felt like nothing in the world could bring me down.

The afflictions of the human world were gone, like dust on the wind. It was a sense of peace that I was still getting used to.

Everything in the forest smelled so alive, filled with vitality. From the earthy scent of the grass at my feet to the all encompassing expanse of the night sky above, this was life like so many would never know it. Perhaps I was more blessed than I wanted to admit.

After the attack, it had taken a long time to accept what I was. Survivor’s guilt never really went away, at least, not so far. I’d spent a lot of time fearing that I would become a rampaging monster like the wolf that had killed my family and left me for dead. It was moments like this that made it all bearable.

The sound of nocturnal creatures scurrying through the trees and brush had my ears twitching. I could scent the small coyote pack that lurked half a mile away. They were afraid to get too close to us.