HUNTED

"Blue… eyes…" Malia whispered. The pair were stunned at this wolf that seemed to be much bigger than Finn.

Did she have a blood relation? No, Aila shook her head.

Finn yelped as he was flung into the side of the building by this wolf. Aila instantly started to charge towards it but stopped when three wolves came forwards and attacked it all at once. She felt her blood turn cold when she watched it pull up onto its hind legs and let out a guttural roar with slime at its jaws flinging out to the sides as its voice echoed through the town. The streets quietened further; the only sounds came from the rain continuously pouring down on them. 

"You don't think… is that thing with the hunters?" Malia stuttered.

Aila's eyes were wide as she watched its powerful strides and swipes at the three wolves. "I think that thing has been created… from our blood," Aila's eyes became pained as one of the wolves yelped after being bit into the neck and flung to the side like an unwanted toy.

The sound of the wolf landing on the ground and hearing its bones break snapped her out of her daze. Aila sent out a mind-link to Tommy, one of the warriors she knew was on the perimeter surrounding the shopping centre, "Tommy, what's happening?"

A few moments passed, and Aila became twitchy as she watched the wolves becoming tired before her. She glanced to the side and saw Finn still on the ground, unmoving. While Aila waited, she decided to see to him. Running forwards on all fours, she grabbed her backpack by her teeth and made her way to Finn, dropping it next to him. She went around the corner, checking her surroundings, now fully aware that she had fought stark naked in town. 

"Hmmm, I hope I don't get a fine for public indecency.."

"I think that's the last of your worries right now," Her wolf replied drily while Aila shifted and changed into shorts and a sports bra she stashed in her bag. She went back to Finn and checked his pulse by his neck. It beat steadily under her fingers, she sighed in relief. He was knocked out, that was sure.

She flicked her wet hair behind her back and ears, stopping her movements when she heard back from Tommy.

"There's still a few near us. I haven't seen the hunters yet."

"So, they were using the rogues to do their dirty work.." Malia trailed off in thought. 

Aila looked at her grey surroundings and let her eyes glow to enhance her eyesight even more through the pelting rain. There were still civilians hiding in the shadows of buildings and others trying to get inside shops with their closed signs up; either the owners truly weren't in, or they weren't helping anyone. Aila shook her head and clenched her teeth. 

"We have reinforcements. They arrived not too long ago," Tommy's voice echoed through her mind again.

"Good."

Aila reached out to the pack mind-link, "This is Aila Cross speaking. The reinforcements who have just arrived split into two. There aren't many rogues left, and there are civilians here that need to be evacuated. The hunters are still about. They could use one of them as a hostage."

Aila heard multiple responses from different wolves; she still didn't know the names of or identifying who was who from the various voices. Responses of "Luna" and "Yes, your highness" floated through her mind. 

Satisfied with her first official order, she then turned around and scanned some of the parked cars for Hollie, with her eyes still glancing back at the beast that was wearing her wolves down. At the moment, she couldn't help them until she was assured of civilian safety and what the development was at the packhouse and surrounding areas. 

"Ajax, where is Hollie?" She mind-linked the shapeshifter, glancing around the skies again as though she might see him.

"She's safe, but I think I see the hunters coming!"

A low growl erupted from her chest in response; Malia had merged briefly with Aila, her own aggression seeping through. Aila quickly went through her bag, looking for her phone. 

Shit. Aila realised she dropped it when one of the hunters jumped them. She couldn't let Damon know what was happening or get in contact with Chiara.

"You can mind-link her.. you can reach her from here," Malia stated.

Aila frowned and cast a wary glance about before reaching out with her mind and finding the line of the mind-link that connected her to Chiara, "Gamma?"

Her voice echoed across as though Chiara was not there. Her mouth went dry, and she swallowed an imaginary lump down her throat as she glanced back to the remaining two wolves that were still fighting the one with the glowing blue eyes. She sighed with a heavy heart after hearing nothing from her friend.

Aila sprinted forwards and could only hope that the Gamma was okay. She was a tough cookie and taught Aila everything she knew, only able to defeat her 50% of the time now. Aila tried reassuring herself before zoning in on the 8ft or 9ft tall wolf. While the scruffy beast flung another wolf away by its enormous claws, Aila used that time to leap forward, her nails extended and punch through the beast's chest, grabbing at what she guessed was its beating heart and ripping the organ from its structure. Landing elegantly, she turned away, dropping the heart as the beast fell to the ground.

Aila had watched from a distance how any scratch, biting or ripping of flesh did nothing to this wolf; its healing appeared to be at a high acceleration rate, healing on the spot within a second. Removing its heart was a sure thing. How would it heal now? She glanced behind her shoulder at the beast's stature on the ground.

So much for being all-powerful. Yet, Aila's thoughts ran short as she sighted the dead man on the ground. It was the wolf the beast took out. Her eyes then landed on the red-haired wolf that trotted towards her.

"You just went straight in for the kill, didn't you. Taking all the fun!" A female's breathless voice mocked her through the mind-link. 

"Nairi?" She asked in shock, then shrugged in response to her comment.

"Why do you sound so surprised?" Nairi mind-linked her and tilted her head to the side.

In all honesty, she didn't actually think Nairi was a fighter. She asked, "Are you a warrior?"

"Yes! Why did you think I was guarding you at the lake?" Nairi's red-haired wolf began pacing.

"To keep me company?" Aila laughed and shook her head, glad to hear her friend's laugh through the mind-link. But their laughter dropped as they both looked in the same direction after hearing footfall.

Across the street, three men and two women strolled towards them in the middle of the road, each wearing black military attire and holding pistols. So much for the crossbow, they used the last time they hunted her down. Aila internally rolled her eyes at the thought.

Suddenly out of the corner of her eye, she saw that same blurred figure zoom past her and in a blink of the eye, only three hunters were left standing before them. Whatever that thing was, or whoever it was, really was helping. With that assistance, Nairi and the other wolf raced across the road towards the hunters, with a grey wolf that appeared and attacked one of the men on the side.

"Aila, go to the car! Hollie is waiting!" 

Aila blinked and realised it was Darren's voice that rung through her mind. Where was he? In her state of confusion, she saw the grey wolf with red patches on it lift its head up from ravaging the hunter it took down. His amber eyes gleamed with their bloody teeth snarling at her.

"Darren?" She asked aloud and took a step forward. 

The wolf growled, and she heard his sigh through the mind-link, "Aila, you are this pack's Luna. Now get in the damn car."

He actually helped..

Aila pursed her lips, forcing herself to turn around, away from the fighting, only to stop mid-motion as a gunshot rang through the air. Her breath caught as she looked back and saw Nairi fall to the ground with a yelp that echoed through her ears and stilling her heart.