AllFreeNovel
Share Us
1
The Nightly Hunt
FLOR
The nearly full moon hung over the rooftop of the dorms for unmated shifters and the nearby woods like a bulging threat. From my place high in the branches of a sweetgum tree, I held perfectly still. I knew I was well hidden, though my feet prickled with the urge to flee to a safer place. But any help the bright night sky loaned me when it came to spotting the males who hunted me would be lost if I moved, or made a sound.
The night was quiet, with not even a hint of a breeze, the only noises the distant trill of frogs in the creek and the hum of an air conditioner at the distant Pack House. But that didn’t mean I was safe.
Or alone.
As if I’d summoned them with my thoughts, the hunting pack appeared over the ridge, soundless. Stalking. A hundred feet away, one shadow slid along the ground, then another. The sharp, musky tang of the ones searching for me floated on the air.
A trickle of sweat ran down my temple. I ignored it and held my breath, concentrating on staying silent. I didn’t bother praying. Praying had never saved me from pain. My own feet, fists, and the ball of rage that filled my empty belly were all that had ever helped me survive.
One more shadow slunk after the first two, but I knew there were two more to come. These five pack Enforcers always hunted together.
Hunted, ate, slept, and fucked together. Their pack instincts did make them easier to avoid, sometimes. But not during the Hunting hours.
Every night, from dusk to midnight, I had to stay silent and motionless in the middle of a marshy community made up of wolves who tortured me for shits and giggles on a bad day, and pretended not to see me on a good one.
Of course, I hadn’t had a good day in four years, since Van Blackside, our Head Enforcer, had announced I was the latest quarry in the pack’s nightly Hunt.
Only a few more days. I lifted one hand to my metal ear tag and rubbed it for good luck. A few short days until I can stop running for my life. Until the other North American packs start to arrive for the Conclave, and I can run away for good.
The last two shadows raced past, and I finally let out my breath, loosening my rigid grip on the branch, preparing to slide down to the rooftop. Almost too late to stop, I heard noisy, running feet, and high-pitched male voices, whisper-shouting. It couldn’t be more Enforcers. They sounded too young, and too loud.
“I told you, I think I smelled her!”
Two boys, no more than fourteen, stopped almost directly below my perch. The moonlight shone on their greasy hair and pale, skinny arms. “Leroy, what’re we gonna do if we catch her?” The boy’s voice cracked as he scratched his hair—at fleas or lice, most likely. Lots of the younger shifters had lice in the spring. “I mean, we ain’t even shifted yet. And I ain’t never... you know, with a girl.”
Leroy sniggered. “Course not. Your balls ain’t even dropped. Listen, Bo, if we catch her, we’ll just… I don’t know. Kiss her, that’s what girls like. We ain’t gotta mate her for real. It’s a game, right?”
Bo swallowed so loud, I could hear the spit go down. “Naw, I heard the older guys talking. They said it’s real.”
Leroy shrugged and sniffed the air. “Well, we don’t got a choice. It’s mandibular.”
Bo thumped his head. “Mandatory, stupid.”
“Call me stupid when I bring her in and get promoted to Enforcer at thirteen,” Leroy sneered.
Thirteen? I almost fell out of the tree. What in the hell was a thirteen-year-old kid doing trying to catch a mate?
Of course, I was only six years older than him. I tasted bile, picturing being tied for life to one of these little shits.
Leroy was still talking. “I think she’s pretty, even if nobody else does.”
Bo scoffed. “No tits. She’s too skinny.”
That little shit. Like being skinny was a choice? Honestly, both of these kids were almost as thin as I was.
Leroy kicked at a pinecone on the ground. “Yeah, but she’s got those pretty gold-ish eyes, and that long red hair. Plus whoever gets her, gets their own house, Alpha Callaway said. And double food rations. I’d mate a gator for double rations.”
The promise of double rations was probably the only reason they’d joined the Hunt. The older males were more interested in getting a promotion to the Enforcer ranks, or the house and bump in pay that went along with mated status. Supposedly, some of the older Enforcers had placed bets on who would catch me, and on what night, as well. But these little boys just wanted food.
“You don’t even know how to mate, Leroy Johnson. It ain’t just bitin’ and shackin’ up.”
“I know about fuckin’. It ain’t hard. All ya gotta do’s stick your tallywhacker in between her legs and move it around for a bit.”
