Page 30 of The Hunt: Emerald

I glance back at the cave, heart aching, telling me to go back, butall I know is what logic tells me.Omegas can never trust an Alpha…

And I run… it’s the only thing I can do because I know I cannot kill him… and not because of his power, but because I literally do not have the drive anymore.

I clutch my aching heart, wheezing and sweating, the further I get from him… missing him more with every step. My body pulses with every centimeter I stray away.

GO BACK!

I shake the thought from my head and run… I run… I pause… looking back, puffing becauseI can’t run!As I bite my lip, fear, realization, and dread coursing through me.I can’t leave hi?—

The crack of a branch behind me sends adrenaline slicing through my spine.Murdoch… did he catch up with me already?The happiness that spreads through me is confirmation enough that I can’t leave him. I spin on my heels with an excuse on my lips, but the trees whisper distressing words to me, causing my stance to change. My fists clench, magic humming at my fingertips.

Nothing…

But I’m not stupid… I don’t let my guard down and use my power to cut down a branch. Before it hits the ground, I carve the edges into a spear and grasp it, crouching.

“Come out you, fucking cowards,” I grit out.

A growl answers back. It’s low and repulses me.Not my Murdoch.

“Didn’t think he’d let you wander this far,” a voice drawls from the shadows. “But lucky us… now we can get a taste of the sweet pussy we’ve smelled for days.” A man steps from behind a tree. Tall. Pale, with scars across his chest. Definitely an Alpha, but this one is a ghoul. Still…I can handle him…Or so I thought, when six other Alphas flank me, circling like dogs. I curl my lip, disgusted, and snort.

“Oh, you couldn’t handle lil ol’ me by yourself, so you big strong Alphas had to gang up on me? A helpless Omega?” I raise a brow and the ringleader snorts.

“Helpless? I don’t think anyone in the forest doesn’t know what you did to those poor Alphas… so we decided to move differently… because we’re smart. But believe me when I tell you, we can more than handle you, the same way the other Alphas and Ihandledthe other nine Omegas,” it smirks.Those mother fuckers!

I gasp and spit on the spear, furious not only at them but myself…I could have helped them... I arch my hand back, throwing it and using the wind to shoot it straight through the heart of the Alpha next to him panting with ire.

The yelp is loud and satisfying, but so is hearing its body drop to the ground with a thud. Deep down I knew… I knew I was the last one standing. My heart aches for them… we didn’t deserve this… fuck… rest in power.I might not have known you all, but I’ll avenge as many of you as I can… not out of obligation, but out of need for vengeance

“Smart?” I shake my head, holding in a wince when my stomach starts to burn with heat… No… Source, not right now! Ican’t afford to go in heat now…“No, I don’t think you’re smart at all, because if you were smart you’d know not to fuck with a woman who’s on a mission,” I grunt as I call a vine up and hook it though my spear, sending it back to me.

“You bitch!” it chokes out on his last breath.

“I know you are, but what am I?!” I stick my tongue out at him.

“She’s mouthy. I can’t wait to fuck her… she screamed so prettily in that cave…” it laughs and I blast a huge clump of dirt his way, sending it slamming into a severed tree branch I’d just cut off, groaning, blood spewing from its mouth and chest.

“Anyone else?!” I smirk, and one of them chuckles. Meanwhile, the others flinch.

“You think power makes you untouchable?” the lead Alpha hisses, stepping closer. “But you’re just an Omega that’s been used and marked… easy prey… no Alpha even has to claim you. We can just take you to the finish line, fuck you, and kill you… that’s the Hunt. Those are the rules… that’s thefun.”

“Well, I want to see you try,” I growl and it laughs and lunges at me, face turning large and clumpy, screeching

“GET THAT BITCH!” it shouts and they all charge at me at once.

I scream, ready to fight, but before it can even reach me, its body goes flying with the swipe of a large paw.Murdoch!

“You found me!”

“I’ll feckin’ deal wit’ yu later!”he growls, catching one of the Alphas in his mouth, crushing its bones, and flinging it to the side.

I know it’s strange… but I’m not even upset. I’m… happy, no…I feel on top of the world! He came after me!

Murdoch

She ran… jus’ like I knew she would the moment she t’ought she was out o’ me sight. Even t’ough I knew she would, I canna stop the disappointment t’at flares t’rough me. I stamp it down an’ focus on trackin’ ’er as she bobs an’ weaves t’rough the woods.

But tu me surprise, she stops an’ looks back at me.Can she see me?No, the steam I’m emmitin’ from me body cloaks me, creatin’ a mirage, practically makin’ me invisible tu everat’in’ includin’ the pests t’at try tu attack her from behind.

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