Page 37 of The Hunt: Emerald

“Yer father?” I ask an’ she shrugs.

“Your guess is as good as mine… before my mother’s death, she told me that she’d foolishly fallen in love with an Alpha that left her pregnant with me and told me never to follow in her steps… but by then, I didn’t need her words to tell me that much. We’d been in bondage for years and came to the conclusion all on my own that I hated Alphas already…” she spits an’ I dinna blame her.

“Rightfully so,” I growl, fistin’ me ’ands.

“I agree… when you see that type of death and destruction towards the people you care about and love, how can younothate the group responsible? But still, it wasn’t the death of my tribe that scared me… it was my mother believing the very people who lied, stole, and killed…

My mother was a kind woman, but she was… to put it kindly, a romantic. She wanted love and marriage, and she was beautiful, so even when were rounded up like cattle and send to camps, she stood out and received special treatment. She used that to get in good with the tribe leader and she was once again too trusting. The leader not only forced a bond on her, but he forced her to stay in a pheromone-induced, sex-crazed haze and used her as his special product…” she bitterly recalls.Shite.

“He was so cruel… I barely remember seeing her… sometimes weeks at a time, but when I did, she was haggard. Her beauty had already started to fade… that mother fucker and his clients used her until there was nothing left but skin and bones on her body and grief and hatred in my heart. When she died, they tried to make me replace her… hell, I think they tried before then, but my mother would fight against it.

I think that’s when they decided to kill her, but regardless, I wasn’t going to see myself have the same fate. I found an opening and ran like never before… I lived from village to village, fighting and fending for myself. I think that’s around the time I developed my power, but it was weak. However, any power was better than nothing.

Once I received this power and honed it just a bit, I decided to join the Hunt, believing it was my way out. Win the prize money, buy my passage to the human world… a place where we could hide, where Alphas don’t treat Omegas as trash. I wanted out, even if I had to die trying… it was better than waiting to be used as a sex slave,” she finishes an’ I look at ’er eyes, gleamin’, fierce, an’ vulnerable all at once. “That’s why I ran. That’s why I fought.”

She voices as if tryin’ tu defend ’er earlier actions o’ running from me. I ’ate tu admit it, but I understand ’ow she feels.She ’ad a reason tu run…a growl rumbles in me chest, low, primal, an’ protective…I’ll kill ’em all.

I will’na let fear seep intu ’er conscience again. Not while I live. Not while I breathe.

I pause, pullin’ ’er intu me arms. kissin’ the top o’ ’er ’ead.

“Yu will ’ave t’at freedom, precious one. I’ll see tu it. No matter the cost.” She peeks at me, ’er gaze soft, ’er eyes low as she stands on ’er tip toes.

“I already have it…” She wraps ’er arms around me neck an’ a growl rips from me. I scoop ’er intu me arms, runnin’ me tongue ova ’er lips. I dip me ’and under ’er t’igh, ready tu play wit’ me precious one’s pussy… but curiosity ripples between us.

“The scar on your stomach…” she asks, leanin’ back wit’ not a care in the world, knowin’ I’ll neva drop ’er. She runs ’er ’and ova the scar in me chest, causin’ me tu shudder. “How did you get it? Don’t lie and say hunting… I can tell you’re not just some ordinary hunter… I can feel it.”

I give a short laugh.Smart,as always. T’ere’s no hidin’ me shite past from ’er… but t’ere are certain t’in’s I want tu keep from ’er… I want tu surprise ’er wit’ therealfreedom only a queen is allotted, but fer now…

“I joined the Hunt fer blood,” I admit. “Me brother…” I trail off an’ ’er head tilts.

“One of the ones whose scent lingers on your anger…”

Another growl escapes me. Befer I can stop it, the memories rise, causin’ ’atred tu boil in me chest.

“Aye, brother, Garven, an’ me ex-lover…” I spit out bitterly. “I trusted ’em both… an’ they betrayed me. Tugether, t’ey colluded an’ tried tu burn our kingdom tu ash. T’ey also poisoned me with Banes root. I made the mistake o’ trustin’ the wrong person an’ was stabbed in the back fer it… or rather, the stomach.” A gasp comes from ’er, ’ands goin’ ova ’er mouth in shock.

“BANES ROOT?!” She bares her teethan’ I smile at ’er anger. “THEY WERE TRYING TO KILL YOU!” she growls an’ I kiss her sweet lips.

“T’eytried,but yer Alpha is stronger t’an t’at.”

“But…” She cups my face frownin’, lookin’ me ova. “Are you okay now? Banes Root is…”

“I’m fine now, but t’en… wen I could stand the pain o’ bloodlust no longer, I left me land an’ joined the Hunt. It gave me an outlet… I needed a place where the killin’ was permitted, givin’ me a place tu burn out the poison t’at seeped intu me heart. The Hunt kept me sane… the Hunt helped me keep wat litt’l reason I had left so I could meet yu.”

“Me?”

“Aye, me precious one… I dinna know if it’s because o’ yer power ova the earth, but yu calm the slow madness t’at was takin ova me… it ’as faded, an’ me dull senses are sharpenin’. It’s all because o’ yu I ’ave not lost meself tu the madness.” I take ’er ’and, kissin’ the palm, seein’ ’er flush, an’ feelin’ ’er pleasure ripple through the bond.

“Thank the Source…” she deflates an’ I jus’ canna get ova how adorable me soulmate is. She remains silent fer a moment as if tryin’ tu process ’er t’oughts’.

“Wat’s on yermind, precious one?”

“You… only you.” She looks intu me eyes an’ by the Source, me ’eart is goin’ tu burst.Bloody feckin’ ’ell, she’s drivin’ me mad!The checkpoint is jus’ up ahead…if I jus’ plunge intu ’er depth fer a b— I go stiff, quickly shiftin’ from me ’uman form tu me lycan form, liftin’ me snout in the air, sniffin’, growlin’.

Him.

“Murdoch… w?—”

---