Huntress or Mate?

Chapter 6 - Soldier

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Warning: The events described towards the end of the chapter may be hard to read for sensitive readers

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Kolten

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“You were right,” I confess, looking at Nikos, “I don’t want to hand over the girl… yet,” my voice comes out softer saying the last part. I don’t want to hand her over period.

“What?” Isla shrieks, gaping as I walk up to them, but I don’t look at her. I keep my eyes on Nikos, and his face creases into a smirk.

“Finally, we get to the truth,” he says, stepping up to me. “I knew there was something between you and that girl. I was right about her being your mate too, wasn’t I?” he continues, narrowing his eyes while looking me in the eye.

“What?” I hear Isla again, her vocabulary seeming to have reduced to only one word at this revelation. I’m grateful though, cause it gives me the break I need from Nikos’s burning stare. I turn my head momentarily to look at her while calming my heart, so I can look him dead in the eye and lie without him picking it up.

“No, you weren’t right. She’s not my mate. I only want to f**k her,” I tell him looking him straight in the eye without blinking and there’s silence for a while before he lets out a laugh, patting me on the shoulder, like a father who’s just been made proud by his son.

“Honestly, I can’t say I didn’t see that coming too. Is it because of what I said about Deegan? Were you inspired?” he teases, wriggling his eyebrow with a smug look on his face, and I scrunch my nose in disgust.

“Eww! No!”

“So, it’s comforting her then? I was wondering how you were surviving those,” he winks and I raise my brow at him, wishing he would just stop “Well, I don’t have a problem with that but what are you going to tell Deegan? We’ve already told him about her.”

“I’ll figure something out.”

“If you can do that before tomorrow, I don’t see a problem. Knock yourself out,” Nikos starts to say, but Isla cuts him off, stepping in front of him, so she’s the one now facing me.

“No! He’s not going to knock himself out! I haven’t consented to anything yet,” she says, causing me to sigh, exasperated.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Nikos asks her but she ignores him, keeping her heated gaze on me.

“-Why?”

“-Why what?”

“Why are you doing this? Why her? You’ve never been interested in f*****g anyone we’ve captured before-” she interrogates and the jealousy in her voice stirs something inside of me.

“-Well, maybe because I was busy f*****g you.” I blurt out and she slaps me across the face.

“You’re such an asshole,” she adds, tears immediately gleaming in her eyes before running out of the room.

“Nikos, man. I-” I start, wanting to explain myself, but he raises his hands and cuts me off.

“We’re cool,” he says before turning around and walking out of the room while I lean on the wall before grabbing my car keys and heading out. I don’t see Isla or Nikos in the kitchen when I walk past. They must be in Isla’s room or his.

The rain is still pouring outside, but I need to clear my head and I can’t do that here. Not with Enya in the next room.

I get inside my car and start the engine but I realize just as I put the car on drive that I didn’t take my phone. Speaking to my mother, to all of them, hearing their voices always reminds me of why I’m doing this. It gives me clarity and I need that right now. I step out of the vehicle and sprint back to the house and Isla and Nikos are still nowhere in sight as I enter. I walk to my room but just as I walk past Isla’s room I hear my name and I stop and listen.

“How are you agreeing to this?” I hear her say to Nikos.

“Why not?”

“You can’t seriously not be seeing this for what it is?”

“Which is what? I don’t know what you’re talking about. What is the problem?”

“Inya!”

“Enya, her name is Enya,” Nikos corrects, his voice laced with annoyance.

“See? You know her name. Which other girl that we've sold can you name? I bet you can't even name one! You know why that is?”

“Yeah, but I’m guessing you’d rather tell me-”

“-Because we’ve never asked. And you know why we never asked? Because we never cared! We never needed to know their names. They didn’t matter to us. We didn’t care about them. We never brought them to the house. If they were too sick or too injured, we left them to die; and carried on with our lives like nothing happened because that’s how we do it. There are protocols to follow. These are the reasons we haven’t been discovered. The reason we are an effective team and, I would think most importantly, the reason why your families are still alive and well. But now we are putting all of that at risk because of this one girl. She’s in our house, coming in and out of sleep like some precious princess while Kol runs to her side every time she so much as lets out a whimper. She knows our faces, so if she were to escape, we’d be f****d! And you don’t see a problem with that?!”

“Okay, so he made us break protocol! But once he’s had his fun, we’ll hand her over and that will be that. All will be back to normal.”

“And when will that be?”

“I don’t know... once he’s done?”

“And you don’t think we need to know when that will be?”

“I didn’t say that. The guy literally just told us thirty minutes ago that he wants to f**k her. We will obviously sit down and discuss it some more.”

“That’s the problem, Andronikos! We were supposed to have gotten to the bottom of it before you agreed to it. That’s what you don’t seem to understand. We can’t let him do this.

“Why not? Deegan’s doing it. You said it yourself that he’s busy with some girl right now.”

“Deegan! Hades’s second in command. He’s not Deegan. He doesn’t have the privileges that he has. He could get us all in trouble.”

“How? We are not going to tell. Are you going to tell?

“Of course not.”

“There you go, then! Sorted,” Nikos says, and there’s silence before I hear Isla speak again.

“Why? Why her?”

“I don’t know. Look, Isla... you are reading too much into this and stressing yourself out about nothing. Kol is not a child; he knows what he’s doing. He knows what’s at stake. Just… just chill,”

“Chill,” I hear her repeat, before letting out a humorless chuckle and something slams against the bedside table. There’s silence for a moment but she speaks again just as I’m about to go.

“Where the f**k is he even going?”

“God! You’re going to start stressing out about that too now?”

“Just say you don’t know if you don’t!”

“God damnit! I can’t take this f*****g screaming in my face! You are bloody stressing me! Why are you really mad at the guy?!”

“I’m not mad at him!”

“You could have fooled me.”

“Why are you always so insensitive to me?!”

“When did this become about me?!”

“You never support me, Nikos! You are supposed to have my back-”

“-I always have your back-”

“-No, you don’t. He disrespected me in front of you and you said nothing!”

“Disrespected you how? You asked him a question and he answered you. It’s not my fault you didn’t like the answer. Why the f**k am I on blast for? I’m not going to fight your jealousy battles for you!”

“I’m not jealous!”

“Like hell, you’re not! You think I’m an i***t?”

“No, I do not think you’re an i***t. I think you’re a narcissistic, insufferable jerk ass!”

“Well, at least I’m not a self-absorbed slut who can’t decide which c**k she wants shoved into her big mouth!” Nikos, screams the last part and Isla must have tried to slap him cause next I hear him warn her, “Careful, I’m not Kol.”

“Let go of my hand, you asshole! Get the f**k out of my room! Get out!” she screams, and I take that as my cue to proceed to my room.

Nikos is a jerk but he’s right about her being confused. Before Isla and he got together, she and I were together. Let me rephrase that, we were f*****g. We are not allowed to date. So both of us got into it knowing it was just fun. But a few months down the line, she started expecting and demanding more from me and I couldn't give her more. Besides the fact that we can’t do relationships, I didn’t have any feelings for her. I didn’t love her. We both didn’t love each other when we started but somewhere the lines got blurred. She let me in and then demanded that I let her in too but I couldn’t. I couldn’t even try. There was no point in letting anyone in.

Isla is Deegan’s niece. Deegan who's Hades' second in command. She and I met eight years ago when she and her mother moved into our village. Hades is our leader. The monster behind our suffering. Isla and I hit it off immediately when she started at our school. We became best friends. And that friendship is why I'm here today.

Seven years ago, on a rainy day like this. My siblings and I were helping my mother set up the dinner table. It was already passed our bedtime but my father was coming home that night.

We lived in a small remote village that was mostly inhabited by werewolves and my father worked in the city. The area in which we lived was rich in emerald deposits. It’s one of the main sources, so there were big mines that provided for all who lived there and were fit to work. My mother worked there, my father too but they moved my father to the city. The city was a couple of miles away and between that and the hours he worked, he couldn't afford to come home every day after work. So he only came home once a month.

He got one day's rest a week and would combine them so he could at least stay with us for four days when he came back. My mother would arrange to be off around the same days and would prepare a nice dinner on the day he would arrive. We would also be given a pass to stay up late since he always arrived in the evening.

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I’m the second oldest of my siblings. My sister Ivana was the oldest. My father hated being so far away from us but he didn’t have a choice. My parents didn’t have a college education, so their choices were limited and they had four mouths to feed. Plus, they grew up in that village. Working in those mines was all they knew. The job was paying well, so after three years of saving both he and my mother were able to secure a place in town where all of us could go live. My father spoke to his boss and they agreed to move my mother to the same place as him but that was due to happen in six months.

My parents didn’t want to take us out of school in the middle of a school term, so they decided we were going to move when school closed. My father had already secured us a place in a new school in the city. My parents weren’t educated, but they didn’t underestimate the value of education. They didn’t want us to work as hard as they did. They wanted us to have choices.

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My father had called to say he was close, so we were setting the table when we heard a scream, followed by more screams. We were still looking at each other when our door was kicked down and gas was thrown inside the house. My mother and sister shifted into their wolves and started fighting with the unknown men. My other siblings and I didn’t have our wolves then. So there wasn't much we could do. When my mother told us to run, I took my brothers' hands, and we ran out of the house. The village was on fire. People were falling, some running, it was chaos and I had never been as scared as I was that night in my entire life.

We started seeing the village gates and I thought we had made it when something exploded in front of us, sending us flying in different directions, and my lights went out. When I came to, I was bound with chains in a dark, cold hall. The hall was filled with moans and groans of pain and muffled screams.

When I opened my eyes, I saw mothers holding their children, bruised and battered and trembling in fear. The hall was not lit, the only light was coming from the small openings that resembled windows, high up on the walls. My clothes were torn and I had a big gash on my leg. When I looked around, my family was nowhere in sight. I spent the whole night searching for them but I didn’t find them. Because our village was small, I recognized everyone and some of them were lying lifeless. They had succumbed to their injuries.

The next morning, they came and got us and we were all put in a straight line, still bound and that’s when I saw my mother and my two brothers. We were told that our village had been taken over by Hades, and our lives now belonged to him.

We were loaded into big trucks and taken back to our village to clean the mess they made when they took over the village. In all the years that I have been alive, I have never felt the pain I felt when I saw my father and sister among the bodies we had to burn. The sun set went down on me that day, and I felt a part of me die. I had heard about slavery but never in a million years had I thought I would ever experience it firsthand. They took us back when we were done and we started on the mines the following morning. They worked us to the bone for two years. Working from dawn to dusk with no breaks. They would come with hoses once a week and hose us down like we were animals. We only ate once a day, in the evenings. The men would come with buckets and throw the grits on the floor and we would have to scrape it with our bruised hands. Occasionally they came and took some of the families out and as the months dragged by, we were getting fewer and fewer since some of the humans were also dying. I only saw my mother and siblings when we were working and we couldn’t even speak.

One night, the soldiers came and got me. I was taken to a room and when I got there, my mother and siblings were there. They looked… broken. Two years of hard labor had done a number on them, on all of us. We were all broken. I was sixteen at the time. I wanted to run to them and hug them but I was scared. They always beat us up when we tried. They told me I could go ahead and hug them and I did. They all cried and my heart cried with them but no tears came out of my eyes. I had cried my last tear that day or so I thought until I met my mate.

We were still in the hug when the door opened and Isla ran inside. She was with a man who looked to be in his early twenties. Isla wasn’t dirty like us. She didn’t look like she came from the cells but I didn’t ask. I was just glad she was okay.

The man introduced himself as Deegan. He told me that Isla was his niece and that she had asked him to spare my family, and he had agreed but I was going to have to pledge my life to them. I was asked to choose and I agreed without even giving it a second thought. I would have done anything to see my family out of there. My father was no more. It was my responsibility as the oldest to take care of them now.

All the omega families were released. He didn’t want to hurt them. He was after the higher ranks but he didn’t have time to choose when taking over the village. Those who died were collateral. Their young ones were taken to join their armies to be their soldiers. But only the ones who were twenty-one. You needed to be twenty-one to be able to take the oath, except for she-wolves. They wanted both you and your wolf to take the oath, not just you.

I’m not an omega. My family and I are Gamma blood and I was sixteen. I had another five years until I had my wolf and there weren’t going to be taking any more soldiers by then. But because of Isla, they made an exception.

I became their second youngest soldier, like her. They had built new houses in the village and all those that worked for them lived in them. My family got released and joined the families. All the other non-omega families were left in the mines as slaves. Some new families came with the soldiers to join the other families in the village. The villagers work in the mines but get paid and don’t work like slaves. They work in different sections and do the clean work, like how my parents used to work. Although my family is one of the free families, my mother doesn’t work anymore. I get enough money here to support myself and them.

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Hades, our leader, is the grandson of Darius Blackburn. Darius was an omega who killed his ruthless Alpha after Ajax, the Alpha's son killed Darius’s daughter. He killed her because he was disgusted that he was mated to her. This happened way before my time but we've all heard the stories. They say he tied her up and beat her to death in broad daylight, saying he wanted the Gods to see her. He said they were making a mockery out of him. Their pack, The CrimsonCrown had no equal. They were ruthless and no one wanted to square off with them. The cruel Alpha became a self-proclaimed king of Alphas. All the Alphas hated it but who was going to stand against him?

Darius's daughter, Ilaria's body was left in the sun to rot and after days of begging, Darius went to untie her. But just as he took her broken body in his arms; the Alpha and his guards came and beat Darius before dragging him to the dungeons for defying the Alpha. The following day, the Alpha sentenced Darius to the same fate as his daughter.

Other omega's had enough, they stood with Darius and a fight broke out between the guards and them. Darius seized an opportunity in the commotion and buried a spear deep in the Alpha's heart. He dropped dead right there. Everyone hated the Alpha and was glad he was dead, especially the omegas. He treated them like slaves. He was a cruel man, but Darius was still sentenced to death for killing him. His family and all those that stood with him were banished.

No one ever heard from Darius' family until twenty years later, when hunters got a tip about a miner who was using slaves. They ambushed the place and it was Darius’s son. Wolves had been going missing for years and it was him. He was kidnapping higher-ranking wolves and condemning them to slavery as revenge for what was done to his family. He was building an empire for the omegas with their sweat and blood. This time they were the slaves, the ones without rights.

The hunters didn’t care about that, though. They just hated wolves, so they killed everyone when they got there. Darius’s son died and no one knew if he had a family. It turned out he did, Hades. Eleven years later, Hades started all over again. That’s what he was doing when he took over my village. When he destroyed our lives. He was rebuilding. But unlike his father, he's driven by greed. It's not just about revenge anymore. Hades doesn't just take wolves. He takes humans as well.

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I was taken to join the other soldiers and we were trained. After we had passed our training, we were sworn in. You had to renounce everything. You could keep the family you have but you can't make a new one. So, you cannot accept your mate. When you find him or her, you have to take them to the underworld. That’s the code name for the mines. You have to reject her in front of Hades when you get there and watch her thrown into the mines. Isla did it last year when she found her mate. If you break this rule, you are thrown in the mines with everyone you ever cared about.

The mate bond is the root of all this, so Hades hates it and he needs us hard. He believes love will make us soft and make us rebel against him.

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The first two years in the field were hard. I kept resisting, deluding myself that there might be a way out, but I eventually surrendered and accepted my fate. By the time I turned twenty-one, which was two years ago. I was all in. I had lost all feeling; I was a monster.

Instead of breaking into houses and dragging wolves kicking and screaming as they did in Hades’s father's time, now we lure them with fake promises of jobs or whatever they are desperate for and take them to the mines. Some, we pick up on the streets or wherever, like Enya. We found her under the bridge. It looked as though she was washed out by the water.

We get a monthly salary but we are also given a commission for everyone we bring in. Hades has now bought three more mines and he only pays twenty percent of his labor force, so he can afford us. Nikos, Isla, and I are stationed here and others are stationed in other towns.

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When I eventually surrendered to my dark side, Isla and I started f*****g. We both understood where we stood with each other, but she caught feelings and wanted love from me, and I didn’t have any to give. I was an empty shell who felt nothing. So, she ended it with me and got together with Nikos. Nikos was the one who perused her first. I never did, she just chose me. After she rejected her mate, she went out drinking and ended up having a one-night stand with Nikos. Nikos told me what happened, thinking I was going to have a problem with it, but I didn’t. I gave him my blessing to pursue it if he wanted to, and that’s how their relationship began. But even though we ended our thing more than a year ago, and she's with Nikos now, Isla is still jealous when I look at someone else and I don’t get it cause she dumped me.

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I sigh, picking up the phone I came to get, and as if on cue, it rings and it’s my mother.