The Lycan Prince's Huntress

The Nightshades

The Nightshade family is believed to be part of the first werewolf hunters. When the existence of feral beasts we're discovered, they helped build a small community of hunters that protected humans from beasts and their brutalities, keeping the supernatural world a secret from the humans, and also keep the balance. They also partook in creating codes for the hunters to follow when carrying out their duties to prevent disarray.

Being a werewolf hunter is by choice. At the age of nine, their children choose if they would like to be a part of the circle or not. This is after years of observing other hunters in their work. And if they accept the task, their training begins immediately.

Belladonna had found her father's work to be fascinating right from the start - after all, which child wouldn't be entranced at the sight of a human hunting a mythical creature and bringing it to its knees. The thrill of running through the wild, skillfully wielding a weapon, and protecting lives - like a superhero.

But even though she loved all that, she never wanted to be a part of it. Her mother, Victoria, was a regular human who had fallen in love with Brian Nightshade - the head hunter in Canada. And even though Victoria discovered later on the kind of work her husband was into, she still stayed. But on the condition that she was kept from that side of the world.

Bella, like her mother, loved the peace and quiet. Victoria hated the sight of a dying animal and preferred to nurse them. She preferred to pretend that there was no dark side to the world and that everything was picture perfect. The opposite of her husband, Brian Nightshade, was what she was. He, unlike her, was used to the gore and knew the dangers lurking about.

And while their first child, Ethan Nightshade, had taken after his father, Bella had clung to her mother's lap all through her childhood and rejected being a hunter. That is until the unfortunate incident that had happened and stolen the precious life of her sweet mother.

Bella could remember the day like it was yesterday. She was twelve at that time. She and her mother were both in their backyard garden, watering and trimming the flowers while she sang to them. Her mother had once told her that being nice to the flowers and singing to them would make them grow faster. And her little, naive self had believed without a single doubt.

The air was fresh with the scent of roses mixed with other flowery scents. The wind was steady, gently swaying the flowers and picking up the fallen petals to twirl around a dancing Bella. In her pink gown and flower crown that her mum had made her, she looked nothing less to a Disney princess. Her mum was softly humming along with her as she held the watering-can over the flower bed.

Victoria's smile had been radiant as she watched her innocent little girl sing to the flowers with a stick in her hand, acting as a wand. With it, she touched the flowers that were slowly losing their colors in hope that it would magically make them blossom.

The rustling of leaves was heard from a nearby bush behind her then, and Victoria had turned to see a werewolf slowly emerge from behind it. At first, she didn't seem frightened at the animal. Werewolves in their right state of mind don't cause harm to humans. They even hide themselves to keep their identity a secret.

That wasn't the first time Victoria and even Bella had seen one. They lived in the woods, after all, and with werewolf hunters. Sometimes, they had visitors who appear in their wolf form, but they don't cause any harm. Bella loved to chase after them sometimes, just to run her tiny fingers through their fur while giggling out loud, ignoring the warning growls they throw at her.

But something wasn't right with this particular werewolf that had ventured into their garden. For one, his blue, glowing eyes were fluctuating like a light bulb. And his mouth was a bit foamy with his teeth bared. He had this crazed look on his face as he growled at the mother and daughter duo.

"Mummy?!" Bella whimpered as she hurried to hide behind her mother. Victoria had already slowly gotten to her feet, backing away from the beast who slowly followed after. Her husband was at work and had taken along their seventeen-year-old son. But they had left behind one of their fellow hunters, who was inside making a cup of coffee.

"Hurry inside, Bella, and call Max," Victoria ordered her daughter, maintaining eye contact with the werewolf who kept coming closer. She knew she couldn't run inside with her daughter as that would trigger the werewolf to chase after both of them. So all she could do now was distract it from her daughter and stall before Max got here.

"Now!" Victoria added when her daughter seemed reluctant to leave her alone with the feral looking animal. And without a second wasted anymore, Bella took hold of her dress and ran to fetch Max. She passed by the flowers, taking care not to stomp on them as she ran through the backdoor into the kitchen.

"Uncle Max!" She kept calling until she bumped into him and made him spill his coffee.

"Oomph." He groaned with the liquid spilling on his shirt and burning his skin. "Little girl..." He started to scold her but stopped when he saw the frightened look in her eyes. His eyebrows furrowed in worry, and he stood on alert.

"Mum..." She only said and pointed towards the garden. And in a second, he picked his crossbow and hurried after Bella, whose little legs ran faster. He was already in his sixties, but he still had some fight left in him. He heard a scream and quickened his footsteps, loading an arrow into his crossbow at the same time.

But when they got to the scene, Victoria was already on the floor with the werewolf's canines lodge in her neck. Blood pooled on the floor around her as she tried to fend off the beast. And soon, an arrow lodged itself in its skull, throwing it off her and landing on the ground. It shook and whimpered before closing its eyes in death.

Bella screamed and ran to her mum, who was slowly losing consciousness with her eyes becoming droopy. Victoria's clothes were soaked with her own blood, but Bella didn't care as she tried shaking her awake. Her hands were also turning red from her mum's blood, and so was her dress.

"Mum!" Bella heard herself scream even as she was dragged back by Max. She didn't want to leave her mum there, but Max wanted to make sure she was safe and back in the house. There could be more rabid werewolves around since one came there. And from the look of the wound Victoria had sustained, he knew she couldn't make it.

The last thing Bella saw was her mum reaching her hand out to her while she was drawn further away. After that, she blacked out from the shock.

That day had been horrendous for the Nightshade and the months to follow. The sky wept for weeks, and the soil soaked it all up like it had soaked up Victoria's blood. Brian locked himself up, away from the world and his children, blaming himself for the death of his wife. He couldn't look them in the eye as he thought it was his fault they didn't have a mother anymore. If only he hadn't dragged her into his world. And even after he did, he failed to protect her, leaving her defenseless in the middle of the woods. It was only his duty as the head hunter that had dragged him out of his sea of depression. But he couldn't stay in a house that was haunted by the memories of his love. So he packed his family away to a new home - one that was outside the woods but still closer to it. Werewolf hunters never stay away from the forest.

His son, Ethan, had also wallowed into a state of desolation. The only person keeping him sane in this world had left him all alone. After a hectic day of being pushed repeatedly to his limits by his father, in the training ground, his mother's lap was what brought him peace and tranquility whenever he laid on it. She would massage his scalp before he went to bed and hum to him. And only that made him sleep peacefully. She was the light for him in this dark world.

And for Bella, she grew up overnight. She never despised the mythical furry creatures before and always thought them beautiful and unique. Just like her mum, she wanted to heal them, not hunt and wound them. But after that day, she kept imagining ways she could have ended the creature who took her mum from her - dark thoughts for a little girl. And that was when she made the decision to join the hunters. After two years of running from it, she was ready to accept it.

Her father wasn't too thrilled with the idea, especially after losing her mum. He had always been overprotective of her right from the start. He hadn't objected when she first rejected to be a hunter at the age of ten. In fact, he had been happy to keep her in her world of naivety, just like her mother. But now, she wanted to join his world of violence. She wanted to break free from the chains of ignorance. And he couldn't do anything about it. Being a werewolf hunter was by choice. You couldn't force someone into it, nor could you stop anyone from being a part of the pact without a valid reason.

And so when Bella turned thirteen and properly mourned her mother, her training began. She had to adapt faster since she had already lost three years of it. She had to learn to become a fast runner, climb trees quickly in case of emergencies as it was an efficient way to hide from a beast one can't take alone. Camouflage oneself from the enemy, control one's heartbeat so the enemy wouldn't sense your fear...basic defense training. Then the offense followed - learning to fight a real beast.

At fourteen, most trainees are asked to pick their desired signature weapon, one they would be trained to become experts with and would use during missions. Bella had to pick hers at sixteen, and she had gone for the bow and arrow while her peers went for modern weapons like guns and knives that are easier to hide and carry about. With it, it was easier to never miss a target. And unlike a gun, it doesn't make too much sound. With a knife, one had to be closer to his opponent, but with an arrow, one could be far away, even up in a tree, and still hit one's mark without making much sound. She was faster and efficient with it, amazing everyone. Some even started to wish they had picked a bow and an arrow instead of a knife or gun.

Her training hadn't been easy, but her father and brother had helped her through all the way. And she had also been a fast learner, shocking most of her peers. Nightshades were known to be efficient all through the centuries. They were always the best in their groups, and Bella, just like her brother, Ethan had proven that. Unlike their peers, they were swifter and stronger. Everyone just thought it was a gift in genes since they were the head hunters in Canada through times.

Trainees were usually pledged at the age of eighteen as full-fledged werewolf hunters and some nineteen if they thought they weren't ready yet. But Bella was pledged a few weeks before her twentieth birthday because of how fast she was with her training. If it had been someone else, they would have been pledged at twenty-one because of how late she started her training.

And now, at twenty, she had almost lost her life in a chase with a rogue werewolf. She still was a bit confused as to why she was alive. She could remember almost leaving this world until an unknown force had dragged her back with its claws. Everyone thought it to be a miracle as some had seen the fatal wound she sustained, and some had grown suspicious from it. She should be dead. But she wasn't. Even her boyfriend, Dylan, thought it strange as he was the doctor who had worked on her.

She wasn't stupid either. She knew there was no such thing as miracles, at least not for humans. She remembered hearing footsteps in the forest when she was bleeding out and losing consciousness. Something or rather someone had brought her back. And she was determined to find out what or who.