The Hunters

Chapter Sixteen: Trouble Finds Us

The night after our sleep over, River and I decided to go for a run under the Full Moon. It glistened beautifully in the sky among the silver stars. Even through the trees its silver glow illuminated the night's darkness. Our wolves pranced around happily in the forest.

The purple glow of my violent colored eyes peirced through the dark. River never asked me about them after they were revealed back in the New Moon Pack. They were a reminder of why I ended up in the situation that I was in with Alpha Remus. Even Vesper had began to hate herself for them. Hate what we were. I had to remind her that she told me we were special. People are often jealous of special things.

We went to our normal spot where we left our bags by an old, dead tree in the woods. It was easy to find amongst the others. We shifted back, pulled out our bags, and got dressed. We spent a longer time running tonight than usual, enjoying how close the Full Moon felt. It was absolutely stunning.

I couldn't help, but get an eerie feeling as though I was being watched as we left the forest. My hands clutched the straps to my backpack tighter. My green eyes cautiously scanned the area around us as we emerged from the forest and headed to the sidewalk. We walked in silence to the car.

"River, I felt like we were being watched tonight," I told her as we got inside the small car.

"I didn't notice anything," she shrugged off my concern and started the car. The feeling of being watched faded away, but I couldn't forget about it. The rest of the car ride was in silence. The only other words we spoke were goodnight as we went to our bedrooms to sleep. I felt on edge the rest of the night and even struggled to fall asleep. Vesper seemed nervous as well, so I knew it wasn't just my imagination.

The alarm went off in my ear as it did almost every morning. I had to get to the Cafe for my shift today. I had forgotten about last night, and hurried to get ready. I rushed out the door, the apartment was empty. River always left for work before me.

As normal, I got to the Cafe right on time. Unfortunately, Jaci wasn't working the same shift as me today. The Cafe felt empty whenever she wasn't working with me, but I still didn't mind it. The job was busy enough that time went by rather quickly, but it wasn't too difficult either.

I managed to get more tips than usual today, thinking maybe I could treat myself to something special. I started imagining what I could get when an unusual customer came in. He was fairly tall with jet black hair and brown eyes. He entered the Cafe alone and was seated at one of my tables.

"Hello sir, what can I get you?" I happily greeted him as I did all my customers. His attention was mostly focused on the menu in front of him.

"Small black coffee, please," he ordered without looking at me. He gave me a strange feeling, similar to the one I got last night. Maybe he was there. Maybe he saw me? For a moment I wondered if he was another rogue, but he didn't smell like a werewolf at all. He smelled like a typical human. They had a distinct smell about them. It wasn't a bad scent, just different.

I took his order and went to put it in. I avoided his table until I had to bring him his coffee.

"Are you ready to order?" I asked him as I placed his coffee down on the table in front of him. His eyes trailed away from the menu to his cup which he carefully picked up and took a sip from. He placed his menu on the table and finally looked up at me with a cold expression.

"I saw you last night," he stated. "And yes, I am ready to order." I was taken aback by his statement. So I wasn't imagining anything.

"What can I get you?" I asked him with my pencil in hand, ready to write down his order. I had hoped this gesture showed I had no interest in talking about last night and wanted to just do my job. He glanced at my pencil then back up at me with a smirk.

"You can get dead wolf," he said and flashed me some sort of tattoo on his wrist. It was a symbol I didn't recognize and didn't seem to be any language.

"I don't understand," I muttered. "I'm a waitress trying to take your order. I can give you a few more minutes if you aren't ready to order," I tried to hold onto the facade that was my job. To pretend I was nothing more than a human. I was afraid now.

"I will have an order of buttermilk pancakes," he said at last. I scribbled his order down in a hurry and rushed off to put it in. I didn't want to stand around his table any longer than I had to. I was genuinely afraid. Once again, I avoided going near his table until his order was ready. I focused on my other tables and getting them speedy service.

Once his pancakes were done, I had to bring them to his table. I took a deep breath and walked over to where he sat. I felt as though I was trembling on the inside. I was so confused by what was going on. I didn't know what to do. I placed the pancakes on his table.

"Anything else I can get you?" I asked him politely.

"I saw you last night," he saw again and this time my eyes narrowed at him.

"So you watched me change. You are a pervert!" I said now starting to get angry. My fear was starting to take over my emotions. He seemed insulted by my accusations. His face furrowed in anger.

"No you i***t," he snapped at me. "I'm a werewolf hunter." I felt my heart sink. All the blood was rushing to my head and I swear I started to faint. "I will be waiting here for your shift to end and we will handle this issue," he explained.

"What issue?" I asked, but I was afraid that I already knew the answer.

"The issue that you aren't dead," he said to me flatly. I fainted at his words. My body crashes onto the floor. My head hit the ground. The world around me went dark, but I could hear the gasps of the other customers watching me go down and the man saying, "this will be easy."

Everything was silent for a moment. I woke up to several hands helping me up and co-workers asking me if I was okay. They helped me walk into the back room.

"Are you okay? Should I call an ambulance?" She asked. Maybe that would delay the werewolf hunter, but a hospital would see that I'm different. That was a huge risk. I shook my head.

"I am fine," I said.

"I think she just fainted," another one of my co-workers said placing her hand on my forehead to feel if I have a fever. "What happened?"

"That guy at that table gives me the creeps," I told them, staring down at my feet in the chair they sat me down in.

"I will take that table for you. We all have had to deal with some creeps from time to time. We got you," one of them said with a smile and placing her hand on my shoulder for reassurance.

"Thank you," I told her. "I'd appreciate that."

I went back to work after taking a break for a few minutes to recover. They offered to let me go home, but I needed the pay check and I was hoping he would get tired of waiting for me and go home.

I sent River a text about what happened before I got back to work. I put my phone back in my purple bag before I saw a response from her.

The hunter was still not leaving. He stayed for a long time reading a newspaper. He kept ordering snacks and coffee so we couldn't kick him out. We all wanted it. It was becoming more and more obvious that he was waiting for my shift to end. One of the girl's even offered to walk me home, but I reassured them I texted River and she was going to take me home today. That was the perfect excuse so they wouldn't have to figure out who I was. Best case scenario is that this problem would be delayed. He knew where I worked. He would soon figure out where we lived. It was only a matter of time.

About thirty minutes before my shift was going to end, River walked into the Cafe. She walked up to the counter and took a seat. She waved to me and I waved back. At least now I wouldn't have to face this alone. My co-workers stopped bugging me about him once they saw River was there. She intimidated everyone anyway. By the end of my shift and I walked up to her and leaned in her ear.

"You got my text? You see who it is?" I asked her.

"Yes, I see him. The dark haired man," she said lowly so no one else could hear our conversation.

"What do we do? He will follow us home," I asked her, my voice trembling in fear.

"We go get in the car and drive out of town for a bit. We may have to move to a different town, but we don't have time to talk about it right now. We need to get away," she explained collecting her things. In the corner of my eye, I saw the hunter doing the same thing. He had just finished paying and already was stepping outside.

"Looks like he is going to be waiting for us outside. Get ready to run," she warned me.

"Okay," I nodded. Let's do this.