The Vampire Hunter and the Werewolf

The Wolf Pack

 James returned from his post at Esme's house, he pushed open the doors to the pub forcefully and, without looking around, his focus on only one thing, he marched towards his Dad's office hoping to find him there. Hunter and Zeke looked up at the door when it thumped against the wooden wall loudly and watched nervously as James stormed in. Immediately, they got to their feet and followed, wondering what the emergency was for James to be in such an unpleasant mood. Catching up to James just as he pushes open the door to his Dad's office, the three of them enter the room to see the alpha of the pack standing at his infamous window with a glass of whiskey. His demeanor didn't change, he didn't turn his head to look at what could be so urgent that James had crashed through the doors to his office. He merely continued looking out of the window, threw back the whiskey and waited in silence for the reason of this abrupt disturbance.

"Sir, we have a problem."

James' voice was surprisingly calm but stern. Hunter and Zeke had no idea what was going on and they were curious. If something was going down, they wanted in on it.

"Care to elaborate?"

James took a step towards his father as he still stood staring out of the window. Stopping a few feet away, he revealed the news that seemed to cause him so much concern.

"The Watchers have moved in next door to Esme's family. They had no idea she was who they were supposed to be watching over until I told them. They said the Bloodnecks are getting closer. Word has it that they have caught wind of a new hunter becoming active and they are on their way to stop it happening."

"Axel, we need to do something! She needs to know who she is! We're going to have to just drop the bomb and hope she can handle it. We're running out of time!"

The shaggy-haired man standing in the window turned around to look at the three concerned faces awaiting an answer, his instructions, his leadership. As he opened his mouth to speak he was saved by his phone ringing. The room was silent as he answered it. Axel merely listened to the voice on the other end and as quickly as the call had started, it had ended.

"OK, see you soon."

Looking at the three grown boys in front of him, placing his phone inside his back pocket, he then moved over to his desk and sat in the black leather chair behind it.

"Colton's on his way..... and he's bringing Esme."

Without any more words, James, Hunter and Zeke rushed out of the office back into the bar area and told everyone to leave, except for the Wolf Pack circle comprising of Axel, the Wolf Pack leader and 5 older males; Hunter and Zeke's Dad, who is also Axel's brother, Zachariah, was a high member of the Wolf Pack circle followed by other relatives; their cousin Maximus, Uncle Jerimiah (Jerry), Jacob, a close friend who was practically adopted into the family and last but not least, also the youngest of the seniors was Nolan; Axel and Zachariah's friend, they grew up together in the pack run by their father before them.  Hunter informed the men that they should be expecting visitors any moment, so making it look less obvious that they were waiting for Esme and Colton's arrival, they scattered themselves around the room, trying to act casual. As the last person placed themselves behind the bar, the door to the pub opens but it's not who they were expecting. Sebastian enters looking dishevelled, blood running from his nose and the side of his head. He limps a couple of steps, his back stooped over as he clutches his right side in pain, then collapses on the floor. All 8 burly men rushed to his side, stunned by what they had just witnessed, all questioning why and how he ended up in this state.

"I'll get my father!"

James runs through the pub down to the office and again barges through without knocking. Abel hadn't said anything about his impoliteness and disrespect until now and before James could speak he showed his annoyance towards him.

"James! Don't you ever knock! Not only am I your father, I am your leader and in my workplace you shall treat me the same as I expect everyone else to. Now go back out and....."

"Dad! I'm sorry about the no knocking... err.... thing but this is an emergency! You need to come quick! It's Sebastian, he's been hurt!"

James had to cut him off, he couldn't waste anymore time and, without giving his Dad a chance to answer, he turned and ran back through to the pub, Axel hastily following behind. Arriving at the scene, Axel pushed through the pack, taking a closer look at Sebastian's wounds. His face remained expressionless, hiding the shock and concern that so desperately wanted to show on his face, but he had to stay strong for the others. If he let his guard down, even slightly, the pack would panic, become wild as the anger took over, and he couldn't let that happen. He needed everyone level headed, focused, distracted from hunting for revenge without knowing the facts. This would endanger their identity. 

"Hunter! Zeke! Take him to his bed. He needs his rest. James! Call the doctor to come check on him. When he wakes up, we'll get our questions answered."

Without hesitation, the young men obeyed the orders from their leader. They had been completely distracted by the disturbance and the number of overwhelming feelings coursing through them that they had forgotten about the arrival of Colton and Esme. After Sebastian was carried to his room, Parry was told to sit with him until the doctor examined him, then he was to go straight to Axel and update him on his health. Meanwhile, James had phoned Dr Mazu, then headed back into the pub to join the rest of the senior pack. Everyone was gathered around the bar discussing what could have happened to him, but James hated people gossiping, so he strode straight past them to his usual booth, sending a nod to the barman as a signal that he wanted his usual non-alcoholic beverage. As he took a seat, Hunter and Zeke entered the room, grabbed themselves a fresh pint of lager from the bar, then joined him. At that moment, the main door to the building opened and Colton entered in, followed by Esme. James watched Colton hobble into the room and immediately ran over to him, placed his arm around his back, his better arm wrapped around James' neck, allowing himself to be helped.

"Was it Vampires?"

James whispered into Colton's ear, not to be overheard by Esme, and Colton gave him a look that gave him the answer before assisting him to their usual booth, sitting him down on the old-looking, leather-cushioned bench. Concerned about Colton's injury's, already worried about Sebastian's trauma, James, Hunter and Zeke found themselves brought back to the reason why Colton was here right now when a deep voice resounded throughout the room, silencing everyone.

"So you must be Esme?"

    She felt the heat growing up her face, knowing it was changing to a bright red colour as everyone's eyes now focused on her. Usually quite a confident person, being here in this bar made her feel timid and uncomfortable, however after stumbling over some of her words, she found her voice.

"Err... yeah... I'm Esme. Who are you?"

The man chuckled loudly as he strolled through the pub towards her, eyeing her carefully like he was suspicious of her. Examining her, deciphering her thoughts and feelings, he inches closer to where she stands, dripping wet, Colton still sitting on the seat slightly behind, to the right of her, rubbing his shoulder with a grimace on his face. Esme's ears and hairs on her neck pricked up when she heard a 'thwack' and an "OW!" next to her, making her look in the direction of the noise worriedly, thinking she was about to be attacked. Seeing it was just a huge bag of ice James had flung onto Colton's shoulder didn't settle her, she felt more on edge than ever. Looking around the room, all she saw were men. No women. Feeling stupid, putting even the tiniest amount of trust in Colron, a complete stranger she now thought was some sort of psycho stalker, she gulped, scared for her life as this 6 foot-4, tall, powerful, muscular man moved intimidatingly towards her, backing up a little until she felt her back touch the wall behind the booth Colton was sat in, Axel merely smirked at her as he took long strides over to the booth, his dark eyes pinned on her anxious ones. As he stood a few feet in front of her he paused before turning his head to peer over at Colton. His deep, resounding voice echoed around the now hushed room when he spoke.

"You alright?"

He nodded his head towards him as if he truly cared about his well being, his eyes softened when he looked at him and Colton gave a stiffened nod to reassure his father. Obviously, Esme had no idea they were father and son, just assumed Colton had brought her to some dodgy place where she was going to be sold as some sort of slave to the highest bidder. Axel moved his head back to Esme's direction, her heart picked up pace but tried her hardest to keep her cool. She didn't want to make them aware of how scared she actually was. 

"We finally meet."

His deep voice now seemed quite calming and his face relaxed to make him appear less intimidating, but she was still wary, she felt she still needed to keep her wits about her. The words he spoke echoed in her head and a million questions followed closely behind. Why did it feel like all the people in the room knew who she was and she had no clue who they were? Opening her mouth, a few words managed to escape with an anxious stammer.

"I... I... what am I doing here? What do you want from me?"

Disappointed her voice wasn't her usually bold, confident one, merely a shaky, timid one, she lifted her head high to show she was going to stand her ground no matter what they did to her. Axel chuckled, his arms folded across his chest, a smile stayed on his face after the laughter had faded and he remained silent for a few seconds before he spoke again.

"All in good time. Now... come... sit.... Have a drink with us."

"I'm underage!"

Her tone showed a little anger and annoyance. She didn't know how much she could take being there with them not giving her any details of why she was on their hit list. Why they knew so much about her? She just wanted to find out what they knew and leave. Feeling uncomfortable from everyone's eyes on her, she kept standing, her eyes didn't move from the floor around her feet when Axel walked away towards the bar. Refusing to lift her gaze, not wanting everyone looking over at her, whispering to the person sitting next to them, laughing at the fact that they knew everything she wanted to know and she had no clue, she couldn't even glance over at Colton as she felt frustrated with him. The reason she agreed to come here was to get some answers, but Colton could have simply told her and she wouldn't have to go to such lengths to get to the truth about who she is. Wishing she'd asked him for her life story, she heard the footsteps of Axel returning and stopped in front of her. Lifting her head up, seeing the shaggy haired man holding out a bottle of water for her to take, which she did. Not because she wanted a drink, but she wondered what would happen if she refused it. Axel took a seat opposite Colton and gestured her to take a seat. Colton also noticed this hand gesture and slid painfully into his chair to make room. A little hesitant, she slowly put one foot in front of the other and took a seat beside Colton, making eye contact with him, noticing his facial expression hadn't changed at all. He was still his usual emotionless self. No smile of comfort towards her to ensure she was safe. No scary expression which would warn her to protect herself and plan her escape. Nothing! Turning her head to face Axel opposite her, the table between them, his arms folded on top of it. Esme placed her bottle of water on the table in front of her, then positioned her hands on her lap, twiddling her fingers as she waited for him to speak. Taking a swig of his beer that had been delivered to the table by the bartender, he then thanked the large broad man before returning his glass back on the table in front of him.

"So... Esme. Colton tells me you go to his school?"

"Enough with the small talk! I'm here for a reason which you guys seem to know all about! I just want the truth!"

A smile appeared on Axel's face, followed by a snigger. "Feisty! Feisty is good. You did tell me she was quite determined."

Peering at Colton with a slight annoyed tone on her face, she looked back at Axel. "Well?"

" First off, I think we should get some of the introductions out of the way. Don't you? Obviously, you know Colton, this is his younger brother James and those two funny-looking creatures are Hunter and Zeke."

A few laughter's emitted around the room, while Hunter and Zeke both raised their voices in unison, but also with a humorous tone. "Oi!"

"I'm Axel. Colton and James' father and that man propped up against the bar is my brother and also Hunter and Zeke's Dad. His name is Zachariah, but everyone calls him Zach. On the back table over there you have Maximus and Jacob. The table close to the door sits Jerry, and the barman is Nolan."

"I'm sure everyone is lovely but I really just want to get some answers and leave if that's alright with you!"

Axel smirked again, all the while maintaining eye contact with her. He simply nods then says, "OK. What do you want to know?"

"I want to know how come you guys know so much about me? More than I know about myself?"

"I'm sorry. There are other things you should know before I can answer that question honestly, Esme."

"Like what?"

"Like who your real parents are."

"I don't know if I want to know who they are. I already have a family."

"I understand. I really do. I'm sorry you had to find out the way you did but time is running out. We need you ready."

"Ready for what?"

"Your destiny."

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