Wolf's Huntress

Chapter Eight

Ruth's POV:

So, I created a fundraiser and posted it on the town’s social media page. People from the city donated their money, which was great, but most of the money came from the hundreds of fake profiles that were created to put all the stolen money officially under my name. Now, there are two levels to which a person can donate. The first one is considered the small amount that banks or the government never flags, and the second is the large amount that would cause people to look into you. Once you go over a certain amount of money to donate to anyone for any reason, a flag pops up in the system.

Now, we didn’t just take that limited amount and divide the money we had by that to know how many profiles to create. That would be stupid and reckless. No, we varied the amounts across the board while staying under the radar. Yes, that was harder and took longer, but it was safer. We did end up with money left over, so I came up with the idea to make a Hunter’s Playroom to ward off shifters and magical beings from the town. The problem was that the leftover money wasn’t enough to make it true to form, so I had to make due.

“It wouldn’t have been if we just brought back a few of those pricks to kill there instead of out in the field.”

“You know that wasn’t an option. We never could move undesirables from one place to another. We had to deal with them then and there.” I let out a groan, knowing that he was right.

“What am I to do then?”

“Can’t you just give him a chance? Get to know him and see if he is worthy to be your mate?” It was my turn to glare at Stephon.

“And give him the chance to learn what he needs to kill me? I am public enemy number one in his world! The reason Anthony and his hunters aren’t making a bigger splash is because they are so poorly organized. This werewolf could be working with any one of the creatures we’ve pissed off over the years. I am not risking everything I’ve done on the slim chance that this werewolf is telling me the truth.”

Stephon shook his head sadly before standing up from his chair. “Then I’m afraid I can’t be of help to you. You know my limitations.”

“Yeah… I know.” Disappointed with how things ended, I left Stephon’s apartment to go back home to get some well-deserved sleep.

In the days following the warehouse trip, I didn’t hear from nor run into that werewolf. Maybe he took the threat of the Hunter’s Playroom to heart? Either way, my spies made quick work of the pack lands and gathered the information that I needed. That pack was far more organized and trained than the previous one, so it was harder for them to collect everything.

However, they got what I needed. They called themselves the Garnet Moon Pack, with roughly fifty pack members, a relatively small group. It seemed that the pack was a newly formed sister pack to the Harvest Moon Pack. Their alpha was Preston, beta Gregory, and gamma Alastair. The gamma was also the one claiming to be my mate, which I believed to be further evidence that he was taking orders from someone else.

The thing was, we had no run-ins with Harvest Moon Pack or known alliances in the time I’ve been running my program. So maybe an alpha from another pack went to Preston with the promise of a coalition if he could deal with me? Things still weren’t that clear. Another thing that the spies learned was that the Garnet Moon Pack changed their patrol patterns frequently. Clever mongrels, it kept any enemies on their toes.

After receiving that information, I was out in town running a few errands and trying to think of the best way to deal with my problem when I ran into four men in the park that I knew rather well. They were all members of the Loyalist class from the hunter faction and Anthony’s trusted goons. Every now and then, Anthony would send them out to try and collect me so that I would be put back under the faction’s watch. Locked away like my family was before.

“Hello, boys. Lovely to see you all again. How’s the eye, Brandon? Clearing up any since last time?” I smirked at the guy towards the back with a patch over his left eye. The last time they tried to collect me, I took his eye out with a fork. Needless to say, he was not my biggest fan.

“The captain is calling you home. The presence of all hunters is required for the inheritance ceremony.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “First of all, that is bull s**t because if that were true, you would be trying to collect all the runaway hunters and not just me. Second, I left the faction years ago, so your captain has no claim on me. And three, he has had plenty of time for this stupid ceremony to become the official captain. I am not needed.”

“Captain Anthony would disagree with you. And this time, we have been given orders to bring you back in as many pieces as needed as long as you are alive.” That didn’t sound great to me, and I was outnumbered. If it were the usual two or three, I wouldn’t have a problem. But with the fourth additional person, I might be in trouble. If I had my pistol, things wouldn’t be so bad, yet all I had was my family’s crest dagger. The one that bore the crest of my family name before we were called Mud Borns.

“You gentlemen need something from my girl?” I felt gentle sparks coarse through me as a hand touched the small of my back and slowly moved around to grasp my side. That hand then pulled me into a large body that was rock solid. I couldn't help the shiver that went up my spine even though I knew that the man holding me was my mortal enemy.

"Who the hell are you? We've got no business with you."

"Oh, but you do because any business you have with her, you have with me." Cocky much?

"Run along now, boys, and tell Anthony that my answer remains the same." The men all looked at each other before looking back at me.

"We'll be seeing you around, Ruth." And with that, they walked away.

"You can remove your hand now, Alastair."

"Oh, you are good. Can you figure out what number I'm thinking of right now?" I glared up at him, thinking how stupid he was. "Just kidding, I figured those were your people spying on the pack. You know you could always come talk to me if you have a question." He then pulled me in closer to kiss my head, and I quickly pushed myself away.

"Why the hell are you here this time?"

"Helping my mate ward off unsavory characters. They looked like they were ready to hurt you."

I scoffed while rolling my eyes. "How do you think the one guy got the eyepatch?" He gave me a smirk and growled softly, causing my body to react in a manner I didn't like. "Stop it."

"Make me," he purred in my ear after pulling me close to him once more. Why did this guy have to be precisely my type? And why did his voice have to sound like that? It made it hard to resist him.

"I can and will stab you; you know that, right?"

"Don't threaten me with a good time, love." Before I could say anything back to him, my phone suddenly started playing Witchy Woman by The Beagles. It was the ringtone I had set for Clover. I pushed myself away from tall, husky, and possibly my killer to answer my phone.