The Alpha Hunter

Chapter Two - History

✺Darion✺

I breathed out a massive sigh of relief when Everette said he would help me. A solid plan was forming in my mind and I leaned back against the sofa and stared at the older man.

“Can I stay here?” I questioned curiously. I wasn’t sure if he stayed alone if he had family or friends, but as I glanced around the small sitting room, I realized just how curious I actually was.

“You can if you wish,” he said as he stood up. “I’ll put the pot on for some tea,” I watched as Everette waddled off and I smiled. Once upon a time, he had been one of the best hunters around. However, by the best hunter, it meant he had the best eye to take a shot. It didn’t mean he would. Everette soon realized that although he enjoyed hunting, he didn’t enjoy hunting magical supernatural creatures and left the profession. It was during that time, that Everette met my family. I was still young then, about twelve or so and I still lived happily in my father's pack. I shuddered as I pushed the unwanted thoughts aside and stood up. So much has happened since then and I hated getting all depressed thinking about it. I picked up the first book and started to read as I paced the room slowly. I could hear Everette in the background as he prepared the pot of tea.

Hunters Troops:

1.       Leader

The leader is the one who knows, understands, and is capable of every role within the hunter's troop. He not only advises but oversees everything before, during, and after an ambush or attack. He is also the first and top chain of command and should always be respected.

2.       Captain

The Captain is second in command and is the Leader's, right-hand man. He should always be available to the Leader.

3.       Tracker

The tracker is the one to lead all ambushes and attacks. He should be highly intelligent, athletic with a keen sense of sight, smell, and hearing. Without the tracker, the hunter's troop will always fail.

4.       Scout

The scout does all the pre-planning before any ambush or attack is made. He will scout out the area for at least three months before giving his final conclusion. All of his notes are vitally important and always taken under consideration when planning an ambush or attack.

5.       Trainer

The trainer has to know, understand and be capable of every single role within the hunter's troop. He isn’t a field troop and never accompanies the troop during an ambush or attack. The trainer is the only one who can assign a role to a troop member and give the necessary training.

6.       Rifleman

The rifleman is not only the shooter but the one that takes care of all the weaponry.

I closed the book and sighed. It was quite a bit of reading and I already knew it was too much for me. I didn’t want to know who did what and why. I didn’t want to see it like a well-oiled working machine. I wanted to see it for what it was. A murderous group of men that had nothing better to do with their time than hunt and murder shifters.

“Hey, can’t a female be a hunter?” I called out to Everette curiously. Everything was a ‘he’ or a ‘him’ and the whole thing just sounded sexist. Even a wolf pack respected females and had a Luna. I flinched at the thought. I hadn’t found my mate yet and although I had never bothered to look, I wasn’t even sure I wanted one.

“Of course, a female can be a hunter, but she will never go out into the field,” he said as he came back into the sitting room with a tray. I sat back down and watched as he placed the tray down on the coffee table. “Sugar? Cream?”

“No and no,” I answered quickly, and he chuckled.

“You like it black and bitter,” he commented as he poured the steaming liquid into one of the cups and handed it to me. He put in a few spoons of sugar and some cream in his own cup before heading back to the rocking chair.

“Why wouldn’t she go out into the field?” I asked curiously as I sipped on the hot tea, scolding my tongue in the process.

“Because it is too dangerous,”

“What if she is the best of the best?”

“It doesn’t matter, hunters have rules,” he pointed at the book I had disregarded on the edge of the coffee table. “It’s all in there,”

“Can’t you just tell me?” I asked sweetly as I continued to sip on the tea.

“I suppose,” he muttered. “But you are lazy,” I heard him add and I chuckled. “The rules are simple and it is one of the very first things you’ll need to learn. Women aren’t normally allowed to be a hunter, simply because we cherish their lives more than our own. A woman provides comfort to her partner after a raid,”

“Raid?”

“Yes, ambush, attack, whatever you’d like to call it,” Everette explained. “Look, the fact is, in all my life, I have never come across a hunter group with a female, never,” I nodded slowly as I thought about it. I didn’t want to have any respect for them, but I did admire their adamant belief that women should be kept out of harm's way and safe. How could I argue with that?

“What else should I know?”

“There is so much you need to know; you won't be able to pass the training without the general knowledge of how to be a hunter. What is expected of you, when it's expected of you, and most importantly you need to know what role you offer them,” Everette was confident in his response. He had been a hunter for a short while, but his father had been a dedicated hunter and that is how Everette got involved with it.

“Did your father teach you everything?” I asked curiously. I had to wonder if he had known everything before, or why did he truly give up being a Hunter? Had he really not favored the idea of killing or hunting a magical supernatural creature? I was suddenly questioning everything I knew about Everette.

“To be honest, my father was a rather secretive man. His ideas for me weren’t necessary to be a hunter,” Everett sighed as he took a sip of his tea and glanced over at me. “It was actually my mother who insisted I join the family business,” this shocked me, and I choked on the tea, I had just taken a sip of. “I know, it isn’t practical, is it? A mother pushing her son to be a killer,” he chuckled without humor and looked away. “The reason my father had been against it was that he knew I wouldn’t be able to do it, however, my mother had pushed,”

“And you had joined?” I asked, this was getting rather juicy, and I sat forward, eager to learn more about this man’s past. After all, I had trusted him before and although I was now questioning him, I still trusted him.

“I did, but only because of my mother. My father did teach me everything he knew and even during those times, he saw that I hated it,” Everette sighed before he continued. “He and I often spoke about it and we both agreed that it wasn’t for me. On the day I was supposed to officially be recruited, I told my mother how I truly felt about it,”

“What did she say?”

“Well, she yelled, threw a fit, and in front of my father's troops, she forced him to accept me,” Everette closed his eyes for a moment, and I had to assume he was re-living the memory. “She had come from a family full of hunters, she didn’t know anything else. I hated it and my father placed me as a trainer so that I wouldn’t have to go out into the field,”

“It wasn’t enough?”

“No, my mother kept asking him to place me as a tracker. I was rather good at that though and I enjoyed being out in the wilderness. If my father had done normal hunting, I would’ve been excited, but we both know he wasn’t just a normal hunter,” he glanced over at me and I nodded. “She insisted I go on the next raid and that left my father with no choice but to promote me to tracker. She didn’t like it, of course, she wanted me to be a rifleman,”

“Oh?”

“I was rather a good shot and she knew it, but my father, thankfully, convinced her otherwise,” he once again paused, and I continued to watch him. This man had already been through so much. “A tracker leads the troops and I wanted to deliberately lead them astray, but I couldn’t. The scouter was right there, and if I had done that he would’ve known. So, I lead them to the pack, and it was awful. I couldn’t stand it,”

“What did you do after that?” I asked. Everette remained quiet for quite some time and I didn’t push even though I was very curious. I could see the turmoil, the pain, the anger, and even the sadness as he stared into the fire, which was slowly burning out.

“When we finally returned to the base, I cornered him. I told him how I hated him, I questioned his credibility, his humanity, everything. When I was done, I went home, packed up my things, and left,” his voice was thick with emotion and I couldn’t blame him. I had been banned from my home but that had not been by choice. Everette had deliberately left his family. “My father came after me, he apologized, gave me some cash, and left me to continue my life. That was the last time I saw him,”

“Do you miss them?”

“No, and whenever I did, it came right along with what they had done and that was something I found extremely hard to forgive. You see, Darion, hunters don’t truly have a purpose for hunting wolves or any supernatural creature. It's all about power,” I was surprised by this information and it raised questions. However, we sat in silence as I gave him time to gather his thoughts and calm down his emotions. It had been a rough evening so far and as much as I wanted to continue learning, I knew it was enough for the night.

“I’ll go and get my bag from the truck,” I said as I stood up. Everette nodded and I placed the cup down on the tray before heading out of his small house. I couldn’t imagine what that must have been like for him, and I had to wonder if my parents knew the story of how it had happened. I suppose it didn’t matter and as I headed to my truck, I thought about my pack. I had lost everything and at some point, I would have to start again. My new friendship with Everette would give me the tools to execute my revenge plan and then I could start fresh. Start a new pack, form a new family, and possibly find my mate and have a Luna. All in good time.