The Alpha Hunter

Chapter One - Meeting Everette

✺Darion✺

I stood looking up at the tiny house in front of me and sighed. I had been searching for Everette Lott for months and I had finally found the so-called family friend. An ex-hunter, who I could only hope would help me.

“Are you just going to stand there or are you coming in?” Everette asked when he opened the door. I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face as I looked at the old man standing before me. “Come in, boy,” he ordered before turning away. I quickly rushed inside and closed the door behind me, blocking out the icy wind. Everette’s house hadn’t been all that hard to find once I had the address. However, I did notice that it was cozy and a lot warmer than outside.

“Nice home, you have here,” I called out as I looked around. I was standing in the entrance and although it was small the grey carpeted floor and white walls made it feel bigger than it actually was.

“Thank you,” I heard him reply and I smiled. I hadn’t seen Everette in many years and I took a hesitant step forward. “In here!” he called out and I took a left turn and entered his sitting room. Everette was sitting in a rocking chair in front of the fireplace. The room wasn’t big and aside from the rocking chair, there was only a two-seater sofa, a small square coffee table and the biggest piece of furniture in the room was the bookcase. I headed over to the sofa and sat down. I was getting rather toasty and quickly removed my thick winter coat.

“How are you?” I asked him as I studied his appearance. Everette’s once dark brown hair was now completely grey, and his brown eyes looked soft. I could see all the wrinkles and lines of his age and I chuckled softly. “How old are you now?”

“I just turned sixty-two, mind you, I still feel like I’m in my thirties,” we both laughed, and I leaned in, I had business to discuss. “Ah, what brings you here Darion?” he asked seriously.

“I’m looking for a group of hunters,” I declared. “I was at another pack just South of Windfall when they attacked my pack and murdered everyone,”

“Everyone?” the look of utter shock was evident on the old man’s face and I sighed as I nodded. “That’s terrible,” he muttered.

“They killed every single member of my pack, Everette. They didn’t leave anyone alive,” I informed him sadly. “The thing is, whoever did this has no heart,”

“Indeed,” he said in agreement. “So, men and woman?”

“Males, females, young, old, everyone is dead,” I sat back and tried to push the memories out of my mind. However, I held onto the anger. I needed that anger to take revenge against those hunters.

“Tell me what you know,” he insisted as he stared into the fire.

“First of all, they used hunting rifles. I found the casings laying everywhere,” I paused as I picked up my coat and felt around in the side pocket until my fingers brushed against the casing. I pulled it out and handed it over to him. While Everette studied the casing, I continued. “Four vehicles stopped just outside the borderline. They continued on foot and shot two of my guards,”

“Tire marks?” he asked curiously.

“I mean, I have all the scientific words to describe it, but I don’t understand it,” I answered honestly. I had taken multiple photos of those tire marks that the hunters had left behind. I had done my research on it and I still wasn’t sure if it meant anything or not.

“Alright, continue,” Everette said.

“They continued on foot, but covered their tracks with…well, I have to assume a branch or something. I couldn’t make out a single footprint clearly enough,” that part always bothered me. Had they done that while sneaking up on my pack or had they gone back and done that before they left. “Anyway, they killed any member that they crossed until they got to the packhouse,”

“They didn’t start in the village?”

“No, why? Is that important?” I questioned curiously.

“Carry on, we can discuss it afterward,” I nodded and continued.

“They killed everyone in the packhouse, my beta, Harrison, was shot in my office,” I paused as I closed my eyes. The images were playing through my mind like a bad horror movie, and I tried my best to focus. “Then they hit the village, killing everyone else. They left nothing unturned, every single area had been searched and that would’ve made it impossible for anyone to hide,”

“Any runaways?”

“Not one, and if there was, they were shot down,” I said. “They must have used a silencer of some sort,”

“Anything else you can think of?” he asked but I already knew that he knew something, and I quickly shook my head. “Well, the four vehicles tell me it is a large hunting group,” he started, and I nodded, eager to hear his findings. “The tire marks aren’t all that important, aside from the fact that there were so many vehicles. However, what is interesting is the fact that they stopped outside your borderline. That tells me that they had been watching your pack for some time. That also means that they knew how many guards there would be and so on,” Everette paused, and I could feel my anger rising as I heard what he had to say. “Observing a pack before an attack isn’t unheard of, and I know of only two large hunting groups that do that much investigation before an attack,”

“Do you know who it is then?” I asked eagerly.

“Wait, boy,” he said as he waved his hand. “Covering their footprints, that’s a given for any hunters group, but what is interesting is the fact that they attacked the packhouse first,”

“Why is that interesting?”

“Well, that tells me this group knows that the Alpha would’ve been in the packhouse. The fact that you weren’t there doesn’t really matter, especially with your beta being shot in your office,” Everette’s words hung in the air and I sighed.

“They thought it was me,”

“Correction, they thought it was the Alpha. Once everyone in the packhouse is dead, then they attacked the village and they made sure no one was hiding, that no one got away and tell me, Darion,” the old man paused as he looked away from the fire. “Did they take anything?”

“Nothing,”

“Alright, now, before I tell you who they are, I need to stress something very important to you,”

“What? What is it?” I asked hurriedly.

“This group of hunters is ruthless. They are trained and when they do a job and yes, it is a job for them, they make sure they take care of everything. That means they scout out the pack's territory for months beforehand, they track down the Alpha, the Luna, whoever and they make sure they know everything there is to know about a pack. When they attack, they use silencers on their hunting rifles, they don’t steal anything and they make sure that every single wolf in that pack is dead,” everything he said gave me chills as it was so on point. “You won’t be able to just go up to them and kill them,”

“Who said I wanted to kill them?” I questioned, seriously. What I had planned for those hunters was something far worse than death.

“Regardless, this specific group keeps themselves armed at all times,” the fact that Everette knew so much started to bother me. How did he know so much about them? Just as I was about to ask that very question, he continued talking. “The best way to get to them is to work for them,”

“What?” his suggestion took me by surprise.

“You heard me,” he said with a dry laugh. “You’ll have to pretend you are a hunter and infiltrate their operation in that way,”

“Will that work?” I asked. I wasn’t sure that this was such a good idea. Pretending to be a hunter? Surely that couldn’t end well.

“It could if you play your role perfectly,” Everett started rocking back and forth as we stared at each other. He was being serious and as I sat there contemplating what to do, I knew one thing for sure. I wanted those hunters to pay for what they had done. If it meant I had to act like a hunter for a while, then I would do it. The only question was, would I be able to pull it off.

“How would I even go about getting into their group?” I questioned curiously. Everette smiled and I knew he had already thought this plan through.

“By being the best hunter,” he said. “The leader you are looking for, well, he is quite a proud hunter and he would love to add someone like you to his collection,” I wasn’t all that surprised that he held this kind of information. He knew a lot more about this specific group of hunters and although I was curious about that, I didn’t bring it up. “You see, this leader, he seeks out only the best of the best and that means he has the best hunters in his group,”

“I don’t even know what that means,” I complained. Everette slowly stood up and went over to the bookcase that lined the hole side of that wall. I watched as he took out three books.

“What it means is that every hunter in the group has a role to play,” he came over to me and handed me the three books before he sat back down. “That first one,” he pointed to the book right on top. “That one will tell you everything you need to know about a hunter's group. Who is who and who does what,” I nodded as I placed the red leather-bound book on the open spot next to me on the sofa. “That second one will give you the history on everything there is to know about hunters,”

“Shouldn’t I read that one first?” I asked with a frown as I handled the brown leather book in my hands.

“Did I tell you to read it first?” he shot back, and I quickly shook my head. “The reason you need to read that one,” he pointed at the book that laid on the sofa. “Is so that you know all the roles and what it entails otherwise the second one won’t make much sense to you,”

“Ok,” I wasn’t sure I agreed nor understood but I nodded anyway.

“It is much the same as to how the pack works. You have to know the role of each one before you can understand the working of a pack,”

“Ah,” I said, it suddenly made sense and I placed the second book on top of the first. I held the third one up and Everette nodded.

“That one will tell you the history of The Fangs, the hunter group that killed your whole pack,” his words made me want to rip open the book, but I had already seen the pattern. He wanted me to know everything before I got acquainted with the enemy. “I have to warn you, Darion, you are going to be playing with fire,”

“Well, they messed with the wrong Alpha,” I spat out passionately. I set the third book on top of the other two and focused my attention on the old man. “Now, aside from giving me these books, will you help me?”

“Gladly,” he said with a smile.