A Hunter's Keep - #1 of "The Hunter's Series"
Chapter 4

Lizzy’s POV

The car suddenly came to a stop, waking me up for the second time that day. Sif stirred uneasily and my first instinct was to stay still so she didn’t wake up. Everybody breathing easily, once she calmed down and eased back to sleep.

I got out of the car. They were unpacking the car. I don’t know why, but at the sight of the crowbar, I quickly snatched it and hit it in my backpack. Just in case.

I knew everything there was to know about werewolves. Their pack, their way of life, their murderous habit of killing anything and everything that stepped foot onto their territory; or just generally pissed them off… They were monsters…!

Or so I thought.

Then I realized that not all monsters shift into beasts!

Alpha Derik, that was the alpha’s name, led me into what I assumed was the pack house. I didn’t get a tour or anything. Not that I expected one, but one part of me, wanted to explore the belly of the beast. Sort of speaking. The other part of me, was glad that I was being escorted somewhere, where there at least was a door and a wall between me and these guys.

So far, they hadn’t tried to hurt me, but I couldn’t shake everything I’d been thought about them off in only a matter of hours. It was practically a lifetime of constant reminder and proof, how unnatural and truly monstrous these creatures were. Just because they were kind now, didn’t mean that once they got what they wanted, they weren’t going to tear me to shreds.

“You can stay here,” Derik’s deep voice sounded over my head. I turned around to face him again. His huge, muscular body covering the entire doorway. “There are guards outside your room and outside your window, so don’t even think about escaping.”

“Like I’d get far anyway,” I muttered sarcastically. Derik questionably arched an eyebrow at me. I sighed and made a mental note to stop talking to myself out loud. Everything I’d say would be picked up by their supernatural good hearing. “I don’t know if you do math or not, but you outrun me by a set of extra legs.”

He grinned. Well, perhaps I should take notes. No one ever told me, that they also had a sense of humor.

“What are you going to do with me?” I asked, after putting Sif down on the bed.

“First I need to know, where you came from,” he answered. Good luck with that… “And then determine where Sif came from.”

“Why?” I asked, feeling panic starting to grip my chest.

“She needs to get back to her home,” he sighed, like he was trying to talk sense to a child.

“She NEEDS to stay with me,” I hissed back, so I didn’t yell and wake her up. I got off the bed and walked over to him, only stopping a foot away from his huge frame; pushing my finger on his hard chest. “Get that through to your thick skull! I’m not giving her up. To anyone!”

“Then why won’t you tell me, where her mother is?” he asked, clearly not effected by my rant. I grinded my teeth. Damn werewolves! “Her pack? Your family? Where the fuck did you come from?”

“Sif. Stays. With. ME!” I fumed, defiantly crossing my arms over my chest.

“Because you promised her mother I know,” he sighed, rubbing the brim of his nose. Good, at least he was realizing, this was getting him nowhere.

“Listen, if you’re afraid that something might happen to Sif, you need to tell me,” he continued his voice deep, caring and almost afraid. My heart skipped a beat and I took a step back. He was right. What if they came here? What if they found us? Found Sif? Found me…? My heartbeat picked up.

They would kill us. And we wouldn’t be able to escape…

“I can help.”

“No, you can’t,” I barked back, not liking at all, where my head was heading. I looked up, hoping that he hadn’t notice my momentary panic attack. But of course he had. I just didn’t recognize it, since it was an completely alien emotion for me: concern. “I may know, that not all monsters shift into beasts, but that doesn’t equal me trusting you on a handsome face and kind words.”

“Handsome face?” he echoed, a kind smile tipping the edge of his lips. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

I blushed. I hadn’t tried and compliment him. I was trying to get him out of my head; a win if I got him out of my room, but… I gulped and took another step back, not really knowing what to do now. My mom had talked to me about the most basis of sex, love and men, but I’d ever really had a reason to implement it. Shit, I hadn’t even had my first period yet. What did I do now? I wanted to dig a hole and hide in it, but I highly doubt that that’s the proper edict---

“You believe we’re monsters?”

His question shocked me back to reality. Monsters? I once believed I knew what those were. Now I wasn’t so sure…

“I don’t know you,” I answered. I guess that’ the only thing I could be sure of right now. That time would reveal everything.

“Yet,” he added with a smirk. “But if you let me show you, that I can help you – and Sif, I think you’ll replace that you can trust me.”

“And all I have to do is open up and tell you everything I know? No thanks buddy!” I quickly shot back; my walls high at this point. “I wasn’t born yesterday.”

“But she was!” he pointed out and nodded to baby now awake on the bed. “You need to…”

“She wasn’t born yesterday either,” I corrected him annoyed with his bickering and walked over to Sif, picking her up. She needed another change. And then I’d feed her…

“She’s nearly a month old!”

I kicked my backpack down off the bed, most of the stuff I needed falling out. And the crowbar! Quickly I kicked it back under the bed, before concentrating on my makeshift changing table.

“A month?!” he exclaimed, shock written all over his face. I nodded and put her down, his eyes never leaving me.

“How old are you?”

“Old enough,” I answered, not wanting to go into details of my life.

“That young?” he figured out anyway and cursed under his breath. “And how long have you been on the streets?”

“A month,” I answered not really seeing any harm in it. It wasn’t like he was going to replace my home anyway. That shit was a werewolf proof fortress!

“You’ve been living on the streets for a month, with a bloody baby? Have you completely lost your mind?!” he was shouting at the end of the sentence.

“It was better than the alternative,” I scoffed, not afraid – or just too stupid to be – of his outburst. This guy was really an idiot! “You know what they do to babies in shelters? Not to mention girls?”

I finished changing her. By that time, she was crying, because she was hungry. But instead of getting to feed her, Derik grabbed my shoulder and led me out of there.

“Where are we going?” I asked, nervous about being led to the slaughterhouse.

“You both need to see a doctor,” he stated and led us out. I rolled my eyes at him. One slaughterhouse or another…