THE HUNTER AND THE HUNTED

The Scars She Hid From The World

REGINA MCBRIDE

The heavy iron gates of the Wilderness Correction Camp groaned as they released me after three years of state-sponsored hell. I stood on the dirt road, clutching a plastic bag that held my entire life, waiting for the family that claimed they sent me there for "rehab." My brother, Brady, picked me up in a luxury SUV only to throw me out onto a deserted highway in the middle of a brewing storm. He told me I was a "public relations nightmare" and that the rain might finally wash the "stink" of the camp off me. He drove away, leaving me to limp miles through the mud on a snapped ankle. When I finally dragged myself to our family estate, my mother didn't offer a hug; she gasped in horror because my muddy clothes were ruining her Italian marble. They didn't give me my old room back. Instead, they banished me to a moldy gardener’s shack and hired a "babysitter" to make sure I didn't embarrass them further. My sister, Kaleigh, stood there in white cashmere, pretending to cry while clinging to her fiancé, Ambrose—the man who had once been mine. They all treated me like a volatile junkie, refusing to acknowledge that Kaleigh was the one who planted the drugs in my bag three years ago. They wanted to believe I was broken so they wouldn't have to feel guilty about the "wellness retreat" that was actually a torture chamber. I sat in the dark of that shed, feeling the cooling gel on the cigarette burns that covered my arms, and realized they had made a fatal mistake. They thought they had erased me, but I had returned with a roadmap of scars and a hidden satellite phone. At dinner, I didn't beg for their love. I simply rolled up my sleeves and showed them the price of their silence. As the wine spilled and the lies crumbled, I sent a single text to the only person I trusted: "I'm in. Let them simmer." The hunt was finally on.

Modern Revenge Scheming

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In the core of the woods, Olwegos Town holds a lonely house.

Not a single sound from the groups of men as they slowly crept around the lone house.

“Vance, are you sure he’s here?” The leader of the hunters, Zoren, asked.

“Yes, I’m sure!” Vance responded as he prepared the bow, “He can’t get out of here because he got injured in the fight.”

Zoren motioned for the three companions to go to the back of the house...While he motioned for Vance. to accompany him to the front of the house.

They were met with silence as they entered the house. As Zoren ascended the stairs to the second floor of the house, he gave Vance a look and motioned for him to look at the room downstairs.

Vance checks the room...

However, as soon as he entered, someone grabbed his hand and threw him into the wall. The impact caused him to release the arrow he was carrying.

When he saw that the man was getting ready to attack him once more, he quickly pulled the knife out of his pocket. Vance repeatedly waved the knife he was holding so that the man couldn’t get close to him. However, the man choked him against the wall and grabbed his hand with a knife, giving him the appearance of a young child.

“Who are you, and what are you doing in my territory?” The man asked as he stressed the stranglehold on Vance’s neck.

“We’re looking for Reuben.” Vance was able to respond amid struggle.

“Reuben? The lone Alpha? Why are you looking for him here? We have no connection with him!” The guy explained before he threw Vance out the window.

Since this was his first time participating in the hunt, Vance had no idea what to do when he fell to the ground and began to crawl.

“Leave our territory, before our Alpha arrives!” His threat as he got closer to Vance. But he stopped speaking when he felt a sharp object pierce his back and penetrate his chest...

“We, the Wolves Hunters, don’t take orders from our pursuers,” Zoren said with seriousness before spearing the silver arrow once more and striking the man in the chest.

As the dead man fell to the ground, Vance took a deep breath. Zoren approached him, “This is the last time I will see you trembling with fear!” he reacted angrily as he pulled the silver bow in the man’s back.

Vance nodded, following Zoren, “I told you, I’m not for this job! I can’t handle this!” Vance replied as he picked up his bow.

Zoren stopped and looked sharply at him. “This work started with our ancestors!” he hurried toward Vance and slammed him into the wall. “Because hunting is in your blood, you can’t say you can’t! Do you understand?!” Zoren exclaimed.

When Vance nodded, it was only then that Zoren let go of him.

“Your son...When will you convince him to hunt?” Vance asked, clutching his sore neck.

“My son is still young, but I see in him the potential and fortitude that you don’t seem to have!” Zoren responded as he stared at an uneven patch of the ground. He prepared the crossbow as he slowly approached... He also told Vance to get his weapon ready.

While clutching the crossbow in one hand, Zoren used his other hand to draw the sword from behind him and repeatedly stabbed the ground.

“It appears that you are becoming overly paranoid!” Vance shakes his head.

Zoren scowled at Vance as he drew his blade behind his back... At the same moment, they were surprised when someone grabbed their feet and their planned victim, Reuben, appeared on the other side of the ground.

They shouted at the same time when Reuben threw them... With solid force, Vance hit the home wall as Zoren struck a tree hard.

“Trying to piss an Alpha is not appropriate and way too dangerous.” Reuben said while approaching Vance.

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