Defiance: The Hybrid's Tale
Chapter 3: Fucking Hunters!

Nathan Underhill.

A slight nip in the air caressed my skin as I began jogging away from the house and down an old winding trail. The serenity of the surrounding forest was feeding my soul as I sprinted along a large lake. A mirror of water glistened as the sun peaked through the scattered clouds overhead. After a while of running, I came to a halt before a large, moss-covered boulder and began stripping off my clothes. I tuned up my hearing to hear if I could detect any humans in the area. It was not as if I was shy or ashamed of my body. I just didn’t want anyone replaceing out that I was a werewolf. I was well away from the pack’s territorial line, so I didn’t expect that any wolves would venture far away from it.

I took my clothes and placed them at the foot of the boulder before I removed the necklace around my neck. The scent of my wolf filled the air. I placed it amongst my clothing before I transformed into a massive copper-colored wolf.

“Ahh! That feels awesome!” I tilted my nose into the air and breathed in the forest air.

“Let’s go!” Fenrus yipped out, pushing for control, which I happily gave. Fenrus darted off into the forest at full speed, zipping and jumping over logs and embankments. The wind blowing through our fur sent chills reverberating through our bones.

A searing pain shot through my leg before we knew what had happened. We were so lost in the thrill of our morning run that we let our guard down. Fenrus lost control of his momentum and hit the forest floor with a crash, hitting a stump with a tremendous force that broke several of our ribs.

“Fuck, that hurts!” I pushed forward, taking control.

Before I could assess the damage, an arrow sliced the bridge of my snout and impaled the nearest tree.

“Hunters! Get down!” Fenrus roared.

The scent of five Hunters mucked up the air. Waves of rage rolled down my body. How could I have been this stupid?

“This is not the time. We have to get out of here!”

Another sharp pain hit me in the shoulder, knocking me to the ground. Dust floated through the air, making me sneeze. I struggled up from the ground, flinching as I put pressure on my right front leg and left back leg. My shoulder and hip burned with the intensity of the sun.

“There!” A male’s voice rejoiced. “There’s the beast!”

My head snapped toward the impending danger.

Not wanting to give the Hunters time to take another shot at me, I dashed for the neatest embankment. Several shots rang out, nearly hitting me. Seeing a dried out pond, I jumped down, disappearing from my aggressors’ sight. I had to play fast and hard. I glanced back at my hind leg to see a silver arrow sticking out from it.

Fuck! I hated silver. They were going to pay for this!

I clamped down on the arrow. Even though it burned my skin, I yanked it out with a yelp. Finding another bout of courage, I bit down on the other arrow on my shoulder and pulled it out. Exhausted and drained from the silver’s effects, I decided to shift back.

“This is about to hurt.”

Fenrus growled in agreement. I shifted back to my human form. Bones crunched and shifted within my body while the pain from my wounds worsened, making me gasp out in pain. I collapsed on the forest floor and crawled out of view. I had to do something fast; my regeneration wasn’t kicking in and I was losing too much blood. I stretched out my hand toward one of the arrows that pierced my skin. It soared through the air and levitated in front of me. I didn’t dare touch the silver arrow but I pulled it closer for inspection. A familiar, yet deadly, acidic scent lingered on the shaft of the arrow—wolfsbane!

“Let’s tear those fuckers apart!” Fenrus growled, trying to shift again.

My heart began to race. ”No! Stop! Calm down before you get us killed! We’re too big of a target in our wolf form.”

Fenrus grumbled and said, “Then what do we do?”

I placed my hand over the gaping wound on my leg and uttered a chant that sealed up my leg wound. I repeated the process with the one on my left shoulder.

“We’re still wounded.”

“I know! I’ve sealed and numbed the wounds until my mom can heal them.”

Healing magic wasn’t my specialty. It required a delicate touch. With my wounds no longer being a serious problem, I still had five lunatics to deal with. A hoot from an owl gave me an idea. I craned my head. The bird sat amongst the tree branches above me. I focused on my mind-link and closed my eyes. I began pulling the horned owl’s mind to mine, connecting with the bird. Moments later, I could see five Hunters approaching me through the eyes of the owl.

They were trying to surround me.

I never understood why I could connect my mind with other animals. It happened by accident when I was chased by a large dog when I was fourteen years old. Before the mangy beast could lunge at me, I connected with the dog’s mind and convinced the beast that I wasn’t a threat. From that day on, I began practicing to master my weird gift. I once asked my stepfather if other werewolves could do it, but even he didn’t know it was possible. My stepfather said that the Spirit of the Forest probably gave me the gift, just as it blessed us with the power to turn into wolves. To be honest, I thought he was full of crap and didn’t believe him one bit.

“Here goes nothing! Fenrus, I need your strength,” I huffed out, staggering to my feet.

A surge of power flowed from Fenrus and into me, giving me the same strength and speed I would have had if I were in my wolf form.

Fenrus sneered, “Let’s kill them!”

A burst of fear bolted me to the forest floor. ”Wait! I’ve never killed anyone before.”

Through my link with the bird, the Hunters crept ever closer.

“It’s not as if they’re giving us much choice! They’ll kill you without as much as a fleeting thought. Think about all the innocent people they’ll continue to murder in their deluded acts of righteous superiority.”

“Fine! But I need your help,” I sighed.

“I’ll always be there for you.”

A sweet calming scent filled my nostrils as Fenrus released calming pheromones to sooth me. I closed my eyes again. Fenrus clawed to the surface and gained joint control of my body. The Hunters were closing in on us. I dashed out of my hiding with a burst of superhuman speed before the Hunters knew what hit them. I ripped the throat open of the nearest fool with my elongated claws. Then I plunged my other hand into the second, ripping out his beating heart before dashing for cover as the other Hunters opened fire upon me.

“Fuck! They killed Kenny!” one of the Hunters shouted.

Through my mind-link I still had on the owl, I picked off the third sod by snapping his neck from behind. More bullets flit passed me, as I made for the nearest tree. Just then, an explosion flung me up against a rock. With the wind knocked out of me, I scrambled for cover just as another blast seared the right side of my abdomen. I howled out in pain and spotted a warlock approaching me.

I ducked for cover. What was a bloody warlock doing here?!

I never imagined a Hunter would work with one of them; they were filthy little humans after all. Every supernatural creature was in their line of sight and they showed witches and warlocks no mercy. I directed the owl’s vision at the magic wielder. That is when I noticed a command collar around their neck. They were using him against his will.

I dashed down the rock face, ignoring the ebbing pain around my abdomen. I silently circled around before the warlock or the last remaining Hunter could sniff me out. I conjured a green luminescent dagger out of thin air and crept up behind them through the thick underbrush. Dozens of thorns scraped over the closed-up wound. I choked down a whimper. As I approached the Hunter from behind, I nudged the owl through our mind link to screech. Both the Hunter and the warlock’s heads shot up, giving me an opening. I flung the dagger and impaled it on the warlock’s back before disarming the Hunter. I flipped the rifle over and used the bud of the gun to shatter the Hunter’s windpipe. The man fell to the forest floor, thrashing around for air until he eventually stopped moving and his eyes glossed over.

“Thank Goddess, that’s over with,” I groaned, glancing down at the side of my abdomen. The burn scar wasn’t healing.

“We have to get home.” Fenrus said in my head. A wave of disappointment washed over me. My wolf thought he had failed me. ”I’m sorry, but I can’t heal you. The wolfsbane is still hampering my ability—”

“I know... I know,” I chuckled. “It’s not your fault. I don’t blame you for one second. But before we leave, we have to deal with him.” I glanced over at the warlock, who laid paralyzed on the forest’s floor.

Closing my eyes, I focused on the spot where I had placed my clothes earlier for safekeeping and summoned them into my bloodied hands. Great... Mom was going to kill me for getting blood on my clothes. I got dressed; the warlock wasn’t going to be happy being woken up with a dick dangling in front of his face.

Before walking over to the spellcaster, I clipped the necklace around my neck. Fenrus shuddered at the unpleasant sensation that washed over us, masking our scent once more.

As I looked down at the motionless warlock, the green dagger that stuck out of his back had disappeared, but it had done its job. I wanted to paralyze my opponent instead of killing him. The poor sap had no choice in the matter; the collar around his neck compelled him to do their bidding. He didn’t deserve to die. I turned my captive over and ripped the collar off his neck. The expression of utter hatred in the warlock’s eyes turned into tears and then elation.

The warlock shuffled away. “I’m sorry—so sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt you. They made me do it,” he cried, shielding his face. The poor man probably expected some form of retribution for hurting me.

“What’s your name?” I asked calmly, throwing the collar as far away from us as possible.

The warlock hesitantly lowered his arms and stared at me with a face full of tears. “M-My name’s J-Joshua Staten.” He sniffed while wiping the tears off his face.

I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the hapless dude. He looked barely old enough to be out of high school. He had wavy blond hair and blue-piercing eyes. I got up to my feet and walked up to him. Joshua cowered at my approach.

“Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you. Come on.” I extended my hand out toward the teen.

He slowly moved forward and grabbed my hand. With a slight tug, I pulled Joshua to his shaky feet.

His eyes widened as he saw the burn scar on my abdomen. He reached out and touched me. I flinched. “I’m so sorry.” He broke down again and began to sob.

“Crybaby!” Fenrus snapped.

“Shush, will you? He’s traumatized. How would you like it if those assholes tied a leash around your neck and made you attack other innocent people?” I reprimanded Fenrus, which earned me a growl.

“Fine. I’m sorry. You have a point.”

“Joshua. How did they capture you?” My question snapped the teenager out of his depressive state.

He stared out into the distance. “Two of my friends and I were on a road trip. We stopped along the way at a diner to eat. Somehow, the Hunters must have spotted us. When I walked into the bathroom, they wrapped the collar around my neck before I knew what hit me. They commanded me to attack my friends when they came searching for me...” Tears slipped down his cheeks.

“Where are your friends?” I asked. I hoped that the group of renegades had kept Joshua’s friends alive, which was likely. Most Hunters kept their victims breathing. They were more valuable alive than dead. Sick fucks...

“They’re still imprisoned in the panel van they put them in. I don’t know where they are exactly though. They parked the van somewhere in the woods, trying to capture more people,” Joshua said, stuttering slightly.

“Do you have any personal items of your friends which I can track them with?” I asked.

His eyes lit up as he rummaged through his back pocket. “Here!” Joshua held out a key chain with a miniature teddy bear attached to it. I took the keys and sniffed the key holder. “Come on. They are near.”

I placed my hand on Joshua’s hunched shoulder and teleported to where his friend’s scent led us.