Hope Springs
Chapter 26

We were shoved roughly into the sedan and since there was very little room I ended up on Max’s lap. He wrapped his arms tightly around my waist, and eyed all of the hunters distrustfully.

I don’t trust them. As soon as we can, we need to leave. Max grumbled and I leaned back against his chest. Trinity, are you listening?

I’m listening. But they aren’t Loup Chasseur. Their intentions aren’t to hurt us.

Really? How did you get that impression? From when they were pointing their guns at us? Max retorted and I sighed. He had a point.

“What are your names?” I asked, and several of the hunters regarded us suspiciously. “What? Can’t I know your names?”

The boy who had spoken to us earlier sighed, “Koda. I’m Koda, that’s Jack, Daniel, Karson Liam and Mark.” He gave me a look, “Happy now?”

“Ec-” I started but Max growled. I rolled my eyes. I didn’t understand why he was growling but I fell silent. Maybe he didn’t want to risk me upsetting them and possibly getting hurt. We were silent for the remainder of the drive. It wasn’t possible to look outside because they had placed coverings over the windows and it was a little hard to see out the windshield.

Finally the card rolled to a stop. They made us get out of the car first and then they followed behind us, and watching us carefully. Jack and Daniel had taken out their guns and were pointing them at our back. We walked further into the woods, eventually coming to a stop in front of a log cabin.

“Why are we here?” Max asked, his eyes darting between the six hunters. Koda didn’t reply, instead he turned to Liam.

“We mean to bargain the two of you to Loup Chasseur,” Liam explained, and that was all it took for Max to shift. “Wait, wait, wait,” Liam said, holding up his hands. “It’s a trap for Loup Chasseur, we’d actually take some of them out. You can trust us.”

“I don’t think we can.” I murmured, “You lied to us. You guys are hunters.....We can’t trust you.”

After I said that I shifted and Max and I sprinted towards the woods, hearing them cursing behind us. We darted through the trees, heading in the direction of where the pack should be.

Wait. Max said, halting in his tracks and I quickly came to a stop beside him. Do you smell that?

Smell what? I asked and he gave me a look. I lifted my nose to the air and sniffed. I could smell the scent of humans, the scent of our pack and the metallic tang of blood. There was also the underlying scent of death. They were attacked. I whispered, horrified.

Yes. I’m afraid it will be too dangerous for us to get near the pack and- Max started but I had already taken steps in the direction of our pack.

I think they are gone. We should go check...What if someone’s hurt?

He seemed ready to argue and I tuned him out, running at a steady pace towards where we had set up temporary residence. The sight that greeted me when I came to the campsite, devastated me. Blood was pooled on the ground and splattered on the tents and trees, and several bodies lying on the ground. I whimpered, edging closer to Max who was standing near the outskirts of the site.

His eyes darted around the carnage, and towards the trees. He scented the air, and stepped in front of me. We aren’t alone.

Loup Chasseur?

I don’t know.

Something struck my leg and I fell to the ground, my eyesight became blurry and everything swirled around me. I saw the blurry form of Max fall to the ground and then I knew no more.

When I came to, I was still in my wolf form and I felt a small sense of relief at that. I was in a large jail cell and Max was still passed out beside me. Across the room in another jail cell, I could make out the scents of Hadley, Alex, Josh and Anya. The scent of fear was strong in the air and so was the scent of death. My eyes darted around the room that we were in. There was a staircase that must lead to the ground floor, because from the damp air and what little light there was, we must be in the basement.

I shifted my body closer to Max, not confident enough to stand yet. Max stirred beside me and I stared at him as he rolled onto his belly. He leaned against me, and I nuzzled his neck.

“Max?” Hadley’s voice asked, her voice raspy and Max tensed.

Hadley...Have you seen who else is here?

Of the pack? Hadley murmured, Harper, Sydney, Leanne, Will, Sheri, Miranda, Rhea, Keith, and....Raven.

Raven? Isn’t she working with Loup Chasseur? I asked.

I don’t know. I know that she’s been beaten and is in a cell with Keith and Sydney. Sydney isn’t taking too kindly to her being there and....several of the older pack members are dead. She was silent for a moment and I felt dread creeping up at me. Including your dad, Max.

Mr. Judge is dead?

Yeah....I’m so sorry Max, Hadley said, her voice sorrowed and Max hung his head, leaning more heavily on me.

What about my family? I felt bad, about not thinking about them earlier but I had figured that if they had been caught at the house that Loup Chasseur would spare them, since they are only human.

Your dad, May and Maria are fine. I’m not sure about your Mom. Hadley answered and I felt some sense of relief. Dad, May, and Maria were okay. She didn’t know about my Mom, but I didn’t think that they would hurt her. Not when she was the daughter of one of the big wigs of Loup Chasseur.

What are we supposed to do? Did Mr. Judge even get into touch with the Summer Falls pack?

He did, but the Beta who is standing in as Alpha refuses to offer any help. Another voice said, and I recognized it as Rhea’s. We are on our own. We have no one we can turn to.

There must be someone. What about.....What about the Autumn Grove pack?

They are too far away to offer any assistance in the time span that we would need them. Rhea answered, Face it. We’re done for.

I just let out a growl. I refused to believe that we were done for. There must be some way that we could get out of here and there must be someone who is willing to help us. I huffed, resting my head on my paws and staring (actually, glaring) at the ground. I was angered that they thought that there was no hope, and logically there wasn’t. But...But I had faith somehow that we would get out of this and that we would be safe.

Maybe...Maybe the Moon Goddess if she really existed would end up helping us.

So what? Are we just going to sit here and walk happily to our deaths? I asked. I thought that werewolves were tougher and more resilient than this. I thought that we wouldn’t be tougher than this. I thought that we wouldn’t give up as easily as we are. But that’s what we are doing now, isn’t it? We are just giving up and just accepting our fates.

What else can we do? Rhea snapped, although there was some curiosity in her voice.

For starters we can try to come up with a plan to get out of this alive. And second....Secondly we can stop giving in and being passive. We need to get out of this alive. I answered, and felt satisfied when Rhea and Hadley voiced their agreement. I was glad that I had gotten through to them. We weren’t going to be giving up. We couldn’t give up.

We needed to survive and exact our revenge on Loup Chasseur.