Hunting Purity (The Hunting Series Book 2)

by Tracy Lauren

  Hunting Purity

  Tracy Lauren

  © 2019 Tracy Lauren

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by U.S. copyright law.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  An Excerpt from ALIEN INSTINCT

  Chapter 1

  Purity

  There’s a knock at our dorm room door and Emily rushes over excitedly, swinging it open. I finish teasing my last unruly strand of hair into place and spin around, just in time for me and my best friends to greet each other with high-pitched squeals of delight.

  “Ahhhhh! O-M-G, Em, Purity! Look at you guys!” Mackenna exclaims. “This has got to be the best idea we have ever had,” my friend declares as she takes in the costumes we have all donned for the eighties party our sorority is hosting tonight.

  “I would have never thought of this on my own,” Emily says. “If it were up to me, we all would have been characters from The Breakfast Club or something.”

  “While the movie isn’t obscure, the costumes sure as hell would have been,” Hannah tells her. “This is better. Much better.”

  “Sexy 80s fitness instructors was absolute genius,” I agree, freshening my hot-pink lipstick in the mirror. “Guys, can I just say I have this feeling like…like, together we are going to be unstoppable this year,” I tell them, feeling this wave of optimism rush over me.

  “That’s because you view the world through rose-colored lenses,” Emily tells me with a lopsided smile.

  “One of us has to be the optimist,” I counter.

  “Damn, Purity, you went all out! Look at those leg warmers!” Hannah laughs. “And your makeup!”

  “I know, right? I can’t tell if it’s on point or ridiculous,” I tell her, striking a silly pose.

  “Both. Absolutely both,” Hannah laughs. She walks around me to get a full view of my costume and gasps when she gets behind me.

  “Is that a thong?” she squeals, erupting in laughter. Mackenna and Ainsley rush to spin me around to see the back side of my get-up. Emily just rolls her eyes, looking amused. We have already had this conversation twice this evening.

  “I’m wearing leggings under! You make it sound like I’m about to go to the party in nothing but my Victoria’s Secret!” I complain, covering my neon lycra-clad butt with my hands.

  “Don’t make her self-conscious,” Emily chides. “You look smoking hot,” she says, passing me a brightly colored fanny pack. She hands one to all the girls.

  “I got these so we didn’t have to carry purses,” she explains. “Fits the theme, right?”

  “Hey, there’s something in mine—” Ainsley begins.

  “Yeah, well, consider it my gift to you,” Emily tells us, sounding a little self-conscious. I unzip my fanny pack and spy a small round canister about the same size as my lipstick.

  “Is this pepper spray?” Hannah baulks. “Jeez, Em, you’re so paranoid.”

  “Whatever. You act like you’ve never seen an episode of Dateline,” Emily defends.

  “What the fuck is Dateline?” Hannah scoffs.

  “Guys, I think this is such a great idea!” I interrupt enthusiastically. “There’s going to be a lot of new pledges at the party tonight and this will help present us as…I don’t know, like strong, street-smart women…that still know how to throw a banging party.” My endorsement of Emily’s gift helps sell it to the others. I don’t know why Hannah always has to give her such a hard time. It’s a thoughtful gift, not to mention a smart one. I’m not just blindly backing up my best friend, I really do think we should have something like this if we’re going to be walking around campus late at night.

  “Yeah, I guess it is a good idea,” Ainsley puts in. “My parents are always asking me if I’m being safe and have protection when I go out.”

  “Ew, your parents ask if you use condoms?” Hannah asks, her face screwed up in disgust.

  “Gross! No, you freak! I mean like not walking alone at night, having a DD, and carrying shit like this,” she says, motioning toward the pepper spray.

  I look over at my friend and roommate, Emily. She’s quickly rebuilding her confidence and shoots me a meek smile, a thanks for having her back. The others sometimes give her grief about being a “Debbie Downer,” as they call it. I mean, I know my bestie can be a little careful, but that’s totally okay. It’s good to have someone in the group who’s the level-headed one. I appreciate that about her. She’s like the yin to my yang, seeing as how I’ve been told more than once in my life that I only see the good in people.

  I know I can always count on Em to weed out the creepers at parties… I can be a little blind to that kind of thing. Not to say I’m stupid or naïve, I just tend to expect the best from people. So, while the others might tease her, I appreciate what she brings to the group. Heck, I don’t know what I’d do without her.

  I grab my phone and take a peek at the time. “Ah! We better hurry if we are going to get there before the pledges.”

  “Amanda asked that we help out with the last of the decorations too.”

  “Shoot, that doesn’t leave us much time,” I fret, swinging the door open. “Hey you!” I call to a girl passing by, she looks young…definitely a freshman. “Would you mind taking our picture?” I ask, shooting her my most charming smile. Instantly the girl’s face warms, then I see her eyes grow wide as she takes in our costumes.

  “Wow! You guys look great! Sure,” she tells me, stepping up to grab my phone.

  “Oh my God, thank you so much. You’re a huge help!” I gush, pulling her into my dorm room. Ten minutes and 37 pictures later, my friends are spilling out into the hall as I encourage the freshman to join us at our sorority’s party. I’m even grabbing things out of my closet to offer her since she says she doesn’t have anything 80s to wear.

  “You will absolutely love it!” I urge. “We’ll all be there, you can totally hang out with us. It’s going to be such a fun night! There’s going to be games, trivia, a dance off, even a costume contest!”

  “Well, I know who’s going to win the costume contest,” the girl tells me with a shy smile.

  “You are too sweet! Promise me you’ll come down. I’ll be looking for you,” I tell her.

  “Yeah, okay… I’ll just get changed. I haven’t been to any parties yet.”

  “Ahhhh! We’re popping your college party cherry!
” Hannah thrills.

  “Gross, Hannah,” Emily complains quietly.

  “Don’t worry about them. You go get ready, the party doesn’t start for another half hour. We’ll see you there,” I say, pushing her toward her own room.

  “Yeah, sure thing! I’ll see you guys there!” the girl says excitedly.

  After that, Hannah, Emily, Mackenna, Ainsley and I are strutting through the quad, garnering the attention of the few stragglers still making their way back from classes or labs while we belt out a terrible rendition of “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.”

  They’re closing up the coffee shop as we round the outdoor cafe seating. We’re approaching sorority row. I reach for my bright pink lipstick for one last re-apply, when I notice the only things in my fanny pack are my phone and my pepper spray. I gasp, startling Emily.

  “What is it?” she asks.

  “I forgot my lipstick!”

  “Forget it, Purity, you can borrow mine,” Emily offers.

  Hannah, Ainsley, Mackenna and I look at Emily as if she’s grown an extra head. “Girl, you’re wearing fire-engine red,” Hannah frowns, motioning toward our color-clashing outfits.

  “So?” Emily shrugs.

  I smile warmly at her. “I’ll just run back and grab my pink,” I say.

  “I’ll go with you,” Emily offers.

  “No, Amanda still needs help with the decorations and the party’s starting soon. Go, I’ll just grab it really quick and be back before you know it.”

  “You shouldn’t walk alone—” Emily begins.

  “I’ll probably run into that freshman on the way back, we can walk together. Plus, I’m not alone. I have this,” I say, wiggling my pepper spray and beaming a smile at my bestie. Her frown softens. “Go,” I tell her. “Amanda needs help.”

  “Okay, but if you aren’t back in thirty minutes, I’m calling the police,” she tells me.

  “I’d expect no less. I’d say it’s sweet you’re concerned, but you’re probably just dying to see those hot campus police officers, you slut,” I tease.

  “Anyway, don’t be too long,” Emily tells me, rolling her eyes. Hannah, Mackenna, and Ainsley are already pulling away.

  “I’ll go as fast as these heels will carry me,” I assure her pleasantly, though I’m met with a concerned frown. “Don’t worry! I’ll be fine!” I shout over my shoulder, hurrying back in the direction of the dorms. Reluctantly, Emily rejoins the others and they continue down sorority row.

  I do swing by the freshman’s dorm on the way back, but she’s got her curling iron wrapped in her hair and says she’ll be another 15 minutes. She waves me on ahead without her.

  Lipstick tucked into my fanny pack, I hurry back out to the quad, walking quickly to get to my sorority’s house. The quad is barren now, with not a single other student in sight. When I pass the coffee shop, I see the windows are dark and its umbrellas are tucked in for the evening. I’m almost there.

  It’s silly, but I find the deserted campus a little eerie and I quicken my pace as I turn down sorority row. In a half hour this street will be crawling with party goers, but now it’s silent and shrouded in shadows looming between the pale street lights, which work hard to peek through the old growth trees lining the road. My heels click on the pavement on an otherwise silent street and a chill comes in on the breeze, causing my skin to prickle and leaves to rustle. I cast my gaze in the direction of a dark thicket of trees that lies between a pair of the historic houses along sorority row.

  The darkness is giving me the creeps, or maybe Emily’s cautious nature is finally rubbing off on me. In any case, I keep my eyes focused on the shadowy foliage. If any danger were to pop out at me, that’s where it’d be coming from. I know I’m being a little silly, but I can’t seem to look away. I tell myself that the feeling of eyes on me is just my imagination running away with itself, but a stronger breeze comes, shaking the trees with it and I shiver, wondering why on a warm September night the breeze is suddenly making an unwelcome appearance. Then, once more, the branches quake and this time I stop dead in my tracks. There was no breeze.

  “What the hell?” I say out loud. I’m officially freaked out now and reach for the pepper spray in my fanny pack. Coming from the thicket I hear an odd hissing sound that makes me think of an air tank or…decompression or something. It’s followed by scraping footsteps and mumbled speech.

  “Hello?” I call out. “What’s going on in there?”

  This isn’t some questionable noise at this point. There are people in that thicket, doing something loud enough for me to hear. I wonder if maybe it’s a work crew, here to clear the overgrowth or something. The campus does a lot of work to maintain the trees in the neighborhood. I’ve seen crews a hundred times before… Of course, never after dark on a Friday night.

  “Hello?” I call again. My desire to shake away irrational fears of boogeymen in the dark drive me forward. I’m not the kind of girl to hear an unexplained noise and go running off into the night like a fool. I’m braver than that. I’ll just figure out what the sound is and more likely than not I’ll realize I have nothing to fear. “Hey! Is this a hard hat zone? We’re going to have party guests walking the streets pretty soon. Please let us know if there are any hazards to be aware of!”

  The voices from inside the thicket fall silent. I’m close enough to the branches now that I could touch them. I stop and listen, Emily’s gift of pepper spray grasped tightly in my hand.

  It’s pranksters then. Freshmen boys, no doubt. I roll my eyes. “Whatever. Don’t fuck with our party guests or you’ll never be invited to an Alpha Nu party for the rest of your…”

  My words fall short. The thicket is silent, but the feeling of watchful eyes is heavy on my skin. It’s like a weight on me and the hair on the back of my neck stands on end. Eyes on the trees, I take few hesitant steps back toward the sidewalk. Then… I hear breathing.

  Huh… Maybe I am the sort of girl who runs away from unexplained noises in the night, I realize suddenly, still making my retreat. Hushed whispers cut through the trees, gruff and demanding.

  Well fuck that. I decide to run. But before I can even turn, the branches part and something jumps out at me. I raise my pepper spray, ready to empty the bottle into the eyes of whoever might pop out.

  And that’s the last thing I remember.

  Chapter 2

  He’Rokvska Naa

  The beast before me pounces, but I sidestep at the last moment and he drives his snout into the ground. Snarling his outrage, he dips his head low. I, too, crouch in the rough sand, made moist by blood…whose I cannot tell. The crowd’s cheers have devolved into a steady roar, so loud that the ground trembles. They hunger for blood and care not if it is the dhiragoni who wins, or me, He’Rokvska Naa, the only living son of the great gladiator, Eriona. The dhiragoni lets an angry roar tear from his throat and the crowd rages along with him.

  My confidence is high tonight. I know I will win this battle and I am pleased with the opponent my master has chosen for me. This is the very same beast that brought down my mother years ago. Its death will mark the beginning of the next phase of my life.

  Before now I was taught to never think of the future, for the future is an uncertain thing in the life of a gladiator like myself. There is no knowing if we will live to see another sunrise. My mother, Eriona, would tell me I am being premature, but I push that thought from my mind. I will defeat the dhiragoni. I will drive my blade into its brain and I will do it for the memory of my mother, for myself, and as always, for the crowd.

  The beast’s tail beats the ground in irritation before swiping at me. Long bony spikes protruding from the tip narrowly miss my legs as I leap over the swinging tail. I use the opportunity to inch closer to my discarded weapon, which lies on the opposite side of the arena. The dhiragoni gnashes its teeth at me, battle lust coming off of him in waves. Long strands of saliva stretch between those bared teeth, dripping in messy blobs onto the ground. Steam wafts from the mucus-y fluid and
the smell makes my nostrils flare.

  The creature has become more defensive as our battle wages on, keeping its tail between us and opting to sidestep instead of its usual head-on attacks. It can sense my confidence and knows it is in trouble. I eye my sword, wanting to get this done with quickly.

  In my youth I enjoyed drawing out a battle, if only to excite the crowd. But I later learned there is no honor in such a thing. A predator must not toy with his prey. If I can play with my kill, then we are not evenly matched, and if we are not evenly matched, then I am being dishonored. I deserve only the best opponents in the arena, to test my skill and to show my prowess. Nothing less will do.

  I fake to the right and the dhiragoni positions its body to block, inadvertently creating an opening for me to dive for my blade. A split second too late the beast realizes his error and I hear the clicking sound of his hundred pairs of legs rearing up before propelling him forward. I slide through the gritty dirt, reaching for my blade, and the beast’s tail finally connects with me, throwing me across the arena. My body slams into the wall that separates the fighters from the crowd. I scarcely have time to blink before the beast is upon me, pinning me to the wall with a dozen of his terrible legs. I smile into the stench of his face, his hot breath searing my skin. I have him exactly where I want him.

  Blade in hand, I drive it through his skull from beneath. The force of my attack pushes my sword clean through and the tip bursts forth from the crown of the dhiragoni’s head.