Huntress and the Thorn Court: An Urban Fantasy Shifter Romance (The World of the Hunter Order Book 1)

by D. C. Gambel

  “I can’t sleep with you sitting there,” I muttered stifling the way my heart warmed at the idea of him safeguarding me. That was not a feeling I needed to be having towards him. I told myself I was simply mistaking his need to keep me safe as kindness instead of the desire not to go to war, but that clarification didn’t stop my heart from quickening.

  “You’ve slept just fine while I’ve watched over you. I’m sure you can do it again.” He picked up the book and began reading it once more as I gaped at him. He didn’t move under my harsh gaze, except for the smallest twitch of his mouth that I thought might have been a smirk.

  With a huff, I settled back into the mattress and was drifting off when a thought occurred. “He was surprised,” I whispered.

  “Who was?” Gideon asked still entranced in his book.

  “The man who attacked me. He was surprised I woke, like he thought I’d sleep through the attack.”

  Gideon closed the book. Leaning forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees, he gave me his full attention. “Why would he think that?”

  I started to shake my head when I remembered. “Eleanor gave me a pill to help me sleep.”

  Gideon grabbed his phone that had been resting on the nightstand. Quickly he dialed a number. He stood, pacing. “Adam. Isabel is awake. No, we’re fine. I didn’t call you to have you lecture me. She says Eleanor gave her a pill. Speak to her. I wanna know who all knew.”

  Ending the call, he placed the phone next to my new lamp.

  “You don’t think Eleanor…?”

  He shook his head. “But maybe she mentioned something. We had your room swept for listening devices and cameras while you were out, just a precaution. It came up empty, so it had to come from her.” I wanted to learn more, but my eyes were drooping. Gideon smiled knowingly. “Sleep Isabel. I’ll fill you in when you wake.”

  I wanted to protest but sleep sounded so wonderful that I let it take me without a fight.

  12

  Over the next forty-eight hours, I was barely left alone. The doctor claimed I had a slight concussion, probably from my head being slammed against the doorframe repeatedly, but the slipping in, what I later found out to be werewolf blood, and cracking my head on the ground did me no favors.

  Gideon kept vigil most of that time, swapping out with Adam when he was needed elsewhere. Whenever the Alpha returned, he brought a slice of cake as an offering. Smart man had figured out my guilty pleasure. I couldn’t protest his arrival when it came with cake. This is what I told myself. I’d grown to anticipate his visit, but as I said, it was about the cake.

  The truth about the night I was attacked was partially covered up. The pack was told I’d come down with the flu, a very human illness that wouldn’t affect the wolves. The werewolf who attempted to kill me was being held for murder. The death of Zander wasn’t something that could be hidden. What no one seemed aware of was that Zander had been guarding me.

  Being on bed rest helped my back to the point that I could move without wincing. When Gideon mentioned a meeting to discuss the attack, I insisted on being a part of it, even putting my triple chocolate cake down to say as much. I was stunned when he agreed. I’d been prepared to argue my case. Gideon actually had to hold his hand up silencing me because the words came tumbling out before I could stop them.

  “Isabel, I agree. These attacks are aimed at you. It would be idiotic on my part to exclude you.”

  This was how I found myself in Gideon’s office with the Alpha himself and his two highest-ranking wolves. Trey’s eyes bored into my head with a sinister glare when Gideon offered me the chair from behind his desk placing it beside the couch. I could not refuse without risking offending him. That was his chair. It didn’t matter that he only offered it because he saw the weakness I was struggling to hide from everyone. I wasn’t one hundred percent yet. The world still tilted, my head still throbbed and I resented Gideon for noticing and yet my heart swelled a little that he had.

  “Here’s the problem,” Gideon opened a drawer at his desk withdrawing two knives. “This one,” he held up one. It was a stainless-steel blade with a slightly darker cross-guard. The hilt was black with gold inlay spiraling from the pommel up the cross-guard. The pommel itself had an emblem that I couldn’t quite make out. “Was used when Isabel was attacked in the hall. And this one,” he held up a similar knife. Only difference was instead of a black grip, this one was a royal blue and it was about two inches longer. “Was used in the attack the other night.”

  “I’m not seeing the problem,” I muttered wondering if my head was causing me to miss something obvious.

  “The emblems. They’re from the same house,” Adam offered.

  “That can’t be,” Trey stated his face wrinkled with confusion. “He’s being watched.”

  “Who,” I asked.

  “Abe,” Gideon offered.

  “You think Abe, Malcolm’s brother, is plotting against you by trying to kill me?” As I heard the words aloud, it actually made a lot of sense. Abe was grief-stricken, but the rise against Gideon had happened before I killed Malcolm and Cyrus. Had it just been coincidence that I killed the leader of the rebellion’s family? “They’re trying to frame him,” I realized.

  Gideon smiled wickedly as I said what he’d been trying to get us to see. “He’s the perfect scapegoat. They don’t know I put guards on him after his drunken stunt when you first arrived.”

  “But,” Adam began. “If you don’t arrest him, aren’t we showing our hand that we’re on to them?”

  “Abe was brought in for questioning the night of Isabel’s most recent attack and was given a gag order preventing him from revealing anything.”

  A gag order was only something an Alpha could give. It was a demand from the Alpha of the pack. To go against it would have the wolf exiled.

  “What does that mean?” Trey asked.

  “It means whoever is running the show will have to look for a new patsy.”

  “You’re pushing them to show their hand.”

  Adam and Trey left Gideon’s office as the meeting ended. I stared at the Alpha as he stood behind his desk sorting through papers while I remained in his chair.

  “Why not issue a gag order on to the entire pack?” I wondered. Gideon glanced up at me from under a furrowed brow. “To weed out the rebels?”

  Sighing, he ran his palm over his face like it wasn’t the first time he’d considered the question. “Then I’d be a dictator. Don’t get me wrong. The pack is by no means a democracy, but if I was to issue a gag order then I don’t believe I’d be fit to rule.”

  Returning to my room that night, I paused at my door, which was ajar. Cautiously, I pushed it open. Finding the space empty didn’t cause me to relax because there sitting in the center of my pillow on the bed was a white envelope with my name on it in a masculine script.

  I searched for any other sign that someone had been there, but beside the envelope not a single item was out of place. Closing the door, I hesitantly approached the bed. Eyeing the note for close to ten minutes, I was unsure if I should touch it. What if it was poisoned? To the bathroom I went, grabbing two hand towels. Wrapping one over my mouth, the other I placed on my hands and gripped the envelope. It was difficult but after a few attempts I manage to open it. No substance fell out, but I still kept the towels in place. Prying the envelope wide, I shook it over the bed and watched a sheet of paper fall onto the comforter.

  Narrowing my eyes, I set the envelope down and grabbed the other paper with my covered hands. Unfolding it, I read the note.

  Isabel,

  Would you like to know who’s responsible for attacking you?

  Meet me at midnight under the dome. Tell no one.

  Sincerely,

  Your faithful guardian

  I considered what the letter meant by dome. I reread the letter twice when it occurred to me that the day I arrived I noticed that the manor had a large dome that sat in the center of the house. What else could it be?
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  Setting the letter on the bed, I moved about the room, this time I sought anything I might use to defend myself. I wasn’t stupid. There was a huge probability this was a trap, but it could be legitimate. Either way, I refused to be unprepared. I grabbed a wire hanger, a deposable razor from the bathroom, and the bulb out of my bedside lamp.

  I unraveled the hanger before twisting it around my hand making it into a hook. The razor, I broke out of the plastic. I wouldn’t be able to shave until Eleanor brought me a new one next week, which was a sacrifice I’d make to keep myself safe. The bulb I wrapped in a washcloth from the bathroom. In my closet I searched for something that had big pockets. I found a pair of black high waist pants that tied in the front. They were wide legged making it easier to stuff my pockets without it appearing like I had. I then grabbed a scarlet form-fitting spaghetti-strap shirt. The pants would be a hindrance; the top would not. I debated on a cardigan to help conceal more, but with the three items, the razor I’d hold in my hand while tucking the other two in my pockets, I felt the cardigan would be over kill and would also hinder my fighting capabilities.

  My sole goal was to get out of the meeting alive. Whoever wanted to meet me was either part of the responsible party and was laying a trap, or they were being truthful and did want to share, but either way they knew who was rebelling in the pack.

  I debated on sharing the note with Gideon, or one of his higher ups, but I couldn’t risk it if I was being watched. That excuse sounded reasonable enough, but deep down I bristled at the idea of answering to anyone. Even at home, my father and I constantly went head to head about my lack of informing him until after I’d done something. I couldn’t submit to the wolves. It just wasn’t in me no matter the repercussions.

  Ten ‘til midnight, I slipped from my room. The manor was ungodly quiet. For such a huge place, I expected some noise. The Hunter’s Order was never quiet. There were always groups working no matter the hour.

  I half expected to find a guard waiting outside my room. I doubted Gideon finally conceded that I could take care of myself. Perhaps the guard had merely slipped around the corner to use the restroom and I’d better be gone before he got back. Slithering down the hall I used the shadows to conceal me. My steps were light, a skill I had mastered in training, as I moved across the carpet and up the stairs.

  I didn’t know what level the dome was on, but I glided along each story, finding the next flight of stairs. Each floor was filled with doors, until I reached a level that had a door blocking it off at the landing. Opening it, the floor seemed vacant of everything but vast empty wall space. Moving down the hall, I noticed an opening in the bare wall, moonlight spilling from the mouth of the corridor.

  Adjusting the razor blade between my fingers, I entered the passageway. The dome allowed the moon to fill the room with milky light. The waning gibbous still brightened the night sky. While I didn’t visibly see anyone, the hairs on my arm stood at attention announcing someone was lurking in the shadows. I walked into the room seemingly unaware. Within seconds I had pinpointed where the man was hidden without letting my eyes linger on the spot disclosing my knowledge.

  “Hello?” I whispered shyly. Better to let whoever think I was timid and use that to my advantage.

  “I’m surprised you came.”

  I spun feigning a startled gasp, even going so far as to dramatically place my hand over my chest, but couldn’t hide the real puzzlement that covered my face when I saw who stood before me. “Ron?”

  “It’s Rick,” he sneered.

  I knew his name. I just liked ruffling his feathers. It was becoming more and more clear that this was indeed a trap, especially when I saw his two friends materialize out of the murky darkness. I was baffled how I’d missed them.

  I didn’t think Rick was intelligent enough to pull off the coup. I smirked at the idiocy that they’d setup.

  “You think it’s funny that we’re here to pay you back for what you did?”

  “Funny? No. But in a cosmic sort of way?” I shrugged. “Maybe. And pay back for what? You’ve got to be more precise.”

  “For embarrassing us!” he hissed getting angrier.

  His friends were glaring at me as they moved to surround me. I caught a glint of metal as the moonlight reflected off a knife. That wasn’t good. If their plan was to rough me up, why would a werewolf need a weapon?

  “Did your friends laugh that it took three of you to take on one of me? Or was it that you three spent more time kicking your own asses instead of mine? And yet here you are again; three big bad wolves taking on the little unarmed huntress. What mighty men you all are.”

  Rick roared and started shifting.

  “Son of a…” I hissed.

  His two friends had begun moving to flank me but froze when Rick’s bones began to pop. Either this was unplanned, or he was starting the show early. It would take maybe a minute for him to completely shift at the rate he was forcing the turn. I didn’t know what I’d do then, but for the moment I needed to limit him getting extra assistance.

  Shoving off from where I stood, I launched myself at the man to my left who held the knife. He hadn’t expected me, too fixated on Rick. I sliced my hand across his throat. With him facing away, I was lucky to miss the arterial spray. I didn’t like killing unnecessarily. If I’d been armed with actual weapons, I might have only attempted to incapacitate him, but I wasn’t going to risk my life for these men who’d come to hurt me. The other man noticed what I’d done when his friend dropped to the ground. He charged, slamming into me, the knife skidded across the room toward the shifting werewolf. The razor was knock from my hand. My head bounced off the wall dazing me more than a jolt of that magnitude should have. I had to remind myself that I was still recovering from a concussion. A hard enough hit to my head and I might not survive.

  My attempt to knee him had the man taking a step away giving me enough space to reach into my pocket. Withdrawing the bulb, I slammed it on his head being sure to hold it with the washcloth avoiding shards to my skin. He yelled as the small particles got into his eye. That hadn’t been my intention and if he wasn’t most likely trying to kill me, I might have felt bad about it.

  Wrapping my arms around his head, I gave it a quick jerk, breaking his neck.

  I barely had a moment to breathe before Rick finished his transformation. He was a beautiful brindle wolf with a white underbelly. Under any other circumstances, I’d have taken the time to admire him.

  I was down to one weapon. Reaching into my pocket, I slipped the hanger onto my hand. It would be no match for a fully transformed werewolf. Rick didn’t give me long to prepare before he darted at me. I reared back and swiped causing a line of deep crimson to bloom. Rick froze. Chillingly slow he turned, snarling at me.

  I took a hesitant step back when a second growl resounded in the room. Both Rick and I glanced towards the door. I watched as Gideon fluidly shifted from man to beast. There was no sound of bones breaking or popping in and out of place and it was done in a matter of seconds. He simply melted from one form into the other shredding his clothes in the process. Gideon shook of his midnight coat before crouching low, snarling at the other wolf.

  Rick had just enough time to peer at me before Gideon was on him, pinning him to the ground. Muscle shifted and bones popped as the brindle wolf quickly morphed back into the man. It was a risk he was taking, a painful one. A werewolf was the most vulnerable when he was in between forms and with how fast he was shifting, Rick was forcing it making it much more painful. Gideon was honorable and did nothing as we waited for Rick’s shifting to be complete.

  “Alpha,” Rick’s voice trembled. Even as a dominant wolf he knew he was in deep shit.

  Gideon shifted back even more gracefully into his human form.

  “Whom are you working with?” Gideon hissed through clenched teeth.

  Rick nervously shook his head. “It was just me and Chris and Dillon.”

  “It was just you three trying to start this war?
” Even as he said them, the words felt untrue.

  “War? We were just trying to get back at the bitch for embarrassing us. I swear.”

  “Did you leave the note in her room?”

  “Note? I don’t know nothing about no note. We were tipped off. Told she’d be coming here alone tonight.”

  “Tipped off?” Gideon spat. “By who?”

  “I don’t know.” Gideon growled putting more pressure against Rick’s windpipe. “I swear,” he choked. “I received a letter a few days ago wanting to know if I was interested in another shot at the huntress.”

  “How’d you communicate with them?”

  “They said to wear a blue shirt the next day. So I did. Tonight, I got another letter with a time and location. I swear. I don’t know about any war. I just wanted to teach the bitch a lesson.”

  Gideon relaxed and I saw relief flood back to Rick’s face. “Problem is, Rick, by going after her you not only disobeyed my order but you put this entire pack at risk. If you’d killed her, we’d have been at war. Do you not know that she is the princess of the Hunter’s Order, next in line to rule?”

  “Gideon…I….”

  “This was your second mistake.”

  Rick’s eyes barely had time to go wide before Gideon broke his neck.

  After his last breath rushed out, the room grew ominously quiet. Gideon stayed crouched over the body of his fallen wolf before, unnervingly slow, he turned his head, fixating on me.

  “I want to ask why you are here, but I know why since your guard gave me the note he found left in your room when he realized you were gone.”

  “He must have been slacking on the job. There was no guard when I walked out of my room.”

  “You think this is funny? Three are dead and as horrible as that is if they’d have killed you it would have been so much worse.”

  He continued scolding me, telling me how stupid my decision was but when he stood revealing his incredibly naked form, I completely tuned out his voice. God, couldn’t the man have a twinge of fat or a small…