by Lola Gabriel
“Archer? How pleasant to finally speak to you,” Mark said into the cell phone.
Archer? Her Archer? What the fuck?
“You don’t know me, but my name is Mark. I’m sure you are more likely to know me as the hunter, though,” he continued.
Realization flooded Brianna. Mark must have seen her and Archer together, and now he was using her as bait. She would end up dead. Archer wasn’t going to come running into danger for a one-night stand, and Mark would kill her to send a message. Mark was still talking, but Brianna had missed a good chunk of his words as her thoughts spun out of control. She desperately tried to think of a way to escape, but if she ran, Mark would shoot her.
Mark threw his head back and laughed. He turned to Brianna. “Archer doesn’t believe I have you here. Isn’t that funny?”
Brianna just glared at him.
“Oh, she’s here, all right. You should see the look she’s giving me. Even tied up and gagged, she’s quite the little hell cat, isn’t she?”
Mark stepped closer to her and bent down. Brianna shrank back, but instead of hurting her, he pulled the gag loose. Her first instinct was to scream, but she bit her tongue, willing herself to stay quiet.
“Speak,” Mark ordered, holding the cell phone close to her head.
“Brianna?” Archer was shouting her name, and the panic in his voice told her she had been wrong about him. He would come to try and save her. Still, she didn’t speak. She wasn’t going to be responsible for him getting killed. Now that she knew what Mark was, she knew the bullets in his gun would be silver.
A thought popped into her head once more—a thought that was really out of place in her current situation but was there anyway. Was it really the shifters that were the monsters here? It sure didn’t feel that way.
“I said, speak!” Mark snarled. He didn’t give Brianna a chance to ignore him this time. He backhanded her face, a stinging slap that made her cry out involuntarily.
“Take your fucking hands off her!” she heard Archer yell.
“Archer, don’t listen to him, run!” she screamed. Mark just laughed at her and spoke into the phone.
“You know where to come if you want to see the girl alive again.” He ended the call and stepped over to Brianna. She glared up at him.
“That bullshit about wanting to make the world a better place. Was it meant to impress me?” she asked.
“No,” he said with a shake of his head. “It was the truth. Obviously, I don’t really want to be a doctor, I just enrolled in the college so I had a reason to be here. But I do want to make the world a better place. That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing. You know what Archer is, right?”
“Yes. He’s the one that isn’t grabbing innocent people off the streets and slapping them around the face,” she snapped.
Mark’s amused look slipped for a moment. “Yes, sorry about that. But I did give you a chance to speak before I did that. I couldn’t risk Archer not believing me. Not now that someone has talked and his pack has my scent.”
That was news to Brianna, and she raised an eyebrow.
“I didn’t really go to the bathroom. I got a call from someone,” he explained. “Now, enough chatter. There’s a shed just down there, no one uses it anymore. We’re going there to wait for Archer. Do I need to put the gag back in?”
“No,” Brianna said.
“Good. Up you get,” Mark commanded.
Brianna quickly came up with a plan. It was her only shot of getting away and maybe being able to get to Archer and stop this thing. She pressed her hands against the floor and lifted her ass from the ground, and then she let herself crash back down.
“It’s kind of hard with my hands like this. A little help?” she asked.
Mark rolled his eyes, but he came closer. Brianna held her hands up as though she wanted him to grab them and pull her to her feet. She waited for just the right moment, and as Mark approached, she kicked out with both feet, aiming for his knees.
Her kick was too high, and her feet slammed into Mark’s thigh instead. He stumbled slightly, an angry cry leaving his lips, but he didn’t go down.
“You stupid, stupid girl!” he roared.
Brianna just had time to register his hand balling into a fist, coming towards her, and then a stinging pain in her temple before everything went black.
12
Archer ended the call with an angry stab of his thumb. He wanted to launch his cell phone across the room, but he didn’t dare in case the hunter called again. With an effort, he calmly placed it down on the desk, holding back his outrage.
His wolf was screaming inside of him, filling him with an ire that scared even himself. The hunter had taken Brianna. Archer had thought he couldn’t be any more furious with the hunter after he had killed one of the pack. Now, he saw just how wrong he had been. For all he had lost a brother, his pack knew the dangers, and hunters were just a part of their life. Brianna wasn’t immortal—she was just being used to draw him out. She was innocent in all of this, and yet she still might end up being the one who got hurt. It made Archer question once more how the hunters still believed they were the good guys and the immortals were the monsters.
Archer swiped out with one arm, clearing a stack of papers from his desk and scattering them to the ground. He howled, a sound so full of anger and pain that if any human heard it, it would make the hairs on the back of their neck stand up.
He had to act, and fast. He also had to convince the pack to do this his way, or Brianna would be killed. He had a plan formulating by the time he stood up, stormed to his office door, and slammed it open, shouting for Sven from the doorway.
Sven appeared moments later running from his own office, spurred into fast action by Archer’s yell. Archer saw the way Sven looked at the sight of him and realized his eyes had changed, that tufts of fur had sprouted over his body. He was only seconds from shifting, and if he did that, this would be over. His wolf would go in and tear the hunter apart, but if he got to Brianna before Archer got to him, then it would all be for nothing.
“What happened?” Sven demanded.
“The hunter happened,” Archer hissed, forcing his wolf back. “Get me four of our best fighters and come back here. Now!”
Sven turned and ran, not pausing to question Archer further. He returned almost immediately with Luke, Michael, Devon, and Carlton. Archer nodded in agreement. Sven had chosen well.
Archer beckoned for the men to come into his office. He quickly told them about the phone call and that they had their chance to take down the hunter.
“That place he’s on about. It’s a wooden shed. We could set fire to it and smoke him out,” Michael said.
“No,” Archer denied quickly.
“What aren’t you telling us?” Carlton asked.
Archer sighed. He had known he’d left out too much about what Brianna meant to him, but he didn’t think he could tell them about her now without the anger consuming him. He went for a half truth, hoping to appease his men.
“Nothing. Like I said, the hunter is using a mortal woman as bait. We can’t risk her being hurt,” Archer said.
“Look, I’m all for protecting innocent mortals, and I don’t want to see the girl get hurt. But surely our priority has to be ending the hunter and avenging Brody,” Carlton said.
“Yeah. It should be. But she’s not just any mortal, is she?” Luke said.
Archer had to tell them the whole truth if he wanted them full on his side. He shook his head slowly. “No. She’s not just any mortal. I’m in love with her, and I won’t stand by and let her get hurt because of my feelings for her.”
“But—” Devon started.
“No buts,” Sven interrupted him, getting in before Archer could. “You have a mate, Devon. How would you feel if she was the one who had been taken and we were willing to let her die to beat the hunter?”
“That’s a bit different. We’ve been together for almost four hundred years,” Devon replied.
“Of course it’s not different. Would you have just shrugged and walked away in the beginning if she was to be hurt or worse?” Sven questioned. “Would you have been okay with you pack, your brothers, doing that to you?”
Devon slowly shook his head.
“No, I guess not,” he admitted.
“It’s not just that,” Michael added. “I’ve never even been in love, and I know Archer is right. While part of me thinks that if we stood by and let the hunter kill mortals, then more people would see we’re not the threat, the larger part of me would sooner die than become like the hunters; using people, hurting them, doing whatever they want to get to us. I’m not ready to let a girl die to save myself.”
Archer stood up and clapped Michael on the back.
“Well said.” He looked at each of the others in turn. “Does anyone disagree? If you do, say it now, because I only want people on this mission with me who are committed to ending this hunter without us losing the girl.”
No one spoke, and Archer nodded, satisfied that the men had his back.
“Then here’s the plan. I go into the shed alone. You guys will surround it and wait. I’m going to tell the hunter I’m giving myself up in exchange for Brianna’s life. Once he has released her, I’ll find a way to flush him out, find Brianna, and make sure she stays with me. Once the hunter leaves the cabin, it’s on you guys to finish him off. Understand?”
“I understand what you’re saying, but why are you going in alone?” Sven asked. “If we all rush in at once, he won’t stand a chance.”
“Because the hunter knows I care for Brianna. If I go alone, he’ll think he can get me to fuck up, and he’ll drop his guard,” Archer explained. “And if we all pile in, he might panic and just kill her straight away. I won’t risk that.”
“You’d risk your own life, though?” Sven’s tone wasn’t judgmental. It was a genuine question.
“Yes,” Archer answered. “I would die for that girl any day of the week. I don’t plan on that being today, but if worse comes to worst, Sven, you will take over this mission and the running of the pack, and you will end that hunter. Now, is everyone clear?”
The men nodded, and they made their way as a group out of the office. Archer and Sven ran to their cars while the others split into two groups, half traveling with Archer, half with Sven. Archer drove like a mad man, desperate to reach the park. He had to keep reminding himself he was no use to Brianna or the pack if he totaled the car and got himself killed in the process.
They arrived at the park and waited for Sven and the others. Archer paced back and forth, full of anger and nerves. He had to keep himself focused on the plan and keep his anger at bay so that he could think straight if he wanted to have any chance of pulling this off. Brianna’s face flashed through his mind, and for a moment, he was seized with white hot rage at the thought of anyone hurting her, but he pushed it aside and thought only of her. Of her voice, her laugh, her lips on his. The anger receded, replaced by a calm, steely clarity that he knew would serve him well.
Sven’s car pulled up beside Archer’s, and the rest of the men got out and joined them.
“I’m going to walk into the shed as a human,” Archer began. “We have no idea if the hunter is watching us somehow, and if he sees me coming up on him in wolf form, he’s going to panic. We want him calm, thinking he’s in control. In the meantime, I want you lot to surround the whole shed. Be subtle, try to stay hidden at all times. Once you’re in position, turn into wolves and wait for the hunter to emerge. You all have his scent. Do not get it mixed up with Brianna’s. She is not to be hurt under any circumstances.”
He could tell the guys weren’t overly happy with his plan, but he knew they were loyal enough to follow his orders without question. He just had to keep his fingers crossed and hope it worked. The last thing he wanted was Brianna’s blood on his hands, but he definitely didn’t want the blood of any more of his pack members on his hands, either.
“Go,” Archer instructed.
Sven told them all where each of them should wait. He nodded to Archer, and Archer began to make his way quickly through the park to the shed in long, purposeful strides. He didn’t take in any of his surroundings; he didn’t need to watch where he was going. He had the hunter’s scent now, and he could easily find the shed by that alone.
The hunter’s scent grew stronger as Archer got closer to the shed, and he slowed down slightly, approaching with a little caution. He would find a way to save Brianna and himself. He had to. He wasn’t ready to die, not when he had finally found someone worth living for.
Beneath the hunter’s scent, Archer could smell Brianna’s. It had the usual effect on him, bringing out a warm, protective side of him, but this time, his warmth was underlaid with a hot anger at the unmistakable bitter smell of fear.
The shed came into view in front of Archer, and he ducked behind a thick tree trunk and peered around it. The shed had one dust covered window that would give the hunter the advantage of knowing he was coming, but it only had one door, so there was no way for the hunter to sneak away once Brianna was freed. Archer smiled to himself, a humorless smile that felt more like a grimace, and then he stepped out from behind the trees. Holding his head up high, he crossed the ground to the shed and pulled the door open to step inside.
The place was dark and dingy, and after walking in from the bright day’s light, Archer was momentarily blinded. He blinked a few times, waiting for his vision to adjust to the gloom. When it did, he felt the anger grip him like a fist.
The hunter stood a couple of feet to the left of Brianna. In one hand, he held a knife, and in the other, a gun. Archer knew without having to really study the weapons that the knife was made of silver, and the gun would be loaded with silver bullets.
It wasn’t the hunter that held his attention, though. It was Brianna. His Brianna. She lay on the dusty ground, her eyes closed, a thin trail of dried blood on her cheek. Archer felt his heart breaking into a thousand pieces as he looked at her. He was too late. She was already dead. His plan went out of the window in that moment. Fuck flushing the hunter out to the pack. He would end him himself, and he would make damned sure it was painful.
“You came,” the hunter said.
“Did you doubt I would?” Archer hissed.
The hunter moved closer to Brianna’s body. “Kind of. I thought your kind were more worried about self-preservation than anything else.”
“Then it shows how little you know,” Archer said, sounding much calmer than he felt. “You see, you hunters think you’re doing the world a favor, but ask yourself this. Which one of us is really a monster here? Which one of us has killed an innocent girl to make some sort of a point?”
“I don’t kill mortals,” the hunter snapped. He looked so disgusted by the accusation that Archer was momentarily shocked into silence. “Your kind might think of us as disposable, but I don’t think like that at all. Brianna isn’t dead.”
Archer wanted so badly to believe him, but he remained dubious. The hunter’s words could be a trap. He could be telling Archer what he thought he wanted to hear, just to lull him into a false sense of security.
“You don’t believe me,” the hunter said. It was a statement, not a question, but Archer shook his head anyway.
The hunter moved even closer to Brianna. He pushed her legs with his foot. Archer felt his temper go up another notch, but Brianna moaned slightly. She was still alive. The hunter pushed his foot against her legs again, and this time, Archer reacted in anger.
“Don’t you touch her!” he growled.
He ran forward, going for the hunter, but the hunter was quick. He raised the gun and fired off a shot. Archer had to throw himself to the ground to avoid the bullet, and it still missed him by just inches. Archer’s wolf senses heard the tinkle as the bullet fell to the ground after ricocheting off the wall behind him, and the sound confirmed it was silver. Not just dipped in silver, but solid silver, a guaranteed fatality if he was hit.
“You know one nick off one of these bullets and you’re dead, right?” the hunter said, his voice low and amused as Archer moved slowly towards him.
“I do. And you know that, for that to work, you actually have to be able to hit me with one, right?”
The hunter’s cocky smile slipped a little, and he fired, the shot so far off target that Archer didn’t even need to move to avoid being hit by it. He could smell the fear coming off the man in waves, and he bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smirking.
“This was a mistake, hunter. You see that now. Luckily for you, I am a reasonable man. Leave this shed and run. I’ll give you a two-minute head start. If you can outrun me, you get to live, which is more than you deserve after what you’ve done to Brianna.”
For a second, Archer could see the indecision on the hunter’s face. He knew he had fucked up, but then he set his face in a determined expression and shook his head.
“No chance. I came here to take you down, and that’s what I’m going to do. And then, I’m going to take out each member of your pack, one by one,” he said.
Archer had heard enough, and he lunged towards the hunter, his knife raised and his attention flitting between the hunter’s face and his gun. Archer saw the hunter’s finger go for the trigger of the gun, but his hand was shaking so badly, he couldn’t quite pull it. One more step, and Archer would be on him, and he would make short work of the bastard.
The hunter seemed to be able to read Archer’s face as well as he was able to read his, because he dropped to his knees suddenly. He pressed his blade to Brianna’s throat.
“Stop!” he shouted.
His command was needless. Archer had stopped moving the second the blade had moved towards Brianna.
