FATED TO ALPHA HUNTER BY VENNEH LISAH

𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗔'𝗦 𝗣𝗢𝗩:

Everything seemed like a big secret around here, and it was driving me up the wall. At least they listened when I told them not to follow me. I needed some fresh air. Everyone hovering constantly was driving me nuts.

However, it didn't take long before Hunter was in my head. I quickly shoved him out.

As I walked out, I headed towards the fruit trees and saw a kid picking fruit with the gardener. He waved excitedly, and I waved back while walking over to them. The kid jogged over to me and hugged me. "Hey Luna, I haven't seen you in days," he stated.

"Do you want to help us pick fruits?" he asked, and I looked around. I wanted to get as far away from the pack house grounds as I was allowed.

"No, I don't want to pick fruit. Do you want to go for a walk with me? I am trying to hide from my guard," I chuckled. The kid looked over at the gardener, who shrugged and waved him off.

"Where do you want to walk?" he asked.

"I don't know," I replied. "We could walk by the river. It's pretty high at the moment from the floods upstream coming down it," he offered.

"Yeah, I'm not fond of water, but I guess there's no harm," I told him.

We headed towards the river, and it was quite high and flowing fast. We sat down on the bank for a bit before deciding to head back.

Halfway back, we ran into Ben. He nearly ran straight past us before skidding along the ground and coming to a stop. He clutched his knees and looked at me.

"There you are!" he said, standing upright.

"Why are you out here?" he asked.

"We went for a walk," the kid said, smiling up at him.

"Go on, I will take her back," Ben said, giving the kid a pointed look. The kid rolled his eyes and wandered off. Ben fell in line with me, and we walked back toward the pack house.

"You shouldn't wander so far from the pack house, my Luna. What if something happened?" he asked.

"I have the mind-link," I told him.

"The one you have been blocking for the past hour? The alpha is on his way home, and he is not happy," Ben told me, holding some ferns aside for me. I sighed but trudged back through the forest.

Climbing over a log, Ben gripped my elbow when the log suddenly gave way and collapsed under my foot. I heard the sickening crack as my ankle broke, and something went through the bottom of my foot. My scream echoed off the trees, and Ben grabbed me under the arms, hauling me up. I screamed again when Ben tried to break the log open as he pulled the rotted wood away while I leaned against him.

"Stay with me, help is on the way," whispered Ben as he broke off a chunk, freeing my foot a little more. But when he tried to pull my leg out, it got caught again and I broke out in a cold sweat, letting out a shriek of pain.

"Stop! Something is stabbing through my foot," I cried out, clutching my leg. Just then, we heard a twig snap and a furious growl coming from the forest. Ben froze behind me and quickly covered my mouth with his hand.

"Shh," he whispered, opening up the mind-link to all the security men. "Forest, now!" he boomed. Another growl, from a different direction, made Ben turn around.

"What is it?" I tried to speak, despite his hand over my mouth. Suddenly, a cub stepped out of the trees in front of us. My breath caught in my throat, knowing that where there's a cub, its mother won't be far. And the deafening growl behind us confirmed my fears.

"F**k!" Ben cussed behind me.

"Don't move!" he whispered, and my heart started racing as I saw it out of the corner of my eye, emerging from the woods. I swallowed loudly, making a noise that made me flinch as it headed towards its cub. The cub sniffed the air, staring at us, and I was frozen in place, especially when I saw the size of its mother. The lioness was enormous, with its claws sinking into the soft soil as it came closer before stopping.

Ben and I froze, watching to see if it would keep moving after its cub, but instead, it looked at us and roared before charging directly towards us. I screamed and closed my eyes, covering my head, only for Ben's hand covering my mouth to be removed, and I fell backward onto the ground, my leg bending awkwardly, and I shrieked from the pressure on my ankle and whatever was stabbing through the top of my foot. I pushed up on my hands to find Ben locked in battle with the enormous lioness. I could hear the security men running towards us as Ben fought fearlessly.

I waited for him to kill the lioness, but instead, he punched it in the side of the head once, twice, three times before the fourth time knocked it out, though he was drenched in blood from where it tore him apart. Just as the security men bursted through the trees, he growled at them before coming over to me, and another security man also came to assist, together they yanked on the hollow rotted log, ripping it apart. The cub whined for its mother, sniffing her, and I glanced at it.

"It's knocked out, not dead. We need to move quickly," Ben told me, and I nodded.

"That's why we need to get you out of here before it wakes up," he said, gripping my ankle. I swallowed nervously. His green eyes stared back at me, and I knew what he was about to do.

"I will have to kill it if you don't choose my Luna," he said. I looked at the cub nuzzling its mother. The other security men stood around, ready in case it woke up. I couldn't let the cub live without its mother, so I made the decision to keep it's mother alive.

"Do it!" I told him, and he yanked my foot off the huge, thick nail that must have been in the tree when it fell and rotted away. My scream was silent before I passed out. My eyes rolled into the back of my head, and the last thing I saw was Ben grabbing me and the feel of the wind as he ran towards the pack house. Then, I saw nothing but darkness .

𝗛𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥'𝗦 𝗣𝗢𝗩:

I let out a growl as the driver spun the car around and headed back to the pack house. Ben's voice was in my head the entire time, but I learned that Ania had commanded Joe, Kim, Valentine, and Rina not to follow her. Despite Ben's insistence that she wasn't aware she had commanded them, I believed him. She didn't yet realize the power of her vae-wolf's voice. However, leaving the pack house without my permission and knowledge was simply foolish. Lemmy and Stanley remained quiet in the car, knowing that anything they said would set me off.

As soon as the car screeched to a stop on the driveway, I jumped out and the security men at the front door quickly rushed to open the doors before I even reached them. Both men stepped out of my reach, but Valentine waited inside the door and scrambled to my side, apologizing as I stalked toward the stairs. Pain rattled through my ankle and foot, and I knew Ania was awake because I felt the pain every time she passed out. Her fear of me dissipated when she was unconscious, and it irked me that she feared me more than whatever was happening to her.

Valentine explained what had happened, and I was furious that the gardener didn't stop her. Everyone knew that she wasn't supposed to leave the pack house. As I walked up the steps leading to my quarters, Joe and Kim stood there, staring towards the door but unable to move any further.

I walked past them, and they hung their heads as I growled. Despite trying to avoid it, I had no choice but to teach her how to use her command to remove them from her order. As she screamed and sobbed, begging someone to stop her pain, her voice reached my ears as I walked towards our bedroom door.

I yanked the doors open, and they bounced off the walls with a crack, making the room fall silent. I saw Ben leaning over her. He was wearing only a pair of shorts and was covered in blood from head to toe. A furious growl tore out of me, and he moved, stepping aside with his hands up in the air.

My body trembled with the urge to shift moments before I actually did. Ania threw her arms out and screamed, "He isn't hurting me!" This made me halt and turn my head to look at her. As I did, I saw a huge nail protruding from her foot, with a piece of tree attached to it. The sheets were stained with blood. Her hands shook as she tried to grip the massive nail that had speared through her foot.

"What the f**k happened? You told me she hurt her f*****g foot! Not that she had a…" I trailed off as I knelt next to her to examine it.

"A 14-inch iron spike in her foot?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes, I didn't tell you because she wanted me to rip it out before you got here," Ben answered. I looked at Ania and she dropped her head, her cheeks flushed. "I knew you would be mad," she stammered, her hands trembling as she tried to get a grip on the nail.

"How?" I asked, trying to figure it out.

"It was a fallen tree. She tried to climb over it, but it was hollow. She fell through it, and of all the trees, she had to fall into one of the old target trees," Ben answered. I gripped her ankle and examined it. Ania hissed, and she feebly gripped my wrist when I tried to touch the flat end, holding the piece of bark to the bottom of her foot. "Don't!" she cried.

"We had to break the tree to get her out. After I pulled her out, I noticed she took a part of the tree with her," Ben said with a sigh.

I looked over at him. His hair was a mess, and was stuck to the skin on his face that was coated with blood. My eyes moved over him, noticing the healing scratches and claw marks covering his body. He said he got into a fight with a lioness. I pursed my lips before turning back to her foot.

"What would you like to do?" Ben asked. I looked at him, but as I turned my head, I saw that Ben was actually looking at me, waiting for my response.

"I think we'll have to yank it out," I replied. It seemed like the only obvious solution. Ania scrambled away as I pounced towards her, and she let out a loud scream.

"No! Get the doctor!" she pleaded, but the doctor was currently delivering a baby. Ben had told me earlier that he had sent someone to find the doctor.

"No! Alpha, I can wait! No! Ben, please don't let him!" she continued to scream as I pinned her to the bed. Suddenly, I was thrown off and heard a feral roar as I was flung into the dresser.

Shocked and dazed, I tried to figure out what had happened as I looked around the room. I got to my feet, I saw that Ben had shifted into his animal form. "Damn it!" he exclaimed, clearly surprised by what had just happened, before quickly shifting back to his human form.

He shook his head. I saw that he was shocked at his own actions as he looked at his hands. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." He looked at Ania while I observed him, wondering what was going on.

I growled at him, knelt on the bed, and ripped Ania back to me. "Put some trousers on," I commanded, as Ania struggled against me. I squeezed her even harder, holding her in place.

"Enough! Stop fighting me!" I commanded her, and she went slack in my arms. I could feel her tears pooling in my hands. Ben retrieved some of my jeans from the closet and slipped them on.

"Valentine, get in here now!" I ordered through the mind-link before hearing footsteps on the floor outside. Valentine sighed and clicked her tongue as she hurriedly entered, quickly assessing the situation.

Ania whimpered as I positioned her on the bed, tucking her between my legs. I shrugged off my suit jacket, tossing it aside before rolling up my shirt sleeves to my elbows, all while she sat there under my command. Valentine looked at her rigidity and her eyes darkened before she glared at me.

"Is she under your command?" she asked. I nodded once, but the tone of her voice did not sit well with me. The outrage behind her words was getting on my nerves. "It's one thing to command her normally, but she might be pregnant!" Valentine snarled at me.

"She isn't in pain. I am not using the weight of it, and that's it," I replied, trying to justify my actions. The elderly woman shook her head in disapproval.

"But she was moving!" I argued. My actions were justified, and I couldn't understand why they were always quick to jump to her defense against me. I was beginning to regret the pack oath they took to always put her first. Ben looked away and swallowed, clearly agreeing with Valentine.

I pulled her against me, waiting for them to move, but they didn't. "Are you serious right now?" I asked Valentine when she didn't budge. She growled but knelt next to the bed.

"May I?" she asked. "Yes," Ania stuttered out.

"See, she's fine," I told them.

"She can't move, only speak!" Valentine snapped back at me.

"She kept fighting me! What the f**k did you want me to do, have her thrash around while we yank it out? She's very scared, and she's pissing me off," I said.

"She has a nail stuck in her foot and a raging mate! I would be scared too," Valentine snarled back at me. "On top of that, you get mad at her for fearing you! What do you expect from her when your reaction is always anger?" She snapped at me.

"I can't believe she was so reckless!" I bellowed, shaking my head in frustration. Why was I even bothering to explain myself?

"Reckless? All she did was go for a walk in the forest. She took someone with her and didn't go alone. Do you really think she could have predicted a lioness attack or a rusty nail going through her foot? You're angry because she didn't stay in the pack house. But locking her away like a caged bird isn't how you get obedience, Alpha Hunter. And she's not going anywhere with your mark on her neck! So settle down and drop your aura off her. Use the darn calling to calm her down, not your aura!" The old woman's words were firm, and she even used her own aura on me. It had no effect whatsoever, but her point was made. It was an uncomfortable feeling, but I respected the old woman so much. She was almost the same age as my mother, bless her soul if she were still alive.

I sighed and dropped my aura, and her body visibly relaxed. I let my calling slip out, and my Luna melted against me. "Ania?" Ben whispered, before leaning down to grab her ankle and hold it for Valentine.

"Use the calling, close your eyes," Valentine instructed her. My mate turned her face, pressing her ear to the center of my chest, and Ben looked at me before looking at Valentine. I cradled her head to my chest, stroking her hair and numbing her with the calling. I watched as Ben and Valentine figured out the angle to rip it out, and her breathing became audible.

Valentine tapped my knee and nodded to her foot. I clutched her tighter, with my other arm going across her shoulders and legs. I could hear her breathing come in pants. I saw their lips counting down, and at three, I flooded her with the calling, almost knocking her out with it as they yanked the nail from her foot.

Ania jerked in my arms but didn't scream out. Valentine held up what had caused her discomfort to examine it, while Ben checked her foot to make sure it was okay. After everyone left, we changed the bedding, cleaned up, and then retired to bed.

It was a long night with Ania pestering me with questions that I wasn't ready to answer yet, but she eventually gave in to exhaustion. One thing I did know was that she wouldn't be leaving the pack house without me again. Joe's voice in my head jolted me upright in bed. I looked down at my sleeping mate, who had passed out in the nest she was building, a sign that she was pregnant. I slipped my arms out from under her, trying not to jostle her awake.

"Sky has been screaming to see you since you came back," Joe told me. It was time for me to deal with them.

"Good! Ask Lemmy to accompany you as you meet me in the dungeons and wake up Ben. Tell Ben to meet us there too," I said, opening the door to see Kim and Lemmy standing guard.

"Lemmy, you're coming with me," I told him, and he moved off from the wall. Kim nodded and moved closer to the door. As we walked down the stairs, the cool draft filtering through the pack house made me shiver as it brushed against my vest.

We headed down to the dungeons, the first time I was seeing Mylar, Sky, and Fabian since their arrest. Their wrists were tied above their heads, and they shivered against the cold in the dungeons. It was so cold that I was also almost freezing in my vest. "My Alpha, please..." Sky started before I commanded them to be quiet, and she went silent.

"You are all vampires, and you know how we torture and torment our prey before finally ending their lives. Unfortunately for you, you all preyed your way into my hands, so every day will be a torture day , but before I let Lemmy torture you. Mylar, you have to write a resignation letter to the school board, and don't forget to add that you are leaving the school and city never to return again," I said as they all looked at me. "Sky, never again should you ever scream my name down here," I commanded before I watched as Ben and Lemmy whipped them. I mind-linked Ben, telling him to meet me in my office when they were done. I found it odd that it was too easy for him to go against his own daughters and side with Ania without putting up a word for them or even pleading on their behalf. It wasn't sitting well with me.