Consequences Series Book 5

I stood by the fresh grave of a fallen comrade, a casualty of our latest battle.

“How many?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

“Four, Sir. Their bodies are at the foot of the hill, awaiting your orders,” Riley, my right-hand man and half warlock, replied. His voice was low, respectful, as he spoke of the witches we’d just killed.

I tried to hide my distaste for the formal address, but I knew he was just following protocol. It wasn’t fair to take my frustration out on him.

I’d been thrust into this role five years ago, against my will. I’d been groomed for it, fought for it, but when the time came—when my father had lain dying, urging me to recite the sacred vow—I hadn’t been able to hold back my tears.

I’d told him I didn’t want it. I didn’t want to be a killing machine, hunting down creatures before the rest of humanity discovered their existence.

I remember his frail hand gripping mine, so tightly I thought he might break it. His gaze was intense, even as he lay dying. He told me this was our purpose—to rid the world of creatures that were never meant to exist.

He’d taught me that all supernatural beings were spawns of Satan, deserving of death. He’d taught me to show no mercy. To kill on sight, without questioning their innocence.

“Wrap up the bodies and bury them before sunrise.” I turned away as Riley relayed my command to the others.

Despite only recently turning twenty, I felt much older. Part of me knew it was the burden of taking a life, supernatural or not. This dread, to me, was a punishment.

My father had been a ruthless hunter, mutilating his kills and leaving them as warnings for others. I couldn’t bring myself to do that. I couldn’t harm an innocent soul, no matter who it belonged to.

When I took over the hunters, I made my first law: no killing innocent supernatural beings. We could only attack in self-defense, never encroaching on their territory.

It took a few years for everyone to accept it, to understand my reasoning. If we killed ruthlessly, we were no different than the beings we hunted.

Walking through the rain back to the manor I’d inherited, I wondered if this was my only purpose. I came from a long line of hunters, gifted with perception—the ability to sense supernatural beings. This gift wasn’t supernatural, but a sixth sense.

I knew who I was, but I couldn’t help wondering if I was meant for something more. Surely, I wasn’t destined to kill for the rest of my life. Other hunters might accept that, but I wanted more.

I wanted a purpose.

I’d gotten a taste of that when I’d formed an alliance with a nearby pack of werewolves. I was sixteen then, my first year ruling without an elder’s guidance. I’d used this opportunity to show my people we could be more than killers.

I hadn’t hesitated to sign the treaty, promising not to harm them if they didn’t expose themselves to humans. I had shaken hands with the alpha, Hunter—an ironic name. But what had stuck with me was the young alpha beside him.

He couldn’t have been older than fourteen then, but his eyes held a fierce bravery. I could see why the Moon Goddess had made him an alpha. He was fearless, radiating power even at such a young age.

I remember admiring his dark brown hair, cut short at the back and longer in the front. His skin was flawless, like porcelain. But it was his eyes that captivated me—fierce blue eyes tinged with pain.

I’d wondered what could cause such a powerful creature so much pain that it marred the beauty of his eyes.

I’d found myself befriending the young alpha. Despite our differences, we’d bonded over unrequited love—him with his childhood friend Nathan, and me with the young alpha himself.

I’d known when he spoke Nathan’s name with a smile that Nathan was the source of his pain. As the years passed, I wanted to ease his pain, but I knew no matter how much I loved Andrew, he would always love someone else.

I remember asking Andrew what he loved about Nathan, hoping to emulate it. But he simply smiled and said, “Nathan was his mate, that he was born to love Nathan. That loving Nathan made him happy.”

It was said that no one could love you as much as your mate. There were times when I found myself envious of the supernatural world. As humans, we’d date a handful of people, searching for that elusive something.

When we thought we’d found it, we’d settle down, start a family, only to realize a few years later that we were still searching. We’d look for it in money, fame, and sometimes even in sex.

But I often wondered what it felt like to meet the person who held the other half of your soul. The person who completed you, who was irreplaceable and whose worth surpassed everything else. Someone who made money and fame irrelevant.

The person who was your mate.

I felt a pang of hurt knowing that Andrew already had a mate, but I guess it was to be expected. He was an alpha, after all, and needed strong blood to continue his lineage. That’s what Nathan would be to him.

But it was the way he looked at Nathan that stung the most. He looked at him as if he was the only thing that mattered. As if he was the most amazing person he’d ever seen.

It didn’t hurt because I was in love with Andrew. Despite my occasional flirtations with him, I knew he was mated to someone else and I had accepted that the moment I met Nathan. It hurt because I knew I would never experience that.

I would never have that unique bond called a mate bond, simply because I was human and it was rare for a human to be mated.

I shook my head, trying to shake off the rain as I removed my cloak and hung it on the hook by the door. I then made my way into the oversized living room. It was too large for someone living alone.

The manor, which I had inherited from my grandfather, was a place where all the leaders of the hunters resided. I preferred not to stay there, but I tolerated it to avoid another argument.

There were enough rumors circulating about my loyalty ever since I signed that treaty. I soon realized that the less conflict I stirred up, the better. That’s why I lived in the massive manor alone since my parents’ death, with only a few workers and servants who attended to me even when I didn’t need them to.

I remembered hearing about Andrew becoming alpha a few months ago. I had declined the invitation to the ceremony for obvious reasons. I didn’t want to stand there pretending to be happy for Andrew as he publicly declared his love for Nathan and announced him as his mate.

I would rather spend the entire night training, taking out my frustrations on my training equipment, cursing the Moon Goddess for not choosing me to be a werewolf!

I grabbed the letter and ripped it open, not bothering to use the letter opener. I squinted as I read Andrew’s handwriting, which hadn’t improved over the years.

I found myself smiling at his immaturity, despite him being two years younger than me. I read the letter again before folding it and putting it in my pocket.

I noticed then that he hadn’t mentioned anything about Nathan in his letter. Nor had I heard anything about the luna of the pack, which made me squint at the fire in thought.

Could it be that Nathan wasn’t his mate?

“Would you like me to warm up dinner, Sir?”

I was pulled from my thoughts by one of the servants. I turned to face her, smiled, and told her I wasn’t hungry.

I was going to take a bath and head straight to bed. She didn’t seem too pleased with that, but she nodded and left me alone with my thoughts, as they all did.

I stood by the fire for a few more minutes before sighing and walking away. I headed upstairs to my bedroom, took a quick shower, and slipped into a pair of sweats.

I climbed into bed and stared at the ceiling, my thoughts racing in all directions, always ending up at one place, one feeling…

The longing to be mated to someone.