Hunter Hunted

—You’d better shut your mouth… don’t you understand the situation?… They’re going to find us in this damned forest if you keep talking. —Nicol was quite worried about the situation.

—Speak for yourself, I want them to see us; as far as I know, I decide for myself. —Alexandra was annoyed at having to hide. She thought she knew what she wanted.

—Damn it, you’re stubborn; you’d be better off with me… in the end, I’m getting out of here, you’re a burden to me in this escape. —Nicol fell abruptly silent upon hearing the sound of branches. He was sure someone or something was near them.

Alexandra felt afraid of what awaited her. Hearing the sound again, she gestured so Nicol could understand her: “They’ve found us, my God, I don’t want to die a traitor, this is all your fault”; Nicol looked at her with an angry face, ignoring her, and raised his head to see if they were still being hunted.

As expected, a large grey-and-black wolf was looking toward where they were, with sharp teeth bared; it seemed to be smiling at them. As soon as he spotted the enemy, he understood it had been a bad idea to have become infatuated with the damned human called Alexandra.

When it came down to it, she wanted to become a she-wolf; that was why she was there, and why she was useful to them.

Having hypnotized her and brought her here had been a big mistake… he’d screwed up his plan to escape. He wanted to turn her and make her his at all costs. But it was more than clear he should have only hypnotized her so she would open the door of the enchanted cage where they kept him locked up, and then flee alone.

It had been no use feeling privileged at the obvious mistake of these lycanthrope jackasses, using a human to feed him and keep him alive, if in the end he’d be back where he started, hunted by the enemies of his race… though he’d die first before saying where his clan had the princess of the wolves hidden.

The wolf’s growl pulled him out of his thoughts. Seeing it stare at him, he rose from the wall of dirt and leaves hiding him, telling it arrogantly and with satisfaction, knowing he was a key piece they couldn’t eliminate:

“You’ll have to leave me alone or kill me. But you can be sure that to that filthy place, I won’t return” —Nicol had his teeth bared, showing his vampiric nature.

He got a growl in response.

“Damn it, this miserable wet dog is going to kill me,” Nicol whispered, grabbing Alexandra by the hair, lifting her up so the wolf could see her; she screamed in pain at her captor’s mistreatment —”If you come any closer, I’ll break her neck”— the wolf stopped approaching, but then reconsidered, because it kept advancing toward where he was; it was clear it would attack at any moment.

“I’m sorry, beautiful, if you’re not mine, you won’t be one of them either… besides, I won’t die alone.” Those were the last words Alexandra heard before dying in Nicol’s arms, because he broke her neck.

Immediately the wolf’s howl of pain was heard, frustrated and stunned by the death of the woman he had decided to turn so he could live with her. Nicol’s look of astonishment was hard to hide; he hadn’t expected that reaction from his enemy either. He’d realized this wolf’s target wasn’t him, but the girl. Now he’d really screwed up; that was what happened when you didn’t ask before acting.

Faced with the uncontrollable pain of the loss, the wolf leapt at the vampire to try to avenge the death of the girl he had fallen in love with.

Amid bites, hard blows and crashes… the vampire ended up dying a second time, under the jaws of that great wolf, who also acted impulsively, since he himself knew that the vampire Nicol, brother of the King of the vampires, was the only one who could find the whereabouts of his beloved princess… everything was done… His mistake didn’t matter; later he would figure out what to tell the King of his race, under a believable lie.

His life from today on would be a true death; he couldn’t fall in love for centuries, and he’d have to live with this mistake before his kingdom and his lineage forever.

The End

Kassfinol

“Acting out of convenience and impulse is human; dying twice for one mistake only happens to immortals… Remember, dear readers… that we are only simple mortals.”