Chương 69: Volume 1 End

The shot echoed through the silent forest, arriving before Kate could process what had happened.

"AAARGH!" The gun slipped from Kate's grasp as blood splattered across the grass. The agonizing pain made her scream continuously. Kate staggered backwards, clutching her ruined hand, then stared in terror at her thumb lying on the ground. Scott's eyes couldn't believe what he saw, everything happened so fast that his brain could not process it. Then both of them heard footsteps getting closer, Lucas slowly made his way in front of them.

Still clutching her hand, putting pressure on her wound, she stared at him with a vicious expression filled with hatred. Lucas ignored her, then observed the scene: Scott still in a daze on the ground, and Derek not far away pretending to be incapacitated. Lucas sensed another figure in the house, waiting for the right moment to strike. Pretending that he was unaware, Lucas walked in front of Kate, then aimed his gun at her head.

"Your journey ends here! Don't worry…

"he" will soon join you!" Kate closed her eyes, forcing an ugly smile on her face.

"Don't move!" Suddenly, Chris appeared behind Lucas, pointing his gun at him. Observing Kate's injury and her missing finger, he grimaced solemnly. Lucas smiled slightly, he glanced over at Chris, then back at Kate.

"What? Do you think he's going to save you?"

"Chris! Shoot him now!" Finally seeing a chance to live, Kate didn't hesitate to shout loudly. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Chris' eyes were filled with hesitation, then he looked at her and spoke with a demanding tone.

"Is it true? Did you really start the Hale's fire?"

"I did what I was told to do!" Even facing death, Kate was still firm on her choices.

"There were innocent children in that house!" Chris gritted his teeth, as he couldn't believe what his sister has done. Lucas rolled his eyes at their quarrel, then slowly lowered his gun. Kate was not his target anyway. Even looking at her far more than necessary was disgusting. Chris looked at him in surprise, then lowered his gun as well, while Kate was looking around, thinking how to get out of this situation.

"T…" Before Chris could talk, a swift shadow flashed behind his back for a moment, then Chris was sent flying a couple of meters in the distance. The sudden impact made him instantly faint, without having a chance to even put out a fight. This attack made all of them alert, looking around trying to spot the attacker. By now Scott was on his feet, while Lucas glanced around as if really not having any idea where the figure was.

Suddenly, from a corner of his eye, he saw a shadow appearing behind Kate, without hesitation he fired in that direction. BANG. Once again, the silent forest echoed with the sound of the bullet. The shadow dodged in time; the only one still in shock was Kate. She fell to the side, while touching her ear, which was bleeding slightly. It was just a scratch, but the smell of death that she felt had the biggest impact.

The forest became strangely quiet, the sound of birds and insects vanished completely, as if afraid of something terrifying. Whoosh. The figure headed straight towards Lucas, perhaps realizing that he was the biggest variable at the moment. Lucas put his arms in front of him, defending against the creature's direct blow. A slight crack sounded the moment the two made contact. Lucas face constricted in pain as he slid five meters back.

Thanks to crouching in time, he managed to keep his equilibrium and not fall on his back. His arms trembled slightly as he lifted his hand from the ground; this once again made Lucas know how overwhelming the strength of an Alpha is. Looking at the enormous beast not far from him, he grinned slightly.

"Come on!" Peter roared aggressively at him, the sound shook the entire forest. Scott's eyes involuntarily turned yellow as he trembled slightly. Lucas began firing constantly at the approaching beast, who dodged all the bullets, but just as Peter got close to him, one bullet managed to get stuck in his stomach.

"NGHH-AAAH!" A gruesome sound of pain came from Peter's mouth, as this made his body stop for a moment. Then his ferocious eyes focused back on Lucas, which were now blood-red. He had enough of this puny hunter. Peter's claws flashed in front of his eyes, as if time were slowing down. Lucas looked at the claws heading for his face when suddenly a thought came to mind. Then he moved his head slightly to the side.

"SHRRK!" The claws tore across his face, leaving a shallow line of blood.