The Hunters

NB: Here's the continuation of the Hunters. I'm so sorry everyone for posting this really late. I've been having writer's block! I do appreciate any comments and suggestions on how to further the story. I'll take them into consideration in the next chapter. =)

***

Logan was on his way to his compound when his cellphone rang. Picking it up, he noticed that it was a foreign number.

"MacFarlane? I have some news for you. You're not gonna like this," said Kyros on the other line.

"Okay, give it to me."

Logan made sure that whatever transpired between them ended before he reached his compound. He needed time to think through what was being said before he met with his pack.

"Welcome back Alpha. As ordered, I have gathered all the best fighters as well as some of the best computer analysts and I.T experts. I figured they might come in useful," said the Beta General, Christian.

"Yes, they might. This is not a war of the feudal kind. Our strengths are not as much a weapon as our minds. Did you manage to house them all within the compounds?" asked Logan. He was aware that Christian had tracked down the original MacFarlane pack in Ireland and had requested for aid on his behalf. His father was one of the three Alphas born to that pack. Instead of fighting with his siblings for Alpha status, he had left the pack instead, gathering supporters or conquering other packs on the American soil.

"Yes, Alpha, although I think some of them might be getting restless from all the waiting. The higher ranking Betas especially are put off by my orders at times. Only the packmother seems to have some control over them."

"I understand, Christian. Excellent job nonetheless. Please, show me to their quarters."

Logan followed his Beta General to one of the log houses hidden deep in the forest. He'd remembered watching his father and some of the older Betas build this one themselves. It was actually bigger than their own log house but this one had more rooms to accommodate more families.

When Christian neared the log house, the door immediately flung open and out came a tough looking man in his 50s with a scar down one side of his cheek. He was really tall and large and towered considerably over both Christian and him. But one look at Logan and the toughness on his face dissolved.

"Cén chaoi 'bhfuil tú?" asked Logan respectfully. Although he was an Alpha, this man was an elder and thus deserved his respects.

"Tá mé go maith. That is, I am very well, thank you. Your father has kept the language alive, I assume."

"Yes, he tried. Please, I am Logan, son of Leon MacFarlane. I am very honoured to have all of you here with us."

"The old Alpha was not happy that you had not come yourself to ask for us. But it had been explained that you were searching for your father yes?"

"Yes I have. I will be briefing all of you at sundown in my father's study. Please be on time."

"Yes, Alpha," he replied, giving a little bow. He noted that the Alpha was but a boy in his eyes. But he had his father's face and also his manners. Time will tell if this boy was fit to lead.

Later that night, all the Weres had gathered in his father's study which was a spacious room filled with ceiling high shelves of books. His mother was there too, keeping a watch on things. Logan noticed that his Irish guests felt more comfortable with her; perhaps as she was from their pack before.

"Before I begin, I want to extend my warmest welcome to our brothers and sisters who have travelled all the way from Ireland to help with our cause. I urge all of you to provide them with your generous hospitality and respect throughout their stay here."

The room burst into cheers and shouts of agreements.

"At the moment, my sources have informed me that Alpha Leon is held captive in a building in New York. That's not too far from here. I have been given information that this building is a sort of facility for scientific experiments but it will not be apparent from its exterior. My best guess would be a big business front- something that has an extensive social, financial and political network but at the same time, never at the fore in the news."

"This would put us into rounds of mad guesswork, Alpha," said one of his Betas.

"Indeed it will. But we will have help. What I am about to say might be shocking but I have decided that it is the best alliance." Logan looked around to make sure everyone was seated. "We will be allies with a group of Vampires headed by a Pureblood. They have managed to secure access into the social network of this facility."

"That's just absurd, Alpha!" protested some of the Irish Betas.

"Yes! We have never ever partnered with them bloodsuckers since the Age of the Wars!" cried another.

"They'll turn their backs on us, yes they will!" said another.

Logan allowed them to express their concerns before he continued.

"In any war, there are risks. It is either we take them or we continue wondering 'what if?'. It might take us longer to get access into this facility without their help and I will not stand to wait around any longer to rescue my father." It was then that Lilith stood up and spoke.

"They are doing something terrible to him. I can feel it because he is my mate. Whatever they're doing... these people are more dangerous to us Weres than the Vampires will ever be. You've met Anya haven't you? Have you not noticed how much more powerful she is than all of us combined? But someone's manipulating her and that someone up there is much stronger than her and that person is the real threat. It can take just one Were to take out a Vampire but God knows how many of us it would take to take out on of Anya's kind. So please... listen to Logan."

"Is yer mate a human, Alpha?" asked one of the Irish Betas.

"She looks like one but does not smell like one. She comes from a species that has no scent and thus we are left blind without our sense of smell. I still do not know what she really is but as my mate, she is of no threat to us all. In fact, she and her sister will willingly help us to rescue Leon." Logan tried not to look at his mother when he said that. He was avoiding the topic of Anya for as long as possible.

"Tomorrow I will invite our Vampire guests to this compound, to tell us what they know. Before I make the call, I would like to know how many of you are against this decision. If you are against it, please stand up."

He was surprised then when he saw only five of them standing up. He'd thought the majority of them would protest against his decision. "Thank you," he said. "As for the five of you- you will be part of the welcome party for our guests tomorrow."

After the house was empty and all the Weres were back in their own log houses, Logan went over to his sister's grave and sat there silently. He wished that she was here with him. They'd always taken care of each other. He missed her terribly. "I miss her too, Logan..." said Lilith from behind him. She had been looking for him.

"Ma..." he replied in a whisper.

"Where's Anya?"

"She's back home... I don't really want to talk about it."

"Okay... I won't probe. But I just want you to know that you are right. She is your mate, no matter what either of you say to each other. And she will not hurt you."

Logan looked up to his mother and pressed his head close to hers.

***

Richard entered the building with a heavy heart. He had to tell the Order that his daughters had failed, yet again. This time, he wasn't sure if Connor was going to be kind to them. When he stepped out of the private elevator into their office, he noticed that Elder Connor was not alone.

"Ah... Richard, so nice of you to join us. Just the man I'm looking for," said Connor.

"Richard," said Caden in acknowledgement.

Richard looked at the duo suspiciously but took a seat at the round coffee table.

"Please help yourself to some coffee," said Connor. "I suppose you're here to tell me the same thing that Caden's told me. I must say that I am most disappointed in you Richard."

"I apologize... please Connor..." he began but was silenced by Connor.

"It seems, I have miscalculated the abilities and powers of my son. I never thought that he could single handedly take out not one but two of my top Hunters! Goodness me! I am beyond pride!" Connor then laughed heartily.

Richard stared, transfixed at Connor's face. Dead? Surely Caden would not dare to conspire with the girls? But Connor would have read Caden's mind to ascertain the truth. From the look of it, Caden was really convinced that the twins were dead and so was Connor. What was going on here?

"It seems the twins experiment was a complete failure after all. But do not despair my Elders. It seems that Hedva had successfully harvested sperm from the Alpha and had managed to develop the first prototype test-tube Hunter. These Hunters would be the strongest of them all. I have personally supervised the genetic selection process. I've had the gene responsible for emotions to be removed permanently from these new experiments. Now we don't need to involve ourselves in their petty little love affairs or even emotional attachments. Am I right, Richard?"

Richard didn't dare to speak. He merely nodded. All he wanted to do was to go home. He didn't dare to make any thoughts for he feared that Connor would have access to them.

"Congratulations, Connor on this new achievement. It seems that I am not needed here anymore. Please excuse me."

Connor allowed Richard to leave. He was too jubilant to really care anymore. With the twins gone, he had assured himself that the strongest member of their Order would be the weakest. But he intended to keep the retired Hunter alive for now for the other Hunters were still loyal to the Order simply because Richard kept them in line. They respected him and as such were loyal to him.

***

Kyros hated jet rides but he knew that it was the fastest way to get to New York. With twelve Hunters on his back, he had to get out of Manchester as fast as he could.

Truth be told, he was very disturbed by what his uncle had told him the night before. He wasn't sure if he could go through with this attack. It had left him speechless when he found out that his uncle was one of the three Vampires on the council of Elders. What shocked him even more was the knowledge that the one and only Hunter on the council was Anya and Aurora's father. Was that why Anya had been determined not to say who were on the council? Was she trying to protect her father? Who is her father anyway?

"Kyros... you think too much," said Eliza softly as she laid her hand on his shoulder.

"I feel at a loss about trusting Uncle."

"I would too, if I were you," she replied.

"Eliza, Annabelle... I have a favour to ask of you," he said, calling his sisters close. "When we land in New York, I want you to bring the other five to meet my friend, Logan. You will know it is him by his smell. I have his robe here. Track down the smell and meet him at his compounds. He is expecting you."

"Where are you going?"

"I need to see one of the Elders."

"No! That would jeopardize our mission!"

"I am aware of that risk, my sisters... but I am too curious to let this opportunity pass. The Hunters sent to kill me- their father is one of the Elders. I need to know what kind of person he is."

"Then you have to be very careful. Three of them against one of you."

"I will..."

***

Using the address and directions given to him by Logan, Kyros made his way upstate of New York. He knew that as Hunters, they would sense him unless he was moving at a speed faster than the speed of the wind carrying his scent.

Flying high above in the sky, he hoped that the height would also shield his presence to some degree.

The estate was not difficult to find. From a bird's eye view, it covered almost 45-50 acres of land with a large mansion located at the remote north of the land.

Kyros estimated that he would probably have a maximum of one minute upper hand before he was found out. From that great height above, it was a little difficult to focus his eyes on the house; much less the people inside. He was thankful that it was not a cloudy night for it gave him some visuals.

Then he spotted her. She was as beautiful as he'd remembered. She was coming out of her room and standing at the terrace; wearing a bright red night gown with her long hair was billowing in the wind.

He watched her for a few seconds, contemplating whether he should meet her first. She would attack him, that's for sure. His heart felt heavy at the thought that she would not recognize him. Nevertheless, he found himself drawn to her; coming closer, hiding in the shadows on the terrace.

She had sensed him of course but she made no moves to attack. Instead she simply stared out into the open lands before her; leveling her heartbeat, perking her sense of hearing and smell to seek out the intruder. She could hear the intruder's breath and heartbeat. It surprised her at how unsteady it was. It was almost as if the intruder was nervous instead of on an adrenaline rush.

Aurora turned and looked straight at shadows beside her open door.

"What do you want here?" she demanded; focusing her eyes so that she could see the intruder.

"I wanted to see you..." the intruder replied and out from the darkness appeared a handsome man, looking intently at her.

The familiarity of his face startled her but before she could ask him anything else, her father burst into the scene with a pistol in his hand.

"Stay back, Vampire!" he snarled. Kyros immediately disappeared into the shadows but not before getting a good look at the man.

So this was Elder Richard, the legendary Hunter. He was a well built man, with a wizened face but it was his eyes that disturbed Kyros deeply. This man was a truly powerful creature but it was all latent, never unleashed. Even at his best, this man had only used his human senses and never more. That, in itself struck fear in Kyros. He barely saw the first bullet fired and managed to evade.

"No! Daddy, wait!" came a shout. Anya had rushed to the terrace. He was surprised that she had taken a little longer to sense his presence. Richard had stopped firing but his pistol was still aimed at Kyros.

"This is Lord Russell..."

"I see," he said, lowering down his gun. Kyros was surprised at how readily he let down his guard at the words of his daughter.

"Please, Sir... I am here not to attack anyone. I am here to speak to you..." said Kyros with as much courage as he could muster.

"Speak then."

"I'd prefer us to be in private, Sir."

Richard gave a hard look at the man that was slowly materializing from the shadows before gesturing for him to follow him into the kitchen. "The girls think I'm obsessed with cooking; making this place my domain but if they came down here more often, they'd understand why the kitchen is truly the heart of a home."

Kyros watched Richard intently as the man walked over to a knife holder.

"It takes all but one swipe of my hand for these knives to instantaneously severe your head, Russell..." he said in a calm, cold voice.

"Yes Sir," replied Kyros. "I am very honoured to meet you, Elder Richard." His last words were punctuated perfectly with hopes of eliciting a response from the Elder.

"What are you doing here?"

"My first intentions were to find out about you..."

"And what have you found out so far?"

"That you scare me out of my skin, Sir."

Richard gave a loud chuckle when he heard that response.

"Well... it seems I've done my job then as a father."

At Kyros's puzzled look, Richard grinned. "To scare his daughter's potential partners. I don't get much of a chance to do that. So now, would you tell me why since you have designs on my daughter, you'd announce that she and her sister are dead?"

"I take it that you found that out from my uncle. As it is, I don't trust my uncle as much as I used to..."

"Uncle? You don't mean Caden do you?"

"Unfortunately yes."

Richard gave the man before him a thorough look. "You seem confident that I will not report this visit to him. Why is that I wonder?"

"It did occur to me that you might... but as of now, I believe that he is on my side and as such, he too, would welcome another compatriot."

"Your side?"

"Yes, sir. I do not know how much your daughters have told you... but I am trying to help rescue someone inside your organization."

"Mmm... I've heard all about this suicidal rescue mission. I will need to talk to my daughters for a minute. In the meantime, you stay put. But don't even think of trying to escape for I can hunt you down in two seconds flat and severe your head in another."

"Thank you sir. I promise you that I will do not such thing. I will bid my time in your sitting room till you are ready to speak to me again, sir."

"You have very good manners, my boy. I shall send one of my daughters to keep you company in a while. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen."

Kyros watched the man stride out of the room. He didn't think he should have called him a boy, seeing that he had lived for centuries now. But he wasn't sure how long Hunters lived either. They were probably just as immortal as he was. He wasn't sure.

Far from the prying eyes of the vampire, Richard summoned his daughters.

"Anya, please explain to your sister exactly why that Vampire is here tonight..." he instructed, glaring at both of them.

Anya gave a weak smile and began to explain...

***

He sensed her presence even when he couldn't smell or hear her enter the room. She looked at him with a look of contempt laced with curiosity.

"You are saying that you want to break into the Order for the sake of us?"

"Well... not exactly like that..."

"That's good. Because there is no 'us'. If you so wish to break into the Order, then you can expect only our help but nothing more."

"What my daughter is saying is that... it was a despicable thing you did... taking her memory like that... and I could kill you for that alone..." interjected Richard who had entered the room without notice. "But I think you will be of some use to this cause..."

"Yes sir... I agree with you."

"Very well. I understand that Weres are also involved in this? If that is the case then we shall all need to meet to discuss the various strategies of infiltration. We will leave tomorrow at dawn, if that is alright with you?"

"Yes sir." He gave a bow as Richard left the room, leaving him and Aurora alone.

"I don't know if you ever sleep. But if you want to sleep, just make yourself comfortable on the floor."

"Oh. I see. Then I shall then," he replied, sitting cross legged on the floor.

She kept silent for a long time as she studied him sitting quietly on the floor with his eyes closed. Anya had told her about the relationship she had had with this man and how he released her and returned back most of her memories. Truth was, she hated him on principle. She couldn't remember anything about him, except that he had been her target. She hated that she couldn't understand the look in his eyes when he looked at her.

She gave a sigh and looked at the clock. It was nearly three in the morning. They would be leaving in a few hours. She'd better get some sleep.

***

When he walked into the sitting room, he was surprised to see Kyros still sitting on the floor with his eyes closed. This man had not moved since he left him a few hours ago. He had not even touched his daughter or made any advances towards her as far as he could tell.

"You impress me, young man," he said; his voice reverberating around the room. Kyros opened his eyes and looked up.

"Thank you, Sir. That was a very nice compliment."

"Perhaps you should call me Richard. The girls will be coming down in a while. We will be riding down to the city. I don't think you could manage the long distance on foot. Go on and wash up. I'll meet you outside."