The Hunted Read Online Free Page A

being a couple of metres away from the targets.
    I mentally ordered my heart rate to calm down, but it appeared to be just as stubborn as the rest of me. Although I didn’t really want to admit it, not even to myself, I was shit scared right now, despite the years of training. If there was one sure thing that could possibly alert the creatures to my presence, it would be my heart beat. It would be difficult for them to ignore and resist the sound of fresh blood pounding through my veins, particularly blood that was laced heavily with vampiric scent.
    Why did I separate from everyone else again?
    Oh yeah, that’s right, I forgot … I’m a frigging tool.
    After a few deep breaths and a notable fall in heart rate, I crept along close to the new container, my fingers still grazing against the metal as I walked, my other hand shaking slightly as it hovered protectively over the knife that was lashed to my leg. I wished now that I had had the good sense to stay behind Lucas instead of wandering off on my own. Why I felt the need to always disobey everyone around me was beyond me. But I guess being sixteen years old made me susceptible to bouts of irrational behaviour and the occasional notion that I was in fact smarter than everyone else, regardless of whether or not that was true.
    If I was smart now, I would simply walk back the way I had come instead of proceeding forward into the face of danger. Obviously there was a part of me that had considered facing the two vân â tors alone and had decided that was a good idea. Perhaps it was PMS? What other logical reason could there be for continuing on a path this ridiculously dangerous and stupid? Unless of course the only plausible explanation left was that I was in fact a total moron, with a capital M?
    I thought about that for a second.
    Nope, I just can’t see it.
    I pulled back in closer to the side of the container, withdrawing my dirty fingers from the metal and brushing them lightly across the front of my jeans to wipe away the orange rusted tinge. I could feel a slight tremble across the surface of my skin, and it had very little to do with the cold weather. I was scared, despite how many times I had told Susan and George on the way here that I was more than capable of participating in tonight’s hunt without being chaperoned like a nun at a Manpower concert.
    Again, not exactly true.
    This was only the second hunt that I had been actively allowed to partake in. The first hunt was more of a ‘watch and learn’ experience. I ‘watched’ all right, and Susan and George ‘learned’ to lock the car. But one thing was certain, I was not about to let some grievances regarding my personal welfare interfere with tonight’s intended outcome. We had a job to do and I didn’t want to be the one to screw it up because I was too scared to follow through. We couldn’t afford to let them get away. I was going to have to swallow my fear and accept that sometimes if fate dealt you a less than desirable hand, then the only option left was to suck it up and play the very best damn game that you could, or bluff like hell until you won a round.
    I was intending to bluff, which of course was ridiculous because I was a crappy poker player. But given my current situation, which I had absolutely no one to blame but myself, I had to do the best that I could with the hand that had been dealt to me—a pair of wolves perched just down the end of this container …
    I touched the hilt of the silver blade that was lashed tightly to the side of my leg and stroked its length in a reassuring gesture. This blade had been my constant companion since training had started and I was accustomed to how it felt in my hand and the comfort it brought me by having it near. The weight of the hilt in my palm and the way my fingers wrapped tightly around it as I sashayed it through the air in arcing motions felt as natural as breathing. This blade had only plundered blood once and it had been brief, but it