CHAPTER 3 Hunters!

Jessica POV

A few hours later we were up and on the road. Ever since I awoke, I felt that something was wrong, but I couldn't place it. We drove for another four hours; the sun had peaked over the horizon when I felt my connection to the pack snap in place. Something was definitely wrong. I expected to feel my parents, and the excitement of my homecoming, but I did not feel my parents at all. I sat further up in my seat. Tyler was driving, otherwise I would've stopped the Jeep to investigate, so I had to settle for rolling the window down. I sniffed the air and caught traces of the pack warriors following us.

"Stop the car, Ty."

"Something is wrong, Jess. I cannot feel Alpha or Luna!" Jasmine snapped in my head.

"Are you ok? Are you getting car sick?" He asked. He slowed the Jeep down, but he didn't stop.

"I'm smelling humans. And silver." She continued.

"Stop the car."

"HUNTERS!" She barked.

"Jess, what's wrong?" He continued to slow down more, but still didn't stop the car.

I yelled for him to stop the car the same time four wolves jumped into the road in front of us. Tyler slammed on the brakes, and before the Jeep came to a complete stop, I was already out the door and running towards the wolves.

"Jess! STOP!" Tyler yelled, jumping out of the Jeep himself.

The largest grey wolf was my father's beta, Owen. He stalked towards me, but his eyes were locked on Tyler as he got out of the Jeep, and he was growling.

"SHIFT!" I ordered, using my Alpha voice.

Before the large grey wolf could make another step, he had shifted in his human form.

"Alpha Jessica, are you hurt?" he said, coming closer to me, but his eyes still locked on Tyler. "Shall I call for a doctor to check you over?"

'Alpha Jessica?' I thought. That's not right, I'm not Alpha yet.

Before I could respond I heard Tyler from behind me fall to the ground yelling a string of obscenities in disbelief. Shit. This was not how I wanted him to learn about us.

"No. What happened?" I asked, my heart pumping. I stepped backwards, moving towards Tyler but also trying to give Beta Owen my full attention.

"Hunters invaded the pack house in the early morning, killing your parents. When we couldn't find your body, we assumed that they had taken you and your mate. But it seems you caught one of the hunters." He said, motioning to Tyler on the ground. His eyes were huge and filled with terror.

"He's not a hunter." I said.

"Tyler, my love. Look at me" I said softly, coming down to his level. Tyler was practically hyperventilating, his large eyes moving from me to Beta Owen. "Tyler, please calm down and focus on me." I tried again, placing my hand on his cheek. Tyler looked at me, fear evident. Then I watched as his eyes rolled up into the back of his head, and he passed out. Dammit.

I turned my attention to two other wolves. "Put him in the Jeep and take everything to the pack house. I will meet you there." I commanded. The two shifted, muttered a "yes, Alpha" then put Tyler in the Jeep.

"Jessica! Hunter's killed Alpha and Luna!" Jasmine growled in my head.

Wait, what?!

Then I turned my attention back to Beta Owen, my heart racing as my brain struggled to catch up to what Owen just told me.

"What about Zach and Liza?" I needed to know how my beta was.

"They are alive, although Zach was injured in the attack."

With that, I shifted, allowing Jasmine to take over, my clothes shredding. With our paws pounding over the ground, we cut through the forest and reached the pack house. The sight before me was heartbreaking. Human bodies littered the grounds around me, along with a few wolves. The smell of silver burned my nostrils like acid.

"Where is my father's body?" I asked, shifting back. I wasn't sure if I was ready for this. Actually, I knew I wasn't. I wanted nothing more than to be wrapped in his arms this morning, not to be looking for his corpse. I started trembling.

"He and your mother are in their bed." I nodded.

I walked into the pack house, and mindlessly walked up the staircase to my parents' floor. I stopped outside the bedroom door, screwing my eyes shut. Blood and death hung in the air, and Jasmine whimpered endlessly in my mind. Without knowing it, I opened the door and stepped in. I couldn't bring my eyes up to absorb the scene, but I walked through the room on memory.

Before I knew it, I was standing beside my father's body in his bed. There was a large blood stain on the floor next to the bed. I scented it as human. With my eyes fixated on the blood stain, I extended my claws from my hand. I lifted my hand over his chest, intending to rip his heart out. But I couldn't. This was my father. My daddy. My first love, the man that picked me up when I fell and hurt myself. The man that promised he would always be scarier than the monsters under my bed. Memories of all the times he would smile at me, hold my hand, taught me to shift…

Tears freely flowed from my eyes. Internal sobs wracked my body, but I had to. It was the way of the wolf. With a heart-breaking scream, and Jasmine's own wrenching howl I plunged my hand into my father's chest. His blood was no longer warm, which broke me more. Grabbing his heart, I ripped my hand back out of his body and fell to the floor myself. I sat there for a few minutes grieving, then I felt Jasmine push forward. I knew what she was doing, and I let her. I couldn't shift on my own right now, so I allowed her to shift and consume my father's heart.

If my father had passed down the title of Alpha, then there would've been a different blood ritual to transfer the power of leadership, but once an Alpha dies, the only way to take their position was to eat their heart. During wars, it was common for the losing Alpha to have their hearts ripped out, and burned, preventing their heirs from taking over. I am lucky that the hunters didn't get the chance to burn his heart.

Once Jasmine had finished consuming the organ, I felt the bonds to the rest of the pack grow stronger in me. Jasmine lifted her muzzle and howled again. The pack howled back in response. Jasmine slowly started walking around the bed to where our mother lay. Her back was facing the edge of the bed. Jasmine nuzzled her hair, hoping that she would turn over and greet us. But her skin was cold, and her body lay lifeless. I could see the stab wound on her back. The knife cut right through her spinal cord and pierced her heart. There was no way she was going to roll over to us. Jasmine let out another howl of pain, echoed again by the pack. Jasmine hopped up on the bed and curled up behind my mother's legs and laid down.

Unknown POV

The hunters failed!

Jessica is alive, and now she is Alpha!! Fuck!!! How do I fix this?

"You don't, dumbass! You should never have gone against Alpha!" my wolf growled in my head.

"If you don't have any helpful input, then shut the fuck up!" I snapped back at him. All I got was a vicious growl in response, but he receded to the back of my mind.

Damn it, what a colossal mistake! I should have made sure Jessica had returned myself! My intel wasn't always on time, and I should have done my due diligence. If it wasn't for the fact that a female now leads us, I would try to convince her to conquer the humans. I had to remove her first.

"No!" my wolf growled.

"Shut it!" I snapped. The rift between myself and my wolf was nothing new. I spent my life arguing with that beast. I don't know why he was always so content on being a follower instead of a leader.

"Because we are not Alpha!" he snapped.

He was right. We weren't by birth, but if they were all dead and I got to consume the heart, then I would be. The only reason why I didn't after we killed the hunters is because Jessica is still alive. She was still of Alpha blood and would have challenged me. She probably would beat me, too and that would not have fit my plan either. In fact, all of the pack leaders would challenge me, and I didn't have time for that either. It was easier to do away with everyone and save myself the headache.

I will have to wait. That was my only option at this point. Bide my time and await my opportunity. The only good thing about Jessica being alive is learning that her mate is human, and that should make her easy to manipulate.

"Do you care about the human mate?" I asked my wolf.

"Alpha's mate is not Alpha. He is not pack. He is not wolf. I do not care." Was his response.

I chuckled; a new idea birthed in my head. Yes, patience is key here. But first, I needed to find Liza…