The Marked Huntress: An enemies turn fated mates werewolf romance

  The Marked Huntress

  Tanja Longoria

  Mellowic grew up as the daughter of a hunter, trained to fight the supernatural. When she meets her fated mate Kaine, a werewolf and alpha of the Silvermoon Pack, she does exactly that; fight him.

  Unable to contain his impatient wolf Kaine marks Mellowic without her consent, making her luna of his pack. As Kaine tries to regain her trust the pack undergoes life-altering threats in which Mellowic’s strength as luna and huntress are tested.

  Will they overcome their differences and save their pack?

  Darkness

  Escape

  Surviving

  Luna

  Control

  Truth

  Loss and Grief

  Emptiness

  Sanity

  Silver Bullets

  Warmth

  Lavender

  Betrayal

  A Favor

  Moonshine

  Embarrassment

  Trust

  Dessert

  Alphas and Betas

  My Moon

  Draw

  Pleasure

  Epilogue

  Bloopers

  About the Author

  Other Works

  Sometimes your fate isn’t what you expected.

  Chapter One

  The darkness surrounding Mellowic was the worst part of her torture. She hadn’t seen the sun in what felt like a lifetime. Frustrated and full of anger, she pulled at the chains wrapped around her wrists and let out a painful scream as the metal ripped open her old wounds.

  The door opened, the light blinding until her eyes were able to adjust. The man she hated the most appeared before her.

  “Look at you, fierce huntress, how does it feel to be captured waiting to be slaughtered.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “You know you deserve this. After all, you took my mate from me.” Alpha Brock came closer with heavy steps.

  “You already killed the ones who did this to you.”

  “And their loved ones, all but you. With you, I’ll take my sweet time.”

  He bent down and grabbed her hair, yanking her onto her feet. It took all her willpower not to scream. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. She’d learned fast that all he wanted was to see her in pain. He wanted her to feel the same pain he was feeling. He’d lost his mate, his second half, his soul. His mind was split in half, his heart torn, and his soul missing its most important piece.

  His large hand gripped her throat, squeezing it shut and cutting off her airflow. With his claws digging deep into her skin, he opened up the already healing wounds from his last assault. Out of reflex she lifted her hands to his wrist and clawed at it, slowly panicking as the oxygen loss blurred her vision and mind. She gasped for air as the feeling of losing the endless battle spread through her. The fear of dying only intensified as she lost feeling in her limbs.

  His mouth curled up into an evil grin, his eyes glowing in madness as he watched her suffocate. Slowly he picked her up in the air, letting her feet dangle inches over the ground. She frantically grabbed his fingers trying to loosen his grip as the last of her strength faded away. Just as the blackness was approaching her mind, he let go, sending her body crashing into the ground without being able to support itself.

  “I’ll keep you alive just a little longer to torture you.”

  He laughed as he walked away leaving her gasping and her lungs burning as they readjusted to the air flowing through them. He wasn’t just mad, but evil. He’d turned into an even darker monster than he’d been before her family killed his mate.

  Wolves believed that they were born with half their soul missing. Isis–their moon goddess–split each soul she created into two halves placing each of the halves into a human form. They were a perfect match for each other, true soulmates. When they found each other after reaching adulthood they linked; loving, and caring for the other instantly, their whole world revolving around one another.

  Every werewolf strived to meet their soulmate, making it their life’s goal to find them. She, on the other hand, knew of the dark sides. Their soulmate was a werewolf’s weakest spot. A target a hunter like her and her family used to force a werewolf into submission. Her brother had tried to do so with Alpha Brock.

  After he’d started to torment humans living near his territory to steal their land, her brother had taken Brock’s soulmate. He’d wanted to negotiate and force Brock into submission, showing him how easy it was to take what was his if he continued to break the ancient law.

  But everything had gone terribly wrong. In an attempt to free his mate, Brock had sent out his men to return his missing soul. In the upcoming fight one of the silver bullets had penetrated Luna Kaya’s heart, killing her in an instant. Brock had of course felt his mate’s death and had gone mad as his one and only, had been taken from him. He’d gone on to kill her father, brother, and mother only leaving her alive to revenge his mate’s death by torturing her.

  Tears started falling down her cheeks as she remembered that awful life-changing night. She’d lost her family and her freedom, exchanging it for a life full of pain and torture. She curled up on the floor, her chain’s making it impossible to lay comfortably, and closed her eyes. Not that closing her eyes would’ve made a difference. After all, the room was pitch black as always.

  Her mind couldn’t rest. Her thoughts just wouldn’t end and kept returning back to the same question. Why was she here? Why was she still alive? Why did she have to be the one surviving? She heard her father’s voice in her mind and remembered what he’d once told her.

  “You are strong, Mellowic Sommer. Stronger than you know and one day your strength will save your life. Any situation that seems hopeless only seems that way because you haven’t yet found the solution for it.”

  She opened her eyes and screamed again in frustration, “There is no fucking solution.”

  How could there be? She was chained up in a dark room, barely being fed, with a bucket for a toilet. She pulled at the shackles again only to regret it instantly as the pain shot through her arms to her shoulders and neck.

  The door opened and the light blinded her again. She heard something drop to the floor and heard heavy footsteps come closer. As her eyes adjusted, she recognized the beta of the Pack, Callum. He came closer and kicked her, his foot hitting her hip, sending bolts of pain shooting down her leg. “If I were Brock, I would let you starve.”

  She bit her lip to not snap back at him. Every time she’d done so in the past, he’d punished her for it. He turned and left, leaving her in darkness having to grope over the floor with her hands for the food he’d dropped for her.

  At the beginning of her torture, she hadn’t touched anything they’d brought her. The food they gave her were their leftovers–the things from their plates they didn’t want to eat. The thought of it had grossed her out, and she’d barely been able to keep the food down. Now, as diminishing as it sounded, these leftovers were the highlight of her days.

  She finally grabbed a hold of something that felt like a chicken bone. She picked it up to her mouth and bit off the last pieces of meat, while letting her other hand glide over the floor to find more food. This time it was a bread slice. Or at least, that’s what it felt like. She tossed the bone aside and stuffed the bread into her mouth.

  The food never tasted good, but it kept her from starving, and her expectations towards it had lowered to basically nothing as long as it filled her empty stomach. She kept feeling over the floor and found a few more bones and even one with a generous chunk of meat on it. After not being able to find any more, Mellowic curled up on the floor again, letting her pain and exhaustion kick in and sunk into a restless sleep.

  Her sleep was suddenly interrupted by the loud sound of the door slamming open. She kept her eyes closed knowing that the bright light would blind her anyway and curled up even more ready for the pain. Almost instantly she felt a hard boot kick her spine, jolting her body forward and smashing her against the wall. Then another kick and more pain shot through her body before she was yanked to her feet by her hair.

  “Look at your master. Look at the man who holds your life in his hands and could end it at any moment.”

  She opened her eyes and saw Brock’s dark, demon-like face. His madness seemed to intensify each day, taking all his human likeness and replacing it with animalistic rage. Only her tiptoes touched the floor, her scalp burning as most of her body’s weight was held up by her hair. The pain was so intense that tears started flooding her eyes and blurred her vision.

  His fist hit her face without a warning, and a scream escaped her lungs as a horrendous pain exploded on the left side of her face. She tasted blood in her mouth as her tears spilled and ran down her cheeks leaving hot wet trails behind.

  He dropped her and she landed face first on the floor, leaving an even more intense blood taste in her mouth.

  “You are worth nothing. You’ll live the rest of your life in here, paying for what you’ve done to me and my pack.”

  She heard him spit and felt something wet and gooey hit her face. The door closed, just as she felt her food come up her esophagus. Gagging and spitting she threw up everything that she had in her stomach. She rubbed her shirt–or what it used to be–over her face trying
to get his spit off her. She wanted to throw up again but all that came creeping up her throat was acidic bile.

  She gagged for what felt like hours, her heavy tears giving her a headache. All she could feel was disgust and pain. After what felt like a lifetime the blood stopped dribbling in her mouth and she could finally taste something else but bile and iron.

  Just as her body recovered, she heard two pairs of dooming footsteps and wild, diabolic laughter. She knew what was about to come. As soon as the door opened the smell of alcohol wrapped around her and two swaying figures came in. Callum stepped closer and grabbed her by her wrists, yanking her into the air. She tried to fight him, tried to kick and wiggle her way out, but it was useless. Her weakened body made her attempts pathetic, only making the two monsters laugh more.

  She whimpered as Brock stepped closer knowing he would cause her pain. Though instead of swinging at her, he grabbed her throat, cutting off her air.

  “I should kill you like a pesky fly,” he said grinning down at her. Her vision blurred, her heart working overtime trying to pump the remaining oxygen through her system. “But who would I punish then? Who would pay for all your family has done to us?”

  Before the sweet darkness could wrap around her, he let go. His hand pulled back only for his fist to hit her mid-stomach. The air that she tried to inhale was forced out of her lungs, leaving her deprived of oxygen once more. The pain from his punch was so intense that she couldn’t think or feel properly. The pain took over her whole being, tears running down her cheeks, her muscles shivering, and her body close to giving up.

  He didn’t stop; his fist hitting her over and over as Callum held her up high for his alpha like a punching bag. With each new strike her hope and the slim light she had tried to see at the end of this torture faded. She knew she wouldn’t survive this. With certainty, she knew Brock would lose control and kill her in a mixture of rage and alcohol. The darkness not only surrounding her physically but also mentally, leaving her with nothing but despair and pity for herself.

  The next time the door opened she flinched and whimpered. She wasn’t ready for more. She couldn’t take more of the pain. He broke her to a point where she would do everything not to feel anything. She curled up trying to protect as much as she could from what was about to happen. She heard footsteps come closer and whimpered again. She knew she wouldn’t survive anymore of his madness and the pain he could and would inflict on her.

  “I found someone.” The voice was deep and somewhat dominant. “She’s human.” She felt something touch her shoulder and squirmed, not ready for the pain. “It’s okay. It’s over.”

  Tears started spilling again, and her body started shaking as the touch didn’t ease. Keeping her eyes closed, she listened to her surroundings. Another pair of sturdy footsteps approached, and she could see another shadow through her eyelids.

  “Who is she?” This voice was dominant, deep, and rough. It sounded familiar, and yet Mellowic couldn’t figure out why. She couldn’t help herself and opened her eyes searching for the man whose voice she thought to know.

  At first the light made it impossible to distinguish the details of the large figure towering in front of her. His shadow was huge and his shoulders broad. As her eyes slowly adjusted, she could see more details. He was barefoot, his legs hairy, wearing denim shorts. Her eyes traveled higher, and her heart started racing within her chest. No shirt covered him, revealing his toned torso and broad chest muscles. His arms long and strong, his hands rough and large–those of a hard-working man. Her eyes trailed to his face, his features hard, his lips full and his jawline covered in stubble. His aura emitted his dominance. He was alpha. There was no doubt about it.

  Their eyes locked, his chocolate brown eyes softening as he stared at her. She couldn’t explain it but he seemed to wake a deep memory within her. As if her brain tried to tell her that she knew this man, but she just couldn’t access the memory.

  “She is human.” His muscles were tense, and his tone was hard.

  “Yes, Alpha Kaine.”

  “Assemble our warriors. We’ve completed what we came here to do, then send one of their women to the guest quarters.”

  “Yes, Alpha.”

  Mellowic had been so focused on the alpha that she hadn’t even paid attention to the man kneeling next to her. He took his hand off her shoulder and walked out of the room, leaving her alone with the alpha. Stepping over her, he ripped her chains out of the wall before bending down and taking her wrists with her shackles in his large hands. He applied just enough pressure to crack them without hurting her.

  He laid his index finger under her chin and, much softer than she would’ve expected, he lifted it up, forcing her to look at him. “Who did this to you?”

  “Brock.” Her answer came without hesitation. He had something about him that made her trust him. The part of her that thought he was familiar also said as much. It was as if she’d forgotten about an old friend.

  He nodded and slid his hands between her and the cold ground, rolling her into his arms and clutching her to his chest. During her time here she’d gotten so used to the cold that his warm arms felt as if they were burning her skin.

  His muscles tensed and she could feel the vibration of a growl in his chest. “Alpha Brock is dead and not going to lay another hand on you ever again.”

  That entire sentence made no sense. Alphas didn’t kill other alphas. At least not after the peace agreement that all packs had signed a hundred years ago. The pack wars had reached their peak, leaving many packs without alpha, slowly destroying their own kind until they all agreed to a peaceful solution in a last attempt to save themselves.

  Hunters did the same. The killing of an alpha was the last resort. Most hunters didn’t even consider such an act because of the consequences. A pack without alpha dissolved and couldn’t survive, creating only more problems than solutions.

  Alpha Kaine carried her out of her cell and into a small hallway that was barely lit by old lamps, yet her eyes burned not being used to any kind of light. She teared up, and it only got worse when they walked out into the bright sunshine of what she assumed was midday.

  The sun warmed her skin and tingled on her face. She closed her eyes and soaked in all the vitamin D she could. She heard buzzing, screaming, and people running around and opened her eyes out of curiosity. She regretted it in an instant, her eyes started hurting and watered again. She quickly closed them and listened to what was going on around her. The screams were mostly the screams of women and children, and most footsteps seemed heavy like those of men.

  She felt Alpha Kaine walk up some stairs and could feel a shadow lay on her face. Carefully opening her eyes, she looked around. He’d carried her through a living room, into a hallway and to a small bedroom where he gently sat her down on the bed. He stepped aside and revealed a small elderly woman. Her face was filled with pain and hate as she looked at Mellowic.

  Alpha Kaine turned to the woman and spoke in a demanding tone, “Clean her and get her clothes.”

  The woman spit on the floor by his feet, her face filled with anger, “No, all that bitch deserves is death.”

  His muscles tensed up, his hands slowly turning into claws. A masculine growl, deep, and threatening came from his chest. His tone now that of an alpha, he spoke down to his subject. “I’m your alpha now and you will do as I say. Clean her, dress her, feed her, and if I find that you leave one mark on her, I will rip your throat out and kill your family without hesitation.”

  So, Brock was definitely dead and Kaine had taken over his position as new alpha of the Mountain Wolf Pack. The woman had to submit to Kaine, which she was visibly struggling with. She didn’t want to do what her alpha had asked of her, yet she had no other choice. Her head slowly bowed to him even though she was fighting it, yet her muscles didn’t listen.

  Kaine towered over her and watched her slowly bow to him until her neck was exposed to him. He growled in triumph and walked out, his steps echoing in the quiet air.

  Without looking at Mellowic, the elder woman opened a door to the right and disappeared into the room behind it. After a few minutes Mellowic could hear water running before the woman returned.