THE HUNT

CHAPTER 9

~GABRIELLA'S POV~

As my eyes met with Steven's for the second time since I came to the mansion, I felt nothing but admiration and love for the man that stood before me. He had the same expression as the day I arrived; he seemed nothing like Steven from Montgomery's mansion, but for some reason, I felt like they were the same person. But why didn't he recognize me?

I had lost all focus on my surroundings and even on my own body as I fell deeper and deeper into his intense gaze.

His brows suddenly furrowed, and that sudden movement snapped me out of my reverie. I immediately bowed and greeted him politely, but he completely ignored me, walking past me without uttering a single word.

I turned to stare at him as he walked away, wondering where he was heading. I stealthily followed behind him, moving from rose bush to rose bush, trying to avoid his eyes. After a few minutes, he arrived at the gates of the mansion. He stood in front of the gate for a few minutes, and I could see his face contouring with fear.

"What could possibly be on the other side?" I thought to myself, then wondered why he hadn't caught my attention yet. Maybe he was too focused on whatever he was doing in front of the gates.

He gently placed his palm on the gate and pushed it open, then walked out slowly. As he got to the other side, the gate slowly sprung to a close. Through the gap that slowly narrowed, I could see the figure of a child standing before the alpha. As I stared at the child, she suddenly inclined her head to the left and smiled at me. Her face was shadow black, and her eyes were green as apples. The gap between her lips as she smiled glowed red, and her entire body was enveloped in a demonic aura.

The gates finally shut, and the resulting metallic thud sent a sudden shock through my chest. I immediately turned around and headed into the mansion, wondering what the moon goddess's name was. Never in my life had I seen something so terrifying.

What was it doing in front of the mansion, though? And what was it doing with Steven? Anyone else would have minded their business and walked away from the memory of ever witnessing it, but for some reason I wanted to know more.

I walked back into the mansion with my tray, heading to meet the other girls, when I came across someone I had never met before, a female who was dressed like one of the warrior wolves. She had dark orange hair and bright brown eyes. She had a serious look on her face and stood in one position like a statue.

As I walked past her, I waved, saying, "Hi."

She didn't say anything in reply. Her eyes were locked on the mansion's front door, and it seemed nothing could distract her. I waited for a few seconds to see if she would at least turn in my direction, but it was to no avail.

I let out a sigh and walked away, thinking about how weird and strange everyone in this mansion was. I finally arrived in my room and found the other girls waiting for me, ready for the next phase of the preparation of the ceremony.

They had explained to me that there were a total of three phases: the first phase was a large cookout in the big house, and the next phase after that was a hunt in the forest.

"I can see you guys are ready," I said with a smile, assessing the garments they wore. Each of them wore simple clothing that wouldn't tear apart during shifting and avoided using underwear.

"You should out on something different too; you'll ruin these clothes if you wear them during hunting," Christine said.

"Are all the other maids going to hunt too?" I asked as I walked to a closet where I hung my clothes.

"No, just like the big house, only a select few are allowed to go hunting. We are given a specific time limit, and when the bell rings, we all return to the mansion or we'll be locked out and made rogues," Marie replied, pulling the ends of her blindfold to loosen it.

As she took the blindfold off, her hair fell in front of her face to cover her left eye, and her right eye shimmered beautifully in the room's lighting.

"Whoa! They're just like…" I was about to say, before Clarabelle finished the sentence for him, "Real diamonds?"

"Yeah," I replied, staring at Marie's beautifully colored eyes.

"Too bad, I can't see out of them," she said, moving her hair back and tying it in a bun. She had a blank expression on her face. It was at this moment that I realized I had never seen Marie smile since the day we met.

"Let's hurry and leave before it's too late," Christine said as she walked toward the door. She placed her right palm on its handle and pulled it open, and all three of us walked out of the room. We went through a series of passageways until we finally got to a door that led directly to the woods.

"You'd think there'd be a lot more maids around the door," I said as the four of us stood in front of the large wooden door.

"What are we waiting for?" I asked. Christine turned around and made a shushing sound, then said, "Listen and smell."

I focused my senses on hearing, listening to the wind that blew by and the leaves that rustled and crunched under the footsteps of my fellow wolves in the forest.

I keened my sense of smell and could not only perceive the blood of game caught by the wolves but also the blood of the wolves themselves.

"Are they fighting?" I asked as my heart rate grew faster.

Christine let out a sigh. "Gabriella, in this pack, you have to prove your worth; you have to prove you can contribute greatly to the safety of the people in this mansion, and this is what THE HUNT is for. Wolves you once thought were your friends will turn on you just so they can be on top because the weak ones will be left for dead at the end of the hunt, so brace yourself; it's going to be wild."

She turned back to the door, slowly pushed it open, and s

aid softly as we walked out, "You've heard, smelled. Now… see…"