To Catch The Kill
~
Accalia
~

She wanted to free him. Hell, she was daring herself to do it.

She questioned with the inner workings of her mind if she could unlock the binds that held him between the two trees entirely unnoticed.

Movement bristled in her peripheral, two towering silhouettes watching her on the sidelines and her idea fell short, to a staggering halt.

Freeing it of its binds would be a risk she couldn't take.

Despite it all, they were human. Down to the biology and matter of being. When a lycan died, there was a reason it turned back into a human. They no longer served the lycanthropy curse. Once they met their end, the curse would end with them.

Of course, that didn't matter to hunters.

To them, they were soulless beasts.

Accalia Larren had to remind herself of this.

"You want me to kill it, Dad?" A deep voice piped up.

Accalia's brother wiggled his bushy eyebrows at her and she thought she was rescued from a doomed fate. If anyone could go through with it, it was her brother.

Their father slowly shook his head and his brown eyes were set with intention. "Nah, Tristan. It's Accalia's turn."

Tristan was far better at this. The catch. The kill. The hunt.

His workings were already marked into the lycan in front of them. Tristan already hacked at his skin with two daggers and he was a moment away from putting a silver bullet into his head. The lycan was an open wound just waiting to give out. Flies were already feeding into its gashes, and maggots would too.

Accalia could wield a sword, she could hunt and track. She wondered if she had the guts to lay the silver upon someone with the intention of slaying.

"But—" Accalia began, her lips trembling.

"It's training!" Her father spluttered and pointed directly at her. "And you're going to fucking do it. Even if I have to drag your ass, Accalia, to cut this mutt up. You're doing it."

Accalia's heart swelled in pain and she didn't care if the lycan could see the tears coming to the surface.

She couldn't believe this. Crying over a lycan. Over a dog that she had to put down.

They were sworn enemies. It couldn't be that hard. Death was death ... but that was exactly what was stopping her.

Scrunches of hard-hitting boots cracked against the fallen leaves and a lanky figure drew from the towering trees and into the clearing they sanctioned.

Accalia's saviour sought down from the heavens in dark feathers of black. Only, Cadence Larren was no Angel from heaven and she carried a silver sword.

"I checked the perimeter, Uncle William. No lycans or werewolves in sight. There are no packs in this area." Cadence explained clearly, coming to Accalia's shoulder with a broad smile on her thin lips.

Uncle William didn't bat an eye at Cadence and barely even acknowledged her report.

His attention was blazing upon his daughter.

"Kill it or I'll free it," William snarled, spit flying from his mouth and fiddled with his dagger, twiddling the handle between his fingers. "Maybe that will force your hand."

William had grown tired of Accalia's refusals. It had been happening for years and after all this time, he finally got her out of the house, out of the comfort of her room and had every intention of forcing her to do this.

Accalia wasn't afraid to refuse him. She wasn't afraid to stand her ground even if it came with a punishment.

"I don't want to kill it!" Accalia argued and tossed her hands in the air, her sword waving around. "Why do I have to do this?"

Challenge seeped into William's brown eyes. He didn't see what she saw. He simply couldn't. He was more a hunter than a man.

He stalked away from his son and came to one of the thin trees, standing by the lycan.

The lycan gave no response to William's proximity and its head limply hung low with his eyes cast to the floor.

"Because I decided. Tristan has done it, Cadence wouldn't think twice if I told her, but I'm asking you. You're my daughter, my second-born, you will do it." William shouted, his voice resounding throughout the clearing and bounding off every tree surrounding them.

Many have done it before them. This torturous act. This idea of training. Accalia's father did it, his sister did it, and their parents made them do it. It was a never-ending cycle. It was a rite of passage. To prove that you were capable enough.

They hunted this lycan for days, finding it roaming around highways and isolated wood. He—it appeared to be alone and pack-less. It was quite rare for a lycan of this size and capability to be a lone wolf. Its value would be cherished within a pack, but instead, it would end with its head on a stick before it could step foot into a pack territory.

It was human under all the fur and bulk. He was human. But through the unceasing black eyes that erased the white tissue and irises, the colossal stature designed to kill, it wasn't easy to see what lay beneath.

What if he had a family? What if he had his children who were exactly like him and were waiting for his return?

Accalia stepped away, placing her sword to her side and shook her head.

William may have caught it, strung the lycan up between trees, but Accalia wouldn't slay it.

"Dad, why can't you just let Cadence do it? She will be up for it." Tristan suggested with a hopeful grin.

Accalia resisted the urge to curse at her brother.

Cadence wouldn't pass up an opportunity like this. She would savour the torture and she would revel in the kill.

But if Accalia wasn't sinking into this bloodbath, Cadence wouldn't be either.

"Don't mind if I do ..." Cadence muttered and sauntered on forward.

Cadence gripped her sword but the blade wouldn't have a chance to slice wind.

The lycan's arms hung lifelessly against two trees settled by his sides as ropes were cut free. 

William laid his boot upon the lycan's back and kicked him forward, positioning him in front of Accalia and Cadence.

"Dad!" Tristan grumbled and stalked forward, raising his gun.

William raised his hand and stared directly at his son in warning. "You stay there. This is Accalia's kill."

Tristan nervously swallowed and stayed back. Accalia didn't miss the subtle gloominess filling his face. He didn't want this, even if he put up a front. Tristan could deal out the killing, but not enforce it upon others like William could. But he wouldn't go against his father, so he stayed put, head forward and eyes peeled.

Cadence wasn't easily influenced by William's command and she swiftly positioned her body in front of Accalia.

She had a death wish.

And all Accalia knew was that this was foolish and she had to move quickly.

Accalia reached for her sword and the lycan charged at them like a bull, rearing its head.

Cadence swung first, wielding the sword to strike and she was no longer in front of Accalia like a shield.

The lycan swiped Cadence out of its path and she flew off the ground.

Seconds in the air, Cadence waited for impact and slammed into the ground, her sword flying from her grasp.

Air soared out of Cadence and she groaned in shock, rolling onto her back. She clasped her stomach as she breathed through the pain. Exhale — shuddering, inhale.  

The lycan roared and leapt over Accalia, bounding into the deep of the forest where no fur of him could be found. Only his paw prints ...

Accalia couldn't care less and ran to her cousin's side.

Cupping her gently on the shoulder, Accalia tried to aid Cadence the best she could.

Cadence groaned. "I'm fine, stop pestering."

Accalia could have slapped her. "He literally threw you!"

"Yeah," Cadence coughed and winced, gripping her side as she sat up. "And I lived. The mutt's gonna get it though."

Cadence scanned the area, dirt dusting her face with an expression set in vengeance. She would do anything in her power to exact revenge on the lycan. Even if he was trying to get away from them. Even if he was trying to save himself.

"He was just trying to get away, I think. He didn't kill any of us." Accalia said and her lips thinned as she grimaced.

Bad wording.

Cadence gave her a deadpanned look and got to her feet, dusting off her jeans. "I'm going to kill it."

Cadence's black eyes settled on what was behind Accalia and just like that, they both went tense in the muscles, going pin straight.

"We're screwed, Accalia." Cadence ushered out as someone marched toward them.

And a warm, grim breath fell upon Accalia's shoulder and she whirled around, finding her father towering above her.

He laced his arms behind his back with a sneer on his face. "What did I tell you to do?"

Accalia knew better than to drop her gaze and she pierced him with a hardened glare, matching his disgust. "To kill it."

"And did you?"

Accalia's lip trembled from nerves. "No—I—"

William jutted a finger at Cadence and his brown face turned beet red with frustration. "Your fucking cousin got in the way. Just as she always does, the great protector. She can't always protect you, Accalia."

"I can, and I will. I always will." Cadence claimed from behind them and her voice reckoned throughout the woods, a deathly promise.

William suddenly smiled, all smug and said, "We'll see about that. Accalia and Cadence, you have twenty-four hours to track and kill that dog. Bring me its canines as proof. You leave now."

Accalia went still from shock. They had to track it themselves? Just the two of them? They hardly did anything like that without Tristan's assistance. They would be entirely and utterly on their own with just their swords to fight with.

Accalia didn't like this. Not one piece of her revelled in this idea with gratification. She didn't want the hunt, the catch or the kill.

She wanted this dreadful day to be put behind her.

The demand was sealed once William tossed his car keys to Cadence. "Ditch the car if you must. Hunt on foot if you have to. Just kill it — the both of you."

Her day had only begun. The sun sat high and the cloudless skies showed no sign of dimming.

It had begun.

"I can't go with them, Dad?" Tristan asked, his face was fixed with disappointment.

William shook his head and that mocking, sickening grin still sat on his lips. "Nope. We're going home. I need a drink."

His order was set and they could only be freed if William allowed it. He wouldn't. His word might as well be law.

Tristan gave the girls, these two difficult, insolent girls, pitiful looks and staggered to his Jeep with no other word to spare.

Soon after, William followed him and hopped in the passenger seat. He rolled the window down and smacked the side of the car as it drove off, picking up speed and collecting dust.

He spared them no glance, but his command hung thick in the air, in this endless, unknown wood.

The car disappeared and showed no sign of returning.

Cadence flung the keys around her forefinger with a spark in her eye. "I hope he gets alcohol poisoning."

A dry laugh burst out of Accalia.

Cadence side-eyed her cousin and her black eyes swam with the reflection of Accalia.

They didn't look much alike, but they derived from the same origin. They were first cousins. Their heritage ran in their DNA and that was what bound them.

In any other life, if they weren't hunters, Cadence and Accalia couldn't have crossed paths.

They were too different. In the soul — and the fight. They barred no similarities but their undying loyalty to each other and their unwavering commitment to not let the other die.

"Your dad sucks," Cadence muttered and spun on her heel, stalking to William's car. "And I'm going to crash his car once we're done with all of this."

Accalia ignored that last comment, not appreciating her cousin's volatile nature. Cadence was always the extremist.

"He's your uncle," Accalia clipped and followed after her cousin, sitting in the passenger seat.

Cadence grunted and started the car. "Not by choice,"

Accalia aligned herself with the same belief: not by choice, but by blood.

"Let's hit the road," Accalia said, rolling the window down to feel the natural and soothing air.

Anything to rid herself of this sickness toiling inside her.

Cadence didn't need to be told twice and took off in the direction of the paw prints.

~

So, this is the rewritten version of the first chapter for Moon Bound. I must say, I like it a whole lot better.

Happy reading.

— Caranyx.