CHAPTER 50: A HUNTER

The next morning, we were all gathered together as we would be given our roles in the pack.

We all lined up together as a bearded old man looked us up and down with a scrutinizing gaze. The old man looked to be around two meters tall and had quite a muscular build.

He had silver hair, but I couldn’t tell if that was because he was a part of our family or if he was just old.

He paced back and forth until he eventually stopped in front of Derrick and mumbled something.

"Warrior."

"Huh?" Derrick looked at him with a confused expression. "Speak up, old man. I can’t hear a word you say."

"He said ’Warrior,’" Allison hurriedly said, looking apologetic.

The old man didn’t pay Derrick any mind. Instead, he moved on to Liora, who was standing to the right of Derrick. He stared at Liora for a few seconds, but Liora didn’t so much as waver under the power of his gaze. She stared back at the old man as if she was trying to prove her worth.

The two stared into each other’s eyes, none of them relenting, until the old man finally nodded in approval and a small smile came to his face.

"Guardian."

After that, the old man walked over to Allison, but he didn’t stop or even glance at her. Instead, he walked past her and mumbled something, sounding a bit uninterested.

"Caregiver."

The next person in line was Isabella, and he did the same without even sparing her a glance.

"Warrior."

Finally, the old man stopped in front of me. He looked me up and down, then a frown appeared on his face.

"Hunter."

After that bizarre display, he walked off without uttering a word, leaving us to contemplate what just happened.

"What the hell was that?!" Derrick was the first to speak.

Luckily, Kaela was nearby and quickly ran up to us to explain what happened.

"I’m sorry; he isn’t much of a talker," Kaela said hastily while quickly bowing her head as if it was her fault.

"Who is that guy?" Derrick asked.

"He’s the warchief. He assigns everyone their roles in the pack based on their special trait. Your mother must’ve told him what special trait you have, so that was how he came to a decision on how to place you."

"If that’s the case, why was he staring at us for so long?" I asked.

Kaela scratched her cheek and chuckled.

"I’m not entirely sure, but my guess is that he was assessing your worth as his grandkids."

"Grandkids!" Liora was the first to react. "You mean that guy is our grandfather, the one who threw our mother out of the pack?"

Kaela nodded with a dainty smile on her face.

"Grandpa isn’t much of a talker, so you must excuse him. But he seems to like Liora a lot."

"Huh? For real?"

Hearing that, Liora tried her best to hide her joy at being the favorite, but it was blatantly obvious.

"The others of you shouldn’t feel too depressed by it though. Grandpa doesn’t really like me either. The only other person he has taken to is Lyanna." Her expression dropped, giving her the look of a sad puppy. "Anyway, he gave you your roles. Your next job is heading to where you were assigned. I’ll tell you where to go."

With a gentle smile on her face, Kaela told each of us where we should be going. Apparently, the werewolves who were given the role of hunter had a small hunting lodge not far outside the village. This lodge was also close to a river.

When I got to the lodge, I heard a bit of commotion going on. There was a group of boys my age, and they seemed to be arguing about something.

"I’m telling you guys, the woman I saw was real. Not only that, she was a goddess," a short boy with messy brown hair yelled at the top of his voice. "Not only that, she had the voice of an angel."

"Give it a rest, Whiffer. No one is buying that ludicrous story," another boy about the same age as me said, fanning him off.

"I’m telling you guys, it was real! It was on the night of the full moon; I saw the moon goddess! She was swimming in the river," the boy they referred to as Whiffer shouted again, this time even louder.

Not that I cared about what they were talking about, but by listening to Whiffer’s heartbeat, I could tell that he wasn’t lying. He was telling the truth, but for whatever reason, the other boys didn’t seem to believe him.

"Didn’t you also say you saw her eating a heart?" another boy shot back. "What kind of goddess eats a heart?"

"Alright, I might’ve been mistaken about that part, but the rest of what I’m saying is true. You’ve got to—"

"Ahem! Is this where the hunters are supposed to be?" I said, interrupting Whiffer.

Just then, all seven boys who were in the room turned in my direction.

"Who are you?" a young man with blond hair who looked the oldest of the group of boys asked.

"I’m Liam. I was just assigned the role of a hunter."

"Wait, aren’t you part of the group that joined our pack yesterday?" another boy in the group pointed out.

"Oh, in that case, welcome," the blond boy said. "My name is Garrick. Our master just stepped out for a bit, but while she’s gone, she placed me in charge. Come have a seat with us."

Garrick said this while waving me over to the spot where they were all seated together. I saw no reason to refuse, so I went over to them. Everyone stared at me silently, and an awkwardness ensued, so I decided to speak up to break the tension.

"What were you guys talking about?" I asked.

"Oh, our friend was just telling us about his encounter with a goddess," Garrick said sarcastically, which caused a round of laughter to ensue.

"It was a goddess," Whiffer, the boy being accused, protested. "She was singing a beautiful song by the river. When I heard it, it felt as if I was being mesmerized, but when I saw her, it was as if there wasn’t a single living creature alive that could match her in terms of beauty. The moon princess paled in comparison to her."

After hearing that, the room erupted in an uproar, and everyone started turning against Whiffer.

"No one is as beautiful as the moon princess!"

"There is no way that can be true. Stop lying!"

I watched the boys scream and yell, feeling a bit annoyed by the whole thing, especially since I didn’t understand the importance of what they were discussing.

"Who is the moon princess?" I decided to ask, and everyone suddenly went quiet and stared at me as if I was unreal. It was Garrick who answered the question.

"The one we call the moon princess is the princess of the Nyx pack, the pack we are currently defending against."

"She’s a monster," another boy spoke up. "She single-handedly wiped out most of the other packs in the area. They say she is the most powerful werewolf of our generation."

"They also say she is one of the most beautiful werewolves there is. And that any man who catches sight of her will instantly fall madly in love, all while she’s ripping out your heart."

Listening to their words, I couldn’t help but feel as if they were exaggerating a bit. Could such a person truly exist?

Just then, a massive surge of killing intent erupted behind us, and the door to the lodge slowly opened.