The Hunter's Dilemma

Kieran's POV

I tore the heart out of the shadow thing with my bare claws, black blood spraying across the cabin wall. The thing melted into smoke, but three more were already climbing through the broken windows.

"Stay behind me!" I yelled to Isabella, my voice deeper and rougher than any human's could be.

She pressed herself against the far wall, her eyes wide with terror, but she wasn't yelling. Most people would be yelling by now. Instead, she was looking for something to protect herself with.

Brave girl. Just like when we were kids.

The shadow creatures moved like liquid darkness, their black eyes hungry for Isabella's life. I shifted fully, letting my wolf form take over. Bones cracked and rebuilt. Muscles grew. My human thoughts mixed with animal reflexes.

Protect the girl. Kill the danger. Keep her safe.

I threw myself at the nearest creature, my teeth finding its throat. It tasted like ash and death. Behind me, I heard Isabella gasp, but she didn't run. She trusted me, even though she barely remembered who I was.

That trust was going to get us both killed.

The last shadow thing fell, dissolving like the others. I shifted back to human form, breathing hard. My hands were covered in that dark blood, and I could taste it in my mouth.

"Are you hurt?" I asked Isabella without turning around. I couldn't let her see how scared I was.

"No, I'm okay." Her voice shook, but it was steady. "What were those things?"

Before I could answer, heavy footsteps pounded up the porch stairs. Different footsteps. Human ones.

"Kieran!" Marcus's voice boomed through the broken door. "What the hell happened here?"

My older brother stepped into the cabin, his nose wrinkling at the smell of shadow creature blood. Behind him came two other pack members, their eyes already glowing yellow with anger.

I stepped in front of Isabella again, blocking their view of her.

"Shadow demons," I said simply. "They found us."

Marcus's face went dark. "How? This location was meant to be secret."

"Someone talked." I kept my voice quiet, but inside, my heart was racing. If the shadow demons had found us, that meant Isabella's enemies were closer than I thought. "Or they have better tracking than we expected."

"Is she hurt?" Marcus tried to look around me, but I moved to block him.

"She's fine."

"Let me see her."

"No."

Marcus's eyes flashed gold. In the pack, no one said no to the test. Except me.

"Kieran, move away. I need to check our prisoner."

"She's not our prisoner anymore." The words came out before I could stop them.

The silence in the room was thick enough to cut. Marcus stared at me like I'd grown a second head.

"What did you just say?"

"You heard me."

"Kieran," Isabella's voice was soft behind me. "It's okay. I'm not afraid."

But I was afraid. Afraid of what Marcus would do when he saw how much Isabella's memory had returned. Afraid of what the pack would demand when they heard she could identify all of us. Most of all, afraid of what would happen to her when they found out I was falling for the enemy's daughter.

Marcus pushed past me before I could stop him. His eyes found Isabella, taking in her torn clothes, her knotted hair, the way she held herself like she was ready to fight or run.

"Hello, Isabella Romano," he said, his voice cold as winter. "Do you remember me?"

Isabella looked confused. "Should I?"

"We've never met. But I know your father very well." Marcus smiled, and it wasn't a nice smile. "He killed my parents ten years ago."

I saw Isabella's face go pale. Saw the moment she understood that this wasn't just about her anymore. This was about blood and payback and a war that had been going on since before she was born.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I don't remember much, but I'm sorry for what my family did to yours."

Marcus laughed, but it sounded like breaking glass. "Sorry? Your father ordered the killing of our entire pack leadership. My mother died trying to protect children who weren't even hers. And you're sorry?"

"Marcus, enough." I stepped between them again.

"No, little brother. Not enough. Not nearly enough." Marcus's eyes were fully gold now, his wolf close to the surface. "Do you know what your precious Isabella's father has been doing while she's been here playing house with you?"

My stomach dropped. "What?" " He's taken prisoners. Two of our younger pack members. Kids, Kieran. Teenagers who've never hurt anyone." Marcus's voice got louder with each word. "He's threatening to kill them unless we return his daughter in twenty-four hours."

Isabella made a small sound of pain behind me. When I looked back, tears were running down her face.

"My father wouldn't hurt children," she said, but her voice wasn't sure.

"Your father is a monster," Marcus growled. "Just like you."

"She's not a monster." I was shocked by how angry I sounded. "And neither is he. He's just a scared father looking for his daughter."

"Listen to yourself!" Marcus threw his hands up. "You're protecting them! The people who destroyed our family!"

"Because she's not responsible for what happened ten years ago! She was nine years old!"

"And now she's nineteen and still a Romano!" Marcus got in my face, his breath hot with rage. "When are you going to remember that she's the enemy?"

I looked back at Isabella. She was watching us with those big, scared eyes, understanding more than I wanted her to. Understanding that I'd been lying to her about everything.

"She remembered you," Marcus said quietly, his voice dangerous. "Didn't she? She remembered helping you escape that night."

I didn't answer, but I didn't have to. Marcus could read it in my face.

"You were going to let her go." It wasn't a question. "You were going to betray your own pack for a Romano."

"I was going to do what's right."

"Right?" Marcus laughed that broken-glass laugh again. "Right is making them pay. Right is getting justice for our parents. Right is using their precious princess to end this war once and for all."

"By becoming the monsters they think we are?"

"By being the monsters we need to be!"

Marcus pulled out his phone and started calling. "I'm calling the pack. It's time to vote on whether you're still fit to be alpha."

My blood turned to ice. A leadership task. If I lost, Marcus would become king. And the first thing he'd do would be to hurt Isabella to make her father suffer.

"Marcus, don't."

"Too late, brother." The phone was already ringing. "You chose her over us. Now live with the results."

But as Marcus spoke to whoever answered the phone, I saw Isabella quietly pick up a piece of broken glass from the floor. She caught my eye and mouthed two words that changed everything:

"Trust me."

Before I could stop her, she pressed the glass against her own throat.

"Nobody move," she said, her voice steady despite the blood already starting to drip down her neck. "Or Vincent Romano's daughter dies right here."