Chapter 190

Oh for the love of God! What the hell did this bastard want??

Wasn’t he tired of trying to finish his so-called task of putting an end to my life? Hadn’t he failed enough times to know that I wasn’t going to go down quietly or without a fight?

I was thoroughly fed up and absolutely down with having to deal with this pain in the ass. I’d just gone through days of rigorous studying—the absolute last thing I needed to deal with was this!

I turned to face him head-on. I narrowed my eyes in anger and let out a deep, unrepressed snarl.

It’s funny, I thought. I used to be afraid of this person.

I could think back to the very first time he tried to take my life with that ridiculous dagger he kept on him. All those months ago when he had first attacked us at the cabin, all that fear felt like a distant memory.

Now, it was replaced with anger.

“Who the hell is that?” Olivia asked.

Shit. I’d forgotten about her and Bonnie. All because I wasn't afraid didn’t mean that I wanted my friends to be at risk.

I turned to glance over my shoulder. “Olivia, get Bonnie back to the dorm. Now.”

Thankfully, she didn’t stick around to ask any further questions. She grabbed Bonnie’s hand and the two made off in a mad dash.

Arthur and Liam turned to face the hunter and readied themselves for a confrontation.

“I don’t know why you keep trying,” Arthur said mockingly.

“We’re not going to let you get to her,” Liam stated.

We all watched the hunter take out the same dagger that he always seemed to keep on his hip. He sneered and scoffed. “She’s not the one I’m after anymore,” he says.

My brows lifted in total bafflement. “What?”

Without giving an answer, the man lunged forward in a full-out sprint. He kept the dagger clasped tightly in his hand and began slashing through the air, not caring who got in his way.

Both Liam and Arthur did their best to dodge and anticipate each swing from the hunter. For some unknown reason, he seemed to be far more agile and quick.

Had his employer decided to raise the reward on this supposedly ‘new’ case?

I didn’t know, nor did I want to.

Liam took a few decent swings at the man to try and subdue him long enough for Arthur to try and get that dagger away from him. Better still, the hunter was not showing any signs of relenting.

“Ella!” Liam called out frantically. “Get back to the dorm!”

I shook my head, refusing to move from my spot. “No!”

Arthur snarled in rigorous anger. “Goddamnit, Ella! Listen to him!”

“I’m not leaving!”

I was determined to figure out who the hunter was after now. If it wasn’t me then who? The way he was fighting, proved that the new target could be either Liam or Arthur.

But why? It didn’t make any sense.

His whole mission was to go after Moon Wolves, hence his continuous hunt for me. It wasn’t as though Liam or Arthur were a part of that same lineage. So, I couldn’t understand why he would be switching plans like this.

This concerned me on a whole deeper level. If I wasn’t the target anymore, perhaps it meant that whoever was behind all of this had changed their mind about me...Did it mean that they saw me as an opportunity rather than a threat?

Good God.

I watched with fearful eyes the way the hunter tried to angle the dagger in his hands. I noticed how he kept taking mindful swipes at Liam. My heart slammed in my chest.

“It’s Liam,” I said under my breath.

He was the new target. He had to be.

The hunter knocked Liam to the ground and viciously headbutted Arthur away. From there, everything felt like it was happening in slow motion. I watched him reposition the dagger above Liam’s chest and with one brutal push downward, he shoved the blade straight into his lower abdomen.

My mouth fell open. My knees buckled in crippling fear while all the blood in my body rushed to my ears.

It felt like the world had stopped spinning for a few seconds. All life around us had gone silent. Deathly silent.

“NOOOO!!”

“Liam!!” Arthur sounded as though someone had just knocked the air out of his lungs.

An inhuman scream tore from my throat while a devastating numbness enveloped my entire being. I felt my nails extend into long claws and I began to charge at the hunter with every ounce of strength I possessed.

“How dare you?!” I growled.

I slashed my claws clear across his face and knocked him down to the ground. In all of his previous attacks, he’d never come that close to ever hurting any of us. I was set to make it so that he would never hurt another living soul.

I was prepared to scratch his eyes out and break his limbs. The wolf within me was gearing up to snap his head off his shoulders.

I grabbed the asshole by the collar of his shirt and peered down at him with murderous intent. Something within me had snapped. I could tell. Where there used to be that moment of pause and reflection, it was swiftly replaced with pure animal instinct.

And every nerve in my body was screaming at me to kill this man.

“Who hired you to do this?” I asked through gritted teeth. “Who sent you to come here tonight?

The feeling that was pouring out of me was like nothing that I had ever experienced. It felt like my very soul was commanding him, forcing him to answer. It was as if someone had tapped into the hidden darkness that I didn’t even know I possessed.

The man parted his lips and spoke. His voice came out gravelly and ragged from the fight.

“Cecilia Winslow,” he said bitterly.

I didn’t think it was possible for me to become any more shocked than I already was. But hell, wonders never cease to exist.

That, of course, only sent me over the edge even further. I should have guessed that an insane bitch would have cooked up a scheme like this.

My rage had grown so severe that my breathing was growing too erratic. I could feel myself on the verge of shifting.

I snagged the man by the throat. “I ought to kill you myself!” I yelled. “You tell that pompous bitch that I will pay her back for this!”

Had it not been for Arthur, practically hauling me off and away, I would have ended up strangling the man.

“Ella, come on,” he urged softly. “I called an ambulance, they’re already on their way. Liam needs us.”

The darkness inside of my mind was starting to recede. Instantly, my attention was set on Liam. As soon as Arthur loosened his hold, I scrambled to reach Liam. He was barely conscious and already looked like he was running a high fever.

His entire body broke out into a cold sweat. My eyes flooded with tears. I wanted so badly to pull him into my arms and confront him. Hell, I wanted to take hold of that dagger and yank it out of him, but I couldn’t run the risk of having him bleed out.

“E-Ella?”

“Shh, don’t say anything,” I whispered. I couldn’t even make the promise that everything was going to be alright.

I grabbed his hand and held it tightly. “I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Neither am I,” Arthur said sternly. “You’re going to make it through this.”

...God, I hope he’s right.