Chapter Four

Ariella woke to the sound of growls and howls right outside where the back of the house met the woods, closer than they had ever come over the last few weeks. Her heart hammered in her chest as she flung away the blankets and rushed to the window just as the growls merged into pain-filled screams.

She scanned the darkened forest and the back garden through narrowed eyes when she saw them, a group of people carrying a screaming Julian between them, his head thrown back as he howled his agony. Her heart leapt into her throat at the sight of it, of them...

In a blink she rushed down the stairs and through the kitchen, throwing open the door in a hurry as she saw them. "Oh my god, what happened!?"

Julian was bare-chested and covered in dirt and blood, every inch of his front was covered in it and as they moved past her the back of him as well. Light flooded the room as one of the boys flicked the lights on while the others swept the stuff off the old stone bench in the middle that Minna used to make her teas and whatnot.

"MINNA!" One of the men yelled, the rest buzzing around the kitchen looking for things.

"Minna isn't here; she's gone to visit family for the next two days," Ariella stated firmly over the noise. "What on earth happened? Wait, is that a bullet wound?"

She felt sick as she rushed to the side of the table, her hands grasping the stone bench till her knuckles turned white. Her eyes fall on the hole as a woman she had never met washed away the still bleeding wound.

"He got shot in shift form as we were doing a boundary run by a hunter but the wound isn't closing so it must be something other than led or there's a bounty hunter in the region we missed." A large male stated as he helped the woman clean the wound. "If the bullet was still in the wound I'd be able to narrow down what is needed to clean the wound of whatever was on it but I cannot and Minna was our only hope."

"What the fuck?" Ari blurted out with a hiss her eyes narrowed as she began to back away from the people. "Shifter form? Bounty hunter? What the actual fuck."

The room seemed to pause and every pair of eyes snapped to her with various emotions ranging from horror to surprise and confusion.

The man who spoke breathed in deep. "But how do you not know? You smell of him and him you, it's a common trend in mates..."

It was the woman who began to understand first, gesturing to one of the younger men to take over as she stepped forward towards Ari like a startled deer, her hands up. Less than a year ago it was Samantha in this girls shoes but with a little more of a supernatural twist and to be suddenly bound to one person you just met is also daunting but add it with a gunshot wound?

"Look, all will be explained but right now Julian is bleeding out and we could use your help, I promise that when he's been patched up you and I will sit down and talk okay?" Samantha explained, watching as the woman gathered herself and nodded.

"What do you need? I have only been here a couple of weeks but I know the kitchen fairly well." Ari asked determined.

"We need blood moss, white willow bark for the pain and a special herb blend of white sage to wash out poisons in the blood." The man, the one Ari knew was the leader, stated.

With a nod she got to work, she had no clue what the herbs needed were but moss was moss and Minna liked to keep everything labelled. All her special teas that she made and gave to neighbours were high on the shelf above the stovetop, their little jars glinting in the light.

Minna's handwriting was easy to read, her whirls and straight lines were a wonderful mix of cursive and block letters. It was easy to find and though Ari had a million questions running through her mind she could wait until Julian was healed.

Then and only then would she allow the adrenaline to pass and let the sweet embrace of darkness take her.

"I think these are it," She explained passing the jars down to waiting hands before hopping down from the stool herself pausing when she saw a note from Minna resting where the jars were. She read the note from Minna with surprise and confusion. "The tea can be stewed cold but if you want it as a paste then use little water and pad it with the blood moss before binding the wounds, the willow bark can be chewed in a hurry but it'll taste bitter."

Everyone moved all at once causing Ari to step back towards the door to let them work. She felt the world around her swirl as everything began to catch up with her, all the discussions that she brushed off as children's fairy tales, warnings as to why it was a bad idea to venture into the woods at night. the fairy rings and tittering laughter, the glowing lights and the bear she saw one morning... it all made sense. Especially as Julian let out a resounding roar as the man, the leader, place the paste on his wounds and snarled right back as if it was nothing... his eyes flashing lupine yellow.

Ariella felt the world around her tilt as her vision began to dim.

All of it was real...

X

"She's waking up, take a step back Dax you won't be comforting to see first thing." A woman stated a familiar voice and Ari wondered why it was.

The light in the room was not as bright as she was expecting it to be, the only light was from the fireplace in her room. Her heart raced as she caught sight of the two people in her room and settled as the events of last night came rushing back. Ari sat up with a jolt. "Julian is he okay?"

"Shh take it easy. Yes, he's asleep in the room down the hall. His wound closed safely and he'll be back to 100 percent around mid-morning." The woman stated calmly, returning to her seat at the edge of the bed.

"Oh thank god," Ari breathed out as she flopped back. "How long was I out?"

"About an hour or two," The woman replied. "I'm Samantha and that's my mate Dax, he's the Alpha of the Hollow Fields pack."

"You promised me explanations," Ari said as she sat up once more, her eyes flicking to the man – Dax – by the window and back to Samantha. "Ever since I've been in this town strange things have been happening and now Shifters?"

Samantha let a small laugh escape her lips. "I was right where you are, trust me, I didn't know I was a wolf till Dax's younger brother forced me through the change, then everything came to light... I did not take it well considering. But yes, magic exists and usually it's in these types of towns."

"Not necessarily." Dax piped up. "The forest holds power and the towns who border it or call it home are affected by it. Hollow Fields, Good Glen, and Yorkton on the other side of the borders... We share the forest and we keep it safe for those unwilling to believe. Hollow Fields is the Wolf Pack, Good Glen is home to many a species more so than Yorkton or Hollow Fields but the Bear Shifters keep their section safe for the Far and Yorkton well they're hard to explain."

"Okay... that makes sense to a degree but what happened to Julian? How did he get shot?" Ari demanded.

Dax and Samantha cast wary glances at one another, neither really knew how to explain it properly but Sam knew that it was Dax's job to explain. "There are creatures and humans who hunt us, mainly for our pelts and whatnot, we can't really tell if they're a hunter or well a hunter until it's nearly too late. Julian and I were discussing the border and the issues we've been having when a shot rang out, we were close to here then to Hollow Fields so..."

A frown pulled at Ari's brows as she mulled over the information, it honestly shouldn't have surprised her to find out that there would be some form of hunters for the supernatural world or that there was a bounty for said creatures. It was the circle of life really.

"You called me his mate... what does that mean?"

Dax grimaced at his slip of the tongue. "I uh, cannot be the one to tell you. Julian has to."

Ari nodded in understanding as determination settled into her. "I'll be sure to ask him then."