Chapter 3 To Hunt A Lycan
CHAPTER 3: To Hunt A Lycan
Seraphine POV
Six Years Later
The forest was too quiet.. quiet in a way that made the hairs on my arms stand.
I crouched lower in the bushes, steadying my breathing. My men... six of them... waited behind me with their armor barely rustling. I had warned them at least a thousand times to keep quiet during hunts but well… men being men, someone always messed up.
I held up a hand.
“Stay low,” I whispered.
They all froze instantly. Good. Maybe today they’d actually listen.
I scanned the trees. I was twenty-three now, but sometimes I still felt like that seventeen-year-old girl who was dragged out of a burning village with nothing but hate in her chest. But I wasn’t that girl anymore.
Six years of training had burned the weakness out of me. Sword work, tracking, endurance, combat drills, early mornings, late nights… I took everything personally and I pushed harder than everyone, always first to rise and last to sleep..
And my senses? Yeah. Those became something else entirely.
I never told anyone... not even Baylor... that I could hear ten times better than normal humans.. or smell things nobody else could.. or see clearly in the dark.
It was strange.. very strange but it helped me hunt Lycans and that was the only thing I cared about.
“Captain,” whispered Jonah, my second-in-command. “You see anything?”
I narrowed my eyes through the bushes.
“I hear them.”
“You hear them? We’re still fifty meters away.”
“Shut up, Jonah.”
He shut up.
Ahead of us, two Lycans sat by a makeshift fire.. big men with long hair and they smelled like wet dogs. They were laughing loudly and throwing bones aside and bragging about the humans they’d killed two nights ago.
My jaw tightened as I leaned closer to my men.
“We circle them quietly. Don’t step on anything and don’t breathe too loud. Don’t even think too loud!”
A few men chuckled under their breath and I glared.
“I’m serious.”
They nodded and we all moved slowly, carefully and silently. At least that was the plan but then... snap.
Someone stepped on a branch and I didn’t even need to look to know who it was.
“RICKON!” I hissed.
“Sorry,” he whispered.
The Lycans instantly shot to their feet with their nostrils flaring.
“Humans,” one growled. “I smell humans.”
Great. Perfect. Wonderful. Thank you, Rickon.
One of the Lycans pointed toward my hiding place.
“The girl is here. Strong scent.”
My heart skipped.. they could smell me? Before I could think too long about it, I raised my hand.
“Attack!”
My men charged, shouting war cries. Silver clashed against claws as the Lycans shifted instantly with their bones cracking and fur bursting through skin and in two seconds, they were full wolves... huge, gray, snarling beasts taller than I was.
One leaped straight at Jonah. I ran forward, slammed into it from the side and dragged it down before it could rip him apart.
“Jonah! Move!” I shouted.
The wolf snapped at my arm but I shoved my silver blade into its jaw before it could bite. It yelped and jerked back.
Another wolf barreled into two of my men, sending them flying against a tree. The impact sounded like something breaking and my stomach twisted.
“Stay on your feet!” I yelled.
I ducked under a claw swipe and rolled, slicing the wolf’s leg. It howled, spinning toward me. I didn’t give it a second chance... I leaped up, stabbed my blade straight into its neck and twisted hard. Its body dropped.
One down but things were not going well behind me.
Rickon screamed as a wolf sank its teeth into his chest. Two men rushed to him but the wolf tossed all three aside like toys and blood sprayed across the grass.
“No!” I bolted toward them.
My last two men tried to flank the wolf but it was too fast. It slammed one into a rock and stomped the other into the dirt.
Three dead.. three gone in seconds!
My blood burned.. not just anger… something hotter.. something deeper and something that made my heart thrum painfully.
The wolf turned toward me, snarling.
“Come on then,” I muttered.
It lunged.
I waited until the last second and then rolled under it, grabbed its tail... yes, its tail... and yanked with a strength I didn’t fully understand. The wolf’s body flipped midair and crashed into a tree.
It shook its head, dazed but before it recovered, I slammed my boot down on its throat and pressed my silver dagger against its eye.
“Shift,” I growled. “Or I blind you.”
The beast shifted halfway, becoming a man-wolf hybrid... still huge, still dangerous but weakened.
“Men,” I called to the two who were still standing, “bring the chains. Now.”
Silver chains rattled through the air as they hurried over. The wolf thrashed but I pressed harder with my boot.
“Quit it,” I snapped. “If you try to bite me, I swear I’ll take your jaw off.”
He froze. Good.
We tied him tight... wrists, ankles, neck and waist. Every time he struggled, the chains burned him and his growls turned to painful whimpers.
The men cheered quietly.
“You killed one, Captain!”
“Saved Jonah too!”
“That was incredible...”
I didn’t smile. I just stared at the bodies of the three men we had lost.
“Get the dead ready,” I said quietly. “We carry them home.”
The cheers died instantly. We returned to the palace hours later, exhausted, bruised, dirty and dragging a half-conscious and chained Lycan prisoner.
I washed my face in the courtyard fountain, scrubbing at the dirt and blood. My reflection looked tired, my braid was messy and my armor was scraped.
I sighed.
“Great. Perfect look to appear before royalty.”
A servant approached, bowing quickly.
“Captain Seraphine?”
“Yes?”
“The king requests your presence. The council is gathered as well.”
My stomach dropped.
“Now?”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Did another village get attacked?”
“I don’t know, my lady. Only that the matter is urgent.”
Urgent. Wonderful. I splashed more water on my face, wiped it with my sleeve and hoped I looked halfway human.
As I followed the servant through the halls, my mind raced. Maybe scouts spotted enemy movement.. maybe the Lycans were gathering forces.. maybe...
The servant opened the council hall doors and I saw King Greyjoy sat at the head of the long table with council members on either side. They turned to look at me as I entered. The king smiled warmly and opened his arms.
“Seraphine,” he said. “My bravest warrior. My fiercest soldier. Come.”
I bowed.
“Your Majesty.”
“I heard about your hunt today,” he continued. “You have done well. Exceptionally well. We honor your courage and the men you lost.”
I swallowed hard.
“Thank you, Your Majesty. If I may, I’d like to give a full account of what happened. The enemy was...”
He raised a hand, stopping me.
“That can wait. Another matter of grave importance must be addressed first.”
I blinked.
“Another matter?”
The council shifted uncomfortably. Some wouldn’t even look at me.
King Greyjoy sighed heavily as if the words he was about to say were stones on his tongue.
“Seraphine,” he said slowly, “you have been chosen for something… political.”
My stomach tightened because I did not like the sound of that.
“Your bravery,” he continued, “your strength and your fame among the people… these make you valuable.”
“Valuable for what, Your Majesty?”
The king hesitated.
“The kingdom has reached a decision. A treaty is being negotiated.”
“What treaty?” I asked carefully.
His eyes softened with something like pity.
“You, Seraphine… are to be given to the Lycan King as a bride…”