Hunting You, Hunting Me (Watty Awards 2012)

chapter 23

A/N: This is a short one…I had planned to post the next chapter along with this one but I’m sick and haven’t had a chance to finish it.  So I decided to at least post this one even though it is short. Thought it’s a good time to see what is going on at Blackclaw.  Hope you all are having a good weekend. :)

All rights reserved, © 2012

RECAP FROM CHAP 18 (ALPHA BILL POV)

“Yes, I am positive, Alpha. There were three people and I didn’t see their faces. I just assumed it was the Andersons and a friend.” She replied apologetically.  “Anyway, to answer your question, Diego, I was asleep but was woken up by noises coming from outside. I thought it was Jim coming home from his patrol runs. I only peeked through the window for a few seconds but could see the U-Haul sign clearly painted on the truck. I didn’t think much of it and was in a hurry to get back to sleep.  Sorry, I wish I had paid more attention.”

“Thank you, Sydonia. Every little bit helps.” I said.

That left seventeen year old Carna Caraballo. There were creaks and scrapings of chairs as everybody turned to focus on her.  She was fidgeting with her fingers and looked extremely nervous.

“Are you okay, Carna?” I asked with concern.

“Alpha, the t..thing is…I s…saw that third p…person.”  She stuttered.  “And, I k…keep asking myself if I was m…mistaken.  I c…can’t believe it, Alpha…and I s…swear I called the pack house earlier to tell you but there was no answer.” She blurted quickly.

“Who was it?” All five of us asked in unison.

“It was...umm…it was.” Carna stuttered.

“It’s okay, Carna. Just tell us.” Diego soothed.

“Alpha,” she said looking me in the eye, “The third person was A…Abby Anderson.”

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Chapter 23

Alpha Bill POV

Soft moonlight filters into the room through the slightly parted curtains. Shifting from my back, I lie on my side and face the wall. Outside, the wind picks up and the leaves begin to rustle, which causes the moonlight to dance on the walls of my bedroom.  The gentle ripples of silver light illuminate an old calendar that still hangs on the wall.

The calendar is from 2008, but I’ve kept it because I enjoy looking at the pictures of beautiful places, far away from here.  I have never gotten the opportunity to travel outside the country due to my duties as Alpha, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to. Throwing the covers off, I cover the distance to the wall and flip through the pages of the calendar in awe. In the span of seconds, I travel to twelve exotic destinations. This is exactly why I have kept the calendar- so I can see the world. As I study the images, my mind digs up a memory that I had long forgotten. About four years ago, a salesman had entered Blackclaw territory and had gone from house to house giving out these free calendars. When pack members had alerted us we had intercepted him and asked him to leave.

Diego! I call through the mind-link.

“Yes, Alpha?” He replies, sounding groggy. I quickly apologize for waking him up.

“Do you remember that traveling salesman who had come to Blackclaw a few years ago?” I ask.

“Yeah. Around four years ago, right? He asks.

“That’s right. Do you remember his story?” I remembered but I wanted to corroborate my version with Diego’s.

“Yeah…something about working for a travel agency. He was handing out free calendars as marketing for his agency.” Diego replies.