I grabbed ahold of the water bottle that sat swooshing around in my backpack. The bag was full of my "needed" essentials for this undercover trip. No one warned me about the heat that was too busy perpetrating my skin, or the harsh twigs and thorns that scrapped against my once tan skin only leaving behind the most crimson of red. "Ugh!" I let out an agitated groan as I my balance was disturbed once my foot landed in a shallow hole that was hidden beneath the long grass.

I knew that if Atlas were here, he'd tell me to never stop. He would have a huge smile on his face, and despite my warning, along with his beyond average intelligence, hope would glisten in his eyes. Hope.

In fact, if the entire pack knew of the extra pep in alpha's step because of the belief his Luna called out to him, they'd all gain a sense of hope. Hope that Luna's are still alive, hope that our Luna is still alive. Here I am, chasing after hope. The most dangerous thing to ever chase because sometimes it's better to just stand there and believe rather than to chase and end up in worse position.

"Xena," my wolf, Onyxia, called out to me. I stopped dead in my tracks before walking over to a stump on a tree. Sitting myself down, I gave her my full and undivided attention.

"Yes?" I returned in mind-link.

"I need to shift. Please," Onyxia spoke. Her English accent was heightened as the words fell from her wolfish mouth.

My mind was contemplating whether or not to let my wolf shift. There was a mission I had to take of, and shifting is just going to be another block on the road.

"I'll get us there much faster," she persuaded. I nodded my head and began to pull off my shirt and my shorts before placing them in the bag. Then, in no time, the feeling of my body cracking every bone in my body engulfed me. A feeling that once began as pain which has now converted into nothing but pleasure.

Seconds later, instead of two feet that were left placed on the ground, I had four paws. My midnight black fur left the breeze of the forest to get caught in. Onyxia shook her entire body letting her grow accustomed to being in wolf form once again.

Now, it was I who was on the outside looking in. Every decision was left to Onyxia as she walked over to the tree trump and picked up the bag with her teeth and began running in the direction I was going. Tampa Bay Creek is far outside our pack borders.

I've never feared going outside our pack lines because it's where I'm from. I don't remember much exactly, but I wasn't born as apart of this pack. Maybe that is why I could never feel the connection with my alpha as intimate as the others.

Happiness was radiating off of Onyxia. There's one thing that I absolutely love about her, and it's the joy that comes from her by her just being her. Every single time her paws made contact with the floor, a pulse of happiness ran through her.

"Tampa Bay Creek, Onyxia," I mindlinked her. I watched as she nodded her head and added a little boost on her run to the location we were ordered to go to. The minute we made it out of our pack lines, I could feel the connection with the pack dismember. The only connection I had was with the alpha, but it just wasn't as strong. Onyxia kept running despite the loss of connection.

The ground of netural territory was absolutely beautiful in my eyes. The plants seemed more vibrant, and the birds chirped more singingly. Even the sun seemed to gleam down and sparkle more affectionately. It looked so amazing, like a paradise.

Onyxia seemed to approve of the view before her. As her eyes surfed the entire piece of land in which no pack owned. Her running came to halt as we looked around. In that moment, a memory clouded my mind;

"Xena, baby, do you want to play tag?" My mom had asked with a huge smile on her face. My four-year-old eyes were glued to her face, picking up that something was wrong. A howl sounded off in a distance followed by another one which seemed to be getting closer.

Nodding my head, I didn't speak a word. Mommy knew tag was my favorite game to play. Her smile grew as her hand reached out to touch me "tag, you're it!"

Mama ran off past the trees, her speed was always admirable in our pack. I giggled as I chased after her. Onyxia was begging to be let free as I ran, feeling the wind vibrate through my hair.

Finally, I caught up to mama, "Tag! You're it mama!" Laughing, I ran even faster. Mama was fast, but I knew if I played it right, I could win.

A growling noise could be heard from behind us.

"Keep going, Xena! I'm going to get you!" Mama called out. I shook my head, and continued running with as much speed as I could muster. After a while, I picked up on the fact that I could not hear mama's feet trailing behind me, nor could I smell her rich motherly scent.

"Mama!" I called out. All too suddenly, someone grabbed me and began taking me somewhere. My arms and legs began to kick out as my screams and sobs climbed out of my throat. "I want mama! MAMA!"

"No, I'm taking you to alpha! ALPHA!" The guard mocked me as he continued to take my thrashing body on the long walk to what I presume to be the alpha's office.

The minute we were there, the alpha ordered the guard to leave. I sat there in the chair directly in front of his desk crying my eyes out.

The memory blanketed over my mind as sadness washed over me. Onyxia let out a whimper as she stopped to give me a moment.

Just then, a loud scream could be heard. Quickly, I shifted back into human form, grabbed the bag, and threw on my clothes before hiding behind a tree.

"Please, let me go!" A girl's voice cried out. She was sobbing, I could just smell her tears. As quietly as possible, I peeked our from behind the tree to see a girl with the most vibrant red hair. It looked like it was glowing, but sadly there was another sight that I never thought I would ever see. Their clothes were dressed in all black, tattoos littered every single part of their skin. boundhunters.

"Is she a luna, Onyxia?" I asked my wolf. I already knew the answer to that question. It didn't exactly take the smartest person in room. A conformation was all I needed because we all know how assumptions can turn out.

"She is a luna bound," Onyxia stated. I couldn't believe it, an actual luna bound. Kids these days don't even know they exist. We've all heard about them as if they were a myth. An actual luna bound. Could she be the alphas mate?

Quietly, I crept from behind the tree. I moved to a closer tree to be in a better hearing range. Making sure my body was well hidden behind the thick tree, I ordered Onyxia to try her best to mask my scent.

Even though boundhunters are the weakest of wolves, their weapons are the strongest. They cant smell from as far a distance as us regular wolves can. They can't see as well in the dark like we can, and they can't hear the echo of sound from a great deal of distance. The ones who become boundhunters are the ones who were born with hate, or just gained it over a deal of time. They usually end up being casted out by their pack and left with the only option to be with humans along with obeying the law of human land, or to become boundhunters. They are the predators of what humanity us wolves have left, Luna's.

"We need her power. It's the only way we will find the Queen before he does. The queen's power will be all we need to rule the entire nation, Kim. If he finds her before we do, we're out of luck," the guy spoke.

"Tell Xon that we found her," the very same man ordered. He had a average manly voice that just reeked of danger. The sound of his voice was all I needed in order to know that he could care less about anyone other than himself.

"Will do," a girl voice answered. She had a sharp fierceness in her tone. The sound of her shoes making contact with the leaves echoed through my ears. The sound continued and began to slowly fade as she seemed to move farther away.

"We have some time alone. I wonder if you scream as loud as the last one," the guy spoke to the luna bound. She whimpered, but it only sounded like a soft whisper compared to that thing that was hammering in my chest. I began climbing up the tree being careful of any sounds.

"Please, no," she begged. Even her voice was majestic. The whole tree shook as he slammed her body against it underneath where I was.

"Sh, sh, it'll be quick," he spoke.

"Yeah, because I can just tell it doesn't take you that long to get off," I said before jumping off and slamming my foot down on his face. His entire body hit the floor as he began to groan out in pain.

Boundhunters carry a special type of weapon. One that looks like a whip and can stretch as far as they want it to. From the many books I've read, I know that they are laced with silver and wolfsbane, once you've been hit with one, it'll never heal. It may even cause you to bleed out unless you are healed by the blood of the original wolf.

My eyes moved down to the whip and just as his hand was beginning to grab ahold of it, I yanked it from his pocket and watched as it grew. "No, give me the Fortsblade," the man ordered.

I whipped it around before striking him with it right on the face. It left an ugly cut, deep enough to see his skull. He screamed out in pain and began to actually sob.

"What was it that you said? You wanted to hear her scream like the last one? Let's see how loud you can get," I told him before striking him again. He screamed even louder while tears made their way down his face.

Just as I was about to began beating him to a pulp. I was tackled from behind. It caught me by surprise, especially when a bunch of numerous punches were delivered to my face. Buckling my hips with strength I knew she didn't have, she fell off of me allowing me to get on top and slam my fists into her face.

She screamed out in agony. In that moment, she once again caught me by surprise when she shifted into her dwarf little boundhunter wolf. I growled out before allowing Onyxia to take over. My bones cracked and popped before my paws touched the ground once again.

A loud growl came out of me as I snarled at the girl who attacked me. She snarled back and took her stance as if she was warning me. With a smirk I knew she couldn't see, I returned the stance ready to pounce the little mutt.

The minute I saw her body ready to pounce on me, I jumped in the air and caught her by her neck before snapping it. A whimper was all that could be heard until there was no longer any sound coming from her body.

My gaze moved back over to the guy who's eyes seemed to be closed. I listened to see if I could hear a heartbeat, but couldn't hear a thing. A whimper climbed out of Onyxia. I always knew it hurt her to have to kill, but in this moment it was either kill, or be killed. Also, it shall always be my duty to protect.

Onyxia walked over to the girl and nudged her head. The girls body shifted back to its human form leaving her in all her naked, tatted glory. We walked over to a place near a tree and dug up two big holes. Then, I shifted back to my human form leaving me naked and without clothes. Being the smart person I am, I grabbed the boundhunter's black shirt and one-of-a-kind boundhunter pants before sliding them on. His shoes looked too big for me, so I decided to go without shoes.

Dragging their bodies to holes was my workout for the day. My eyes moved over to the luna bound who stood there staring off to space. She was probably in a state of shock, I mean, we all know how innocent Luna's could be. All they probably think about is rainbows and oh, I'm a little virgin. Don't kiss me, alpha, I'm too scared. Alpha, did you just say titty? Oh em ge-

"I can hear you, Xena," the luna bound spoke. I looked up at her to see she was still staring off into space. "I've been hearing you."

My eyebrows knit together in confusion. I thought in order for wolves to hear other wolves thoughts, they've had be in the same pack with their minds open. I do not recall opening my mind, and I do not recall her being in my pack. So-

"It's my power. I've had it ever since I was little. I can hear the thoughts of anyone-human, vampire, wolf," she answered my unspoken question.

"That seems so cool," I exclaimed, walking closer to her. It suddenly clicked in my mind that I am actually talking to a luna-bound. It's crazy. I thought they were all gone, that there just wasn't anymore.

"You may think that, Xena. The mind is a dark place. When I enter the minds of others and go into the deepest, darkest parts-it's rotten. It kills the brightness in me, it kills the innocence you think I seem to hold," red-lady said. She looked young, and absolutely beautiful. Her green eyes and freckles made her even more enchanting.

"What did you see when you entered mine?" I asked her with a raised brow. The whip started to burn in my hand, so I placed it in the special pocket that he had once had it in.

She bit down on her lip. "You are the bright, and I'm so sorry that you will probably never see it. It was taken from you, a memory that you can't unloc- I've said too much. I must go!"

"Wait, what?! No! Do you know who your mate is? We can go find your alpha and I can make sure that he'll protect you," I told her. We're going crazy without a luna, and I'll be damned if she goes and I never find her again. I continued, "We need a true luna. You're alive. Why can't you just be what you are? You're a freaking luna-bound and I know you're old enough to meet your alpha."

"That will only bring worse. It's not my job, it's yours," she whispered. Confusion was knocking at my brain again. Suddenly, she began to run off. Immediately, I began to chase after her. I couldn't just let her get away.

She was fast, too fast. I've been training my entire life and I've never seen someone run this fast. It seemed like she couldn't get tired either because after a while of running and my heart beating too fast in my chest, she was still going. I didn't even smell the fact that I entered a pack. It wasn't until I stopped and took a deep breath, when I could just smell the royalty.

"Onyxia, please tell me you're still hiding my scent," I begged. My heart never got a chance to calm down because it was beating so fast again.

"I'm sorry, but no," she answered.

A loud growl rumbled through the forest. Oh, crap!

𝕝𝕖𝕖 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕒𝕪. . .
Yes, oh crap indeed. Thank you so much for reading the second chapter. This story is getting so juicy already like oh em gee. Also, I am deeply in love with Xena's character, how about you?
Please feel free to share your thoughts with me.
Once again, thank you for reading babes. I love you all bunches

𝕟𝕖𝕩𝕥 𝕦𝕡𝕕𝕒𝕥𝕖 : four days

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