The Hunters Ch. 08

NB: Hi all! I hope the little twists in the previous chapter kept you on your toes! I do apologize if it was one too many. But everything will be unraveled in this last chapter. Thank you so much for keeping through the chapters with me =)

***

Hedva looked at her screen for the last time before turning it to 'hibernate' mode. The new prototype Hunters have reached maturity and soon it would be time to harvest them. She had accelerated their completion date to suit Connor and knew that by doing so she had shortened her own lifeline. However, it was still early yet to see who would have the last laugh.

The new Hunters were made to replicate the features and standards of the Order's top two Hunters- Anya and Aurora. She had known right from the start when Connor gave her such a specifications that he would eventually want to eliminate the twins as soon as the project was successfully completed. His instructions to Richard to terminate the girls were just first of many.

But no more...

No more children will die because of a selfish, loveless man.

The new Hunters had a special built in mechanism that she had just installed. It will generate a scent only werewolves could sense. Her small test with Logan and Kyros had proved just that. Hedva was almost beside herself as she thought about how stupid Connor was. Did he think Vampires were truly the most superior race? Connor would not even see it coming; neither will the original Hunters who were all infused with Vampire genes.

She hoped that this would be of help to the little rebellion team on the eclipse. They had roughly 7 minutes of total eclipse time and she was literally handing the twins a readymade, disposable army at their command; only responding to the voice command of three people: herself, Anya and Aurora.

But this little rebellion was not for her. She had her own part to play...

It was time she did what's right.

***

"Damn to hell! What the fuck was that?" swore Logan as he laid Kyros on the sofa of his office. He had had no choice but to seek refuge at the nearest MacFarlane property. He was thankful that the taxi driver did not ask any questions when Logan said his friend was totally drunk and spent. However, he did ask twice if he should really alight them outside the brokerage firm off Summerset Avenue.

Pacing his office, Logan began to think about the attack earlier. He knew that it was definitely not the twins... and that woman with sultry brown eyes was definitely not his mate... He would know wouldn't he? She had smelled strange. Didn't Kyros scent her at all?

Going over to the Vampire, he realized how much he had come to see him as a friend. Shaking Kyros, he tried to rouse the Vampire to consciousness. Kyros had somehow been stunned and had lost consciousness upon contact with those things.

Many things crossed his mind at that moment but he didn't know which one to believe. Had the organization somehow sniffed out their operation and kidnapped the twins? Moving over to his desk, he picked up his phone and dialed for home. His landline was a private line that would not be traced if anyone was watching. It was a risk he was going to take, for the protection of his pack and the ones he loved.

"Ma...? Are you safe?" he asked, the moment he heard Lilith's voice.

"Yes... is there something wrong Logan?"

"Something came up... I can't say much on the phone incase someone's listening. But I need you to remember this... A mated wolf will have a scent but the Alpha female has not yet mated."

"Oh... yes dear. I'll put down now..." her voice trailing off as she put down the phone. By the one of her voice, he knew that she understood that the Alpha female referred to Anya. He knew what he had said would hurt his mother but he had to say it for her own protection. The Order had already taken his sister and his father.

His next call was to Annabelle and his Beta general, Christian. To Annabelle, he arranged for a meeting point with everyone at dawn. To Christian, he had asked about the safety of his pack and gave them the same warning as he had given to his mother. When he finally finished his calls, he was tempted to call Anya but he did not want to risk giving whoever's after them a chance to trace the call, if they had captured her.

"Logan..." came a weak voice from the sofa. Logan immediately turned to see Kyros stirring awake. "Wha... Where are we?" he said groggily.

"You fainted."

"What? Where's Aurora?" he said with a slight panic in his voice.

"Ky... are you saying you couldn't smell her?"

"I told you that we did not mate didn't I? I have not sired her, if that's what you're thinking."

"Whoever that came to our door wasn't them Kyros... you have got to believe me... I could smell them as clearly as we could scent each other now. That was not my mate." His words sounded harsh even as he gritted his teeth to stop himself from getting angry.

Kyros didn't move from his lying position but turned his face to look at Logan.

"I believe you."

Logan gave his friend a weak smile and began telling him everything that had happened and their plans for the meeting at dawn.

***

It was almost four in the morning when Richard got his girls and together they moved, as swiftly as they could to the meeting place that Annabelle had arranged for them. Richard had to give it to her; she was brilliant. She managed to locate all the nearest internet cafes within the reach of each of the five groups for a virtual meeting. Mingled with humans, it was a good cover for them; rather than they congregate all at the same place and alert the organization.

Richard watched as Anya logged onto one of the computers at a personal booth that had been reserved for her. Anya seemed to be doing a lot of the talking today, he noticed, while Aurora was relatively silent. It was most unusual, he thought. Aurora was usually the more vibrant one while Anya was more reserved. Pushing that thought aside, he began to listen as Annabelle's face came on screen. Then a second later, Christian came on screen.

"I'm just going to have to check if this network is secure; add a bit of protective walls here... and here... give me a minute... and yes. Okay, Team Alpha, please wait while I connect the rest," he said. A blank screen appeared and so the twins turned to Richard who was standing with a cup of coffee in his hands.

"Logan might not take it too kindly that we're called team Alpha when he's not here," said Anya with a slight laugh.

"I'm sure he's not that petty," replied Richard with a smile. Anya didn't realize that Alpha could also be her status and thus befitting of the team. However, he was certain that somehow the two men he had learnt to like over the past few days would be arriving soon. It was a hunch.

When Annabelle's face came onto the screen, half an hour later, Christian had managed to break the screen into six parts such that they could see a few faces on screen at the same time. Anya was actually impressed with the Beta wolf.

"Good work Christian," she said unconsciously.

"Thank you Alpha," he said with a flush as he nodded at her words. The look on Anya's face was just hilarious that Richard had to restrain himself from laughing out loud.

Annabelle then introduced them by Teams and once that was done, Christian showed a screen of the building's layout. They could hear his voice through their earphones very clearly as though he was right in front of them. He continued telling them about all the access points and the switch and control room and the possible areas with the highest number of guards.

Then it occurred to Anya.

"Christian... Where is Logan?"

"I... I do not know, Alpha... he told us to carry on without him and Lord Russell for now. I apologize if I have spoken out of turn..." he said apologetically. Anya gave him a questioning look.

"No... it's okay. Please get on with what you're saying before I take over."

Richard smiled. Anya still wasn't aware that he was addressing only her as Alpha and not the team. Nevertheless, he listened intently to what the Beta wolf had to say before turning his gaze to Anya.

"Alright, listen Teams, the eclipse will give us roughly 7 minutes in which all of you are at an advantage. But 7 minutes is too short for us to enter and exit the building. Therefore all this has to be done prior to that. Hedva tells us that the laboratories are from the fourth till the tenth floor but the actual lab prisoners should be between the seventh to tenth floor. I know our mission was to rescue the Alpha Leon but I think we should also release the other prisoners. Team Epsilon and Zeta, I want you to help with the rescuing of the prisoners. Team Delta, you will secure access into these three floors. They will be the most heavily guarded so wait until only till the eclipse time at ten hundred hours before taking out all the security on that level."

Anya paused to watch the faces of the three teams.

"Team Epsilon, Zeta and Delta, who is the highest ranking member in your team?" Three faces came to view; two of whom were Betas while the other, she presumed was one of Kyros's Vampires. Aurora had huffed as if to confirm her sister's thoughts.

"Alright... that's good. Now Beta, headed by Christian, I want you to take the switch and control room and make sure you disengage the alarms as well as allow access for the rest of the Teams to enter by oh-eight hundred hours. Weres, do not kill human guards but just render them unconscious. As for the Vampire guards, they are common leveled Vampires but their venom from their fangs are still lethal to you so keep your eyes peeled. Now. Team Gamma, headed by Annabelle will secure the path up from the tenth floor to the seventieth floor. Am I right that you have managed to secure for us five helicopters?"

"Yes, Maam. They will land at exactly ten twenty hours in five minute succession and will only stay for a period of five minutes each. I have checked; the building is surrounded by other equally tall skyscrapers with possible multiple sites for Hunters to take out either us or the helicopters."

"I'll take care of that," said Aurora finally breaking her silence. Anya was about to agree when her father shook his head. Aurora was the best markswoman but then again... Richard was legendary.

"I will take them out. They are powerless at the eclipse remember?" he said with a smile.

"No Daddy... you will be powerless too! You cannot spot them at such a range," protested Aurora but Richard silenced her and told Anya to continue.

When they've finally disconnected from the network, it was almost six in the morning. Richard pulled his girls into one of the boulangerie he had spotted not far from the internet café and forced them to get food into their stomachs.

"Even though you do not need to eat much because of your Vampire genes... it does not mean your Werewolf should not eat," he chided as he handed them each a cinnamon roll. "Balance..." he said kindly as he coaxed them to eat another.

"Darling what's wrong?" said Anya after she had eaten a few rolls. She hated to see her sister so down and Aurora wasn't allowing her sister to enter her mind either to find out for herself.

"It's Kyros... he's hurt somehow... I can feel it."

Anya immediately stiffened.

"Logan seems to be alright... Are you sure about that Aurora? I mean... in what way is he hurt?"

"I... I can't really tell... I just know that I kept seeing him lying on the floor with his eyes wide open."

Richard clamped a hand on Aurora's shoulder and patted her gently.

"He'll be fine my dear... he will... he's strong..."

Aurora turned to look at him and smiled. She believed her father more than anything in the world and she pushed her doubts to the back of her head.

"Well now... that just leaves the four of you doesn't it? Your job is to enter the Order's office and then you know what to do..."

"What about you Daddy?" asked Aurora.

"I'll come and help you out once I've taken out all the shooters. There'll be plenty."

"Okay Daddy... we love you..." she said as she passed him her own haversack filled with weapons.

Richard kissed both his daughters on their forehead and as they turned to leave the boulangerie, he couldn't help but see two little girls walking hand in hand.

***

"Let's find them. Can you sense where he is?" asked Anya. When Aurora shook her head, Anya frowned and started to close her eyes. Maybe Vampires do not have a strong mating pull as Wolves do or maybe it was because Kyros was down. Anya closed her eyes and blocked off every other sound around her. It was like how she focused her mind when she wanted to enter her sister's consciousness but now, it was more like she was a predator seeking out her prey with the whole city as her hunting field. Finally, she sensed him.

"He's not too far from the Order. Come..." she said, pulling her sister along after her. They made sure they were in a deserted alley before they vanished into thin air.

When they appeared a minute later, Aurora brushed down her flyaway hair obsessively.

"After this whole thing is over... I'm so going to get a new bike. I hate travelling this way," she grumbled.

"You look beautiful... Don't worry too much. I know you're just annoyed coz you're so relieved you can sense him here. Come on. He's at the top."

The two men were sipping coffee as they watched the clock ticking by. Logan had stopped Kyros from forcing himself to go for the briefing. His friend needed rest.

"You know Logan... this is probably the second time you've saved my life. My Pureblood code of honour bequeath you my life for as long as you need me," said Kyros.

"Right now Vampire, I want you to heal faster and keep your life for yourself. If anything happens to you... god knows what either of those twins will do to me."

"I hope you're not talking about me..." Logan turned in time to see Anya leap up onto him. For a moment he was so shocked and overwhelmed to know she was fine that he was lost for words. Then he remembered. He gave the air around her a little sniff and felt himself relax a little knowing that the woman in his arms was the real thing.

"Mine..." he mumbled softly as he buried his face in her hair. As he hugged her tight, he watched the other twin approach Kyros cautiously. She was very perceptive, that one, he thought.

"Let's take this somewhere else..." he whispered as he lifted Anya up and took her to the adjoining meeting room to give the other couple some space. Somewhere in his mind, he made a mental click- Logan three, Kyros nil.

Aurora watched Logan take her sister away and silently thanked him. Turning to look at Kyros she wasn't sure if she was going to frown or cry or laugh. He was lying on his side, looking at her with the most ridiculous expression on his face.

"Miss me?" he said teasingly.

"I've been worried..." she replied curtly with a slight bite that told him she was annoyed.

"Thank you my love..." he said with a smile. Reaching out a hand, he beckoned her close and gave her a soft kiss on her lips. Aurora could tell that he was really weak. Something had attacked him and he couldn't heal on his own.

"Who did this to you, Ky?" she whispered; her eyes turning slightly smoky. Kyros was taken aback for a moment seeing the intensity of her eyes.

"I don't really know... Logan said that something that looked like the two of you attacked me... okay well not attack me but stunned me."

Aurora did not speak for awhile but simply looked at him.

"Are you saying you couldn't tell if that was me or not?" Kyros didn't dare to even look at her. He knew she was going to ask him that. He didn't need mind reading for that. He was sure that her smoky eyes were going to shift colours again just to scare him but when he turned to look at her, he saw that her eyes were the calm hazel he was used to.

"Do you remember which part of your body you were stunned?" Kyros lifted his shirt to show a patch of bruise. Aurora frowned then pressed him at various points on his body, making him shout with pain. "Sorry..." she mouthed.

"It's no use, honey... But I'll be fine. We better start moving..." he said as he lowered his shirt. Aurora kept silent but decided for herself that she was going to keep an eye out for him.

"Okay Team Alpha, at exactly ten hundred hours, the sun will be completely covered by the moon... Anya's briefed me about the plan. We'll work in pairs. I assume that there will be two Vampires and two Werewolves left to take out right?" said Logan chirpily as he came out of the meeting room a few minutes later.

"Right. But we'd have to fight our way all the way from the main elevator to the private lifts up to the Order's Chambers. Once security is breeched at roughly oh nine forty five hours, the remaining eight top Hunters will be deployed to guard the passage from these two lifts. There's only one lift up so this is our only way," said Aurora.

"Alright. Stick together. Let's go!"

***

The building was surrounded by many other skyscrapers housing various companies and businesses. However, the Order's building was solely owned by them and had no specific name except the building number.

Anya, Aurora, Logan and Kyros stood facing the building, each feeling a sense of anticipation, fear and excitement inside them. It was already oh nine thirty. Team Beta under Beta Christian would have infiltrated the control room by oh nine forty-five. Anya had specifically told the Vampire in Team Beta, Eliza, to modify all the entrance guard's memories slightly to let the team pass through without standard checks and procedure. She knew that among the human security guards, there were a few common-leveled Vampires who could resist such memory modifications but Eliza was a Pureblood; she could do it.

Anya and Aurora were simply standing opposite the building; observing everything that was currently happening in the building to discern the time to enter. It was difficult to sense accurately every movement inside the building as there were many people walking along the street in front of them but the twins managed to get a good grasp of what was happening. They only dared to look through at the first level because to force their minds to look beyond the second floor would be inviting hundreds of Hunters flocking down on them before they're ready.

Logan checked his clock once in awhile as his mind focused on everything Christian was reporting back to him.

"They're in..." The other three nodded but still waited. "He's opening two rear entrances for the other teams now."

"Okay Team... let's go. We have to take the lift up to the eleventh floor. We don't have much time before the Hunters are alerted," breathed Anya slowly. "Keep all communications inside your head unless it is impossible to do so."

"Wait..." said Logan almost suddenly. "We should not all go into the lift at once. Anya and I will take the stairs. If they are alerted too early, we might not stand a chance if we're all trapped inside the lift," his tone was stern enough that Kyros did not challenge him. Furthermore, he was still a little weak from the previous attack and climbing stairs was not such a favourable option.

Nodding to each other, they walked towards the building's glass doors. The guards appeared unsure what to do and were milling around; the quartet slipped through unnoticed. Kyros had glanced slightly at the cameras at the front lobby and noted that they were all switched off.

They broke into pairs as soon as they reached the lift landing; Aurora and Kyros entered the lift and she pressed the button for '11'. Aurora's hands were already at the guns sheathed at her thigh harness although they were not even pass the second floor.

"They know... I can sense them..." she informed Kyros in their minds. He nodded at her. Then suddenly, she faltered. "There's something else... something colossal..." the panic in her voice was evident even though her face was somber. "They're coming..."