Free Web NovelChapter 154: Exterminating Pests
[Third POV] ƒreewebɳovel.com
"Let me go!" Elise screamed, thrashing as much as she could despite the injuries that were scattered all over her body.
A trail of blood followed wherever she was carried, and Damon made a mental note to clean up the mess afterward so that the damned vampires and wendigos wouldn’t be tempted to trespass. He had enough of all these — as the humans would call them — supernatural creatures to last a lifetime. Nothing sounded better than to close off Fangborne’s borders and hide away from the world. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
Alas, if only there weren’t bigger things to do than to turn reclusive. Damon would’ve loved that life. He badly needed a holiday.
"You can scream all you want," he said, watching as Kaine carried her over his shoulder as though she was nothing more than a sack of potatoes. "It’s not going to change your fate. However, if you’re willing to speak, I will be more than happy to leave you your legs for a small fighting chance, at the very least."
In the end, they decided it was best to relieve Elise of her limbs once they were in the forest. It was, on one hand, a final chance for her to redeem herself. On the other hand, Damon didn’t wish to wash up more blood than what was necessary. Blood stained horribly and he would hate running out of cleaning agents so soon.
"You’ve already gotten everything out of me," Elise seethed, hatred in her eyes. "What more do you want, you damn mutt?"
"You obviously know more," Damon said, easily ignoring the nasty nickname she used. He had heard plenty of those in his youth. Just because a human said it didn’t mean it hurt more than when other werewolves did. "Who is this Vernon you speak of? How are you so sure that they will help you?"
After a while of interrogation, Elise had completely broken down. She kept chanting one name― Vernon. It was almost as though that person was her god, and as far as Damon knew, there was no human god with that name.
With the amount of surety she had in that person, Damon could bet that it definitely either had to be her lover or someone high up the ranks among the hunters. It had to be someone Elise had a ridiculous amount of trust in, and whoever that was, Damon wanted them dead.
"Vernon is someone who you will learn to fear if you know what’s good for you, wolf," she spat out, poison coating her words. "If you want to live, set me free right now!"
"And let you go running back to gather more guns and bullets?" Damon mused. "Cute. But no."
As they neared the borders of Fangborne, Damon and Kaine slowed down their steps.
They couldn’t travel in the form of their wolves as the only way to ensure Elise was carried properly and had no chance of escape would be in their mouths, and neither Kaine nor Damon was keen on doing that. Thus, they decided to walk the entire stretch.
It wasn’t too far for them, given that they were much faster even in their human forms than average humans. The walk also allowed them time to squeeze out every last drop of useful information from this waste of fresh air.
’She’s not going to say anything, is she?’ Damon thought, using the link between him and Kaine to converse rather than with spoken words.
’It is unlikely,’ came Kaine’s reply. Short, sweet, and factual.
"Last chance," Damon said, his tune sing-song.
His patience had long worn thin, but it was difficult to capture a hunter alive. More often than not, they would rather kill themselves than get captured and tortured for information. Damon had seen the ways they would end their own lives using a poisonous pellet hidden in their mouth. It was a stroke of pure luck that Elise didn’t have that, and admittedly, Damon even found that suspicious.
"I’d rather die," Elise said.
"Suit yourself," replied Damon, shrugging.
Elise’s screams tore through the forests that surrounded Fangborne’s borders. Once they were far enough from their territory, Kaine ruthlessly ripped her limbs from her body before haphazardly tossing them to one side. Elise was left with nothing more than a stub without limbs, bleeding out as she wheezed in pain.
Amused, Damon watched as she struggled to stay awake. Death was hovering over her like a black cloak, threatening to drag her away at any given second. Alas, she did not receive its mercy. Instead, Damon quickly caught the stench of a thousand corpses, and his nose wrinkled as he stepped back and shifted.
Kaine followed suit.
Their eyes were kept wide and open, peeled for any suspicious activity.
’Don’t engage,’ Damon reminded. ’We’re just here to make sure she’s thoroughly dead.’
Kaine didn’t reply, but Damon spotted the subtle nod of his head.
One by one, three different stags appeared from the woods, their beady red eyes glowing in the dark of the night. Their antlers were large, casting shadows on the grass ahead, and Damon quickly got into a defensive position when their line of sight landed in Elise’s direction.
The hunter cowered, whimpering as she tried to worm away. She had probably been overcome by adrenaline, for it seemed like all sorts of pain left her body and she was left with the natural instinct and desire to escape.
When the stags neared, it became more and more apparent that they were anything but normal deers. Instead of walking on four legs, they had risen to walk on their two hind legs. The front hooves became long human-like hands, finished with beastly claws. Under the light of the moon, their bodies were skeletal, their skin hanging off like a scarf rather than an actual part of their body.
Damon was far enough from Fangborne, but seeing one right outside the borders of his territory was still chilling. While an average adult wendigo could not compare with any adult warrior werewolf, these monsters hunted their pups for food.
’Send out patrols,’ Damon instructed. ’It seems like there’s a nest nearby.’
Either way, it seemed like these evil creatures had no interest in the two werewolves present. Unlike male werewolves, the flesh of a young human woman was much more supple, enjoyable, and nutritious.
"No..." Elise gasped, wriggling around like a worm. "No! Help me! Help me, please!"
’Alpha, we’ve sent a team out to your location to look for the nest,’ Elijah’s voice came from the link. ’They will meet with you shortly.’
’Roger.’
There was no pity in Damon’s eyes as he watched the wendigos pounce on Elise, tearing through her flesh right as her screams tore through the night. Blood splattered everywhere, and in no time, her screams became choked gurgles, then complete silence. She had her chance to pursue a merciful death, yet she missed it.
As for Damon, he had some wendigos to exterminate. It was better to weed out the pests before they become a problem in the future.
Just then, he felt a throbbing in his chest. It wasn’t painful by any means and felt more like relief. He turned back for a brief moment, staring in the direction of Fangborne.
That felt like it came from Harper.
