Chapter 1 - Khalid

Fuck! I swerved as a bullet took out my rear right tire. Double fuck! I should have never freed my mother. I should have left the bitch to die at the hands of the Bloodmoon Alpha.

She said we would leave and that we would go home. She promised we would leave Isis and Auntie Sarael alone.

I even sought Syndicate sympathizers within Bloodmoon to help me get her out, promising that my sister would ensure Kurt officially renounced all claims to his father’s pack.

I didn’t realize when they got her; she made a new deal—promising to kill Isis so that either Kurt would be weak enough to kill or accept Noya as a chosen mate. I may not be a fan of my sister being with a werewolf, but I also know and accept I don’t get a say.

Isis is a werewolf, and therefore, Kurt is her soulmate. I wouldn’t want to separate her from her soulmate.

I thought just having her get him to abstain from being Alpha would be sufficient. My mother went too far.

And now she’s dead. Fuck! I swerved again, and the bullet shot through my back windshield and narrowly missed me. Because I fucked up and set her free, I triggered a chain reaction. I couldn’t let her kill Isis, and then she tried to kill me.

I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t want to or mean to kill my mother. Too bad the other hunters don’t see it that way.

Too bad my father doesn’t see it that way. He believes I killed my mother to protect a werewolf bitch. He doesn’t even realize I was protecting Isis. The girl he’s raised as his own.

I just wanted to talk to him. To explain what happened. But he wouldn’t hear it. He wouldn’t even take my call. No, instead, he sent every hunter we have in America after me.

 

Can you believe that? What great parents I ended up with.

A mother who raped and murdered a werewolf. A mother who mistreated and tried to kill her daughter. A mother who was willing to kill me to get to her daughter. And now, a father who stops caring about the daughter he raised puts a bounty on his son’s head.

I don’t know which is worse. Having my fellow hunters after me or that there are still Bloodmoon wolves on my tail. Wait, scratch that. I know which is worse. The hunters, only because they were ordered to kill me by my father.

 

The Bloodmoon wolves and their Alpha want me because I released my mother. They want me because I am the reason so much pain was brought onto their pack. That at least makes sense and doesn’t feel as personal.

I ducked as the back window of the truck got shot out. This truck is kaput at this point. Even if the hunters hadn’t shot out the window, I wouldn’t make it far on three tires. But I also can’t run on foot till I manage to lose these assholes.

The problem with driving in an unfamiliar area is that I don’t know the best places to hide, ditch my truck, and get another vehicle. For now, I have to keep moving.

I at least have a destination, Sonora, Mexico. I would usually never risk going there as it’s home to Mexico’s most prominent clan of vampires.

Don’t ask me why they chose there, but it’s where they set up, and our guild doesn’t cross its borders, as even if we all gathered together, we wouldn’t have enough manpower to take on that big of a clan.

Here’s hoping I can blend in with the almost three million humans living in the state. I don’t want to draw vampire attention to add to my werewolf and hunter trouble.

I need to get across the border. The hunters won’t follow me into Sonora, Mexico. I need to find a quiet, preferably with a low count of vampires, town to lay low in and formulate a plan.

I need to regroup and figure out what assets I have and who I can get for backup. Because I need to go back to Bloodmoon, I have to go back even if that pint-sized Alpha kills me.

I don’t have proof my mother left any traps behind, but I don’t have proof she didn’t. And knowing her, she did.

Then there is the issue of that bitch Noya and the Bloodmoon Benedict Arnold, Wade. As long as they are alive, my sister isn’t safe. And I’ll be damned if I lose my sister.

Once I have a plan and maybe some backup, I will return and ensure she stays safe. I’ll deal with Logan and his brother John when it’s necessary.

I’m willing to die if it means my sister will be safe.

I’m watching road signs as I continue to speed down the highway. Going this fast is not recommended with a blown-out tire. I am just praying to Allah that a cop doesn’t try to stop me.

 

The hunters won’t care. They will see the officer as a mere civilian casualty if it means they can kill me.

It makes me wonder how much my father put on my head or if they are hunting on the sheer principle I killed the guild leader. Maybe a bit of both.

I know there are some ruthless members with no set loyalty to anything but money and the twisted satisfaction of killing. What can I say? This line of work is very enticing to the mentally unstable. I guess on the bright side, they are only killing the supernatural. Or at least I hope that’s all they are killing.

“Perfect.” I declared when I saw the sign for Vegas.

It’s populated, and it is easy to get lost in the crowd. And I can ditch the truck at the edge of the city. Then I can find a new car to get me to my destination.

I need to time this perfectly. Seeing the sign for Red Rock Canyon, I took the turn in the canyon’s direction. It probably looked too sharp, but I’m in control here. I rolled the truck on purpose.

Grabbing my supplies, I managed to get out the window as the truck rolled, using it as a shield as the case tank sparked, setting the truck on fire. That should delay them at least a little. They’ll want to check the wreckage to confirm I’m not inside.

Keeping low to the ground, I hurried away from the crash as the hunters pulled up, hooting and hollering like the demented Americans they are. Now I don’t mean to say all Americans are demented. But the American hunters are an uncouth sort that takes a weird joy in killing, things being on fire, and vehicles getting into accidents.

 

Whatever the case, their joyful hoots and hollers that I might be dead and arguments about who gets to take credit gave me time to get away. I hurried to the nearest neighborhood to search for a car to take.

 

I know stealing a car makes me a criminal, and I would typically rent a car. But desperate times call for desperate measures. Plus, I can’t just rent a car. They’d be able to track the use of my card. I have to survive on what cash I have on me.

I had honestly thought I had gotten away with my rouse as I was jimming the lock on an older chevy truck. I had, but the click of a gun’s safety told me otherwise.

“Don’t fucking move, Khalid.” A voice I would rather forget sneered.

“Blaine. Color me not surprised you jumped on the chance to come to kill me.” I rolled my eyes.

This guy has hated me since he first was initiated into the guild. He idolized mom and hated me because I was her son and was next in line to run the guild.

“You bet your ass I did. You killed Sakina! You killed Sakina! You sick fuck. Who kills their mother?” Blaine demanded.

 

“It was the heat of battle. I wasn’t trying to kill her. I was trying to stop her from killing my sister and me, for that matter. And if it would save my sister, I’d do it again.” I answered in all honesty.

 

My sister means more to me. Maybe that does make me a sick fuck. But I would trade my mother’s life for Isis’s any day.

“You killed our leader to protect some freak? A half-breed bitch. She wasn’t worth saving. She should have been put down like the beast she is.” Blaine scoffed.

And this is the point I’ve had enough. Pivoting on my right foot, I stepped in under Blaine’s arm and twisted the gun in Blaine’s hand, breaking his finger. Moving my left hand to the side of Blaine’s gun, I took a right counter-clockwise circular step in between his feet while turning the gun toward him.

“Say one more ignorant and disrespectful word about my sister, and I blow your face off.” I threatened.

Blaine gulped as he realized I had just checkmated him. I don’t know why he still tries. Even in his hunter training, he could never win a fight against me. That isn’t going to change now.

“The sound of this gun being fired will alert all the sleeping residents in this neighborhood, and they’ll call the authorities. So you might stand a chance of living if an ambulance gets here fast enough. Either way, I still get away.” I shrugged my shoulders.

“You… you wouldn’t do that.” Blaine stammered as I’m sure his life was flashing before his eyes.

“Remember I killed my mother? Why would I bat an eyelash at killing an al’ahmaq like you?” I smirked.

I sighed as I saw the confused look creep into his eyes. He’s been part of the guild for four years and still hasn’t learned Arabic.

“Asshole. I called you an asshole.” I rolled my eyes.

Taking advantage of his confusion, I slammed the gun into his face and then the side of his head. He’s lucky I don’t have time to waste on him or add the police to my list of people to hide from.

Bad enough, I’m stealing a car. I won’t add murder charges to it. So with him bleeding unconscious but alive on the driveway, I finished getting into the truck and hot wiring it.

I kept the headlights off until I got further away from the neighborhood and got back on the road. Sonora, here I come. May my luck turn around in your borders.