The hunter clawed at the dirt, desperately trying to crawl away from Allison, dragging his wounded legs behind him.
Allison who was following him slowly, formed another wind arrow, ready to finish him off—but then Chris stepped out from the woods, Victoria and Kate following close behind.
"Allison, stop." Chris commanded.
Her glowing green eyes locked on him. "Why should I? He just tried to kill me."
Seeing Allison didn't listen, Victoria glared at her. "That's enough, Allison."
"I'm just defending myself, Mom." Allison snapped. "So why stop me? You didn't stop them when they opened fire on us… or was that your order, hunters?"
Chris shook his head. "We didn't order them to shoot you."
Allison smiled bitterly. "You just asked them to shoot Jacob, right? But they did what hunters always do—they opened fire on all of us, not caring if they killed me or Lydia, as long as Jacob dies."
Victoria's eyes narrowed. "That's not what hunters do. We have a code."
"Oh, please." Allison scoffed. "What code? Your men just tried to kill your own daughter. And if you're talking about the code that says we only hunt those who hunt us… then why are you hunting Jacob? What did he do to you?"
A loud gunshot cut through the argument. All eyes turned toward Jacob and the nine surviving hunters.
Jacob, who was keeping an eye on Allison and Lydia's fights to make sure they were fine, saw that Lydia was okay—although still dazed and looking at the car and the men she had sent flying, and that Allison had ended her fight and was talking to her parents. He stopped dodging the hunters' bullets and got serious.
He pulled his S&W 500 revolver from his pocket dimension and shot one of the hunters in the head, blowing his brains out. In a blur, he grabbed another by the back of the neck, slammed his head against another hunter's head, and shot them point-blank in the head, killing them with one bullet.
The other six men rained bullets on him, but the bullets just hurt without penetrating his skin. He turned to them, smirking, and shot four times, blowing big holes in four hunters' chests and dropping them dead.
One hunter threw a flashbang, trying to blind him, but Jacob simply closed his eyes before it detonated. Thinking Jacob was blinded, another hunter approached with a taser wand, pressing it against Jacob's chest.
But Jacob didn't feel a thing. He just smirked and looked at him and said. "Let me show you what real electricity feels like."
He placed a hand on the hunter's shoulder. A devastating surge of electricity coursed through him, cooking him from the inside out. Jacob removed his hand, leaving a blackened corpse smoldering on the ground.
The last hunter panicked, dropping his rifle and turning to flee. One step was all he took before Jacob activated the wrist blaster on his arm. An energy shot penetrated the man's back, exiting through his chest, leaving a gaping hole.
Jacob glanced at his alien wrist blaster. 'Cool. Much stronger than I thought. Next time, I should test it on a supernatural creature.'
Deactivating it, the device returned to bracelet form. Jacob walked over to Lydia and patted her back. "Lydia… why are you in a daze?"
Tears streaked her face. "I… I just killed those four men. I didn't mean to… but…"
Jacob hugged her tightly. "If they're dead, there's no need to feel sorry for them—they tried to kill us first. Besides… you didn't kill them. Use your sound control ability—listen. Their hearts are still beating."
Lydia focused, amplifying the faint sounds around the crashed SUV in the woods. She heard the hunters groaning and counted four heartbeats. Sighing in relief, she said. "I was scared for a second. I don't mind killing people like the ones you showed me in that memory, but I'm still not okay with taking the lives of some stupid hunters who were just here to scare us."
Jacob shook his head. "No, Lydia. They weren't here to scare us—they were here to kill us. Remember this: if someone tries to kill you, make sure you kill them first. One more thing..."
He let go of her and flicked her forehead. "Never lose focus in a fight again, like you did tonight, just standing there dazed. Otherwise, I'll never let you fight beside me again."
Lydia stuck her tongue out at him with a small smile. "Sorry. I thought I had killed those men, so I froze. But I promise it won't happen again… even if I do kill someone."
"All right." Jacob said. "Let's go check on Allison."
Lydia turned her head to look at what Jacob had done to his opponents. Jacob wanted to stop her, but it was too late. She saw the bodies lying on the ground with their heads blown open and white brain matter around them. She covered her mouth, ran to the side, and started vomiting.
Jacob shook his head and followed her, gently patting her back until she was done. "Are you okay?" He asked.
Her face pale, Lydia wiped her mouth with her hand. "Not really."
"You'll get used to it." Jacob said, his voice calm.
They walked past Cogman, who stood near the earth barrier with a satisfied grin. "Sir." He said, nodding at Jacob. "I liked what you did with those men you fought. But honestly… nothing beats the sound of crushing human bones and ripping their limbs off. Too bad there were too few enemies."
Jacob shook his head. "Psychopath."
Lydia looked at Cogman. "You need some serious therapy."
Cogman shrugged. "No, Lady Lydia. I only need to vent from time to time by crushing bones and ripping limbs. That's all the therapy I need."
Jacob stomped his foot, and the earth barrier around the car vanished. He continued walking toward Allison with Lydia at his side and Cogman following behind.
Allison turned to Kate. "Whatever you do, don't raise your gun at Jacob—or even look at him the wrong way. He doesn't like you. If you anger him, he will kill you, and I can't save you."
Kate smirked. "I'm not stupid, princess. I saw what he just did to those men—and he didn't even shift. He didn't use fire or earth, and if I'm not wrong, he can use electricity too. So I'm not going to anger something as powerful as him. But… you've changed, princess. You're ruthless. You don't even want to save me. I thought you loved me."
Allison sighed. "I don't know how to feel about you… or my parents right now. After all, your hunters just tried to kill me. And to make things worse, I found out what you did, Kate."
Kate frowned. "What do you mean?"
Allison shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it."
Jacob and the others arrived next to Allison and stood beside her.
Chris glared at Jacob, pointing his gun at him. In a blur, Jacob appeared in front of him, caught his arm, and twisted the gun from his grip. "I never liked it when you pointed your gun at me." Jacob said, his eyes sharp. "But for Allison's sake, I let it slide. Tonight, though… not only did you send your hunters after me, they opened fire on us, almost killing Lydia and Allison. So… what should I do with you?"
Chris tried to yank his hand out of Jacob's grip but couldn't. "What kind of father do you think I am? I never asked them to shoot my daughter or even you. I only asked them to make you angry, so you'd shift in front of Allison and scare her. All I wanted was to break you up with her. I didn't want my daughter dating a playboy shapeshifter."
Jacob smirked and released his grip. "You can't break us up. We're already married… and I mean the supernatural kind of marriage. So you can't break us up no matter how you try."
Victoria's eyes widened. "You mean… you have a mating bond with her?"
Jacob glanced at her, smirking. "Oh, you know about mating bonds? As expected from a hunter. If you know what a mating bond is, then you know it can't be broken, and you know I will never harm Allison even if I wanted to."
Chris turned to his wife. "Is what he says true?"
Victoria nodded solemnly. "Yes. A mating bond is an intense, instinctual, and irreversible supernatural connection—far beyond love. The two are connected. If one dies, the other enters a Blood Rage: a state of uncontrollable fury, killing everything in sight, often needing to be put down for the safety of all."
Chris pointed at Lydia. "What about her?"
Jacob's smirk widened. "She's my mate too."
Chris froze. "What?"
Jacob chuckled. "Jealous that I have two beautiful wives?"
Chris ground his teeth. "Damn it…"
Then he caught Victoria's glare. "I'm not jealous." He muttered. "I just… hate the kid."
Then Jacob looked at Kate, and released his dragon aura, scaring the three Argents and making them take a step back. He let out a low growl—the kind that not only can be heard but can be felt in one's chest—then he said. "This is the first and last time you provoke me, Kate. So don't get on my bad side again. And when Gerard gets here and tries something stupid, make sure not to help him, or I'll kill you along with him. He will not get a second chance if he provokes me."
Kate's face drained of color. Fear unlike anything she had ever felt gripped her. She knew that if she said the wrong thing, she would die here and now. She said. "I-I will never provoke you. I promise."
Jacob restrained his aura and looked at Victoria, smirking. "Clean this mess, mother-in-law. I don't want the cops to see it. I assume you have someone to help with… bloody scenes."
Without waiting for an answer, he turned to Cogman. "Drive Lydia and Allison back home and prepare dinner. I'll follow in a while."
Then Jacob looked at Chris, his grin turning wicked. "Father-in-law… we need to have a talk."
Before Chris could react, Jacob grabbed him by the arm and dragged him deeper into the woods at supernatural speed.
To be continued… 😊