Carpe Noctum

As Serena began her walk home from the doctors, a smile was wide on her face since she found out that she was going to have a baby. Probably for the millionth time today, she looked down at her stomach and rested a hand upon it. "Hmm… don’t worry little one… you’re definitely in good hands." She chuckled as she thought herself crazy before bringing her gold and violet eyes to look forward in her path.

The alpha female wondered how she was going to reveal the news to Lucian though. She thought about it for a few moments and smiled as she found out a perfect idea. Taking out her phone from her pocket, the alpha was planning on texting her mate if he wanted to hang out in the secret spot tonight as she continued to walk without looking up. So far the message was ‘Hey love, you wanna hang out in the secr…’ but before Serena could continue with the message, she was suddenly knocked down onto her side into a narrow alleyway.

"What the hell?!!" She groaned feeling a sharp pain in her side and looked down to inspect it; nothing. Concluding that the pain was probably from the forceful impact to the ground, she was about to look up to see who or what knocked her down when the alpha female was pushed down to the ground once again. Looking up she couldn’t believe who she was staring at. "James?? What are you doing?" Yes, it was none other than the looked-over receptionist clerk, James. Serena was so confused at what was happening. The receptionist wasn’t in his normal uniform as usual instead wearing more casual clothes. As he looked down at her he had a look like he was some crazed hunter.

"Afternoon Miss Twilight. My apologizes… but I cannot let you go…" While he talked he slowly took out a black gun and pointed it towards the ground at the moment. Serena’s eyes widened in horror at what was happening to her. What was up with James? She couldn’t understand. Her gold and violet eyes slowly formed into a slight glare as she tried to show him that she wasn’t going to be afraid, although she kind of was deep down. Sneaking a quick peek at her phone, she kept in a growl as she saw that her incomplete message was already sent. She had to find some way to get away from James so that she could call Lucian or anyone. Going home was no option seeing as he knew where she lived; the guy worked in her building for Heaven’s sake.

"Why are you doing this?”" Serena calmly said to James as she wondered what his motive could be. She was annoyed hearing him chuckle sadistically. "I’ve been watching you for some time Miss Twilight and I guess it’s reasonable to tell you who I really am. I’m actually a slayer and what you might call a bounty hunter… of werewolves…" Serena didn’t know what to think at what he said. She just continued to give him a dead glare into his piercing eyes as he smiled darkly. "Imagine, the bounty I would get bringing back the pregnant alpha female." As James said this while leaning his face closer to the alpha’s own, a deep anger welled up inside her and without thinking she head-butt her forehead against the slayer’s, which caused him to stumble back in pain.

Although she had an aching headache, the alpha female paid no mind to it as she dashed away from James and quickly looked at her phone. Immediately hitting the one button to speed dial Lucian, she growled in fury as her phone died soon after. Stuffing the phone in her pocket, she sharply turned a corner spotting the warehouses and headed for the buildings. A loud gunshot was heard followed by the sound of a bullet hitting the wall next to her.

Serena was now frightened as she paused just for a moment to where the bullet was shot at. Quickly observing the bullet, she gasped in horror as she discovered that it was made out of silver. A werewolf’s number one weakness. She knew now that she had to immediately get away from James otherwise she’d be dead and so would her unborn child. Not sparing another thought, she bolted forward scenting that James wasn’t too far away from her. As she got nearer to the warehouse, she ran even faster toward the door and slammed her way inside. Immediately she turned around to lock the doors to find that there was no lock. Panicking, she looked around for a moment and spotted a long pipe on the floor. Without thinking she grabbed it and with all her might bent it around the handles of the door to give her at least some time to get farther away.

A sound that was quite a distance away startled the alpha female, making her turn around in alert. She was relieved and surprised to find another werewolf in the building with her although that relief quickly disappeared remembering that there was a werewolf bounty hunter after her, which probably targeted this female werewolf as well. Seeing her looking through some boxes, Serena was about to go towards her to warn her when the doors were pried open by James. She froze as he pointed the gun loaded with silver bullets at her and slowly walked towards her. "Don’t make me shoot you Miss Twilight. Now come quietly or the first thing to go is that bastard Lucian’s kid inside of you." Serena said nothing as she slowly backed up against a wall trying to think of some way to get out of this.

Serena was startled when she felt herself being pulled away from the presence of James’. Finding out that it was actually the female werewolf that she had seen not too long ago made her feel somewhat relieved but nonetheless she still feared those silver bullets that bounty hunter had. Following her rescuer, she rushed up the stairs careful not to bump into the other werewolf and continued hurrying after her.

As the alpha female stared into the back of the psi werewolf in front of her, she noticed a certain familiarity to her but she couldn’t figure out why. She figured if she saw her face then she would recognize but when she did nothing came to mind. The alpha quickly pushed the thoughts away seeing as it wasn’t important at the moment. In a quiet voice only audible to the female werewolf in front of her, Serena warned her. "That man’s a slayer and werewolf bounty hunter. He works in my apartment and he’s got silver bullets." She held in a breath seeing as she almost tripped over a scattered box in their path before continuing. "“He’s after me and he’s probably going to be after you as well. Sorry…”"

Serena somewhat felt guilty for dragging the female werewolf into her mess. She would have lied if she said that she could deal with this alone because she knew she wouldn’t have. Although, the alpha wouldn’t have been alone at all seeing as she had her baby in her which would have made her all the more panicky at the situation. "I don’t really want to get you even more worried but… I’m kind of pregnant…" Suddenly, she remembered what James’ called Lucian, which got her angry. "James is so f**king dead… he called my mate a bastard…" She just wanted to turn around and rip the receptionist’s throat out for what he did but she kept herself from doing so seeing as she would only be endangering herself and her baby.

Breathing a sigh, she continued to follow the wolf in front of her since she knew a place where they could hide. "“I know this isn’t an appropriate time but… do I know you? You seem somewhat familiar to me."

Serena couldn’t help but smile at what the other werewolf said about the situation being somewhat of a game to her. She wished she could find it the same way; maybe if she weren’t pregnant she would have. When the pair stopped in front of a hatch, the alpha wondered why there was even one in a warehouse as the female wolf opened said hatch by pulling on the handle. A loud creaking noise echoed throughout the warehouse making Serena feel panicky again.

As soon as the psi werewolf went through the hatch and held out a hand to the alpha female, she grabbed it and made her way into and through hatch. She watched as the female shut the hatch feeling quite useless seeing as she was the alpha female of the pack. She sighed in disappointment, as the werewolf in front of her didn’t recall her. "No, it’s alright… it is better than being chased after." Serena somewhat chuckled back. "By the way, I’m Serena Twilight…" An introduction was all she spoke before the two werewolves heard a gun shot outside.

"Miss Twilight!!! Come out, come out wherever you are…. Can’t hide out here forever…" If he was trying to taunt her then it was working. Serena covered both her ears not wanting to hear him call out for her. She felt like she was going to cry. "Lucian… where are you?" She called out quietly not realizing that she had done so. The alpha was at a loss on what to do. She knew herself that they couldn’t hide down there for much longer.

Judging by how many times James was firing his gun, she assumed that he had plenty of silver bullets since he had not trouble shooting at them. Serena froze when footsteps could be heard just above them. She prayed that he wouldn’t think about opening the hatch. Looking around, she saw that it was mostly dark in their spot giving them somewhat of an advantage but that wouldn’t stop him from shooting where he wanted. The alpha couldn’t help but feel panicky. God must’ve not answered her prayers since she could hear a noise around the opening of the hatch that sounded like it was going to be opened. Serena just held her breathe and stuck close to the female wolf next to her, wondering what was going to happen next.

‘Hmm…’ the alpha thought as she pondered the familiarity of the name and the werewolf herself. She didn’t feel the time was appropriate to question it though because of the situation they were in so she held it back until later. "I didn’t do anything… to tell you the truth…" Serena frowned before facing Sophie. When the psi werewolf questioned the alpha she simply looked at her. "Yea… Lucian… he’s my mate…" She found it odd that she asked her about him but she figured it was probably because she knew him in some way seeing as he was the alpha male. "Do you know him? His last name’s LaCroix."

Sighing, she placed a hand on the pocket where her phone was hidden in. "I tried to call him but my phone died while James was chasing me… Hey wait… do you a phone with you? Maybe I could cal-" She stopped mid-sentence as the creaking from the hatchet became louder and sounded as if it were going to open in any second.

When Sophie told the alpha her little plan, Serena was about to argue when a sudden revelation came to her. She did know who this girl was. Sophie was Lucian’s cousin. "Wait a second... you’re –" But before she could say anything, to their dismay the hatchet was finally opened sending Serena into a little panic. She quickly hid herself in a dark corner so that the crazed hunter wouldn’t find her. "Ahh… there you are little miss…." James suddenly frowned in frustration as he stepped his way down through the hatchet until he was only feet away from the werewolves. "So… little werewolf… where’s the alpha female?" His gun pointed at Sophie’s head as he stared her dead in the face.

The alpha remained quiet to his taunting as she quickly scanned the area they were in hoping that there was something that she could use for defense. Finally spotting a pipe, she was careful not to make a noise as she picked it up so that James wouldn’t find her hiding spot. She slowly crept along the wall staying hidden in the shadows. Reaching the opening of the hatch, Serena turned around facing the back of the bounty hunter. If the alpha female left Sophie, she wouldn’t forgive herself seeing as she was practically her family now.

Carefully she held the pipe tightly with both hands and raised it above her head positioning herself to strike at the back of James head until finally she did. Serena whacked him from behind with full force causing him to be knocked unconscious. But obviously it wasn’t going to be for long. "Come on!!!" The alpha yelled at Sophie as she made her way up the hatchet and waited nervously knowing that James could wake up at any moment. Spotting Sophie, Serena quickly motioned her to help her close the hatch. As they did this she spoke as she thought of where they should head to next. "We’ve got to get to higher ground!! But we can’t… Let’s head to the roof in the next building!!" She said hurriedly.

Serena followed after Sophie with no hesitation. When they finally got to the roof, she breathed out a sigh of relief that they were at least safe for the moment; unless some sort of bad luck was upon them. Her attention was drawn to Sophie as the psi werewolf gave her the phone. Needing no thinking, she dialed the number but before she hit the talk button she faced the female wolf as she remembered something.

"Umm… Sophie… don’t mention anything about the baby if Lucian does come." She looked at her hoping that she would keep the baby a secret from the alpha male for now. "I don’t want him to get more worried… and I kinda wanted to tell him on my own time…" Serena half-smiled at her as she pressed the talk button and held the phone to her ear. Unfortunately, not three rings ran when the alpha suddenly felt a sharp pain to her head causing her to drop the phone as it continued to ring. She fell to the ground unconscious as her vision became black.

Standing right next to the alpha female was a perfectly fine James pointing his gun down at the knocked-out wolf. A dark smile was on his face as he faced Sophie. "Thought you could knock me out with a mediocre pipe and leave me down there, huh? Well, unfortunately for you I’m a fast healer. And that hatch ain’t going to keep someone strong as me down." He grinned. "Thankfully, I got some old hag to give me some beneficial abilities. Cool right?" James knelt down a little closer to Serena while still keeping his gun pointed down at her stomach. "Now… unless you want your friend and her baby to die right this moment, I suggest you come quietly with me. I’ll be taking the both of you to headquarters." He laughed evilly at this point feeling unstoppable. Hearing a loud slamming sound coming from behind, James growled and looked back to see what that noise was. "Oh… look whose here…"

James laughed maniacally as he listened to Lucian’s little ‘hero speech.’ "Is that all you got Mr. Alpha? I think you’re a little too late here. Should’ve put some action into those instincts of yours." He gave the alpha a dark smile before looking down at Serena’s limp form. "Werewolves are getting harder to catch these days, and the harder to capture the more the bounty increases. Especially, with the high-ranked…" He then brought a hand down to brush away the bangs that were covering Serena’s sleeping face. "And pretty werewolves…" He chuckled looking back up at Lucian wanting to see his reaction.

"Don’t think you’ve got much of an advantage my friend… The difference between me shooting and you shooting me? Well, you would probably die in an instant with my silver bullets and me? Sure I’d be in excruciating pain but I heal fast and even without that I would still live." James stood up from his kneeling position but still kept his gun pointed at Serena. He took a quick peek at the other female werewolf and saw that she remained where she was before looking back at Lucian. "Here’s my proposition… you back off and I’ll spare you the other girl while I take your pretty mate here. Afraid you’ve got no choice here…" Without looking he pulled the trigger of the gun and shot at the ground next to Serena almost targeting her stomach area. "Time’s a ticking, boy." James grinned sadistically.

While all this happened, Serena was slowly becoming conscious after hearing the sound of a gunshot although she didn’t move a muscle to indicate that she was half-awake. She tensed a bit yet was somewhat relieved that Lucian was there. Deciding to remain in the position she was in, she planned on somehow attacking James from behind seeing as he was focusing his attention on the alpha male at the moment. The alpha listened and waited for the right moment.

James wasn’t at all frightened by the Alpha male’s sudden transformation. He simply growled as Lucian lunged at him and pointed his gun at him about to shoot but he was too slow. He felt a searing pain as the wolf chomped his jaws into the hunter’s neck. "GET OFF YOU F**KING MUTT!!!" James howled as he was somehow able to throw Lucian off of him. He watched as the alpha landed dangerously near the very edge of the roof narrowly missing a fatal fall. Immediately, he brought a hand to the bitten part of his neck to keep the blood from flowing out, just long enough for him to heal. Already feeling the magic doing its work, he released his hold on his neck and placed his bloody hand on the other side of the gun that was once again pointing at the alpha male.

"Big mistake my friend… very big mistake…" James stared him down watching his every move. "Oh I don’t think I’ll give you the satisfaction of being killed. I mean… wouldn’t your little efforts in protecting your pack be in vain? I could kill these two right after I’m done with you. No… I think I’ll torture you nice and slowly… then make you watch as I do the same to Miss Twilight and the other girl. Isn’t that a great plan?" He chuckled evilly.

By now his wound was completely healed, the only left from it was a faint scar. Feeling up for a taunt, James pulled the trigger and shot the spot right in front of Lucian. He didn’t worry about wasting ammo since he had more in his pocket. "I’ve been wanting to shoot you ever since you first stepped into Miss Twilight’s building. Don’t know why but you infuriate me very much." Bringing the gun up, he played around with it aiming at Lucian’s leg at one point and then switching over to his head. "So… where do I shoot you first? Hmm? I intend on you dying a slow and painful death. How about we go for your throat so we won’t hear a sound from you?" James chortled madly as he aimed at the alpha’s throat. "Any last words?"

At this point, Serena couldn’t take it anymore. She wasn’t going to let him say anymore crap to her mate. Slowly opening her eyes to make sure James wasn’t looking at her, she found that his sight wasn’t directed towards her at all. Glaring at the man, she carefully picked herself up to a standing position and stepped carefully towards him. It was then that she jumped on James’ back and wrapped her arm around his neck putting him into a chokehold. "Go F**ck yourself James!" She growled as she bit down on his shoulder causing him to yell out in pain while at the same time gasp for air. James tried to claw the alpha off his back but to no avail were his efforts working. Serena’s action was also causing the hunter to shoot randomly, decreasing the amount of bullets in his gun.

Serena continued to keep her hold on James when she felt a burning sensation on her cheek. She screamed out in pain causing her to fall to the ground on her back. Automatically, she brought a hand to her cheek and pressed down as she went into a fetal position. As she lay in pain, she looked at her hand and saw blood. The alpha then realized what happened. One of James’ bullets must’ve grazed her cheek when he began firing all over the place. The pain felt like a thousand needles were poking her at once; it was unbearable for the alpha as she continued to moan in pain.

James noticed the alpha female in a vulnerable state and simply glared at her as he brought a hand to his shoulder. "You bit me Miss Twilight…" Slowly, he brought his gun to point again at Serena for the last time. "I think I’m going to kill you and it right here… right… NOW." He prepared himself to shoot at her heart so that the killing would be instant. "Goodbye Miss Twilight…" His final words were before he attempted to pull the trigger.

Serena was still very much in pain as she continued to groan in the discomfort. She recalled hearing Lucian saying something about being alright and James saying good bye to her but what about after that? Wincing as she tried to keep herself from yelling out, she looked around the roof for a moment and found that the only people on it were herself and Sophie. Stumbling her way into a standing position she slowly made her way over to the psi werewolf to see if she was alright. "Sophie, are you okay?"

Looking around again, she panicked wondering where Lucian and James were. Her eyes widened at the thought of her mate falling off the roof. Bringing Sophie with her to the roof’s edge she gazed down for a moment before spotting the limp body of James,; red blood seeped the ground below him forming a small puddle. However, the hunter was no longer a concern or worry for the alpha any longer. Where was her mate though?

Leaning a little closer over the edge, the pain from the silver was putting her in pain again making her kneel down and support her upper body on the ledge. She closed her eyes for a moment sucking in the pain and feeling pretty weak. Serena made herself stay awake and until she knew that Lucian was alright, she would force herself to. Opening her eyes and looking down at a fire escape, she smiled and sighed in relief seeing that he was alright after all. She would have called out to him but her body was getting weaker and weaker by the minute.

Knowing that her mate was fine, was all that Serena needed to know. Feeling tired, the alpha curled into a fetal position on the floor and lay there wincing at the pain from her wound. Others would have probably found it pathetic at her reaction to a minor bullet wound, but of course to a wolf it could simply be the deadliest thing to them if it had silver in it. With one hand on her grazed cheek, she brought the other hand on her belly hoping that nothing bad was going to happen to the baby. The alpha would simply be devastated and heartbroken. Plus she had yet to tell the alpha male of the news and the situation that happened forced her to delay telling him. Serena breathed a sigh and slowly started to cry, being overwhelmed by so many emotions. She just wanted to go home at this point.

Serena felt weak and the wound on her face was slightly throbbing. Moments after she lay down on the floor and broke into a small cry, she barely noticed Lucian’s gesture to her hair or even when he lifted her up into his arms. She was pretty surprised to find herself in her current position as she looked up to see her mate and wrapped her free arm around his neck since the hand on her other arm was pressed against her wound. The alpha rested her head against her mate’s shoulder as she whimpered every now and then from the pain.

"I can’t believe it… James of all people…" She looked down eyes focused on the zipper of jacket with disbelief. Serena hadn’t gotten to know the receptionist very well but every time she walked through the lobby of her apartment for the past two years she’d see him busy at work behind the desk passing a smile as she made her way into the elevator. Sighing, she wasn’t sure what to make of this. Were there others like James waiting behind the shadows until they find the perfect time to go after her; or even also the pack members? The alpha wasn’t sure if she would be able to befriend any other people after what happened with James.

Remembering Sophie and not being able to see that she was following behind, she wondered where she was. "Love? Where’s your cousin? Is Sophie following us?" Serena was kind of in a daze at the moment as she sighed and looked at Lucian noticing that he had glasses on. She frowned seeing as she never saw or even knew that he wore glasses. Placing her head back on his shoulder, she commented on it without really thinking about the words that were coming out of her mouth. "You look weird with glasses, honey."

Feeling sleepy, she closed her eyes and took deep slow breaths. The sleep wouldn’t come to her though which annoyed her somewhat seeing as she was feeling weak and fatigued. Pain was still running through her body from the wound and it seemed like it was never going to be relieved. Were these the after-effects from the silver? If so then Serena never again wanted to experience it again.