Avery's POV

The sounds of the night filled my ears as I kept myself hidden in the brush. The sun of a new day had come and gone, time was slipping away. He was getting tired and reckless. Sloppy. Careless.

I'd let him think he'd fooled me. I'd catch up to him and hobble him- bite into his ankles, his side- but then let him run just far enough to think that he'd lost me. But the smell of his blood never left my nose. It was my drug. The very thing that kept him alive would lead to his death.

He'd situated himself in a clearing a bit outside of the pack, blood leaking out of his side as he laid under the moonlight in his broken human form. Sweat beaded his forehead and I could smell his fear. He knew what I was doing, that I was toying with him. I could practically see the weight of his realization: he wasn't going to make it out alive. The look in his eye was euphoric.

In a desperate move to heal his slowly healing wounds, he extended his claws and dug them into his already mutilated side, causing a strangled howl of pain to resonate in his throat as the healing process was quickly triggered by the increase of pain and urgency and in the blink of an eye, he was healed and gone. But he was different. The meticulous, calculated movements I had always associated with him were no more, but rather replaced by messy stumbles and falls.

It was time to make my move.

I'd toyed with him long enough. And the sooner I was done with him, the sooner I could get back to Grey. The very thought elated my wolf.

Growing bored with the game of cat and mouse that we were playing, I went after him full speed, bloodlust pumped through my veins as I did so. Within moments, his flesh was between my teeth, his warm smooth blood trickling down the back of my throat as he thrashed beneath me with a vigor that mirrored that of a runt.

I buried my teeth in him, causing him to let out a howl of pain before his wolf abandoned him and returned him to his feeble human state. Grinning to myself, I savagely threw him down before I too shifted back into my human form. He cradled his injuries, constantly losing his grip due to the slipperiness of the blood that was seeping between his fingers, as he weakly crawled away from me. Oh yeah, this was going to be fun.

I delivered a swift kick to his ribs, causing him to whimper in pain. "Look at me, Phoenix," I demanded, but he continued in his useless attempts to escape me. A growl of frustration escaped my lips and within a moment, I had him pinned against the ground as I straddled him with my fingers around his throat and his blood dripping down my chin. His eyes were wide with fear as he fought for the oxygen I was cruelly depriving him of. "I said look at me, runt!" I growled, as I let my eyes shift back to their natural color. "I want you to look in my eyes. The same eyes you looked into when you beat me. When you raped me. When you let those disgusting pigs do whatever they wanted to me. Those eyes are going to be the same eyes you look into when you die."

By now he was shaking, each tremor pulsating with unparalleled fear and defeat. "P-Please Avery, don't-"

"You don't get to make requests, Phoenix. You are nothing." To prove my point, I took his arm in my hand and effortlessly snapped it in a direction it definitely wasn't meant to bend in. He screamed in agony as tears filled his eyes. I couldn't help but laugh as I looked at him. "Phoenix, are you crying?" I couldn't control my laughter. "Wow, the big bad wolf actually has emotions."

"What are you?" He asked, his voice shaking and weak.

I ran my finger over my blood covered bottom lip before I put it in my mouth, looking him dead in the eye. "I'm the executioner. You already sentenced yourself when you decided to put your hands on me and now, I'm here to make sure you get what's yours. You know, me and River have been fantasizing about this moment for a very long time. How I would rip you apart and watch you slowly bleed out. But when you decided to cross my pack, to threaten my pack," I clicked my tongue and shook my head, "I was pissed. But then I realized, it would give me the opportunity that I wanted: to kill you and your sick bastards of a pack. A win-win if I've ever heard of one."

He shook his head. "Please Avery, d-don't. If you let me go, I-I promise-"

"Your promises mean nothing," I growled in anger. "What you did to me, what you took from me, are things I can never get back, never fully recover from. And you think a promise is going to fix it? Come on, if you really want to live, give me one, just one good reason not to rip out your throat."

Nothing but silence followed.

I shook my head. "That's what I thought."

Phoenix weakly growled. "I'm better off being dead than an abomination like you. A monster with no heart, no soul. Just bloodlust and the destruction of anything and anyone you cross."

"That's where you're wrong, Phoenix. Me and you, we're the same now. The only difference is that I go after people who deserve it. What did you do? Prey on little girls with no parents? Taint innocence with your evil? I might be an abomination, but I am not a monster."

He scuffed. "Burn in hell."

All at once, I felt his feet under my stomach before I was sent flying through the air. Pain erupted through my body as I slammed into a tree and colors blurred my vision, but before I could regain myself, I felt the worst pain I'd ever felt in my life. In front of me with his good hand in my chest was Phoenix with a smug look on his face. I could feel my heart fighting to beat against his tight grip and scraping against his fingernails.

He didn't learn from last time.

Anger pulsated through me as my eyes shifted and I effortlessly grabbed his arm and broke it, causing him to release his grip on my heart before I tackled him and let my anger get the best of me.

All I heard were screams of agony as I mercilessly ripped into him, his blood staining the once green grass as I felt all tension and strength leave his body. But I didn't stop. He didn't deserve to go out quickly or pretty. Not after what he'd done.

River was elated to hear the silence of death and feel his life slip away between my jaws as I dug into his rib cage and tore out his heart, effectively ending him for good.

Then it was finished.

Breathing heavily, I let his heart drop from my mouth as I slowly stood up, my knees shaking from the adrenaline and emotional release. He was unrecognizable, nothing more than a pile of blood and flesh. I found myself smiling as I wiped my mouth before I let out a loud, powerful howl, announcing the end of the Hunt. I instantly got a chorus of howls back, a form of congratulations for completing my first hunt.

Within moments, I felt a pair of familiar, strong arms around me. "I'm so proud of you, little wolf," Greyson whispered in my ear from behind me.

"Thank you," I said as I looked at what I'd done.

Greyson started turning me around in his arms. "The bastard definitely got what he had coming to him. How do you- whoa, what's wrong?" He asked as his eyebrows furrowed and he swept his thumb over my cheek, revealing tears.

A breath of a chuckle escaped my lips as I quickly wiped the rest away. "I didn't even realize...I guess I'm just so relieved that it's over and that I did it."

"The first Hunt is always a lot." He gently said before he put his forehead on mine. "How do you feel, little wolf?"

"Honestly? Amazing." Greyson gave me a grin before he leaned in for a kiss.

"Grey, I still have his-"

I was interrupted by Greyson feverishly kissing me with a passion that made me hate the clothes that were separating us. "Greyson, we need to stop," I whispered though my hands wandering over his body sent a different message.

"I know," he said as he kissed my mark, causing my knees to go weak as my core spasmed. "But this isn't over." He straightened up and looked me in the eyes, the blood that was once covering my lips now on his. A shadow passed over his eyes as he used his thumb to wipe his lips before he licked it off, maintaining eye contact with me as he did so. He needed to stop before I couldn't control myself, especially in the "sensitive" state my wolf and I were in now.

Within moments, the Warriors had appeared, ready for orders as to how I wanted to deal with Phoenix. I turned to them as Greyson protectively wrapped his arms around me to cover me since I was still very much naked. "Call Atonya. Tell her that I want him in limbo for a long time before he's freed to the Goddess for judgement, understood?"

"Yes, Luna!" They chorused.

I found myself smiling due to all the power I now had. It felt so good to not be at the bottom. To not be afraid.

Greyson swept my hair from my face before he leaned in and lowly said, "Gavin and I think this calls for a celebration, don't you agree?"

Sparks moved through me as I bit my lip and nodded, causing him to smile before he picked me up bridal style and ran me all the way back to the house, my laughter and screams following us as he did so.

Once we got in the bathroom, he started bathing me, his hands massaging and cleaning me as he whispered sweet nothings in my ear. "You're so beautiful," he said from behind me as I sat on his lap in the tub. I closed my eyes and leaned back so my head was on his shoulder as he continued running the towel over my body just enough to tease me but not enough for me to have my way with him.

He was my drug and every time we touched, pure ecstasy moved through me.

"I love you," he softly said as he tightly wrapped his arms around me.

"I love you too," I instantly said.

He held me tighter and we stayed like that for a while. And it was almost enough to distract me from the hole that was burning itself into my heart and weighing me down like an anchor tied to my ankles.

Almost.