Huntress's Awakening (Dark & Sinful)

As she parked her car in the grocery store’s parking lot, Nadia let out a little breath. She just sat there for a second and leaned forward on the steering wheel. What was she doing? This wasn’t living, and she felt so stuck and out of place. Why did she keep running? The coven would find her and drag her back eventually, making her participate in her awakening.

You might think hearing that, that Nadia was a witch. Well, she wasn’t. Not really, she’d been born to a hunter’s coven. Hunters could have abilities like witches, some even got talents like the dangerous creatures they hunted. Though at this point Nadia did not see much difference between the hunters and some of the things they hunted. They were greedy and hunted now for money and sometimes sport. Not to help people, well most of the hunters.

However, Nadia was questioning all the races as a whole. That was why she ran though, left the coven, and had not looked back. She did not stop moving and didn’t stay places for very long.

After all, she was running from hunters and did not have her abilities yet. She was not woken, she didn’t want to be. Nor did she want to be handed off to some hunter like a broodmare for their precious bloodlines. Nadia was of a prestigious line. She wasn’t even woke yet and she was a much sought-after huntress. Hunters were unique powerful humans, very capable of being changed. So that made them dangerous too if you were born with those genetics. One of the reasons female hunters were handed off to the men of their covens so fast after awakening.

She hated their way of life, the devout views crammed down your throat from the moment you were born. Especially being a woman, she felt like she lived in some convent for nuns. She just wanted to explore, see the world. Maybe find somewhere to settle down, someone to settle down with. However, she was too scared to stop moving, that they would find her and drag her back to that cult life. They would in a sense, bind her with the man of their choosing. Not hers.

With a heavy sigh, Nadia got out of the car. She had a lot of money, she was smart. Savvy, and had cards and bank accounts created with an entirely fake person. Fake life, had it made for years actually. She got in touch with a huntress who helped others escape, so there was at least a system she could use. Though she was on her own now with what she’d siphoned from the cult and saved up herself.

Nadia glanced about this very small town. It was kind of like a resort town. She had managed to get a cabin up by a lake in the mountain area here. She liked that, she’d been in the cities for a while. Bouncing around, but cities had a lot of technology to track you. It was also crawling with other creatures that might notice her and her scent. She was always aware if someone was more than human.

Though not every single species was out to get you. She just kept her head down and had not had any problems yet. Only a very sharp, experienced, or frankly dangerous creature would be able to pick her out and what she was before her awakening. Which she did not plan to do. In the best-case scenario, they thought she was just some changeable human. Not all humans were able to change, just some. Hunters, as she said, had a higher likelihood of this. She didn’t think any were going to pick up on her though, she wasn’t woke.

It was rather cold here, they were moving into winter now. So she was taking this place for the winter months. Seemed like a good idea, so she needed provisions. Nadia entered the store pulling down the hood of her jacket, she’d put up walking in from the brisk wind. Her jacket was warm but on the lighter side. She just grabbed a shopping cart and started going about grabbing things that she needed. She already stopped to get her keys for the cabin, so she would just head right there after this.

Nadia was moving down the dairy area grabbing some things. There were a couple of women standing there chatting. They were kind of close together whispering a bit, almost giggling like school girls. Nadia wanted what they were in front of, but they weren’t really paying attention to her.

“Excuse me,” Nadia said with a smile. She got a look, but the one woman apologized and moved across the aisle to talk with the other woman. Nadia had really good hearing, a lot of her senses were just more.

“I mean hot damn Beth. Just look at him, I heard Tally got one of them to come to help down at the docks to get things closed for winter the other weekend. Eye candy, no shirt hot out. Grrr,” The two women started laughing and were clearly eyeing someone down the way. Nadia glanced up as that was the way she was going.

A man was holding a basket in one hand grabbing some items out of a case. Nadia did a quick look, no wonder the women were eyeing him. Tall, dark, and handsome over there was one of those male figures that would spike estrogen levels in any room he walked into.

He had a tighter-fitting navy blue shirt, clearly ripped. His hair was a midnight black color. As he shut the case that he was in he turned their way. Nadia immediately noted the mint green eyes that stood out. They were also very sharp, she did not look at him long at all.

She turned to grab some more items out of the case there. The immediate vibe she got from him, her instincts said he was probably more than human. Dangers of being a hunter. Though her alarms were not going off so she just ignored it. Not her first run-in, would not be her last.

As she said, not all species were bad. There was a lot that lived among others. She even talked with many of them and they didn’t even know she was something else. As she said, without her being woke, most would miss that she was a huntress. That was okay, she didn’t need the stigma. Nor others trying to take off her head.

“Ladies,” He said with a smile passing the two women. Nadia just watched from the corner of her eye. She was pretty sure the one woman was going to faint. Nadia just kept her head down. Nice voice too, probably a kind of supernatural that had a draw. Nadia just kept moving and went down the way where he’d been.

Since she didn’t look back, she missed that he paused in his walk the opposite way. Ever so slightly his head turned and just a bit of an inhale. His body shifted as he stopped and looked back the way that she had gone. Nadia though felt this sudden intense stare, and a shiver go down her spine. She did turn her head to look, but the man was gone having moved down one of the aisles there. So she missed seeing that he’d looked at her with contemplation.

Shaking it off, Nadia went about her shopping. She paused in one aisle looking in her cart and then checking her phone quickly just to see if she got her list. When she went to go forward she nearly pushed her cart right into someone standing there. She was startled. She hadn’t heard anyone approach even if she was at the end of the aisle here. It was rather hard to sneak up on her. Nadia looked up at this man from before, he was holding his basket and just stared at her for a moment.

“Sorry,” Nadia said nicely. She was not here to start anything. If he was a nonhuman and noted something about her just playing stupid normally worked best. She just said sorry about nearly hitting him with the cart.

“Can I,” she gestured for space with another polite smile. He stared at her for a second and then suddenly he just flashed her a rather bright smile. For a second she thought that he was going to do something. It was just this look in his eyes, and it did make her heart beat a little faster. Was he suspicious of her? Oh please don’t be, she did not want to move and have to find another place to set up and live.

“I’m sorry, you just really looked like someone I thought I knew. Guess I was a little disappointed. Apologies for the rudeness,” He said, his tone smooth and he did step to the side. She hoped that was the truth, again she did not feel threatened so must just have gotten a vibe from her or something.

“It’s okay. Promise we haven’t met, I just got here. Thanks,” Nadia stated moving to go around him. He turned with her as she moved out of the aisle. She was a little surprised to find him moving alongside her. She kept her calm though, clearly something about her must have set off his radar. As she said, she was sure she could sense he was not human. Chances were he got the feeling that she was more too, but again shouldn’t be too obvious and he wasn’t being hostile yet.

“What is your name? Did you just move here?” He asked and she looked at him. He flashed her a smile once more, she did feel this pull toward him. Charm and glamour no doubt would draw most humans in.

“Sorry, locals are quite curious when someone new rolls into town in the off-season. Tourists and vacationing people don’t come right at the start of winter. If I ask first, then I have something to tell the others,” he stated moving with her and his posture was relaxed. She saw no reason to be hostile, especially if he did live here.

“You know, curiosity killed the cat,” She said with a smile. He gave a slight laugh that was deeper. There was an edge to his eyes again.

“What a curious expression to pick,” He stated, and she frowned at him.

“I like the expression, quite fond of cats actually. My name is Nadia, yours?” She asked pausing where they were and offered her hand. He took it in a rather firm grip. Her darker blue gaze met his very unique one.

“Sawyer,” he stated. Nadia pulled her hand back feeling like he held it for a little too long. She felt uncomfortable again with the way that he was looking at her. Hot, she felt like the room got warmer.

“Pleasure, I’m just here to stay for a little while. Please forgive me, but I really need to finish shopping before it gets dark. Perhaps I will see you around,” Nadia told him and moved forward as Sawyer just gave a nod.

He did not follow her this time, but he was watching her. Nadia turned to look back as she went around a corner, but he wasn’t there. She let out a small breath. Well, hopefully, she didn’t have to pick up and leave faster than she wanted to. Guess time would tell.