It was a quarter after midnight when I completely lost faith in the monsters of Boulder. Not even a single attack on the whole city, on Halloween night?! They are bringing shame to the monsters' reputation. Even Will is a little disappointed and he usually enjoys dull nights like this one. I never enjoyed being a hunter, but I always needed the hunts. They are my way of coping with my unresolved issues. Even if they remind me of why my upbringing was so messed up, they are the only constant thing in my life that makes my blood run quicker every time. But Boulder is ruining my love-hate relationship. It always makes me consider missing London for a second.
"This is so boring." Says Will, finishing the beer in his hand and dumping the bottle on the stairs we were staying on. We were at the backdoor of fraternity's house, drinking cheap beer and wondering where are all the monsters hiding on Halloween night.
"We should get inside and get wasted. Have a single good thing happening tonight." I say in a sigh, taking another sip of my beer.
"You can always go inside at Jackson. I bet he's looking for you right now." Mocks me, Will, taking my beer and gulping the alcohol like he didn't just finish his drink.
"Maybe they are partying like we should be doing." I divert the conversation and wonder while looking at the moon.
"Maybe," says Will, taking another sip of my beer and dumping the empty bottle after, "but you know who surely is partying right now?"
"If you say, Jackson, I'm going to cut your throat with my pocket knife, William," I warn him with a serious look on my face. I was tired of his Jackson-jokes. He can be funny, but he doesn't know when to drop it.
"I wanted to say Beatrice, but sure, kill the funny guy. Like in every horror movie ever made."
"You're not funny, Will."
"And your sense of humour is as real as an unicorn... oh, look!"
"If you are going to show me an invisible unicorn..." I threaten him but I can't finish my sentence because he spins my head towards the side of the house. I see a blonde girl sprinting the moment I turn to face her, so I get up and chase after her.
Will follows me quickly and we both end on the main street, searching for our fugitive. The street lamps were dim so it was hard to see if anyone was hiding in the nearby bushes or behind the trees. I reached for my bow and stayed alert as Will was spreading fairy dust on the pavement. If should show us if a supernatural was here. They leave a trail of magic behind them that the dust can make visible for us.
"Anything?" I ask, turning around to see a glowing shoeprint on the asphalt. But it was sole and it didn't point us in any direction. But it gave us a clue about our runaway monster: it can fly.
"She looked human so I'm guessing she was a lost fairy?" Says Will, searching the perimeter once more. I put my bow away, considering his assumption.
"Why would a fairy run away from us? They are friendly with hunters because they like to make trades."
"Right, then what else?" He asks and I shrug. I have no idea, but I'm surely going to find out. I don't have anything better to do with my night anyway. I take a better look at the asphalt and turn a flashlight on. I see faint traces of tires and I immediately recognise the pattern. I run to the place I parked my bike and I see that it was gone.
"That stealing bitch will pay for touching my bike!" I shout furious and unlock my phone. I'm glad I've put a tracking device on my motorcycle after Will's previous bike was stolen. "She's heading west, we have to stop her before she enters the pack."
Will agrees and we both get on his bike. He drives off and speeds past the campus, the centre and into the highway. I follow the thief and direct Will to an early exit off the motorway. I know that this path is linked to an access point to Boulder Creek Pack. That bitch must be a werewolf if she's heading that way. I can see a faint tail light when we get on that side street. William speeds up even more and we almost catch up with our thief; before she turns right and disappears into thin air.
"What the fuck?" I say as we park the bike and we look like two complete idiots at the tree she disappeared into.
"I told you it was a fairy!" Proudly states Will when he dusts the tree and it shines brighter than usual. An obvious sign of fairy magic.
"Why would a fairy steal a motorcycle? Don't they have wings?" I ask, looking at the tree in disbelief. This world is getting weirder day after day.
"Let's stress about it tomorrow. There's nothing else we can do now." William mounts on his bike and I sigh, following him. We make our plan to go to the Yetis first thing in the morning to report our fairy thief. I have some hours to think about a plan to retrieve my bike and maybe get some rest before the hunt.
"Did you hear that?" Asks Will.
I turn around and there were glowing red eyes watching us, safely hidden in the darkness of night. I hear movement and I know I should aim at my now moving target. But I just can't help but stare at this monster's eyes in awe. Good thing Will got my back. I hear a growl immediately after Will's first arrow pierces the monster's skin. That was just a warning to keep his distance. Most of the times, it is enough to make them go. This one though must have woken up today with a death wish.
"Stay away, we don't need trouble," says Will, aiming another arrow towards the red-eyed monster. I was trying to guess what it is: a demon? Maybe a hungry vampire? I hope it's the latter, to be honest.
We get a growl as a response, which can only mean that he's not going down without a fight. And exactly when my mood for a fight vanished! But I wake up to reality and I equip with my blessed silver daggers. Vampire or demon, they will pierce through its skin like it was made of paper. I'm ready for its attack, but it doesn't even seem to look at me at this point. The monster's whole attention is on Will, which worries me immediately. I quickly move in front of my partner, facing those red eyes with a fierce look.
I want to keep my strong act up, but I feel my knees shivering when his silhouette emerges from the shadows and his now green eyes are now scanning me. His tan skin tells me that he's surely not a vampire, and the fact that he can change his eye colour indicates me that he is a shapeshifter. But what kind? He may be an Alpha Werewolf, which would be plausible because we are kilometres away from Boulder Creek. If he is the Alpha of the pack, then we are safe. The werewolves' truce with the hunters will prevent him from hurting Will or me. But if he's not...
"Who are you?" I manage to say when the silence gets uncomfortable. "Are you the Boulder Creek's Alpha?"
"Did the red eyes fool you, sweetheart?" He asks me with a grin and I already formulate my sassy response in my head.
"This is stupid," Will states, shoving me behind his back, "why are you here?"
"I was trying to meet my mate, but I may have to kill you first." I see his eyes turning briefly red again when he speaks. I take a step to the right, then come beside Will.
"We're not keeping you from meeting your mate. We were on a mission, but that is kind of over. We'll be on our way and you can forget we run into each other." I try to reason with him, but he looks at me like I've grown another head. I know I may have talked too fast, but he should have followed me. I'm not repeating, it took enough of me to be able to stare into his emerald eyes without entering 'daydreaming world'. Don't ask me what is wrong with me, crushing on a threatening monster, because I'm used to my irrationality coming to the surface at the worst times.
"Fine, playtime's over. Get lost shifter, before I lose my temper." Blusters Will at him and it shocks him. I've never seen him so serious and I wonder what triggered this side of him. He's usually more amused during such times and I'm forced to be the mature and responsible hunter of the team. Maybe my brain's minor episode of stupidity is so obvious and it made my friend fear that I may get myself killed. Like I worry about him every damn time we're on the field.
"I've already lost mine, hunter. And you are wrong, by the way. Playtime has just begun." His last words are processed too slow by my idiot brain and I'm taken by surprise when the shifter attacks Will. The fight is short-lived as the once-again-red-eyed monster knocks my partner out cold with two hard hits in the face. When I see blood coming out of Will's nose, I dive recklessly into their fight and throw the monster off my friend.
I reach for the wolfsbane syringe in my black leather waist bag and I manage to inject him with half of it before he tosses me away. I see him approaching me and I back away, waiting for the wolfsbane to kick in. But when it doesn't, I instantly want to run away and save myself. Will's unconscious body on the ground stops me from cowardly escaping this. I can't do that to him, after everything we've been through this past year. If this shall be our last hunt, then I'll go down fighting to protect my partner, not leaving him at the mercy of this beast.
"What the hell was that?" The monster asks me, catching my arm and forcing me to get up.
"Ahm, my lame attempt at saving my ass?" I say and he still looks confused. "I'm still curious why it didn't work. That wolfsbane should've knocked you out cold."
"Wolfsbane doesn't work on me, sweetheart." He answers and I try to free myself from his grip.
"So you are indeed a demon. Happy Halloween, I guess." I didn't know how to react. These vicious beasts are cruel and unforgetful. Will attacked him first, which only gave him a reason to strike back. He'll tear us apart and leave no trace of our murders. We're just screwed.
"I'm not," he says and I stop myself from saying my last prayer in my head.
"You're not?" I dumbly reply and I get the inner desire to slap myself when these words escape my filterless mouth.
"I'm a Lycan, love. An heir, even." He tells me and I search in my head for any information I have on his species.
They are not trouble-makers like the rest of the supernaturals. They are one of the most powerful monsters, but most of them are modest about their greatness. They are the only species of supernaturals that are allowed to live on human lands without being monitored. We rarely encounter a Lycan, and it mostly happens at Truce Parties or other similar occasions. I remember seeing a group of Lycans at my mom's art gallery opening in Paris, more than a year ago. They even stayed for the after-party, which surprised me. Although the supernaturals we are allied with are invited to such gatherings, they usually don't stick around or interact with the hunter. But the Lycans were friendly and complimented my mother multiple times on her artwork. One of them even asked me if I inherited her talent, which I most definitely didn't. I don't know where the art gene was lost in my genetic making, but it is gone anyway.
"I've meet Lycans before," I manage to say back, "and you're praised to be a peaceful species of... beings." I ungracefully avoided the word 'monsters', but he didn't seem to mind.
"The mated ones are more tamed, but we are still savages when it comes to our soul mates." He explains to me, although I didn't necessarily need to know any of that. I just want to grab Will and get him to Yeti. They'll treat him there, and I still have to report a fugitive, motorcycle-lover fairy.
"I glad for the information on Lycans, but I really should be going. I'm sorry to have bothered you, but you knocked my friend out so you have to forgive me for the syringe." I explain to him, getting his hand off me and making my way towards Will's inert body. It scared me how still he is, but I know he is alive. I know he is.
"Where are you going?" He asks when I've put enough distance between us. I almost roll my eyes but I remember that I have an all-mighty Lycan in front of me and gather all my inner niceness to answer him in a friendly manner.
"I've got to take my mate here to a hospital. You know, so he doesn't die because of internal haemorrhage or whatever your fists inflicted on him." My tone is sweet and I don't make any swift moves, except for briefly pointing towards Will.
"He is not your mate! Don't ever call him like that again!" He yells and his eyes turn red. Alerted again, I reach for my arrow and prepare to shoot. This appears to calm him down as his eyes become green again and almost pleading me to put the silver-coated arrowhead out of his sight. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shout at you."
I don't say a thing, but I put the arrow back in my bag. I keep the bow in my left hand, ready to aim again if provoked. Okay, airhead Aline was just retired. I'm more than prepared to take down this monster and get Will some help. I may need some help myself to put down a fricking Lycan, but I have to believe that all my years of training were not in vain. I've faced worse, didn't I?
"Look, we started on a very wrong foot. Let's have a do-over. I'm Asher Silveira."
"Aline Thrussell."
"Very nice to meet you, Aline." He says and tries to approach me but I drop the bow and get my revolver.
"Can't say the same, Silveira. You pissed me off, which is not hard to accomplish." I get the safety off and aim. "I guess you're unlucky enough to stumble on a hunter with a bad temper."
"Stop with the games, Aline. You don't want to hurt me, and neither do I want to harm you in any way. Can't you feel it?"
"I only feel an urge to pull this trigger, and I may give in soon enough. I suggest you run whilst you still can."
"You wouldn't..." he utters but my look must have convinced him. I surely can and he can be as sure as hell that I will.
I almost smile triumphantly when I see the defeated look on his face, which allows my defences to come down. And it was the mistake he was waiting for. I merely understand the way he inhumanly teleports in front of me and throws my gun in a nearby bush. He catches my chin and forces me to look into his green and breath-catching eyes as he slightly lifts me off the ground.
"Forgive me, my love," he whispers and he turns me around, his forearm pressed tightly against my neck. My knees fail me from the lack of oxygen his grip causes me and I go limp into his arms like a spineless distressed damsel.