"Aunt Phoebe?" Luna questioned, watching as her aunt focused on Simon. Her stunning ocean-blue eyes were narrowed in deep concentration, taking in every action of Isaac's boyfriend.
Phoebe frowned, biting her lip. "I don't trust him," she muttered low enough so that only Luna could hear her. Or at least Luna should have been the only one to have heard her.
Simon had tilted his head to the side at Aunt Phoebe's words, and a frown tugged his lips down just a fraction, but otherwise, he did not look in their direction.
"What about him don't you trust?" Luna could understand where her aunt was coming from if one just took in Simon's appearance. But getting to know the boy, or hearing anything about his reputation at school, anyone would know that Simon was extremely studious and straight-laced. He was like the male, shaggy version of Luna.
"He's trouble." A fit young man who drove a pickup truck. He also reminded her of someone-though Phoebe was having a hard time of recalling who that someone was.
"Hmm," Luna hummed. "I don't think he'll do anything to Isaac. He has been chasing Isaac for. . .I think two years?"
Luna then tugged on the sleeve of Phoebe's blouse, pulling her farther away from the others. "Kwon gave me a strange warning earlier. He said something about Carl not trusting Mr. Traskey, and that I should stay away."
"Oh? Did he say why?"
Luna shook her head. "Kwon only mentioned that Carl's behavior had changed when he saw Mr. Traskey's keychain."
A keychain?
Phoebe wondered if this was an actual warning or another prank this prick Carl was playing on Luna. Carl had a habit of showing open animosity towards her niece. Though Mark did too-but he had promised her that he would stop.
"I'll look into it. It never hurts to be cautious. Oh, make sure to rest up after they leave. Jackson called to say that there was a gang of furies running loose."
* * *
Carl jogged into the house straight after school and headed for his father's personal library. His father didn't look like much of a reader with his rough and burly looks, but he was a man who believed that knowledge was the key to overcoming any obstacle life might throw in your path. The room was entirely dedicated to housing books that each alpha leader collected during their time or journals they personally wrote.
Somewhere in one of these books was the symbol that Carl had seen on Mr. Traskey's keychain. He couldn't remember what that symbol stood for, but he knew that it wasn't good.
Scanning a finger over the spines of each book, he quickly read the titles. After not finding what he was looking for, he moved to his father's desk and started searching through the drawers. That is where he kept most of the personal journals and important guidebooks.
"What are you doing?"
Startled, Carl jumped at the sound of his father's growling voice. Okay, he wasn't actually growling, but it always sounded like he was.
"Where's the book about the Hunters? I think we have one at school but I'm not sure which Hunter he is." Carl asked, flicking a quick gaze over to his father's prone form.
Hunters were a group of humans that hunted down those who belonged to the magical community. There was a large group that hunted all magical creatures without differentiating between the species, but most Hunters were broken into smaller factions that hunted down one specific creature. There were Hunters that only chased down werewolves, those that only went after vampires, and so on.
"What makes you think that?" His father asked, his larger frame still propped against the open door frame. His long shaggy hair was kept up in a neat bun on top of his head, a strange look for someone who supposedly ran his own business. But the business was a gym, so it probably didn't really matter what his father looked like, just as long as he was buff and a good trainer.
"He had a keychain made out of amethyst. Carved in the center was the Eye of Ra. I might be making something out of nothing, but I don't want to take the chance."
Being careless was something that he couldn't afford to be. If there truly was a Hunter walking among them, then his pack was in danger.
He may not have an actual pack of wolves that he watched over like his old man, but he did have friends that weren't human that he was close to. And he counted those friends as a part of his pack.
. . .Well, the little witch wasn't a part of his pack. But he was willing to at least watch after her since Mark had a thing for her, even if he tried to hide it from everyone.
. . .Not to mention that the little witch's best friend was the person that his cousin was in love with. That was another reason to watch after her.
"The Eye of Ra? You're looking at a Witch Hunter."
Carl looked up at his father. "Is there something we can do about it?" Carl had never told his father that he was friends with a witch. Though Carl had never even told Mark that he had discovered his secret.
It hadn't been hard for Carl to figure out that Mark and Luna were witches. He was an alpha wolf, and one that possessed far superior senses than even his own father's. That meant that Carl could literally smell when magic had been cast.
So it wasn't hard for him to figure out that Luna was a witch when her magic ran rampant when her parents passed away. But figuring out that Mark had been a witch had been harder.
But Carl liked that about Mark because Carl hated witches who used their magic at the drop of a hat. Like that crazy witch who had fired spell after spell at his father when they had first moved there when Carl was six.
"If you want, I can inform an Elder of your suspicions; that way, they can warn any witches that might be nearby." His father suggested.
Carl nodded his head. "I'll keep watching him to see if does anything suspicious."
"Don't do anything that's over your head," his father warned as his way of giving permission for Carl to do as he wanted.
* * *
Luna covered her mouth, suppressing the yawn that wanted to break free, making sure that no noise escaped from her lips. That had certainly been a close call.