The Hunter's Triad

2. Welcome Party

Alec

The deep greens of the vast forest in northern Los Angeles were a calming view out of my window when I looked up from my laptop. I’d been at it for hours, trying to piece together all our unanswered questions. I chuckled to myself at the idea of feeling relaxed in the middle of a werewolf pack. I stretched, listening to the pops and cracks as the kinks in my back straightened out—time to go to a welcome party. As a hybrid, I wasn’t always welcome at parties with other supernatural shifters, even though I loved parties, so I needed to make a good impression.

I sighed and gestured to the other occupant in my room, who had ignored the fashionable outfit I’d laid out for her and opted for leggings and a stretch top. She was hopeless. I reminded her she was mated to a rich man now and could afford to wear something nicer.

“Sure, I’ll become a fashionista because of my rich mate. That’s likely.” Irina, or Rina, as I called her, rolled her eyes and told me she had her own money.

“Well, the excuse of getting blood on your clothes isn’t valid anymore, is it?” I said.

It was understandable, as our work, until recently, had involved eliminating dangerous supernaturals. Hence her need for functional clothing. Still, she was now the luna to a big werewolf pack and needed to update that fashion faux pax before it became her signature. She was officially retired as an assassin, so a splash of color wouldn’t kill her or anyone else.

“True, although somehow, I doubt we’ll be having a quiet life,” Rina said, twirling her blade around her fingers.

After twenty-six years at the Hunter Council, her unconsciously fiddling with weapons was second nature. She needed to bring that down a notch now that we were retired. You don’t endear yourselves to other supernaturals by welding weapons at the dinner table. We already made them nervous enough as ex-hunters.

Rina had the added disadvantage of being infamous as one of the original pureblood hunters. Her line descended from the human selected by the goddess to carry two beasts and protect humanity from supernaturals, prevent exposure, and keep them in line. She has similarities to a hybrid but differences too. Over time, it forced the Hunter Council to train hybrids as her species dwindled. We were like the supernatural law enforcement and were trained to be deadly, which made people edgy.

“Life’s never quiet with you around,” I said as I moved past her and dug around in my wardrobe.

This room was much bigger than our training base quarters, with a place to sleep, work and relax, not to mention an enormous wardrobe. A guy could get used to all these cubbies and racks.

Rina groaned long and low. “This is going to take hours, I can tell.”

I peeked out of the wardrobe at the woman I’d called teammate for over a decade; we were so close that we referred to each other as siblings although we were not. She was my sister-from-another-shifter.

Her long limbs were sprawled on the big comfortable bed, and she had a mulish look on her beautiful face, her long black hair tied back. She had dressed in that outfit that made my eyes bleed. Rina had the figure of a Russian runway model - if you overlooked the battle scars and tattoos - but she insisted on hiding it.

“Hey, all this isn’t an accident!” I gestured to my greatness as some of us made an effort with our clothing.

I selected a blue linen shirt and gray slacks and removed my favorite shoe babies from their protective covers.

“Now white shoes, they are seriously asking for some blood spatter!” She gestured to my shoes, fidgeting, clearly more nervous than she would ever let on.

“Don’t you dare!” My eyes fluttered shut at the thought of getting them dirty. “These were a thousand dollars.”

“That’s crazy.” Rina shook her head in disgust.

“Crazy good looking.” I tossed over my shoulder and headed into the bathroom.

She didn't understand in her Neanderthal black.

I jumped in the huge shower enjoying the multiple jets. It was so lovely to have counter space for everything here. Missions for the Hunter Council took us all over the world. Living out of functional, safe houses and barren training quarters was depressing and why I wasted no time moving all of my belongings here.

This place was great. Did I ever imagine living in a wolf pack? No, not really, but my reluctant sister was now the luna. And Goddess help us; she needed assistance with that new role. She was about as friendly as a rattlesnake with new people, and the fearsome reputation we built for her over the years meant supernatural creatures s**t themselves at the mere mention of her name. While her deadly skills were undisputable, the infamy helped keep the body count down, but unfortunately, it was working against us now.

My mission tonight wasn’t to find a hunky wolf to warm this comfy new bed but to rehab Rina’s image. In my job as her handler at the Hunter Council, I planned and ran the missions, did tech support, and was her self-appointed entertainment manager.

We'd been retired from the Hunter Council when Rina found her mate, so now it was time to do some positive PR for her, time to network and get a feel for how the pack was reacting to her as their new luna. All signs pointed to terrified-with-a-side-of-mistrust.

I shaved, enjoying the new products that arrived quickly after I ordered them. It was nice we had a base in America, LA, no less, as some places we had missions were too far from civilization for my liking.

“I’ll meet you down there,” Rina's exasperated voice came through the bathroom door, and her footsteps receded.

She must be fed up if she wanted to enter a social situation alone. Damn, I should have checked if she put her knife away. A silver knife in the middle of a pack barbeque wouldn't go down well.

Mind you; she’d got their alpha running about like a puppy dog; considering she’d run away after f*****g him, drugging him, and creating an orgy to catch a vampire, I’d say he was in deep. Although it would seem he wasn’t the only one in deep, and now she had a psycho ex-alpha stalker we needed to deal with. But first thing first, we had a party.

Rina’s mate Quinn was the alpha of this pack and next in line for the Alpha King title, plus a savvy entrepreneur. He was forward-thinking and astute, a little gorgeous too, but I’d get stabbed in the kidneys saying that to Rina. In the past, I’d worked freelance for him and his company to build my nest egg for retiring from the council. We were well overdue for retirement despite only being twenty-six, so the egg was now large.

I tamed my floppy hair into what I described as ‘styled chaos,’ and my phone pinged on the counter.

“How are the wolfies?”

The text came from Mark, a fellow hybrid and Head of the Hunter Council labs. He’d recently rotated back to the LA base. We had a friends-with-benefits arrangement that might continue now that I was nearby.

I fired off a reply telling him I was about to find out. After a final tousle of my hair, I blew a kiss to the mirror and grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels for Rina. I descended through the pack house, which was modern and clean yet still homely. I loved the vibe here.

My insides vibrated with excitement at being away from the council and beginning a new life somewhere sunny. Quinn was far more welcoming and accommodating than I ever would have imagined. Hybrids were shunned because of their lack of ability to shift into their beast form. Full shifters could become their beast, like these wolves here in the pack. Most hybrids, however, could only partially shift their facial features and produce claws. That was half the reason the Hunter Councils' main employees were hybrids: they were often dropped off at the council as children by shame-filled parents. I should know.

I shook off sad thoughts as my blood pumped and my mind filled with possibilities I’d only dreamed about when we’d been locked in the Council's employ. I practically bounced outside, and many of the wolves stared curiously at me. I met their looks with a broad smile. As a siren-witch hybrid, I had an effortless allure. People liked me, which suited me, and Irina as she had a move-away-before-I-kill-you type of aura. My first objective was to find a social butterfly and slide into their slipstream.

“Oh my goddess, there you are.” A tiny figure with silky brown hair grabbed me. She smelled delicious, like coffee with caramel and cream. Her big gray eyes, like Quinn’s, searched my face. “You must be Alec. You’re gorgeous, just like Ree Ree.” She scrunched up her nose adorably.

“Who is Ree Ree?” I asked, amusement curling my lips as I looked at this tiny female wolf with the appealing scent.

“Our new Luna!” She looped her arm with mine and towed me out into the yard.

I wished I’d seen Rina’s face when she called her that. Rina was already short for Irina, and I didn’t think she’d welcome Ree-Ree as a new option.

The forest’s earthy smell briefly drowned out her caramel coffee scent as I turned and assessed the pack. The wolves looked strained and were unconvincingly trying to mingle and chat. My siren sensed fear and tension in the air. At the edge of the group, I noticed Rina sat alone, looking like the dangerous killer we were trying to convince people she wasn’t. No Alpha Quinn in sight.

The girl that I assumed was related to Quinn drew me to a large group of people who looked like well-built warriors, including the head warrior Brian I’d met on our mission to break up Rina’s self-created orgy. By the looks of the warriors, watching training would be a treat. I made a mental note to find a vantage point. Obviously, I would not be training.

The mystery she-wolf introduced me to everyone, and like Quinn, they were welcoming of a hybrid hunter, although I suspect they were so terrified of Rina that I barely registered with my smiles and jokes. They chuckled as they told me about Rina evading their border patrol.

We circled the party, never staying anywhere too long as I memorized names and positions.

“You haven’t introduced yourself,” I said as we walked away from the main group arm in arm.

“Oh, fudge sticks!” She smacked her head with her hand. “I’m such a numpty. I’m Al, Quinn’s sister.”

She was too cute; I liked her.

“Nice to meet you, Al.”

“The pleasure is all mine. I’m so excited that my brother has finally found his mate, and she has a family too. You must tell me all your battle stories.”

Something told me our battle stories would keep this innocent creature up at night, but I smiled and nodded.

“Only if there's popcorn.”

“Oh, my goddess, we can make different flavors.”

Warmth expanded inside me, I loved being around people, and Al was fun and cheerful. I could see our future unfurling here as she chattered about popcorn flavors. We automatically walked closer to where Rina sat.

“I showed Ree Ree around, but she didn’t seem like she was enjoying herself and my oaf of an older brother isn’t here yet, so she’s sitting on that bench all alone.” Her smile turned down.

Al was more intuitive than she appeared on first impression. If Rina allowed this excitable little she-wolf to drag her around without mortally offending or wounding her, then Al would make a great sister-in-law for her.

I headed over to a sullen Rina and gave her the bottle of Jack which she fell about like it was her savior grunting out responses to my coaxing efforts to get her back to meeting people. She always drank to wind down, or if stressed, I doubted meeting the pack was easy for her.

Our training aimed to beat the emotion out of hunters, especially those like Rina, who did the wet work, and it did little to promote a social personality. Over the years, I’d like to think I kept her grounded. Aside from her half-brother, our other teammate, Erik, I was her only family. Soon she would have more people in her corner, but it would be a process.

With a heavy heart but a renewed purpose, I left her sitting looking like a vagrant drinking from a bottle to weave my social magic and began chatting to a group of handsy she-wolves.

Hairs prickled at the back of my neck. Turning, I saw Rina leaving the bench and her bottle. She darted into the forest, her eyes fixed on a target. We didn’t share a pack link like these wolves, but we were close; having trained and hunted together for thirteen years, I knew she’d seen some trouble. I broke off my conversation and followed her.

Even though I didn't have a strong sense of smell, I could track her. I watched her scare away a wolf trying to force himself on a woman, and as I moved back, the sweet coffee smell washed over me. Had Al followed me? Knowing Rina had this covered, I followed the scent further into the forest.

It was a beautiful place where dappled sunlight breached the thick canopy, and the sounds of the pack gathering floated through the trees. Not as peaceful as the ocean, but pretty close. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply.

Finally free. Free of the strict hunter council that threatened to strip away more of our humanity each year. Away from Demetri, the Hunter Council leader whose obsession with Irina could finally cool off now she was out of his clutches.

I turned my face upwards and smiled at the patches of sunlight warming my face through the canopy. A twig snapped, and I whirled to see a gorgeous wolf. He was slighter than Quinn but undoubtedly related with his stunning bone structure. My eyes grazed over the dress shirt and slacks that hid a toned and muscular body and locked onto his deep brown eyes.

“Mate,” my siren said in my mind as my elemental magic swirled to the surface, causing the wind to ruffle the nearby foliage.

He drew a deep breath through his nose, a reverent look on his face as his eyes shifted to golden and released a deep growl. For the next second, horror blanketed his eyes which slammed shut as his fists curled by his sides, his whole body rigid.

Icy dread curled out from the base of my stomach, and my skin tingled.

He began speaking in a choked voice, eyes still tight shut. “I Aidan Ryan of the New Moon pack reject you… f**k!” His eyes flew open, and the depth of disgust made me tremble. “What’s your name, man?”

A strangled sob tore from my throat as my siren screeched. Through the shock, I dimly registered that he didn’t even know my name. His handsome face screwed up as he stared at me with cold and flinty eyes.

“Al-Alec Baros.” I stammered out, my legs weak.

I waited, frozen in disbelief, for the hammer blow to fall, just like with my parents bracing for the impact was devastating. Numbly I detached myself from the pain and cataloged his dark hair and eyes. Younger than me. Mine, if only for a few seconds.

He searched my face for a second, and my heart lurched before it tore in two.

“I, Aidan Ryan of the New Moon pack, reject you, Alec Baros, as my mate.”

Pain like nothing else ripped through my chest like a giant saw through my center. It ripped through the cavity, eviscerating my heart, while a white-hot, blinding light stole my vision and buckled my knees. I crumpled to the ground as dizziness closed in.

“Ah, f**k!”

The words sounded muffled down a tunnel of agony, and when his hand touched my shoulder, more pain reverberated through me, and I flinched away.

“Listen, I’m sorry. I… listen, you gotta say it back.”

I tried to make my voice work to give him this. The only thing he wanted from me. The mate I’d hoped for, the one that found me so abhorrent that he rejected me before he knew my name. I tried, but only a strangled sob got past the pulsing mass of pain in my throat.

“Stop f*****g around. I need you to say it!” he shouted, and I cringed away from the sound.

“f**k! I’m sorry. Fuck.”

A branch snapped, and his footsteps receded. My stupid heart mourned the loss of his presence. I crunched into a ball and sagged onto my side as more agony washed over me like hot lava, and my mind blanked out.

Coming to was fresh torture, but the worst of the hurt receded, leaving me shaking and numb on the forest floor. I stared at the dead leaves and asked the goddess why they never wanted me. I don't know how long I laid there, but the eventual walk back to my room was a blank.