All the Devils are Here

Pretend Alpha

I give my order that we find them and the rest of them agree. Once again I’m put in a position where I have to play pretend Alpha and even though I do like to give orders, I don’t like to follow them. Isn’t there a saying about the best leaders always being the best followers first? If that’s the criteria for being the best leader then I probably won’t make the cut.

“We don’t know how many Hunters we’re up against here so I think the four of us should do this”, Lex says. I think about how my Father and the two oldest Beta’s left on a mission together leaving the rest of us feeling quite destabilized and I instantly know it’s a bad idea for the oldest Beta’s around now; me, Asher, Lex and Dothan to all go for this even though it might only take a day. 

Asher is the first to counter Lex’s suggestion;

“No. Dothan you should be with the pups, some of them are still bad with handling pain. Lex, could you do a round-up of all the cages that were affected, what pack did the wolves belong to? Any information that could be valuable. Samael and I can handle tracking these Hunters down”,

Lex and Dothan nod but, look at me for a second like they need my go-ahead. 

“Sounds like a plan”, I say as Lex throws the Hunter pocket knife to me. I catch it and give a look to Asher;

“Let’s go”.

As Asher and I walk out of the dungeons together, I take a deep sniff of the blood on the knife and hand it to Asher to do the same. All werewolves can track a scent; some better than others but, only a few can track with blood. It’s an abandoned skill amongst werewolves but, this is one of the reasons why our pack is the best in the city. Elder werewolves speculate that it’s because we have true blood werewolves not humans who were turned and some say it’s because we have a lineage that has never mixed with humans or other species. That makes zero sense because my mother…..was human. At Least that’s what I was told. 

“Let’s use the woods?”, it’s more of a statement than a question. A car will only interfere with the natural direction we would be reading off the blood. 

“Yeah”.

We walk for about 3 kilometers before we break out of the roads and into the woods. Northview is an ideal city for a werewolf, almost as if it were made for us. The way the entire city is engulfed in forest and it runs all through the city from Hayride through the center of the city to Uptown is truly satisfying for creatures that would much rather run and drive. 

Even better, the woods are alive. Filled with hills, trees as old as time and deer - it’s a paradise for us. Which is why blood thirsty Hunters sometimes lurk around in the woods in groups and kill packless wolves that walk alone. Hunters claim that they have rules that they live by. They claim that they are only here to protect the unsuspecting citizens of the city from ‘rogue’ wolves but, time and time again, they have shown us that they cannot be trusted. Especially since Sentinels stopped working with werewolves and only provide intel to the Hunters. I’ve never had the pleasure of knowingly meeting a Sentinel before but, I wouldn’t be surprised if I’ve encountered one unknowingly. They are discreet and they have nothing to distinguish them from regular humans. That’s the thing about this city - we all look human on the outside. 

“So….who’s the girl?” Asher asks, breaking the silence and distracting me from my thoughts and the sound of crackling leaves under our feet.

“We went to the same high school apparently. She’s new here”, as I say this I remember that I never responded to her text from last night. I whip my phone out from my back pocket and shoot her a quick text. 

If you’re still looking for a job, I know a place that’s hiring.

“There”, Asher nudges his head in a direction to our right. It’s a narrow path and I bet it leads someplace interesting but, the owner of blood on this knife - is not there. We’ve only been at this for about 30minutes and we’re most certainly still in Hayride. The Hunters behind this could be anywhere from here to Uptown by now. 

“Not there”, is all I say and we keep going. 

“How did you get so good at this anyway”, Asher asks absentmindedly as we stroll through the woods scaring deer away and avoiding all the other werewolves or humans here. They’re here for sure, we can hear heartbeats even if they are a little far away. 

“When you’re a teenage hitman who doesn’t know how maps work, you’re going to have to find the most efficient way to find your targets”, my past is not a secret. Asher chuckles, presumably at the teenage hitman part;

“I still don’t understand why Xavier took you to Uptown. The Hunter capital of the city”, he jokes but, his joke has truth in it. The first truth is not understanding why my Father didn’t want me around here when I was growing up. I suppose to protect me but, he knew one day I’d turn. He left me with my aunt and her husband who apparently were relatives of my human mother but the way they treated me made me think otherwise. 

The second truth is about Uptown being the Hunter capital of the city. There’s a reason most werewolves flock to Hayride or the center . If you breathe wrong in Uptown as a werewolf, I guarantee some Hunter is lurking right behind you to stab you with a wolfsbane laced dagger.

“I still don’t understand why my Father does anything he does”,

I pause and take another long whiff of the blood on the knife.

“They’re in the center. We’re close”, we go on for another 30 minutes before we stop at somewhere that resembles a crossroads. We’re right in the middle and there’s three different ways to go. And I can smell the blood in all three places;

“It’s a trap”, just as I mutter that, a skillfully shot arrow comes flying through the air right towards my face. I dodge it as Asher yells;

“What way do we go?”, we can take either of the three paths or we can run. We’re not running. 

I immediately transition fully and go down the path the arrow came from. The first one. I don’t care if it’s a trap, I’m going to kill that person who tried to shoot me in the freaking face. Asher turns and follows suit. He’s the exact contrast of what I am with his fur white in all the places mine is stark black but our eyes shine the same frosty blue. 

As we race through the path, arrows keep flying towards us but we dodge them successfully. I’m glad only Asher and I came and I don’t have to worry about him because he is the most competent Beta I know. As we draw closer, we see them. Two shooters camped on a hill on both sides. They see us and instead of running they decide to take even more focused shots and again they aim for the face. Wrong move. I don’t have to tell Asher what to do. We circle around and keep heading right for them and at the same time, we leap towards them and spare them to the ground. I don’t know what Asher is doing to his shooter but, I take digs at this guys face until there’s nothing left but, a lifeless body and remnants of what used to be a face. I look right to see what Asher has done. He seems to have broken his legs but the guy is still alive and well. Though he’s screaming in agony. 

I run out of the path we followed and try the second one incase there’s more of these Hunters. From their weaponry of arrows and pocket knives only arsenal, I can tell that they’re low-level Hunters. From this poor trap, I can tell that none of this was intended for us. Beta wolves from Banes pack. You’d have to do a lot better. 

They see me zooming towards them but, these two recognize I’m far deadlier than who they were expecting and they make a run for it. I go after just one of them. I s***h his Achilles tendon so he falls in an instant and as I circle around him on the ground, he’s crying and begging for help. His partner doesn’t even look back. 

“Please don’t….please don’t kill me. Please”, he’s begging and probably pissing his pants and it’s evident that this Hunter is a teenage hitman like I once was. I turn back to my human form and ask;

“How old are you?”,

“Nineteen”, he chokes out. Well, he’s an adult. I can kill him and still sleep well at night but, I think he’d serve a better purpose to me alive than dead. 

“Get up”,

“I can’t”, 

“Oh”, my bad. I forgot I’ve rendered him paralyzed for a while. Now I have to drag the kid out. I think of a better idea. 

“Can’t stand but you can crawl. Follow me”