Hunter's Attraction

Not My Sister

Thirty minutes after Lily was rolled a way for an X-ray, Aiden followed Gamma Ortiz into the pack hospital. “How is Lily?” Gamma Ortiz asked, trying to make conversation.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to concentrate on what you said over the phone,” Aiden answered politely. “What do you mean, you think you attacked my sister?”

“Take a look.” Gamma Ortiz opened a door leading to the medical floor. At least eighteen young werewolves lay on gurneys, moaning in pain at various pitches. Nurses and doctors—both werewolves and humans—rushed from one patient to another.

“Human doctors?” Aiden muttered aloud.

“Yeah, sworn to secrecy. There are enough werewolves in the medical field to refute any human who... deems it necessary to expose our existence.”

Aiden gave a single nod before turning his attention back to the medical area. He began walking among the beds. Some changelings had multiple wounds on their faces. “Good work, Lily,” he muttered. She hadn’t been aiming to kill. But the werewolves at the end of the room, the ones writhing and foaming at the mouth, gave him pause. “What’s going on?” he demanded as the nurses struggled to restrain one wolf. “What happened? Why did they attack Lily?”

“Earlier this evening, we all heard a series of howls,” Gamma Ortiz began. “I figured it was our teen wolves just being teenagers. Everything was quiet for the rest of the night. They all showed up here about fifteen minutes ago, crying, moaning, muttering about lights. Our scouts found a few passed out in the woods.”

“How did you connect that to the attack on my sister?”

“One of the older ones mentioned they might have attacked a hunter by accident. Unfortunately, that werewolf is now the one foaming at the mouth. Also, we identified the werewolf from the previous attack, the one who attacked JP. His name is Juan Smith, but he has no memory of that night.”

“Is this a side effect of silver bullet effect?” Aiden asked, folding his arms.

“You know about that?” Gamma Ortiz looked at him in shock. Aiden didn’t answer. Gamma Ortiz sighed. “We’re not certain yet. What do you want done with the werewolves?” he asked cautiously.

“What do I want done? What do you mean?”

“We want to maintain a good relationship between hunters and werewolves. Hunters don’t respond well when one of their own is attacked by a werewolf. So as long as it’s humane, we’ll go with whatever punishment you decide. Alpha Tenoch also wanted me to inform you we’ll cover Lily’s medical bills.”

“Thank you,” Aiden said gratefully. “But let’s hold off on the punishment until we know what happened here.”

“I’ll keep you apprised of the situation.”

“Thank you.”

***

Aiden had just exited the pack hospital when a figure came running up to him: JP. Aiden looked him over as JP stopped in front of him.

“How’s Lily?” JP asked.

“I’m heading back to Urgent Care. I dropped her off there.”

“Okay.” They stood in tense, awkward silence. “She saved my life out there. She’s amazing.”

“I know that,” Aiden said, frowning. “I don’t want to be that older brother but stay away from her. She’s been attacked twice in three days—and both times, you were there. I don’t know why my sister was targeted, or why your pack mates attacked her, but you’d better hope they were mind-controlled or something. Lily’s faced enough brutality for a lifetime.”

“I know,” JP replied, “she told me.”

“Good. She doesn’t need some ex-drug dealer hanging around her,” Aiden shot back, letting slip what Lily had told him about the car. Crap. I was supposed to keep that to myself.

Jean-Pierre’s face fell with a look of betrayal. “She told you that?”

“I don’t know what you and your pack have going on, but you’d better get to the bottom of it. Otherwise, I won’t be the only hunter you’ll have problems with.”

***

Aiden slammed the driver’s door. “f**k!” he yelled. He hadn’t meant to call JP an “ex-drug dealer.” Crap. “I’m in way over my head,” he muttered. He had no idea what to do next or how to move forward. “Okay, breathe, Aiden,” he muttered to himself. First things first—I need to pick up Lily from Urgent Care. Then, he’d take a nap. Something told him it was going to be a long week.

***

Sirena leaned against the doorframe, watching as Lena slept peacefully. Monte, whom Sirena had carried up the stairs, curled against Lena’s side. A hint of worry took root in her chest. They had been concealing Lena from the werewolf world, ensuring her safety—a female universal alpha child. Werewolf packs would kill for one. Sirena didn’t understand why. It wasn’t like the pack received extra blessings. She guessed it was a bit like having your own superhero.

Still, Lena had made some good points earlier. They couldn’t keep her hidden forever. Public school had just started that day. Maybe the Cortez pack could suggest a school for her. Sirena sighed. She’d bring it up with Aiden later. Right now, she needed sleep.

***

“She’s good,” Trixie admitted to the male, tracing patterns on his bare chest. “Better than good. She never missed. Not once.”

“Hmm… maybe we should see how she fares against me.”