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                  "The smell of fear is thick in the air." Hunter smiled devilishly. "Scared, Paprika?"

                  I cautiously sniffed at my armpit. "I definitely put on deodorant, so you...thinks wrong. I'm not scared of you."

                  Hunter lunged towards me, making me clumsily trip over myself onto my face. "Liar. Wittle kitten is so scarewed." Hunter pouted. "Poor wittle baby."

                  "My shoes were untied!" I defended. "And Kitten? Do you even know what my name is, Hunter?" I scoffed, lifting myself off of the floor and put my fists up. "You're right, I'm just so afraid," I said, "come on over here and I'll show you with my fist just how afraid I am!"

                  Hunter tisked me, still regarding me as if I was a cute little kitten. "Aggression is so unbecoming in a wittle kitten looking for a good lay. Luckily, I'm a sadistic bastard," Hunter said slowly stalking towards me, leg muscles and torso muscles shifting as he walked, and dropping the baby talk altogether. "Big brother's with anger issues and mysterious scars all over their body simply love a challenge in bed. However, give me a few hard spanks and I won't be a nice little boy again, I'll spank you right back. Harder."

                  A slow flush started from my toes up as I imagined him spanking me all seductively over his knee. Good LORD, my girl!!!!! Fifty Shades of Grey called, they want you to star in their next spin off series: Fifty Types of Seasonings: Pepper Ballard! I took the liberty of taking the spot for you! Sorry, babe. Paper beats Rock. Conscious beats Pepper.

                  I moved out of Hunter's way before he could even touch me, rolling over my bed and putting it between us. "Anger issues? Anger issues just doesn't cut it for you, and you're psycho twin, Sinipher. You tried to kill me with composition notebooks and a stapler!"

                  "Hey, the past is the past, sweetheart.

                  "How ironic," I drawled.

                  "I'm sorry, have I murdered your entire family for being hunters yet?" Hunter waited for my response. "Exactly. I haven't. So you should be a little bit more respectful towards me." He then settled his hands on his hips for the longest time as I glared at him. "Ok, ok, ok! To be honest, I would have slaughtered them like cows but your parents weren't home."

                  "They're not home? Again?" My eyes dropped to the mask on my pillow. It was either they weren't home, or Hunter had killed them and buried them in the backyard while howling at the moon!    

                  "Uh, can we get naked now?" Hunter asked impatiently. "Hunter's leather pants are seriously rubbing him the wrong way. And trust me"--he arched a brow and flashed me a slanted smile--"Hunter likes to be rubbed the wrong way, Celery. So that's saying something."

                  "It's Pepper."

                  "Garlic."

                  "Pepper."

                  "Cumin it is."

                  "Ugh!"

                  " Listen, I want to make a deal with you."

                  God, this man was frustrating. "Pepperpepperpepperpepperpepper!" I shouted all at once and flustered.

                  Hunters expression remained blank. "Bless you?"

                  I stomped my foot, wincing momentarily when my knee cracked.  "Forget it! Call me whatever you want! Just don't come any closer, you traitorous bastard!" I hissed. "There's a mask with a smile on it on my bed, and you know it, because you put it there!

                  Hunter frowned at me.

                   "Did you put it there, Hunter? Huh? HUH? Is this some sort of sick game? Have you been murdering everyone? It's not funny!"

                  Hunter continued to frown at me.

                  "What are you looking at!" I roared, "answer me!"

                  "Blackness?" he retorted.

                  There was a long stretch of silence while I sulked on the inside. What are you looking at? Honestly, Pepper? That had to be at least on the top 10 list of: What Not to Say to A Hot Blind Guy That Can Turn You Into a Vamp-wolf and You Can Have Thousands of Puppies Together and Yes That Means You Do it Like Rabbits But Who Cares Because He Eats Rabbits And I'll Stop...

                  "Ha-ha! You thought I was sad. How cute." Hunter flashed an amused grin. "So....do you want to be the innocent little girl tonight that secretly likes it rough, and I'll be the evil villain with daddy issues and nipple piercings?" His muscles flexed underneath his shirt as he started around the bed towards me. "Although, I must warn you, that character will be very easy for me to play. Especially the nipple part."

                  "Nobody wants to see your nips, man."

                  Hunter flashed me his piercings. "Liar."

                  I hopelessly stared dreamily at them. "Alright, maybe I do! But I won't have hot doggy intercourse with you! I have obligations! I have a future! I can't get pregnant!" I twirled around, grabbing my bedroom door to make my escape, when Hunter pinned my stomach to the door and started to roughly kissing my neck. "Hunter! Let go of me, or so help me god, I will make you regret ever sneaking into my room!"

                  "Playing hard to get?" Hunter whispered, his hot breath at my ear clouding my mind entirely. Hunter's large hands moved along my sides, slowly tracing the bodice of my corset from behind me, then he slid his fingers up my neck and rested them on my rapid pulse. "Do you know what Alpha's do to women that play hard to get?"

                  Alpha.

                  I shiver shot down my spine as placed a kiss on my neck.

                  "They make sure that woman never gets away from them again," he whispered huskily in m ear.

                   "Not in my house!" I screamed.

                  "What?"

                  "Damnit! Hold on!" I took one of my shoes off and threw it towards my stereo system, blasting some intense ACDC Hells Bells blasted through the speakers.

                  I brought my elbow behind me and slammed it into his ribs, knocking the wind out of him, then as he keeled over. Twirling around, I tried to side kicked him in the face and knocked him back onto my bed, when Hunter grabbed my foot with one hand and twisted my leg, throwing me forward into the ground. The initial shock of face planting into the ground had me squeezing my eyes shut tightly and biting my lip until I tasted blood.

                  "You little shit! What was that for?" Hunter growled from behind me, "if you wanted me to play the innocent little girl, all you had to do was ask! Sheesh!"

                  "That block-- that was too good to be true! Nobody can block Pepper Ballard's sneak attack side-kick, nobody! Except maybe Smiley!" I reached into my bodice for my rape whistle and froze. It wasn't there. "Poopsicle!" I shrieked, crawling on the ground like a soldier wriggling under barbed while to get my mega phone under my desk. Switching it on high, I pressed the on button and roared into Hunter's face, "CODE RED, COD RED! THE WHISTLE IS NOT IN THE BODICE, I REPEAT--"

                  "Stop screaming, someone's coming up the stairs!" Hunter half-whispered, plucking me straight off of the ground and tossing me onto my bed like a rag doll. My face hit the pillows with an "oof".

                  As there was a knock on my bedroom door, I scrambled to arrange myself into a lounging position on the bed with my head propped up with my hand, and a large smile on my face.

                  My dad slowly opened my door, poking his head inside my room and smiling at me. "Pumpkin, is everything alright? Your mother and I went to the story and just came back, I heard screaming... And I could have sworn...."

                  A white ball of fluff, aka Salt the Amazing Pup, darted into my bedroom, dove for my closet door, and started barking at it, clawing at the crack at the bottom as if he was trying to dig a tunnel under it with his stubby nails.

                  Panicking, my eyes darted to my closet door then back at my dad. "I'm reading," I said through tight teeth.

                  Dad frowned at the dogs scratching. "Where's the book?"

                  "It's an audio book."

                  "Where are the headphones?"

                  "It's a verbal book. I speak the passage I'm assigned for school out loud to myself and it--and I-- and the book speaks. I mean--uh, the magazine--book, book doesn't speak! I do! It's definitely a book! It's invisible! It speaks! It's an invisible book-magazine that speaks!"

                  "Are you lying to me?"

                  I smiled so wide that I couldn't see out of my eyes. "Is it obvious?"

                  Dad eyed my room skeptically. "What's going on in here?" he wondered, "what's really going on in here?"

                  There was a masculine sneeze from my closet, followed by what sounded like an avalanche of all of my clothes falling off the racks. Salt went wild, running around in circles and throwing himself into the door like a mad puppy.

                  My father had become so angry in such a short amount of time that his face got entirely red. "Is there a boy in here?" Dad suddenly demanded, storming into the room towards my closet. "That was definitely a--"

                  "A-CHOO!" I shouted, wiping my noise loudly. "Oh, no! Looks like I'm getting a cold! That was all me! Better get out of here while you can!" I rushed off of my bed, ushering my father out. "Bye! Bye!"

                  "Wait, Pepper!" Dad stuck his shoe in my door. "I wanted to let you know that you don't have school all next week while the investigation continues. Plus, your mom and I want to talk to you about something very important downstairs. It can't wait."

                  Period talk, quick!

                  "I'm on my period and it's exploding down there like crazy, it can wait!" I shouted, picking Salt up and placing him outside by my dad's feet, then slamming the door shut and pressing my ear against the door as they both scattered away. Period talk, I'm telling you, girl. It works every time on men!

                  Hunter threw open the closet door, tangled in dozens of colorful scarves that that Ronny had purchased for me and ripping them off like they were snakes. "That closet is insanity!" he half whispered, out of breath and clearly flustered. "I think I'm"-- he sneezed again--"allergic to these"--he sneezed again--"scarves or something."

                  I threw back my head and laughed. "That's what you get. Coming out of the closet, I see? My friend Ronny would love that. I'll let him know you're single."

                  Hunter growled at me, wrestling and then ripping the last scarf from his body and stepping out in front of me. "I want to kill you very badly, Parsley," he said with his deep, rough voice, "like really, really bad. I have this little pink stress ball, and I've recently been imagining it was your fat head. That doesn't mean I'm Smiley."

                  "If you're not Smiley, who is?" The thought gave me chills. "I need to know who Smiley is, Hunter. If you know anything--"

                  "I didn't kill any of those students at the school or the victims at the mall. All I care about is that you're a stupid little hunter, and I'm going to kill you no matter who or what I am to you.

                  I crossed my arms over my chest. "You say I'm a hunter, I say I just have a hard head. Your point is invalid and annoying as hell. If you're going to kill me, kill me. Just know that you killed a great ally."

                  Hunter's expression remained flat. "That's what she said." He crossed his thick arms over his chest, looming over me and mimicking my position. Subconsciously, that is, because he was blind. "Ally. Interesting. I think....you're right about that. Fine, Paprika, I'll make a deal with you."

                  "These always end up nicely," I murmured.

                  "I'm going to help you catch Smiley," Hunter continued deep in thought, "and I'll even help you prove that your parents are hunters, but I'll only do all of that if you..."

                  I shifted impatiently on my feet. "If I what?"

                  "Let me turn you into a hybrid." He then flashed me a crooked smile and added throatily, "My hybrid. In my pack. If you do that, I promise you, the only bitch that will be smiling will be me when Smiley is dead."

                  A little squeak of air left my mouth as I tried to speak. I was at a loss of words.

                  Hunter smiled perkily down at me and ran his fingers along my jaw in a caress. "You have until tomorrow  night to give me an answer, or I'll just kill you. Sweet dreams."

                  He was gone in a blink of an eye.

                  Things were definitely only going downhill from here.

                  Like, really downhill.

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