Evelyn

I steered my motorcycle off the side of the road, far enough in the wooded area to not be seen by any bypassers. Pops was crazy if he truly believed I would allow them to face an Alpha alone. If something happened to either of them, because I was not there to help, I would never forgive myself.

I dug in my pocket for my cell phone and clicked on the Find My app. Pops and Roary had tried this once in the past and were successful in leaving me behind, but never again.

I grinned triumphantly as the blue icon pinned Roary's location, my face drenched in the phone's screen light. Roary was the beefy weapons man and not very tech-savvy, meaning he had never found out that I'd turned his location on.

According to the blue dot, they were heading in the opposite direction from me, down a road called Center Grove, back in Windfall.

I glanced back through the trees at the darkened highway, roaring my engine back to life, and rushed after them.

My pulse steadily increased as I flew down the road. I had to be smart about this and keep my distance. One wrong move, and they'd detect me, either by their superior sight or impeccable hearing. They were, after all, Del Val Hunters. The best in the world at what they did.

I rechecked the app. They had stopped in what appeared to be a dense forest. The dot barely moved now. They must be on foot.

I parked my motorcycle behind a curtain of trees, traded my helmet for an absurd amount of weapons, and cautiously followed them into the woods.

Gun in my hand, with several more secured safely at my hips and thighs, I ventured into the woods, the adrenaline in my veins surging with every step. The sun had fully set, and I was walking around in utter darkness; good thing Hunters could see pretty well in the dark. I glanced down at my phone, still tracking my brother.

The beacon stopped, and so did I. They must be laying a trap for the beast. With my back against a tree, my gun held before my chest, I glanced in both directions and decided to watch the perimeter to ensure all sides were covered and nothing was sneaking up on them.

Minutes soon became hours, and I circled again, needing an outlet for my increasing tension.

My nerves were on edge; my teeth gritted in aggravation. For all I knew, the lycan could be on the hunt, stalking another helpless boy in a different location.

Rustling in front of me quickly caught my attention, and I stilled. My finger squeezed around the trigger of my pistol.

Silence met me, and my mind carefully calculated each possibility of what I heard. It could be my father and Roary, a simple forest animal, or...

My heart stopped as two glowing red eyes glistened a few feet before me. My breath caught when those unholy eyes spotted me.

My body went rigid. I wasn't even sure I was breathing. It sniffed, sizing me up.

"Female," the creature said in an unholy-sounding voice that made my skin crawl. Yep, it definitely spoke. Henry was right. Could an Alpha lycan speak? Was that one of the many things Pops had neglected to tell me about their kind?

I willed my nerves to focus. I was a Huntress and a Del Val at that. I'd hunted vampires, witches, banshees, and ghosts. I could do this. I crouched low, gun at the ready. "That's right, darling," I baited. "Come on out; Momma wants to play."

A low growl escaped it, and I watched in horror as the eyes rose another two feet. Shit, it was big, very big, easily seven feet tall. Was it crouching this whole time?

Everything within me shut down as it stalked from the bushes and into the moonlight, where I could see it.

"Definitely not a lycan," I breathed as it circled me. It was a werewolf and easily one of the most grotesque things I had ever seen—something straight out of a nightmare. Its razor sharp claws and teeth glistened like knives. Its body was large and hunched over. And it desperately needed a bath, given the smell of its greasy, matted brown fur.

I made the first move, firing a shot toward its forehead, but it lunged. The bullet barely grazed its head. Before I had the chance to fire again, it hit me full force in the chest.

Air exploded from my lungs on impact, my body flying back, tumbling over roots, rocks, and dirt.

Shock seized my trembling limbs as I rolled to a stop, my body aching as I tried peeling myself off the floor. I didn't get far.

The beast pinned my shoulders to the ground, snarling and snapping its rank breath blowing across my cheek.

I brought my knees up before it got a chance to chew on my face, bracing my feet against its chest, and threw him off. He flew through the air, yelping when he smacked into a tree. I shot to my feet, knowing what to expect from it now.

"Not so fun when your victims fight back," I breathed, wiping blood from my mouth, then realized I'd lost my guns.

I desperately dropped my gaze, searching the ground, when I spotted it lying ten feet to my left. My heart pounded relentlessly as I lunged for my weapon, but I wasn't fast enough.

The beast struck me again with a fast swipe.

I crashed down, landing on the ground a mere foot from my target. The sudden stop knocked the wind from my lungs, but nothing compared to the excruciating pain in my ankle.

I reached for my pistol, but the beast bit down, yanking me back. I shrieked, my cry of agony covering the crack of bone. Panic overwhelmed me as I clawed at the dirt, trying to reach my gun, when–

"Eve!" Pop's voice was a beacon to my soul and a distraction for the beast.

It released my leg and turned its head toward my father's voice, giving me time to pull a jagged silver blade from my boot. Bearing weight on my good leg, I pounced on the creature, hissing in pain as I used all my weight to knock it on its back and plunged the knife deep into its chest, right into its heart. It screeched as it clawed at me, trying to dislodge my body from on top of his. I felt my clothes and skin being shredded by its claws. My sides felt like they were on fire, like the beast had ripped the very skin from my bones, but I would not relent. I twisted the knife deeper until, finally, the monster stopped moving.

"Eve!" Pops plucked me off the werewolf and cradled me close to his chest. Roary ran up behind Pops and placed a silver bullet in its skull for good measure.

We stood there, breathing heavily and staring at the dead body. Pops finally broke the moment's tranquility, pushed me at arm's length, and inspected my injuries.

My ankle buckled, and I fell forward, with his arms no longer around me. He caught me, scooped me up in his arms, and gently placed me against a tree.

"It's broken," he said after pulling my boot off.

"Hurts like hell now that the adrenaline has worn off." I tried to keep the agony from my voice, but my ankle throbbed with pain. I was too afraid to look down at the damage inflicted on my sides.

I braved a glance at my ankle. It was swollen, a bruise already beginning to form, but there were no teeth puncture wounds. I sighed in relief. I definitely was not in the mood to turn into a monster tonight.

"What the hell are you doing out here!" Pops stood, ripping a piece of his shirt to apply to my bloodied sides. "I gave you distinct orders to return home! How dare you disobey me?"

"Better to ask forgiveness instead of permission, you always said." I gritted my teeth as he applied pressure along my ribs. I finally dared a glance down. My injuries were not as bad as they felt. The protective leather I wore had done its job, but the creature's claws still broke through and left three shallow lines across my abdomen.

Roary crouched before me, his arms resting on his knees. "Damn, you got lucky, Sis. All your organs are still intact."

I smiled through the pain as he landed a playful, fake punch across my jaw.

"She could have been killed," Pops snarled, his hands trembling, and I wasn't sure if it was out of anger, fear, or a combination of both.

"But I wasn't," I snapped back before Roary could say anything. "When will you realize that I am not a helpless little girl? I am a woman and a Del Val. I just proved that!" I did not realize that I had been crying until a tear fell and splattered against my arm.

Pops said nothing. He didn't even look at me.

Stubborn old man.

He covered my wounds, tucking pieces of fabric along the cuts to staunch the bleeding. I clenched my teeth. It wasn't even that bad. "Sit here and do not move," he instructed before pointing a sharp finger at Roary. "Grab our gear. I'm going to get the truck."

Roary saluted with two fingers upon brow, leaving Pops to take off at an unnatural speed. I rested the back of my head against the tree trunk and breathed deeply through the pain and sheer annoyance.

"You know he cares, right?" Roary asked when he was far enough away not to hear. "We dropped everything when we heard the fight break out."

"Please don't tell me you're taking his side."

He shucked a shell into the sawed-off shotgun he had in his hands and laid it across my lap. "I'm not taking sides. But he does worry. Losing Mom was hard on him. It was hard on all of us. But nearly losing you..." He trailed off, throat bobbing.

He started in the opposite direction of Pops but stopped, turned to me, and smiled. "Your first werewolf kill. You're a badass," he said with a wink, disappearing into the woods.

I smiled at his words. Yeah, I guess I was.

Roary's footsteps faded, leaving me all alone. The silence pressed in around me, and I glanced around nervously, my eyes returning to the werewolf's body. A pang of nausea hit my stomach every time I looked at it. The image of Henry's deformed body cradled in my arms as he took his final breath will forever be etched in my mind. All caused by the monster that lay before me.

I pulled the shotgun Roary left with me closer to my chest. I was vulnerable out here in the open, with a broken ankle, the sweet scent of my blood lingering on the soft breeze rustling the leaves above my head. I could attract anything out here. Another werewolf, a bear, or even...

A breaking branch caught my attention.

My head snapped in its direction, eyes wide with fear.

"Stop messing around, Roary!" I bellowed.

He didn't answer, and I realized the forest had become deathly still.

"Come on, Roary," I tried again, "stop playing around and pick me up off this ground."

I waited silently, hands clenched tight around the barrel of my gun, when–

My heart flopped in my chest, like a fish on dry land, when a massive gray wolf stepped into the opening instead of my brother.

A lycan.

I froze in fear as it skulked toward me. Its stealth was utterly unnerving. It looked over at the werewolf's body and then back at me, his nose twitching as if inhaling my scent.

Its ears went flat against its head, and it bared its teeth at me.

Was this the Alpha lycan responsible for turning the werewolf? I wasn't going to wait around to find out. I slowly lifted the shotgun and braced it against my shoulder. My heart thrashed a million miles an hour.

Silver pellets were the only way to bring down this beast, and I was grateful Roary packed the gun with them. All it took was one shot.

I squeezed the trigger, my aim centered on his heart when a branch broke at my left.

I snapped my head, but I was already too late. My world exploded in a kaleidoscope of stars. The blow that nailed me against my temple was excruciating. As the world grew dark around me, I saw the silhouettes of two men before my face smashed against the ground, and everything went black.