I untangled myself from around Andrew at some point in the night, shifting back to human form and pulling on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. With a final look back at the wolf to make sure he didn’t wake, I snuck out, grabbing my phone as I left and took off into the woods. I hadn’t been able to sleep, and needed to talk to someone familiar, someone I could talk to about my day and feel a little safer.

  It was almost twelve-thirty, Misha was almost certainly either asleep or in the bed of some half-one knowing him. All the same, I clicked on his contact and sat on a log as I waited for it to answer, each slow ring lowering my hopes more and more until it cut away and his voicemail message began.

  “Hey, Misha here. I know I know, tragic I couldn’t make it to the phone, say it ain’t so. I’ll get back to you whenever I do.”

  Yeah, that sounded about right.

  “Hey, not an emergency, just couldn’t sleep and was wanting to talk to someone,” I started my message, not fucking sure why I was leaving one, “The wedding went well, no fights or objections or murders, you know? I caught the bouquet, got teased about that for a full hour before Andrew dropped the topic. I kinda wish you were here, would have been nice to introduce my current mentor to my old one. I know you’re probably asleep right now, I’ll just…I’ll see you tomorrow, we should be back late I think. I mean, well…I know you’re not my parole officer anymore, but you’re still my mentor and um…well, I don’t know what, but maybe we can do something together?”

  Not sure how to finish the message I merely left it there, hanging up and rising to my feet as I wondered what to do next. Bed seemed my only option, unless I wanted to kick my legs and act like a teen in a movie waiting for their crush to call, so I jumped to my feet. Turning to walk back towards the rv I was greeted by a man standing there I didn’t recognize.

  He was a large man, broad shouldered and muscular to an almost disturbing degree on a werewolf. His long graying hair tied back in a ponytail, his beard looked weirdly trimmed and styled, a soft glint in half-transformed yellow eyes. Wearing a pair of jeans and not much else I could see Purist tattoos on his chest, designed much like mine. He smelled like a wet dog, if the dog had been coated in blood and yet all the same there was an unusual scent for his kind below it — soap.

  The hair on the back of my neck stood up, not sure how the man had snuck up on me or why, and ready to transform I asked, “who are you?”

  “I think you know that,” the man said, and I immediately recognized his voice from our phone call. My heart raced, my mind turned into a screaming noise, I wanted to run and hide, I wanted to scream. Fur tried growing, claws extended into my hand, and the man told me, “we’re not fighting now, as much as I wouldn’t mind getting it over with. If we are to fight like Purists, we must observe the laws, and I thought I’d meet you while we were on this neutral ground.”

  “Get the fuck away from me,” I muttered, not sure what else I could say, “you…you’re threatening Martin, you’re fucking defending Alpha, why the fuck would I want to meet you?”

  “Oh yes, threatening murder on neutral grounds, because that’s the only thing a little monster like you knows how to do,” the man responded, even as I slowly backed myself into a tree. The wolf screamed to attack, and all the same time felt as though it were hiding in my chest. For maybe a few seconds I tried forcing my transformation along, before the wolf felt too scared to risk it. He laughed at me, and shook his head as he asked, “not risking a fight when you don’t out number your opponent? I saw that twist of muscle, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised if you’re the sort to ignore neutral ground.”

  I wanted to kill him, I wanted to run, I wanted to scream, I wanted to curl so tight in on myself I stopped existing. Vomit rose in my throat, my body held itself in the painful half transformation, and I felt like I’d cry even as I said, “why the fuck should I even care about killing that bastard?”

  The man looked almost hurt by that, like I was the one who had threatened people he cared for and hurt for a justified crime. He raised a hand like he was about to hit me, I flinched away even as my claws grew just a little more, and he lowered it as he asked, “have you ever loved someone so much the sight of them made everything seem calmer?”

  A frown crossed my lips, the whiplash pulling me to thought as I was not even fully sure what he meant as I asked him, “what?”

  “My Angela was like that,” the man told me, suddenly sounding lost in thought, “she was Alpha’s mother.”

  “That’s not a Purist name,” I said, furrowing my brow as I tried to think that fact over, not sure what had just happened.

  “Wasn’t even a werewolf’s,” the man admitted, turning his back on me as he started to walk away. The wolf felt ready to charge, and fear held me back as he continued, “I lived among the traitors back then, as a slave of The Lady like you, my own brother her right hand. Angela was from my high school, we were…sweethearts is probably the term. She was wonderful, came from this rich country family, had this nice estate home surrounded by woods we’d hunt in. We dated from our Junior year onward, were married at twenty-one. Alpha was born a few years later, we named him Zach, and I loyally never broke the laws of silence, even The Lady wouldn’t accuse me of that.”

  That was…a surprise, but at the same time a surprise I couldn’t particularly call impossible. More than one Purist had been wronged when they went over, and not telling half-ones about the supernatural was an important rule. Most people got exceptions for telling loved ones though, and it confused me that The Lady would either not grant it or he would not ask.

  “Did you choose not to tell, or did The Lady tell you not to?” I asked that obvious question, wondering where I thought prodding would bring me.

  The father didn’t answer at first, instead pacing a slow circle around some trees before he said, “I never asked for it, I was scared to tell her. I’d pretend I always needed to work nights on the full moon. She liked to joke she could never leave a bite or scratch on me, but I hid the worst of my healing, and I looked too young but still could pass as a healthy thirty. When Alpha turned six I knew it was just a few years before the earliest wolves awakened, so I finally asked permission to tell. I brought her to the woods, this moonlit field by a lake we’d go to watch the stars. I told her I had something to show her.”

  “She freaked out?” I guessed, fear turning slowly to annoyance.

  “Surprisingly not, though it would have been preferable with hindsight,” the man said, confusing me as he further explained, “she was horrified, terrified even, but mostly silent and listened to me explain everything. I thought she’d taken it well, and was hopeful, and we ended up having a long conversation. The next day I took Alpha to the park and we stayed there most of the day. I wanted to give her time to think… I came home, and she shot me with a silver bullet straight to the chest. The wolf reacted before I realized fully what happened, and I came to my senses with her blood on my hands and mouth.” and he stopped a long moment, jaw clenched tight enough it shook and I thought I heard a molar threatening to break until he spoke with some finality, “She’d melted down some of her Jewelry, Bloodhound, and made two silver bullets, with a third normal round within. It’s what they’re all like, a human sees a thing they do not like, and they seek to remove it. I began to figure, why shouldn’t we werewolves be the same?”

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  I remained silent, the depth of what he said sat in, and I slowly let my body slip back to human. The man remained silent, almost watching me expectantly, and while he told me no more he’d told me more than enough. He was trying to make me feel sympathy, trying to push me to understand him, and it wouldn’t work.

  “So, what?” I asked with all the disgust I could manage for him, “Alpha’s mom tried killing you two, and you think that changes how I feel about him?”

  “No,” the man said, confusing me even more on why he told me this all, “All I need to say is…Alpha was all I had left of her, and you took him from me. I know you had your disagreements with my son, but I need my revenge and I won’t be denied it because of a petty feud.”

  “It wasn’t a fucking ‘petty feud,” I snapped, slowly marching towards him as the man looked up at me with some mixture of emotions, “your son was a monster who’d never been told no in his life and acted like he didn’t need to know the meaning of the word unless you were actively ripping out his throat. He named himself Alpha like that alone didn’t prove what he was like, and acting like picking that name made him suited to be in charge of everyone.”

  The man was silent once more, staring at me with a twisted mixture of pity and disgust before he told me, “there is a gathering of the rich and influential being held in Richmond on Monday. It’s a fundraiser for hotel renovations. The man who helped deliver the package to Vergil will be there.”

  “Why are you telling me this?” I asked, frowning as I made a mental note of what he said.

  “I want to see how you react,” he admitted, sounding hurt as he finished it off with, “nine midnights now to choose our weapons and time. Use them well, Bloodhound.”

  He turned and left, walking back off into the woods without another word as I stared after him in disbelief. Fear I didn’t know that was holding me left, pain rising in my chest in its place as I tried to think over everything he’d said, everything that it could mean. He was trying to kill me over Alpha of all fucking people, threatening Martin’s life, and now trying to help me find the person who helped. I couldn’t tell what he fucking wanted from me.

  I was still turning it over long after he left when a hand gripped my arm, and my body reacted on instinct as I spun around.

  My hand gripped their neck, tore their arm from me, and I slammed the figure into a nearby tree, pressing my thumb against their neck as a claw grew. A growl escaped my lips, and I bared my teeth until I saw under the brim of the man’s hat.

  “You know not to sneak up on me!” I snapped at Hunter, pushing him back as I stepped away with a final growl.

  My heart was still returning to normal when he gave a laugh to my reaction, brushing himself off as he stepped toward me. The man was wearing a pair of old jeans and a flannel shirt, with his hat he adjusted on his head and the jacket I’d given him. I watched him for a moment, and he shook his head as he held his arms out and asked, “take it you weren’t waiting out here for me then?”

  “You fucking scared me, don’t joke,” I snapped, not sure how he’d fucking snuck up on me. People were doing that too much lately.

  “Sorry, I forgot the no surprise thing,” Hunter sighed with a shake of his head, “whatcha doing out here then, just admiring the night? I thought I heard some talking, but didn’t see anyone else coming up.”

  I was tempted to lie, and instead could only sigh as I told him, “the locket, all of that, I know who's threatening me.”

  “Who is it?” Hunter asked immediately, stepping forward as one his hands rested on my shoulder. Nervous as the wolf was, it pulled away from him, and Hunter tried to ignore the fact he was hurt. “Bloodhound, you know I’ll always help you.”

  “I don’t know,” I lied on instinct, before knowing I needed to tell at least some truth, “Alpha’s dad, but…it’s more complicated than that, but he wants me to duel him. I haven’t scheduled a time or chosen a weapon yet, but he told me where to find the person who delivered the threat for some fucking reason. There’s a fundraiser going on in the city, and apparently I can crash it to find out some more about who did this.”

  “Bloodhound, why didn’t you tell me as soon as you knew it was a duel?” Hunter asked, shaking his head in disbelief, “this is…if it’s a duel he’s been preparing for it, training, he’s a Purist. This changes a lot, it…we can’t be as overt. I mean, why even risk the duel, what’s the blood price he set for avoiding it? I hate to be like this, but you’re living a pretty safe life now, maybe losing an eye or hand’s better than risking the fight?”

  I looked down at the man, frowning as I tried to think about what to say as we held one another’s gaze. He deserved to know the truth, he was as affected by this decision as I was, and yet I couldn’t bring myself to answer. I’d hidden this from him long enough that I had no idea what else to do, so I looked away and forced myself to say the minimum.

  “He set the blood price as Martin’s life, why the locket was like it was. which…life for a life isn’t supposed to be it, but I don’t have a Purist Covenant to petition for it to change,” I admitted, nodding as I swallowed my spit, “he’s punishing us for killing Alpha. We both know there’s a good chance I’d win a fight against most people, but…I don’t know this guy, my advantages are using my weight and the wolf and he easily has a hundred pounds on me. If I don’t risk it though…”

  Hunter nodded, a thousand emotions flooding his face as he looked up to me, seeming unsure of what to say or do. Pain, horror, regret, guilt, sadness, and much more. Slowly he reached out to hug me and I stepped away, not able to handle that tonight, and he nodded as he stepped back and seemed to retreat to his own mind.

  “I’ll help you however I can,” he muttered, nodding as he hesitantly asked me, “what do you need from me?”

  “I need you in Richmond Monday night, if you can make it,” I said, furrowing my brow as I tried to think of ideas, “I think I can get us into that party, but I need to talk to someone when I get back tomorrow. Either way… I want you there with me, you have as much right as anyone to help me.”

  “Why didn’t you ask me before then?” he asked, seeming to immediately regret the words as he looked away, “sorry.”

  “It’s fine,” I lied as I turned my back to him, “we can talk more later. I need sleep.”

  “You both know neither of us are sleeping tonight,” Hunter sighed, and I couldn’t argue with him. “I’ll see you Monday, Bloodhound, you know how to contact me.”

  I nodded, and with that left the woods, hugging myself close as I stepped back toward the RV to try and clear my head. I was so focused on trying to not think I didn’t notice Andrew standing outside the RV until I nearly ran into him.

  He was wearing just a pair of sweats, watching the stars as he twirled a stick in his hands and only briefly looked over at me. I froze for a moment, afraid he’d be angry, and he smiled as he asked, “you good?”

  “No,” I admitted, sighing as I rubbed my eyes, “I’m not going to be anytime soon though, so not really anything to do about it.”

  “You want to talk about it?”

  “No.”

  He nodded, “You planning to go back to sleep or be up for a bit? I can keep you company or give you some space, whatever you need.

  I thought about it for a long moment, and without a word walked past the man, going to one of the makeshift benches we’d once made and sat down. Andrew followed, and the man took his spot beside me with a brief look to confirm I didn’t mind the silent company as I looked up at the sky above, trying to think of everything that had happened.

  I only had nine midnights to make my decision, I would only see eight more midnights if I held off as long as possible and lost the duel. It was a strange feeling, and I sighed as I adjusted myself as best I could. The idea there was nothing I could do, and that at the same time my brain tried to think of everything I could do.

  That needed to wait. I had a strong lead, and while it was days away it was the best I could do.

  I just needed to try and relax.

  It wasn’t going to happen.