By werewolf standards, Jaylon and the rest of the pack were young. Thirty years old as werewolves, each having been turned in their late twenties, give or take. Mayhem was by far the most informed when it came to the lore of their kind, but even he admitted to being sadly ignorant about where they came from and what their place was in the world. They all knew there were other packs, but typically stuck to their own territory. And with the band’s growing success and popularity, Jaylon and the guys hadn’t really been too worried about turf wars. There just wasn’t time for it. And the Hunters had only become an issue now that the pack seemed to be finding mates. According to the folklore, every Huntress was destined to choose between a werewolf and a Hunter. A heavy decision that would align her with one side and make her enemy to the other.
“Darcy seems to think so,” Dave said as he folded the paper in half and slipped it into his pocket, his voice cutting through Jaylon’s thoughts and getting his focus back on the conversation.
Raven’s mate, Darcy, had been filling in a lot of the blanks since she’d joined the pack. A witch born into the supernatural world, she knew far more than anyone else about the role of the Hunters and their methods of locating the Huntresses.
“What does that mean? What is an Order Huntress?” Jaylon asked.
“It means she will most likely want to kill you on sight.” Mayhem chuckled.
“Great.” Add to that his ineptitude around women, his complete and total lack of knowing the right thing to say or the right time to say it, and he was doomed. “I’ll try to remember that the next time I see her.”
Dave glanced at his watch. “Which will be in exactly five minutes.”
“What?” Jaylon jumped from his stool, knocking it over in a clatter. “You found her? Why didn’t you fucking tell me that? You asshole.”
Jaylon’s wolf bellowed his rage, pushing to the forefront, fangs dropping down to hit his bottom lip, claws pushing through the flesh of his fingertips.
Dave raised his hand and Mayhem stepped in between them. “My orders, Jay. Wasn’t sure if we could get her here. Had to come up with a plan.”
Jaylon sucked in deep breaths, panting as he clenched and unclenched his fists, the bite of his claws against his palm helping to keep things real. “What plan?”
“Darcy thinks, given what we’ve seen and learned about Aubrey, that she comes from a family of Order supporters.”
“So what?” His words were guttural, spoken with a mouth full of fang, his brain misfiring, continually cycling back to the idea that she was on her way. To him. Finally.
“It means that she has been raised as a killing machine. She’s had the expectation that she will one day be mated to a Hunter. She’s already on their side, like I said, an Order Huntress.”
Jaylon gulped back his anger. “She’s against us?”
“She doesn’t know what we are. Unless you change in front of her, she probably won’t figure it out. Darcy’s gonna use a spell just in case though, confuse her a bit so her instincts don’t tip her off.”
“How did you find her?” The doorbell rang and Jaylon’s heart leapt to his throat.
“Just so happened she was looking for a job.” Dave smirked. “She’s our new security chief.”
“Security chief?”
“For Darcy,” Dave said with a wink.
“Huh?” Jaylon frowned. Darcy was one of the most powerful witches he’d ever seen. “Why would you hire…?”
Mayhem shook his head and gave Jaylon a hard pat on the back. “I got her here, bud. Now it’s your job to keep her here.”
“Yeah, you’ve just got to make her fall in love with you, Jay.” Dave chuckled as he walked out of the kitchen.
Jaylon’s stomach clenched. Oh fuck.
Chapter Three
The timing had been perfect. More than perfect, if there was such a thing. Aubrey had warned her parents about the wolf situation, and declined their repeated offers to come and get her so she could stay in the safety of the Order’s compound. As if she would willingly subject herself to the misery of watching her sister in Huntress, loving bliss…um, not interested.
She’d then contacted some of the connections she had, sympathizers and supporters of the Order and started searching for a job. Time to get her life going, move beyond the destiny she thought she’d had to the one she would make for herself. Out of nowhere came an email from some big shot rock star manager looking for a security chief to accompany his band on their European tour.
Even though she’d grown up almost completely isolated and totally devoted to training, she hadn’t been without amenities most modern families had. She knew who Riot was. She even kinda liked their music. Hard, loud, dirty. Many of their songs were on her training playlist. It was the right kind of music for a little beast ass-kicking.
It all seemed too good to be true and as her dad always said, if it was looked too good, then it probably was. She’d accepted the job, of course. The pay was outstanding, but her instincts were on high alert.