Hunt

Chapter 42: A Leap of Faith

I can't seem to ease my restless mind. I'm either thinking about Julie and how her training in going or the conversation I had with Reyna's father. School seemed to be the last thing on my mind, especially since there were more pressing matters that I had to contend with.

"Hey Kyle?" A familiar voice calls out to me, yanking me back to reality. I could see Reyna approaching me from across the cafeteria.

The bell still had yet to ring, leaving me no good excuse to avoid her. "Hmm? What?" I ask, raising my head.

Reyna was quickly before me. Fidgeting awkwardly from foot to foot. "I-I'm sorry. For my behavior this morning." She stammers, avoiding my eyes as she speaks. "I don't know why I snapped like that."

I keep my eyes on her, remaining silent until she does make eye contact with me. Only then do I respond. "I understand that we're all stressed out. But you forget that I have no real obligation to help your family. I don't have to try to convince the other hunters to help you..." I try to keep my tone neutral, taking my time to find the right words to use.

"B-but what about the safety of everyone?" Reyna asks. "You—"

"We would protect the innocent. We'd keep them safe by wiping the threat clean from the map." I state bluntly, interrupting Reyna.

Reyna seems to sink into herself, much like how she did back at her house. Had I not have risked my neck and proposed this alliance Paul would've already ordered the culling of the Silverlock pack. At the time I couldn't allow for that to happen. But now..? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

"K-Kyle..." she says at a whisper.

"We have a lot of work to do." I state. "We tried to follow that detour that joined our paths. But work has to come first." Reyna's previous metaphor about walking different paths seemingly coming to its completion, or at least close to it for now. We'd just have to see.

The bell rings, indicating school was now in session, saving me from this interaction. Standing, I begin to move past Reyna, a shadow seeming to pass over her face as I approach.

I stop next to her, saying softly: "If we can all get along there shouldn't be any issues. I do want us to be able to work together. You really didn't lie to me about your father desiring peace. We'll start building our trust back from there."

I leave her in the cafeteria. I hoped my words conveyed my feelings in a way she could understand. I was being pulled apart by my two worlds once again. My hunter instinct and my lovesick teenager sides both warring for control. Hopefully tonight could bring those two halves closer back to equilibrium again. I don't think I could handle it if the talks fall through tonight. I wouldn't be able to pull the trigger...

School left me bored. My senior class had many of their finals earlier than the rest of the student body, leaving the last week or so of class a mess of study hall or last minute frantic lectures. My history class being the former. Mr. Harland had been putting 'educational' movies on in class for a while now, and today was no different. But instead of an easy class period I find myself in the hall deep in conversation about anything but world history.

"What's your take on this arrangement?" I ask, trying to get more than just my own opinion on tonight's meeting. "I want your honest opinion Nick."

"Look, I know that you and I came up with this together. But this really isn't my preferred matchup Kyle. If I'm being honest I see this as a huge gamble, and I'm not a betting man." Nick says quickly in response.

I knew he would have some concerns about working with Lycans. I'm certain we all shared some of the same worries. But Nick was the one I had proposed this solution to first. Mostly in passing but more so as an actual viable plan later. His experience made him a good sounding board to bounce my crazy ideas off of. Plus I could talk to him during school hours about this stuff.