Hunt

Chapter 44: Hung Out to Dry

Finals week at school was right around the corner and that final weekend was supposed to be spent studying and preparing for my last tests of high school. But for me it was going to be spent doing anything but schoolwork. The Silverlock pack was chomping at the bit to get the ball rolling, and since I had previously volunteered to be the liaison between our two groups I was on constant call.

Our final confirmed number brought our combined force to around twenty-five. Much smaller than I had originally anticipated, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get some of the other hunters in the region to agree to help. I can't really blame them though. It's risky enough to meet with a wolf pack like we did, let alone team up with one. We were treading new ground and hiccups were expected. Some just couldn't afford to take that risk.

Julie spent the longest time begging me to let her participate, and I wouldn't be lying if I said I wasn't beginning to consider it. Out of the ten or so hunters I had originally talked to that were willing to take on this job we had dwindled to just those who were at the meeting. Julie must've had some idea of this, hence her persistence. I wouldn't put it past Paul to spill the beans to her during her training with him.

"Kyle. There would only be five hunters!" Julie argues, having cornered me in the kitchen before school on Friday. "Just let me come help in the training! I don't even have to go on the missions!"

"No Julie!" I snap back. "I've told you a million times no! You only have one real 'hunt' under your belt. I can't have you throwing yourself at every problem. You're still trying to stay anonymous here, don't be so quick to give that up!"

"But why though?!" She cries, "why should that matter?" She picks up an apple from the fruit basket on the counter.

I begin to prepare to dodge flying fruit, speaking quickly as I raise my hands defensively. "Once your face is known you'll be in a lot more danger! Word spreads fast in this world and many monsters also have cellphones."

Much to my relief she sets the apple down, mulling over my words. "How am I supposed to be trained to hunt when you all are out dealing with this?" Her voice had nearly dropped to that of a whisper.

"Well... We'll figure it out. Okay?" I try to sound reassuring. But I do have an idea of how she feels. To be left out the conversation, to be left behind to sit on your ass while everyone else is out there risking their lives. It is a frustrating feeling...

That day at school flew by like the wind. Where everyone else was stressing about math tests I was panicking over how to integrate hunters and lycans into a cohesive team. So I was dealing with similar issues really. It's a daunting task even as a hypothetical question, it only got much more difficult when it was brought into reality. I had only observed lycans through the sights of my gun, not with them along side me. I struggle to imagine the kind of trust required to let one of them watch my back. As with any other hunting subject, the information we had on lycans was always subject to change. I try to focus on how good of an opportunity this truce will bring to answer some of the questions we only had theories for.

On top of all this I was dealing with little to no inside contact to the pack. Reyna, much to my frustration, had conveniently been absent from school the last couple days. On top of that she had been dodging my questions about the whole pack situation. Leaving me no easy access to the Silverlock pack despite their apparent desire to get the ball rolling. The only contact I had with her was in setting up a second meeting for this afternoon, but other than that it had been pretty much radio silence. I needed to get a better understanding of what I was working with, If any of them had any natural potential or if we would need to pull heavy overtime to get them all up to speed. I also needing to verify whether or not they could be trusted. I still wasn't entirely convinced and just talking to their leader didn't get me a feeling for the rest of them.