Hunter's Moon

Fourteen: Nadia

Idiot! I thought furiously to myself.

I gasped for breath as I raced after the SUV, my legs burning as I ran like I never had before. My chest ached, my lungs searing with every breath I took, but I refused to stop.

"Riley!" I screamed.

The SUV turned a corner, disappearing from sight. I put on a burst of speed, hoping to see where it turned. When I reached the corner, I nearly collapsed as I finally came to a stop. I whirled around, searching for any signs of the SUV. It was gone.

"Dammit!" I shrieked. "Good fucking work, Nadia!"

I spun around when I heard footsteps racing up to me from behind. Drew and Eddie approached, both of them wearing a matching set of grim, determined expressions. Our breath hung on the crisp night air before us, theirs calm and steady while mine came out in short, quick bursts.

"He took her!" was all I could gasp out. They only nodded, staring down the street where the SUV had disappeared. I snapped my head back and forth between them, my panic reaching levels of near insanity. "Well?" I shrieked. "Aren't we going to do something?"

"Trust me," Eddie murmured, turning his attention to me. "We'll get her back, but it won't be easy."

"Why?" I shrieked, my voice rising in volume and pitch. "Can't you just... I don't know, follow her scent or something?"

Drew laughed. "Oh, we can follow the scent all right," she said. "We can find out where they took her. But we're not going to be able to save her. Not without some help, at least."

"Why not?" I shrieked again.

They winced, and Drew raised a hand to press against the side of her head. "Easy on the volume, kid," she hissed. She shared a strange look with Eddie, then said, "I'll go get the car. Stay here, I'll be right back." She turned and took off, sprinting back to Trisha Simmons' house.

I spun around on Eddie. "What the fuck is going on?" I demanded. Thunder boomed overhead, almost like the weather could pick up on my mood.

He sighed, his head hanging and his shoulders slumping in sudden exhaustion. He sat on the curb, gesturing that I should do the same. I lowered myself onto the curb beside him, staring pointedly at him. Thunder boomed again, and then rain started to fall.

"Hunters," Eddie finally said. "That's what's going on."

I blinked, staring at him in shock. A third boom rumbled through the air, and my stomach dropped. "Hunters?" I whispered. "Like the Sons?"

He shook his head. "No. The Sons are methodical, organized. These guys are probably freelancers." He sighed again and rubbed the back of his neck, as if it physically pained him to talk about this. "Aside from the Sons, these freelance hunters only hunt werewolves, or other creatures, that have gone rogue, like Dominic. Then there are those that hunt for fun. We have no idea what kind these are, so we're going to have to do this in two steps."

"Which are...?" I prompted when he stopped talking.

He sighed. "First," he said, "we're going to track Riley and the hunters. We need to find out where they're keeping her. Then, we're going to go and get some reinforcements."

I frowned. "Do I want to know who these reinforcements are?" I asked. I had a feeling I already knew, but I didn't want to think about it.

He laughed bitterly. "No, but you need to," he said. "If we can find Riley and the hunters, we're going to need help from other members of the pack. Wolves that are working specifically to bring Riley in."