The Good Wolves

Chapter 1

"Lana, stake him!" My siblings screamed. I shoved the werewolf against the tree. He cowered in his human form, though his eyes still glowed bright yellow. I pulled a silver knife out of my belt, and slashed his face. He hissed and withered, but made no attempt to escape. I took the knife back again, and kneeled down next to him. He spat on my face, earning boos from my brothers and sister. I plunged the knife into his chest, receiving applause.

"Nice one," my little sister Betty gave me a high five.

"What did you think?" I looked to my older brother Matt, panting.

"You could have staked him earlier," Matt folded his arms.

"Yeah, but I was trying to impress you," I blew my dark hair out of my face.

Betty started walking back to our house with my youngest sibling, Wesley. Matt put his arm around my shoulders and started to follow them. The four of us looked exactly alike, with jet black hair and bright blue eyes.

"You did well," Matt admitted. I could tell how superior he felt, having been asked by our parents to watch over me. Matt prided himself on the little things, like how he was six inches taller, and two years older than me. He also claimed to be stronger, but that was yet to be determined.

Betty and Wesley reached our little cabin in the woods, and left the door wide open for Matt and I.

"Hey," my mother said from the dining room. "Dinner's ready."

"I'm just gonna go put on some sweats," I started up the stairs.

"No," my father said abruptly. "Sit down."

Matt and I glanced at each other, and took our seats at the table. I could immediately tell that something had happened.

"Lana, pass the salad," my father said. I obeyed, waiting to hear what was going on. No one spoke for what seemed like a long time, so I decided to make the first move.

"Did something happen?" I asked. My father looked at my mother and smiled, making me even less sure of the direction the news would take.

"You have a mission, Lana," Mom said.

"A mission? Me? Where?" I rambled excitedly.

"It's in Topeka," Dad said. "They've got a major werewolf problem down there."

"You'll be staying with a retired hunter friend of mine," Mom added.

"When do I leave?"

"Your flight is tomorrow," Dad said.

"Tomorrow?" I sprung up out of my seat. "I need to pack!" I abandoned the dinner table and sprinted upstairs to gather my things.

"Finish dinner first!" Mom called after me, but there was no way I was going back. I bounced into the room I shared with Betty, grabbing my suitcase from the closet and stuffing it with clothes. I compiled a mental list of toiletries I would need and ran around the house grabbing then. It was rare for a sixteen year old hunter to be allowed to go out on their own. Matt, being eighteen, had only had one mission himself.

"I can't wait," I dragged my suitcase down the stairs. My family, still seated around the dinner table, stared at me. "I'm going to sleep in all day and go hunting at night."

"No," Mom laughed. "You'll be going to school all day and hunting at night."

I froze. The warm blood that had been pumping through my body turned cold. "School?" I asked meekly.

"It's not a vacation," Matt said.

"But mom, school could interfere with my mission!" I whined.

"Or it could help you find new wolves," Dad said.

"You have to go to school," Mom said. "I'm not letting you take a break from education just for this."

I rolled my eyes. "There's no fighting this. Is there?"

My entire family shook their heads.

"What time is my flight?" I asked.

"It's at one," Dad answered. "We're leaving here at 10:30."

"How am I supposed to get my gun on the plane?" I asked.

"My friend in Topeka will have guns," Mom explained. "When you get off the plane there'll be a car waiting for you to take you to his house. His name is Gerald Martin. I think you'll like him."

My parents filled me in on the rest of the details: what school I'm going to, how I'll get around town and practically everything they know about Topeka.

After they gave me the run down, I trudged back upstairs and got ready for bed. Matt and Wesley turned the lights off in their room across the hall as both Betty and I crawled into bed.
After about ten minutes of me dozing off, Betty spoke. "Are you awake?"

I considered not answering and going to to sleep, but my sisterly love got the best of me. "Yeah."

"I'm going to miss you," Betty whispered.

"I'll miss you too, Bets," I said.

Betty didn't say anything after that. She always slept in when she could, and I doubted I would see her again before I left.

I felt more uneasy going to sleep than I normally did. I could sense that Betty was fast asleep, but something was still keeping me awake. Perhaps it was nerves for what was to come in Topeka, but perhaps it was something else. It was like a gut feeling that a storm was coming. And when it did, I would be left out in the rain.