Born To Hunt (Book 1)

Now She Knows

The second we got back to the Argent's house, Allison pushed me towards her car with no explanation. Which is why, ten minutes later, I found myself traipezing through the woods with a determined Allison, and Lydia who was not wearing shoes for this type of trip. 
    "Allison- when you said you needed to stop for an errand before we went shopping- a five- mile hike in the woods was not what I was expecting." Lydia complains breathily, wobbling in her heels as we march deeper into the forest. 
    "Before I forget, I wanted to ask if you're okay with something. Jackson asked me to the winter formal." Allison says, her eyebrow quirking up slightly as she glances back to Lydia. I take in a sharp breath, trying to figure out what was going on between the two. The last time I checked they weren't fighting, but apparently I had missed something. 
    "Did he?" Lydia asks, and I turn around, frowning at her slightly. Her voice was off, and I knew that even though she would end up denying it, she was upset about Jackson asking Allison to the formal. 
    "Just as friends. But I just wanted to make sure you're okay with it first." Allison drawls out, a slight twinge of anger in her voice. I look back and forth between the two again. Something happened, and I wanted to know what. 
    "Sure. As long as it's just friends." Lydia says, her smile not reaching her eyes. 
    "Well yeah, I mean- It's not like I would take him to coach's office during lacrosse practice to make out with him or anything." Allison says angrily. I stop walking, whirling around to face Lydia. 
    "Did you make out with Scott?" I whisper hiss. Lydia bites her lip. 
    "About that-" She starts, and I roll my eyes, turning around and walking beside Allison again. She stops suddenly, and pulls an arrowhead out of her bag, turning it in her hand before attaching it to an arrow shaft. 
    "What does that do?" Lydia asks, avoiding the subject that she knew would only make everyone even more upset. 
    "We're about to find out." Allison says, before pulling her bow back, releasing the arrow. The arrow hits a tree fifty feet away and explodes with a flash of light. I recognized it immediately as one of Kate's flare arrows. She had explained them to me a week ago. Apparently, the light waves that the arrow created temporarily blinded werewolves so that a hunter could get the upper hand. 
    "That was awesome." I grin, ignoring the pounding in my chest. Lydia shakes her head. 
    "What the hell was that?" She asks, her hands on her hips. 
    "I don't know." Allison mumbles, looking at the tree intensely.
  "Well that was gun! Any more lethal weapons you wanna try out?" Lydia asks, her face filled with boredom until a twig snaps behind us. I jump slightly, reaching towards my pocket slowly. 
    "Hold this." Allison says, handing the bow and arrows to Lydia. Lydia jumps slightly, shaking her head. 
    "What? Why?" She asks, a scared expression on her face. 
    "Because I thought I heard something." Allison says, starting to walk away. 
    "What if you heard something?" Lydia asks, panic starting to settle in on her face. 
    "So- I want to find out what that something is. Don't worry. It's probably nothing." Allison tries to reassure Lydia, but Lydia just shakes her head again. 
    "Well, what if that nothing is something and that something is something dangerous." Lydia asks, her voice rising in pitch. 
    "Shoot it." Allison says with a shrug before walking away. Lydia squeals slightly, and I shake my head before taking the bow and arrows away from her. 
    "If something is dangerous, I'll shoot it." I offer, giving her a short smile. 
    "How do you know how to use that thing?" Lydia asks, her voice still slightly shaky. 
    "My brother Dean taught me." I reply with a small smile. Lydia nods, and we stand in silence for ten minutes until Allison comes back over, blush covering her cheeks. 
    "What was it?" Lydia asks, narrowing her eyes. 
    "Oh, nothing. Listen, can we go shopping a different day?" Allison asks, a far off look on her face.
    "Fine with me. I'm behind on my homework." I say, and Lydia nods in agreement before we head back out of the woods.
****
I sat in the room that Sam, Dean and I shared, doing my homework and pretty much avoiding everyone. Don't get me wrong, I love Allison like a sister, but Kate and Chris were too close to figuring out who the second beta was. It was terrifying to think that, at any time, I could be forced to stand against the Argents in a fight. Because there was no way that I would stand against Scott and Stiles. A knock at the door jerked me from my thoughts. I sighed before getting up and opening the door. 
    "Kate?" I say, raising an eyebrow. Kate had never come to get me from my room before. The only time I had really talked to her had been the night of the car chase. 
    "I'm going on a hunt, and I think you should come." She says. I resist the urge to frown, instead nodding and walking over to my dresser to get ready. I put on a holster and slip a gun in, before putting on my combat boots and sliding a knife into the left one. 
    "Ready." I say, and Kate shakes her head. 
    "Not quite kid." She says, jerking her head towards the stairs. I follow her down the stairs and into the garage. She walks over to one of the lockers and unlocks it before pulling out a bow and several arrows, the arrowheads matching the one that Allison had used earlier. I frowned, but took it from her anyway, also grabbing a glove. 
    "You know, a bow isn't my weapon of choice." I say, frowning at her. Kate chuckles. 
    "Easier to sneak up on a wolf with something that doesn't click when you prep it." She says, an odd glint in her eyes. I sigh, but follow her to her car anyway. I take a deep breath as we drive farther into the woods, the car bumping around slightly, but less than it would if we were in the Impala. We stop at a clearing of sorts, and Kate gets out. I also jump out and walk around the car, standing next to her. 
    "So, where are we headed." I ask, although a small part of me believed that I already knew that we were headed to find Derek. 
    "The Hale house, but we have to go on foot from here. Derek Hale has been a werewolf his whole life, his abilities are fine tuned. If we tried to drive up, he'd hear us and the whole hunt would be compromised." She explains as she starts to hike. I nod, letting out a breath before I follow her. We walk for twenty minutes until a dark, burnt house comes into view. Kate and I stop, and I look at her.
    "What now?" I ask, my voice barely a whisper.
    "We're going to try and peer into the house. If we see anyone, shoot two arrows into the house, and then start shooting with your gun. The arrows will stun whoever it is. We're not shooting to kill though, we need a hostage so that we can find the alpha." Kate explains and I nod, my stomach churning at the thought of having to kill Derek. Killing with my father and brothers was different. We never stayed around to get to know the creatures, but now that I know some supernatural beings, it's hard to think about killing them. I shake my head, clearing my thoughts before slinking towards the house. I notch an arrow, ready to release it. I peek through one of the shattered window, my eyes widening at the sight. Derek, Scott and Jackson were inside, and from the looks of it, Derek was trying to kill Scott. Anger flooding through me, I pull back and release one arrow before notching another and releasing it, seconds later. I ignore the screams from inside, grabbing my gun from my side before rushing in and shooting randomly. I pray that I don't hit Scott, but I smile grimly as I hit Derek. He notices me, and his eyes open wide with betrayal, before Kate comes in and shoots Derek with some kind of tranquilizer. He immediately drops to the ground, and Kate turns to me with a slight smirk. 
    "Nice job kid. Now help me with him. We have to hold him somewhere secure." She says, grabbing his left shoulder and attempting to yank him up. I purse my lips together, but help her anyway. We manage to drag him out of the house. I let out a puff of air as I realize how far away the car is. 
    "How the hell are we going to get him all the way over there?" I ask, nodding towards the car. Kate shakes her head. 
    "We're not." She says, before leading me towards a big mound. She pulls a key from her pocket and pushes some moss out of the way before unlocking a previously hidden door. We stumble through the hallway, and walk into a room with a chain link wall. My eyes widen as I notice the shackles attached to the wall. Despite the voice in my head telling me this was a bad idea, I listened to the other voice in my head. The louder one, the one that was shouting that Derek tried to kill Scott and couldn't be trusted. Taking a deep breath, I helped Kate shackle Derek's wrists first, and then his ankles. Just as we took a step back, he started to stir. Kate grabbed my wrist and pulled me back outside, shutting the lights off first. 
    "What now?" I ask.
    "Now, we have something very important to do and I'm going to have to make you promise that you won't tell Chris." Kate says, her face serious. 
    "Are we going to kill a human?" I ask, my blood running cold at the rough glint in Kate's eyes. She shakes her head, managing a chuckle. 
    "I promise that we're not killing anybody." She says, and although it was hard, I decided to believe her. 
    "Then I promise not to tell Chris." I say, and she smiles. 
    "Good." Kate says, pulling out her phone. I raise an eyebrow as she starts to text someone, until the realization hits me. 
    "We're going to tell Allison, aren't we?" I ask, a huge knot in my stomach. Kate nods, nonchalantly as if this wasn't the kind of information that could ruin someone's innocence and, essentially, their life. 
    "You're smart kid. She should be here in twenty minutes or so. Just sit back and relax until then." Kate says with a slight smirk. I hold back a sigh, instead placing myself so that my back is against the door that held Derek, the first prisoner that I had taken without Sam and Dean's help. I pull my phone out, and text both of them, hoping to get a response. I hadn't heard from them since they left for their hunt five days ago. I frowned, staring down at the screen, willing them to answer. I jumped slightly as a text popped up on my screen. Stiles: Need to talk, can you come over? I frown, glancing up at Kate, guilt bubbling up inside of me. Me: I can't. I'm so sorry, I'm helping someone with something. I hit send, ignoring the guilt threatening to suffocate me. Stiles had never just asked me to talk, and the fact that he did now and I can't go to him makes me feel like shit. I jump slightly as I hear Allison stumble towards us, tripping slightly in the dark. 
   "Tori? What are you doing here?" Allison asks, turning to Kate with a raised eyebrow.
    "I wanted to show you a family secret, and I thought that Tori should be part of it since she lives with us." Kate smirks. Allison nods, and Kate opens the door, motioning for us to follow her inside. Allison's nose wrinkles up as she looks around the hallway- which I admit looked gross. 
    "What is this place?" Allison asks. Kate stops, right before we get to Derek's room, and I grit my teeth as my heart rate speeds up, the sound in my ear. 
    "Let's start with the basics. You know how every family has its secrets?" Kate starts, and Allison nods. Kate pushes the door open. "Ours is a little different." Kate says while turning the light on. I blink for a moment, getting the bright light out of my eyes. I frown at Derek, his teeth bared. He lets out a sound, a roar mixed with a growl. Allison jumps, and I pat her back reassuringly. "Isn't he beautiful?" Kate asks, Allison's face filled with shock. Kate grabs a Taser from the table, the kind that the Argent's special order for werewolves. She turns to us and smiles before walking over to Derek.
    "Kate, maybe you shouldn't do that, let Allison take it in for a minute." I say softly, trying to get Kate to stop before she terrifies Allison. Kate ignores me though, and struts up to Derek, sticking the Taser into his side. Derek growls, and Kate sticks the Taser into him again, his whole body convulsing this time as she repeatedly shoves the Taser into his side. 
    "What are you doing to him? Is that gonna kill him?" Allison asks in a panic. Kate laughs, stepping away from Derek.
    "Oh come on kiddo. Don't get all ethical on me now." Kate says with a smirk. I hold back a scowl, stepping away from the two Argents. 
    "What is he?" Allison asks, inching closer to Kate. 
    "A werewolf, a person cursed with lycanthropy." I say, ignoring the wide eyed look that Allison gives me. 
    "To me, he's just another dumb animal." Kate says before shoving the Taser back into Derek's side. Derek growls, and Kate grabs his mouth, keeping it open. "Come here. See these right here? These are canines, also known as fangs. Made for the tearing and rending of flesh. Not something you'd find on those cute little leaf eating herbivores, is it?" Kate says, caressing Derek's cheek.
    "This is a joke to you?" Allison asks angrily. Kate chuckles. 
    "Sweetheart, there are werewolves running around in the world. Everything's a joke to me. How else do you think I stay sane?" Kate asks, smirking. Allison shakes her head, and I can almost see the wheels turning in her head as she attempts to make sense of this. 
    "So, it was him at the high school and all the other animal attacks?" Allison asks, narrowing her eyes. I shake my head. 
    "No, there are more than one. Another Beta, like him. Then, there's the Alpha, the pack leader. They're bigger and stronger, and angrier." I explain, shuddering slightly at the thought of Peter Hale. 
    "And nastier. Those are the real ugly motherf-" Kate adds, but Allison cuts her off. 
    "When were they gonna tell me? When were you going to tell me?" Allison asks Kate the first question, then turns to me, her eyes hardening. 
    "I had started to, Allison. The movie store? It wasn't a mountain lion, and the picture in your book didn't look like a big wolf. I was trying to explain it to you slowly, and I didn't know how to do that." I admit, feeling horrible as the weight of the lies that hadn't been resolved continued to push me down. 
    "Your parents still haven't decided if they're gonna tell you." Kate says, and Allison stops giving me a hurt look so that she can instead stare at Kate, shock all over her face. 
    "Why?" Allison asks, anger laced in her tone. 
    "Let's just say if you react badly when you find out- not good." Kate says, crossing her arms. 
    "What do you mean, "not good?"" Allison asks, shaking her head slightly. 
    "They don't think that you can handle it. They look at you and they see this frightened little girl who's gonna run crying in the corner when she finds out the truth. Me- what I see- natural talent. Allison, you said you wanted to feel more powerful right? Now's your chance." Kate explains, the tone of her voice one that makes you feel as though you have to listen, and do what she says. 
    "What am I supposed to do now?" Allison asks, shaking her head as we walk out of the room and hallway, instead talking outside. 
    "Do what I do, what we have to do. Go to school, go to the Formal, pretend that we're normal teenagers who don't have a secret life fighting against the supernatural creatures of the world." I say, smiling softly at the appreciative look Allison gives me.
    "And you girls can just trust me to get everything ready for the next part." Kate says flippantly, almost brushing aside her own comment. I raise an eyebrow at her. 
    "What next part?" I ask, my heart beating out of my chest in fear of what the next part it. 
    "You girls, are gonna help me catch the second Beta." Kate grins, and I turn to Allison, the reason for the fear on her face different than the reason for the fear on mine, but the fear was still there. Although Allison didn't know, Kate had just recruited us to help her catch Scott.