The Hunt

3

"Seriously, Jimin?! You brought a wolf here?" The pale man hit the back of Jimin's head, causing the fox hybrid to stumble forward.

"Sorry, hyung. I didn't know. She smelled human."

The remaining men entered the room.

"Is it her? Is she the hunter?" The tall man asked.

I felt the blood drain from my face. A hunter?

While the existence of hybrids was widely known, most humans didn't believe in hybrids. Like vampires or Santa Claus, they thought it was all a myth. Just folklore to scare children into behaving. But, there were some humans who knew the truth. Hunters.

Usually they came from a long line of hunters. Each generation passing on their skills and stories to the next. They lived to kill our kind.

"You guys crossed paths with a hunter?" I asked, looking at each of them. Idiots. They all look like idiots.

"Yes." Tall man squared his shoulders and looked down at me. "We're going to find her before she finds us."

He gave a nod to someone standing behind me, and I felt the ropes binding me to the chair go slack. I stood up.

"Are you dense?" I looked up at him, a small smile spreading across his face. "It's not safe to be in a group like this. Are you trying to get yourselves killed?"

Tiger. He was a tiger. An arrogant tiger who thought he couldn't be harmed by a hunter.

"We are trying to locate the hunter and take her out before any harm can come to our family. We do not want to have to live in fear, so we're going to fight back." The other men all nodded in agreement.

Unrelated hybrids rarely lived in large groups. It was too risky. The more hybrids concentrated in one area, the more likely they were to be discovered by a hunter.

"We know what she drives and that she's blonde."

"Wait, what did you do with the humans you had here?"

"Hypnotized them and sent them on their way." Tall man shrugged his shoulders.

"One of you is viper?" As far as I knew, only vipers could hypnotize humans.

The bunny hybrid stepped forward proudly, "I did it. My grandfather was a viper and I inherited some of his traits."

"I'm sorry, but aren't you a rabbit?" I was stumped.

While it wasn't unheard of, it was uncommon for hybrid families to change from predators to prey over the course two generations. My own family was mostly wolves and bears, but I did have an uncle that was a parrot. No one was sure what happened there.

"I am a rabbit, yes. My grandpa was a viper and my grandma was an ostrich."

"You know what? I just remembered I don't care." I turned back to the tall one, he was clearly in charge. "I would like to leave now."

His smile grew and two dimples appeared on either side of his mouth. He was very handsome. They all were.

"Jimin will take you home. But, if you change your mind," he handed me a business card. "We could use your help."

Who hands out their business card in a situation like this?

I shoved the card in my pocket, and looked over at Jimin. "Little fox, let's go."

"I'll go with them." I heard possible-llama guy say as I was almost out the door of the small room.

Jimin lead us through several other rooms and hallways before arriving at a freight elevator. The ground floor appeared to be an old textile factory. I wasn't given much of a chance to take in my surroundings as Jimin was moving at a quick clip.

Once outside, Jimin bee-lined to a small SUV parked near the door. Possible-llama guy opened the front passenger door and ushered me in.

I paused after climbing into the front seat, not letting him shut the door. "I don't mean to be rude, but what are you? A llama?"

He laughed, "I get that a lot, but no. I'm a badger."

He shut my door and climbed into the seat behind mine.