The Hunt

7

The Parks were mostly smaller predators- coyotes, foxes, jackals, hyenas, etc. They offered security services to the top three families and their businesses. One branch of the Parks had been particularly loyal to the Choi Family for several generations. It had been a tradition of sorts for one of the, for lack of better word, 'expendable' Choi offspring to be married off to a Park. Lucky me, my father had decided I would be the one to join the ranks of the Parks. 

I had nothing against the Park Family. I just hated the idea of being used as a pawn in a power play by the council and my father. 

So, I left my parents' home and didn't look back. Living with humans, I avoided other hybrids and made a life for myself. Sure, I wasn't the most successful person in the world, but I lived comfortably enough. It was better than being forced into a, probably, loveless marriage. The disappointment on my husband's face whenever I looked at him because he was just as trapped as I was. No, thank you. Hard pass. 

A loud knock on the door pulled me out of my thought tangent. I had definitely gotten carried away. 

I turned off the TV, and grabbed my purse. I had found my purse and cell phone in my car when I drove Sarah home. Luckily, no one saw them in the backseat and tried to steal them while she was out and about earlier in the day. Opening the front door, I was greeted with the ever-cheerful Jimin. 

"Ready?" He asked, his eyes raking over my body. Jimin pursed his lips into a small frown. 

"What?" 

Jimin looked me up and down again, sighed, and ran his hand through his hair. "Nothing. Let's go." 

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed my keys off the hook by the door, turned off all of the lights except for a single lamp, and shut the front door. Jimin waited for me to lock the door before escorting me to his car. The same car I had seen on the side of the road with a flat. 

"You didn't get towed? That's lucky."

Jimin grunted and gave a non-committal shrug in response. Great. This is going to be a fun car ride. 

I tried to pay attention to each intersection we crossed and every turn we made, just in case I needed to get home on foot. You never know. They'd already abducted me once. 

After about ten minutes of silence, I couldn't take it anymore. 

"Jimin?" 

"Hmm?" He didn't take his eyes off the road. 

"You watched me for a couple days, right?" I asked, eyes focused on the street signs we were passing. 

"Yes..." 

I tried to sneak a glance at him. His shoulders were tense as he gripped the steering wheel to firmly. "You really had no idea I was a hybrid?" 

"Not until I licked you." 

"Oh good, I'm glad you brought that up. What the hell was that?" 

Jimin chuckled, the corners of his lips pulled up into a small smile. "Scare tactic. Humans tend to be more forthcoming with information when they're terrified." 

"It was more gross than scary," I muttered under my breath. "Why not just hypnotize them from the beginning?" 

"We tried it, but it wasn't very efficient." Jimin stopped at a red light and rolled his shoulders, releasing the death grip he had on the wheel. "Their minds were more pliable, but getting answers out of them was like pulling teeth. And we could only do it one person at a time. It just took too long. Today was our first time grabbing several possible hunters, but that wasn't a great idea either." 

I nodded in response, not sure what to say. I'd never actually interrogated anyone before. 

After a few more blocks, Jimin pulled into the driveway of a modern, two-story, white house with a large front porch. 

Jimin got out of the car, but I was too busy gawking at the house to notice until he opened my car door. 

"Come on."