A dark familiar presence appeared at the end of our table.
“Kyren?” Tate glanced up at him, surprise on his face as well. “What are you doing here?”
The vampire’s gaze skimmed over our table before landing on me. “A report. Hunters are headed this way. Rogue werewolves on the rampage.”
“What?” Tate jumped to his feet, pulling out his phone. “My phone was on silent. I didn’t see the alert.”
Familiar with the hunter broadcast system, I didn’t ask anything further. Though everything in me wanted to ask Kyren about the hunters. How many were they? Who was leading them? And how many rogues were there?
Instead, I let them lead me away from the table and toward Tate’s car. Kyren’s shadows scattered around us, and the air tensed as if anticipating what was to come. We only made it past the food truck before there was a scream.
My head whipped to the side.
Loud snarls and the breaking of glass filled the air. I stepped back just as four werewolves shot around the corner of the street, breaking off pieces of the building in their hurry. Their long furry legs were much longer than a normal wolf, their bodies closer to the size of a bear. Sharp teeth filled their mouths, eyes burning yellow in the dim streetlight.
Adrenaline pumped through my veins. Instead of fear, the need to chase after the rogue supernaturals pushed at my resistance. I curled my hands into fists, forcing myself to act shocked instead of eager to join the fight.
People screamed and ran in the opposite direction, while a half-dozen black-clothed figures came running behind the werewolves, shouting and shooting their pistols, no doubt loaded with silver bullets. It might not kill the werewolves right away, but a few in the werewolves’ bodies would slow them down. Maybe even make them change back.
“Jack, come on.” Tate grabbed my hand and pulled me toward his car. “You don’t want to get caught in the crossfires of a hunter and their victims.”
Victims? That was a curious way to talk about the hunters doing their job. A curiosity that I didn’t have time to wonder about before pain sliced through my leg. My body flew forward, and I braced for impact.
Arms wrapped around my body, my face buried in silky dark hair, my senses filled with a smokey scent instead of the expected pine. Heart still racing from the fall, I peered up at Kyren’s face.
“Thanks,” I breathed.
His nostrils flared, the tips of his fangs poking out between his lips. “You’re bleeding.”
As if mentioning it made it real for me, a sharp stinging started in my leg.
“We don’t have time to take care of it now,” Tate said from above us, keeping guard over us.
I shot a look at him before glancing behind me at the rapidly approaching hunters.
Kyren lifted me to my feet and then we were moving again. Once we reached the car, Kyren pushed me toward the front and took the back seat. Opening the car door, I chanced one more look at the hunters.
A familiar face flashed before me as they passed the car. The hunter slowed, his eyes locking with mine as I held the car door open.
“Durand?”
I sucked in a sharp breath, my heart race jumping up briefly.
Gaining control of myself, I quickly ducked into the car. Slamming the door shut, I focused forward, aware of the feel of the eyes of Tate and Kyren on me.
They didn’t comment. I hoped I was safe to assume they hadn’t heard the hunter calling my real last name.
“Does this happen a lot?” I asked off-handedly, trying to pull their attention away from what they might have heard.
“More than we’d like,” Kyren said from the back seat. I could feel his eyes on the back of my head.
“What a way to end a first date, huh?” Tate grinned with a wink. “I guess luck wasn’t on our side tonight.”
He could say that again.
First, we saw Julian at the Italian place. Then, my dads showed up. The final nail on the coffin was the monster hunt in the middle of the street. To say this date was cursed was taking it lightly.
I could only hope that it ended in a better way than it started.
