Aaron
Standing in the spot that he’d rescued Aragorn, Legolas, and Arwen from, Aaron turned in a circle as the sounds of whooping echoed around him.
The hyena pack.
They were close.
With the hairs on the back of his neck standing straight up, Aaron knew he was right about the hyenas’ intentions. Darkness smudged the area around him. The beautiful flowers that Aaron had been dreaming about were trampled and dying. Once the echoes of the hyenas’ whoops faded away, the silence that surrounded Aaron was wrong. Cold. Evil.
Aaron stared straight ahead. A challenge clear in his gaze.
This was his home. The people that lived in town and in the area were his family. Aaron wasn’t going to let these monsters get away with hurting anyone else. And he had no doubt these shifters were monsters. Not because they were shifters but because they killed people. Human or paranormal, it didn’t matter: a monster was a monster.
Living through the great hunt, Aaron had seen the worst of the worst. The loss of humanity. The destruction of entire species. Those days might be long behind them but it wasn’tsomething that any of them would ever forget. Or allow a repeat of.
While working for the council, Aaron had understood that policing their own kind did serve a purpose. When a paranormal creature went after humans, it put them all in danger. Plus any paranormal that used their natural enhancements against innocents deserved to be treated like the monsters they were. Not that they’d only gone after paranormals within their duties. The other side of that was making sure that humans didn’t harm the innocent paranormals. Those tasks Aaron had agreed with. It was what came after that left Aaron sick to his stomach.
No one cared about what happened to the paranormal or humans after the threat was removed. Who was there to help the innocent heal? Aaron was. Or he and the team would be once their newest venture got off the ground. Aaron couldn’t complete that task until he had made sure that this pack was gone and the town safe for those who might come.
“Why are you hiding?” Aaron called out. He wasn’t sure what this dream was trying to show him. Could he be hurt in a dream? That was probably something that Aaron should have figured out before this.
It was so fucking frustrating! Why was Aaron given dreams and visions that he had no way of controlling. Or even figuring out what they meant. Except…the last dream had led him straight to the puppies that he’d rescued. And this dream wasn’t like the others either. It was clear. Huh. What did that mean? Why were the dreams suddenly making sense? Not that Aaron planned on complaining when the dreams might actually be helpful.
He jumped as the growling started in front of him.
This was only a dream. A hint to some mystery that Aaron was supposed to figure out.
Instead of running scared—it wasn’t like he had a weapon on him here, or the ability to call for backup—Aaron rolled his shoulders and lifted his chin, showing no fear. It was him and the monsters hiding in the woods.
Aaron watched as a pack of six hyenas approached him.
Fear filled him, yet Aaron faced the angry shifters. They might be in animal forms but somewhere inside them was human. Could they be reasoned with?
“What do you want?” Aaron demanded. Maybe one of the hyenas would shift.
The tallest hyena, black spots gleaming under the moonlight, stepped forward with his lips lifted in a snarl.
“Your best bet is to leave this area,” Aaron said. “We’re already aware of you. We have a whole file on your activities. Leave while you still can.”
Quickly the hyena in front of him shifted into a naked dark-haired man with the same snarl on his face.
Aaron lifted a brow. He really hadn’t expected that to work. “And you are?”
“I thought you had a full file on us,” the shifter replied.
It was more of a series on incidents provided by the council. Photos of the carnage they left behind. A few blurry pictures. Names had not been provided. “Why don’t you humor me?”
The shifter grinned, showing off crooked yellow teeth. “How about no?”
“Obviously you wanted to talk, or you wouldn’t have shifted,” Aaron pointed out.
“Or I just wanted to tell you to leave. We’ve decided we like it here. You all already have all the little humans doing your bidding. Perfect for us.”
“We aren’t going anywhere,” Aaron said firmly. “You should think this through. Are you prepared to go up against powerful alphas and other paranormal creatures? Like I said, we read your file. We’re not helpless humans like your previous targets.”
The shifter cackled. “They were too easy. We’ve been bored. And it’s not just powerful paranormals here, is it?”
A chill ran down Aaron’s spine. “What do you mean?”
