Page 11 of Hunted Ink by Trisha Linde

Norman grew more serious, his face adopting his “teaching” expression, which usually accompanied a lecture of some kind, though I was more used to his lectures being about the benefit of keeping our apartment tidy. Grabbing the book open on the counter beside him, he flipped through until he found what he was looking for, then rotated it my way. Sure enough, there on the page was a more accurate rendition of what I’d drawn. “This symbol, of a star beneath a tree, is a representation of The Divine Order. The tree’s roots and branches entwine to represent the full circle of life, from birth to death, and the star is in tribute to the gods they worship.”

Unease began to tingle through me as I caught some disturbing words off the page—like sacrifice and devotee. “Um, hang on. This is starting to sound like a cult…”

He held his hands out, like duh.

“And not even a fun cult that believes aliens walk among us,” Joel added. “When you say circle of life…”

Norman nodded. “I mean their primary goal is to wipe shifters off the face of the earth.”

Both Joel and I were already shaking our heads. “But Conroy is a shifter. Why would he hunt down his own kind?”

Norman leaned forward, eyes sparking. “Don’t you see the beauty in their plan? They kidnap children from packs, brainwashing and drugging them until the Order is all they know, and then rewire them to do their dirty work. Diabolical, but highly effective.” He tapped the drawing of Conroy’s pendant. “You should count yourself lucky that he let you live to tell the tale. I’m sorry, but you should consider your mate gone and move on.”

My wolf’s hackles rose as he pulled back his upper lip in a growl that vibrated through my own chest, filling our small kitchen with the sound. “Spoken like an unmated shifter.” I suppressed my beast’s anger and tried to focus on facts. “Where did you learn all this? If they kill every shifter they come across, how are there witnesses left to tell the tale?”

“You survived the encounter, didn’t you? They’re not perfect. I used to think they were mere legend, like a bedtime story to scare disobedient children, but my friend Jasper is a deer shifter, and he claims he was shot by a hunter just two nights ago.” He patted the book open on the counter beside him. “This is exactly what I’m studying. My degree is about local folklore and the history behind it. There’s even an account of a man who claimed to have escaped the cult.”

“What did he have to say about it? Is he still around for me to ask some questions?” There were a lot of answers I needed, not least of which was the location of my mate.

Norman shook his head sharply. “He was found with a Damascus blade buried in his chest soon after. Turned out, induction into the Order is a life sentence.” He closed the book with a snap and pushed back from the table. “Leave it alone, Kedi. Your mate is not someone you want to get messed up with.” Then he marched off to his room and closed the door.

Joel and I stood there in silence for a long moment, staring after him, his ominous warning still ringing in our ears. Even my wolf had gone silent, unsure about where to go from here. Conroy, my childhood friend, clearly needed me. But if he had been brainwashed like Norman claimed, then he probably didn’t want my help.

But would fate have made the match if I was supposed to simply walk away?

The weight of it all on my shoulders made my back bow. This just made an already long day even longer. It wasn’t a problem I could solve right this second. What I really needed was a few minutes of not thinking about it.

I turned to look at Joel, who looked as overwhelmed as I felt. “Wanna order pizza?”

“Nah. How about Greek?”

“Sure, sounds good."

Chapter 8

Apollo

A wolf. There was apparently a wolf living in my head. It felt impossible to believe I could be one of the very monsters I hunted. When I looked in the mirror, I didn’t look any different. Certainly not like I might spontaneously sprout fur and teeth and claws and feel the urge to commit murder.

Not a monster, the voice asserted yet again, but no matter how many times he said it, it didn’t get any easier to believe.

I couldn’t very well ask Pater about where he’d found me as a child, or the circumstances of how I became an orphan. Because if he knew what I was, then that meant… No, I couldn’t bring myself to go down that path yet. But if I couldn’t ask the elders, that left only one person who might be willing to talk to me about it.

The beautiful man from the woods who made my heart race, who’d called me Conroy and threatened to crumble my entire existence to the ground. But how did one go about contacting someone whose name they didn’t know?

Hunters weren’t given a lot of leisure time. When we weren’t hunting, we were expected to train or do research, improve our skills. But since most of this was done solo, I thought I might be able to sneak into the city for a little recon on this elusive wolf.

As soon as Pater called lights out, I lay in wait, listening to the compound go silent. My whole body felt electrified, willing myself to lie still and be patient. When I was sure the others were asleep, I slid my window up and climbed out, dropping to the soil below with soft steps. This was the easy part of sneaking out. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get my truck down the driveway without the sound of the engine waking the whole compound. Maybe I could put it in neutral and push it.

I was so focused on making plans that I wasn’t paying enough attention to my surroundings.

“Where the fuck are you off to?” Seth was standing just around the corner, leaning on the wall with his arms crossed, as if he’d been waiting for me all along.

My skin crawled with an uneasy sensation. “I’m just—” There was no excuse I could give that would make sense for sneaking out, and the way Seth’s sly grin widened, he knew it too.

“Sneaking off to the city?” he asked pointedly.

A cold sweat broke out across the back of my neck, and the voice in my head urged me to bolt. I was just calculating the chances of outrunning him when he snorted a laugh and said, “About time you joined us.”