The Hunt

chapter 20

Extensive studies on Abominations were conducted during the latter days of extermination. It was found that they were also capable of pairing off as a ‘soulmate’ to their respective species. This urged our forefathers to rid the Earth of them as a form of self preservation for the human race. We are currently studying the effects of Abominations we have created in labs with the ‘soulmate’ bond. As of now there has been only one who paired to continue our extensive research.  

Hunter’s Codex, Hunters code of conduct pg. 940

    I stayed with her that night. Just held her and listened to her fall asleep in my arms. It was everything I needed at that moment, as much as I wanted more I knew that neither of us was really ready. I wanted her to make that decision knowing everything. 
    When we woke in the morning I drove her to school and dropped her off, promising to be there to get her at the end of the day. I had received a text from Caden that night saying to come back as soon as I could, that we needed to talk. I was currently stepping out of my truck onto the snow covered parking lot at the town hall. 
    As I stood there I looked up and watched the clouds go by. I could smell the snow in the wind, my favorite season. Wolves were hot by nature and the winter brought us out of our shells more, so to speak. When the snow got deep you could see more of us staying in our wolf forms, running through the woods, enjoying everything nature had to offer. The kids, as much as they enjoyed their wolf form to begin with, practically lived as wolves through the winter. 
     The promise of snow flurries mixed with a good night’s rest stirred that instinct in me now, begging to go run free and just…breath. 
    “There you are.” Caden’s voice broke the silence.
    I glanced over where he was standing at the steps leading into the building. His hair ruffled a little more than usual. “Have a good night?” I asked. I could see marks on his neck peeking out underneath the collar of his jacket. 
    A sly smile crossed his features for a brief second before he turned the question back on me. “Did you?”
    “For what it was, yeah. I actually got to sleep.” I crossed the lot and made my way up the steps. The salt used to melt ice and snow crunching under my shoes. 
    “That makes one of us.” He responded. His smile reached further across his face. 
    I shook my head at him and followed him into the building. “So what was so important I had to give up spending the day walking Michelle from class to class.”
    “You weren’t actually planning on doing that, were you?” His eyebrows drew together as he questioned my sanity.
    “Unfortunately some of us have very few ways to actually be close to our mates.” I sigh out an answer.
    Caden chose not to respond, avoiding that train of thought. “You’ll be glad you decided to skip out on that.”
    “Why’s that?” I asked. Following him up the stairs that led to the office suites. 
     Caden ran his hand through his hair, letting out a breath. “Well, I would go ahead and tell you, but then Alice would get upset. She was really excited to tell you.” He gave a small shrug as he accepted that she would be the one to break the news to me. “She can explain it better than I can anyways. I still don’t really understand it completely.”
    He opened the door to his office space he had set up. He kept a separate office from his father, the inability to agree on a proper way to organize being the main culprit. Alice glanced at us as we entered the room, hardly looking away from the open book she was focused on. There were a few more stacks of books, some opened to marked pages, the others piled to the side in an organized stack. 
    “What’s all this?” I looked around the room, even though there were open books placed around the room, I could tell they were organized. Most likely Caden’s doing. 
    Alice sat back in the leather office chair she was seated at and let out a sign. “I was doing some studying before we had this talk, trying to find answers but I found nothing.” 
    Cadens shoulders sagged as he walked to lean against her chair. He tucked a strand of her loose hair behind her ear, a soft smile on his face. “Go ahead and explain it to him.”
   He spoke to her in such a gentle way, it made me wonder if I spoke to Michelle that way. I sat in the chair across the room, my ears burning at the thought that maybe everyone in the world could see just how much I loved her. Could she? Was that a bad thing?
    Alice’s voice broke through my thoughts. “I’ll just jump to the point. Michelle is a wolf.” 
    I jerk my head up and lock eyes with Alice. “Wolf?” My head begins to move back and forth, letting Alice know that’s not right?
    She nods, acknowledging my confusion before continuing. “She doesn’t smell like one, and as far as I can tell I don’t think she can actually shift, but there was no mistaking it. When I looked into her eyes last night I felt it. She’s a wolf.” She gently closed the book on her lap and set it aside into one of the few piles they had organized.
    “What do you mean ‘felt’?” My heart begins to pound in my ears. I know I haven’t missed anything, no matter how long I’ve searched for a trace of a wolf in Michelle I couldn’t find one. 
    “It’s something that I discovered once when I was younger. It got stronger as I matured, but when I look into the eyes of a wolf, I can feel the wolf inside of them.” She glances up at Caden. He must have already heard this but his arms are crossed and his brows furrowed deep in thought.
    She sighed and continued. “I don’t feel a physical wolf inside of her which is why I don’t think she can shift, but there was that pull. That instinct to pull her into my protection. That only comes with wolves, not humans. It wasn’t as strong as the pull I would have for one of my own pack, but it was unmistakably there.”
    Caden nodded, chewing on the side of his thumb, still lost in thought. “It’s why we were reading through these texts. We were hoping maybe there was something in there about a wolf…. without a wolf.” He paused at the end before saying ‘without a wolf’.
    “Could it just be because she’s my mate?” I was trying, unsuccessfully, to keep my hope down. If she was a wolf, she was allowed on pack territory meaning I could bring her home. Keep her safe. 
    Alice thought for a second, processing what I said. “It’s possible. I’ve never come across a human mate before so I don’t know if that pull extends towards the mate or not.” 
    “That’s part of what we were looking for in these books.” Caden said, picking up a book from an untouched stack. “The problem is none of these speak of humans as mates and when it comes to our texts about Born Lunas it just speaks about the pull for wolves. It doesn’t go into much detail about mates.”
    “Which would make sense. Mates are wolves too, therefore my pull would already be over them. There would be no reason to point them out specifically in the text.” Alice answered. 
    I watched the two talk through the thought processes together. They had already lost themselves in conversation, working through the problem in front of them, flipping through the pages of the book Caden had in his hands. 
    “My parents said they were going to look into this a while back.” I blurted out, not thinking about how mom said not to tell anyone. Not like that mattered anymore, they already knew more than I did about my bond with my mate apparently. “I saw some old hunter’s texts in my dad’s room one day when visiting. 
    A light flashed in Caden’s eyes. “Hunters. They studied us extensively sometime back. That’s what brought on the war and caused them to go into hiding.”
    Alice jumped on his excitement. “They would have thought to study humans and wolves together.” She looked at me, placing her feet on the ground like she was about to stand up. “Call your dad, have him bring the books.”
    I gave my dad a call, it didn’t take long to explain the situation and for him to open the door to Caden’s room. A book in hand.
    He gave a slight bow to Caden and Alice then turned to look at me, questioning if I thought this was a good idea. 
    “Is that the book, Mr. Jones?” Caden walked towards my father and held his hand out.
    Dad gave him a nod and handed the book over. “Yeah, Hunter’s Codex. When Will explained what was happening I remembered seeing something in one of the chapters that rang a bell.” After giving Caden the book he came and sat on the chair next to me. 
    He looked at me again, unsure of what to do. I gave him a short smile and he nodded in response.
    He cleared his throat and looked back at Caden who had taken his place next to Alice again. “It was under the ‘special cases’ section towards the end of the book. I think that was part of the code of conduct chapter.”
    As he spoke Caden ran his finger down the index and, finding what he needed, flipped to the end of the book. 
    “It spoke of Abominations. I wasn’t sure what that was exactly, it didn’t go into detail about what they were, just that they spent the better part of their latter hunting days exterminating them.” He watched Caden scan through the pages in front of him. “They have soulmate bonds too, but from the way the text reads, they’re not human which is why I didn’t think much of it.”
    Alice had stood and was reading the text over Caden’s shoulder. “Now that we know she may not actually be a human it’s different now, right?” 
    My father nodded at her question. “Yeah, what Will said over the phone, a wolf without a wolf, that would fit the description of an Abomination in their text.”
    I felt something stir in me. “Michelle’s not an abomination.” 
    “I don’t think she is either, son, but the hunters have their own words for us. Abomination being one, apparently.” He gave my shoulder a squeeze before turning his attention back to Caden who was still lost in the book.
    It didn’t take long for Caden to point at a spot on the page. Reading from the text he said, “After creating Abominations in our labs we have tried to pair them off with a ‘soulmate’. Only one was successful. Our studies showed the bond was felt by the full-blooded Werewolf as normally found in bonds between them. The Abomination, however, was unaware. After allowing the two to be in contact it was found that the Abomination’s instincts that were previously absent began to show. After allowing the two to form the bond the Abominations instincts became fully intact.” 
    Caden stopped reading and took a breath. He continued to scan the page his head shaking. “This is awful.” His words were whispered to himself but we all heard it.
    “What else does it say?” I ask. 
    My dad’s face looking down at the ground, showing he already knows what it says next.
    Caden flipped through a few more pages, eyes scanning the words. “They killed it.” He looked up at me. “After getting as much info as they could from this ‘abomination’ they, and I quote, ‘disposed of it immediately. The soulmate following suit’.” He looked up at me, disgust marred his features. 
    We all sat in silence, not sure how to process what we heard. Alice gently took the book from Caden’s hands and flipped through the remaining pages of the chapter about Abominations. It wasn’t long before she spoke up.
    “I think the abomination that they are referring to might be a human mix.” She continues to scan the pages. “In earlier pages it references abominations in accordance with all supernatural beings, saying crossbreeding has to be prevented in order to keep humans pure.” 
    My dad finally looks up from the floor. “So Michelle is a hybrid?” 
    We all sit quietly. 
    Alice nods her head, “That would make sense that I could feel a pull towards her then. Her werewolf DNA was calling out to me.” 
    “And that would be why she’s my mate.” I responded softly while lost in thought. Michelle was a wolf, whether she knew she was one or not, she still was. I could bring her home and wouldn’t be breaking any rules. Not technically at least. 
    “We need to test it first, convince her to come so our doctors can take a DNA sample.” Caden spoke up. “Even though it makes sense we need to be sure.”
    “How do we convince a human that she might be part werewolf?” Dad asked.
    I lean back in my seat, the hope I felt earlier buzzing through me at full force. “I don’t know, but do you think the hunters know what she is?”
    Alice shook her head. “From the way it sounds, they would have killed her immediately, no questions asked if they did.” 
     I let out a low chuckle from nerves more than anything. “I doubt the ‘not boyfriend’ would be trying so hard to be a boyfriend if he knew.”