Prologue

Blake Kerner walked into the conference room a little later than he would have liked. He glanced at his watch and saw that he on time, if only barely. He took a seat next to a younger man that he knew, Cole McGinnis. He didn't know him well, as Cole was several years younger and they simply never crossed paths much. Cole's father had been a high ranking member of the group, while Blake was only a medic who wasn't even very good with a gun – not a trait anyone wanted in a werewolf hunter.

Blake didn't mind, however, because he had no desire to hunt werewolves or anything for that matter. He'd seen enough violence for several lifetimes, including the incident that had claimed Cole's father. The official report said he had been shot by a werewolf, but Blake had been there. He'd come face to face with not one, but two, werewolves that day. And as far as Blake could tell, neither of them could have shot Carl McGinnis. He had told Regina McGinnis, Carl's wife, but so far, she hadn't mentioned it to anyone else.

He glanced to the main table where Regina sat with the other higher-ranking members of the group. She appeared to only be listening to what the others were whispering about before the meeting took place, and Blake thought she was far too calm considering she could me sitting at a table with her husband's killer.

"I thought you'd left," Cole muttered to Blake after a while.

"Yeah, well, I need money," Blake replied truthfully. He would have left the group a long time ago if he didn't need the job. It didn't pay too well, but it paid enough. And as soon as he had enough money saved, he was going to get the certifications necessary to get a much better job. He thought he might like to be an EMT.

The incident when he actually had met the two werewolves had been the second of many incidents that made Blake hate the idea of hunting them. The first had been when they had taken a woman hostage, suspecting she was a wolf. When she turned out to be human, they wanted to kill her to keep their secret. Blake had stormed out of there, and it was a good thing he did, otherwise, he would have been slaughtered by the wolves who came to rescue the human. Apparently, she had been the mate to a wolf.

He had then met the human again, along with her injured werewolf mate in the second incident. He helped them get away safely, hoping the entire time he wouldn't be killed. At first, he felt safe with the only wolf present injured, but then he ran into a second wolf, and Blake thought his life was over, but instead, they let him go. The human had actually delivered more threats than the wolves.

Blake had thought that would be the end of his encounter with werewolves, fully intending to get a different job, but he always found himself pulled back in. He did what he could to help the wolves, but he couldn't do much when he was surrounded by people who thought they were the epitome of evil. Even had he managed to quit, he still would have been involved with werewolves.

The injured werewolf he had met, Lukas, hadn't left him alone. A few months after he had helped him, the werewolf showed up at his apartment. At first, Blake thought he was there to kill him, but the werewolf was only looking for information, which Blake gladly gave him, and not only because he was terrified of what might have happened otherwise. Lukas had dropped in several other times, always with more questions, but Blake was starting to suspect some of his visits were more social calls than anything else.

"I believe everyone is here," said a man from the table, snapping Blake out of his thoughts of the wolves he knew. Blake glanced around and saw that there weren't very many people there, no more than forty. Blake couldn't help but wonder if those werewolves had something to do with that.

"As you can see, our numbers have dwindled," the man continued, as if reading Blake's mind. But Blake knew that it was something on everyone's mind. They'd lost a lot of people in the past year. "Central has denied our request for reinforcements, and they've said they want to pull us all out of here. They've declared Colorado as too dangerous. While I can't force anyone to stay, think about what would happen. If the werewolves take over this state, what's to stop them from taking over others? We can't allow them to gain a foothold. It may be dangerous, yes, but at least we know what we're up against. What about all the innocent people who will be murdered by these beasts when there's no one to stand in their way?"

Blake heard a few mutters of agreement. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he considered speaking out against the district's leader. Something the wolf Lukas had said to him came to mind, and he wondered what would happen if he said it out loud. He knew it wouldn't be received well, but he couldn't help but wonder if they would treat him like an enemy for having a differing opinion. Before Blake could decide, Glen McGinnis stood up. His brother Cole groaned next to Blake.

"I don't think it's as big of a problem as you think," Glen said. "I mean, what if we did just leave them alone? Maybe they would just mind their own business."

"You of all people should know better than that!" said the leader, anger creeping into his voice.

"Me of all people should know it's true," Glen continued. "I've lived with a werewolf most of my life and she's never hurt me. In fact, she's a nice person."

"That is a half-werewolf your family took in," he said, glancing at Regina. "And I highly doubt that single werewolf is representative of her entire kind, especially given her training. Self control was imposed on that one, and her animal side suppressed. The others have embraced that part of them and are no better than monsters."

"She's not a – " Before Glen could finish what he was about to say, his brother stood up, punching Glen to silence him. Blake had an idea of what Glen planned on saying – that the wolf he had grown up with, Melanie, was in fact a full-blooded werewolf. Blake had known about the girl, although he'd only recently learned the truth about her as a result of helping Lukas.

"Glen's not very good with words," Cole said. "It's just something the two of us have been talking about recently. The wolf, she's like a sister. I know it sounds strange, but she's a very sweet girl. And I really don't think it has to do with how she was raised because honestly, someone raised the way she was should be a complete asshole."

"You're thinking about her like she's human. It's very important that you remember that she's not. You two are obviously too close to this half-werewolf to know any better. Let me repeat that. Half-werewolf. The way she behaves is not how a full werewolf would act."

"Come on!" Glen shouted. "You seriously don't get it!"

"Shut up, Glen," Cole hissed.

"As I said, you two are far too close. It's my understanding the werewolf is no longer with you. I think it's time to bring her in. I believe that werewolf is going to become a problem."

"Um, actually," Blake said, standing up and surprising himself. "I wasn't raised with a werewolf or anything, so I think I'm a little further away from the matter."

"Oh?" the leader said, sounding surprised. "What does our medic have to add to this discussion?"

"It's just that I've, um, well met some wolves. They knew who I was. But they didn't hurt me. I mean, if they were really bloodthirsty monsters, you'd think they would have killed me right then and there. But they let me go. And there was a human with them. She was there willingly and was protecting an injured wolf. I just don't really see the whole bloodthirsty monster thing."

"You let a werewolf walk away?"

"Well, I didn't really have much of a choice," Blake said. "I was unarmed. It wasn't like I was going to kill anyone with a Band-Aid. And like I said, they were more concerned with just protecting themselves. Why would I have made myself a threat?"

"So you're saying that these animals are only acting in self-defense? You think that if we just left them alone, they'd never hurt anyone? You are a sad excuse of a hunter."

"I actually believe they may be on to something," Regina said quietly, but all eyes in the room immediately turned to her. "I think these three young men might have some more… extreme views, but I think it's something worth investigating."

After Regina threw her support their way, it opened the discussion up. A few others shared some experiences they had had that didn't fit into the bloodthirsty monster picture. While no one was really on Blake and the McGinnis brothers' side, they did have a little support.

By the time the meeting was over, Blake was exhausted. He had a lot of questions to answer, and he had to do so in a way that protected Lukas' and Melanie's identities. He didn't want anyone to know that he was still in contact with a werewolf, or that he had helped one figure out who she was.

"So all that stuff you said in there," Cole said after they had been dismissed. They were still in the room along with Glen and a few others, but Glen was the only one close enough to hear the conversation. "Was that all true?"

"Yeah," Blake said, feeling like he could be more honest with Cole and Glen. "One of those wolves I've met several times. I don't really know, but I think he sometimes drops by just to chat."

"We just had two wolves do that a few days ago," Cole said. "Our sister, Melanie. She came over with her mate. I suppose I can tell you this, but Melanie is actually a full-blooded wolf."

"I know," Blake said.

"How do you know?" Cole said, looking confused.

"The wolf who stops by sometimes. He was getting as much information about her as he could. We were able to put the whole thing together to figure out she wasn't a half-wolf. Last I heard, he said she was able to shift and everything."

"So that's at least three wolves who are perfectly normal," Cole said, shaking his head. "What are we going to do?"

"I know what I'm going to do," Glen grumbled. "I'm done with this. All of this. Fuck it all." With that, he stormed off. Blake and Cole were both a little shocked at his action, but Blake couldn't help but wish he could follow his example. But he still needed the hunters for the moment.