My father and Roary were hot on my tail as I entered the hotel room we had rented while we were here.

"Slow down, lass. We can't rush into this before we know what we are up against."

I ignored my father as I strapped on additional weapons and began loading my rifle.

"I know what I am up against. It's a lycan, it has to be. The boy was changing into a werewolf. Henry said that it was a werewolf and it spoke to him, something about "you will be one of us.""

I stopped as my father sank to the bed and stared off into space like I had shocked him.

"What? You can't possibly believe any of that is true. Werewolf's don't live that long, they certainly can't think or rationalize enough to have a specific target and sure as hell cannot speak. The boy must have been so terrified he was seeing things."

My father didn't contradict anything I was saying. I stopped my mad dash as fear overtook my heart and sat down beside him on the bed.

"We did some snooping around while you were with the boy. What we found doesn't look good."

Roary said and handed me a yearbook. He pointed to a picture of a strapping young boy who was knelt down in the center of a football team. I looked at him and shrugged my shoulders, trying to figure out why he was showing this to me.

"That's Henry Gilbert. He was the quarterback of the high school football team."

I looked at the picture again. He was such a handsome boy, he didn't look anything like this picture before me. What I saw upstairs was a mangled up monster.

"About half of the football team were some of the boys taken."

He flipped through the book and pointed out a few more names of the boys who had been reported as missing. Track, football, baseball, all the boys that were taken were top athletes.

"This doesn't make any sense. So the lycan is targeting athletes?"

"Young, healthy, strong boys." My father clarified, finally joining in on the conversation.

"So a lycan is turning the strongest boys into werewolves? To what end? They all eventually die, no matter how strong or young the human is before they are turned."

My father turned his head away from me as if he was too ashamed to answer me.

"There is a lot that you don't know about lycans. I have done my best to keep you as far away from them as I could. When we took this job, I didn't think it was possible for a lycan or werewolf to be involved, because the stories didn't add up. If I had known, we wouldn't have come here."

"Why would you do that!"

I yelled in outrage as my body shook with anger.

"You know I have wanted nothing more than to kill a lycan ever since they murdered my mother!"

"That is exactly why!"

My father's voice rose above mine as my eyes filled with angry tears.

"Because your hatred from their kind is going to get you killed!"

His voice boomed so loud, I sat back down on the bed.

"You have never been able to fully separate your emotions from a battle and I know damn well if you were ever matched against a lycan, it would kill you in seconds, because you wouldn't be able to see past your hatred enough to think straight and believe me, a lycan is swift and cunning. They are the perfect killing machine. With a body of a beast, but with the ability to think clearly like a man."

"I can do this father, don't you dare tell me, you aren't going to allow me to go with you." I hiss as I stand to face him.

"I will not watch them tear you apart like they did your mother. I saved you once from their bite, I don't have the strength nor the power to save you again and neither does your brother."

My eyes flicked to Roary's face, his eyes were downcast in shame. Which proved that he knew about all this and never bothered to tell me anything about it. I felt so betrayed and by the people I loved and respected the most.

"Perhaps it's best if she goes with us. At least she will not be alone. We will be there to make sure she is safe. You know if we try to leave her behind, she will find a way to be out there with us."

That is exactly what was going to happen. Roary knew me all too well.

"I don't know if any of us will come out of this alive."

My father said the words so low, I wasn't sure I heard him correctly. He never doubted our ability, especially when the three of us worked together.

"What are you saying?"

Roary asked in astonishment, so apparently he did say what I thought he said.

"This is just speculation. But if there is a lycan out there turning boys into werewolves and they are living longer and are more intelligent, that can only mean one thing..."

Father paused and took a deep breath. Was he actually saying it was possible for a werewolf to live longer and to be more intelligent? The mere thought had goosebumps breaking out across my flesh.

"What?" My brother demanded.

"They were turned by an alpha."

My brother's mouth dropped open and my heart stopped. No one, not even my father in all his years had ever encountered an alpha.

I surprisingly was the first to speak.

"If it is an alpha, then it is definitely going to take all three of us to bring him down. There's no question about it. And I say we strike tonight before he gets a chance to harm another boy. It's our sacred duty as Hunters to put a stop to all evil, and to protect those who cannot protect themselves, even if it means our lives."

"I agree, If we die, we die as one." My brother spoke up.

My father inhaled deeply.

"Very well, we go out at dawn, when he is on the prowl."