Aila spat in Connor’s face earning her a smack to her own. Stars danced around her vision with her head now turned to the side. She looked across the floor to see Finn lying in a pool of his own blood, spreading out slowly.

Her chest tightened with her hands fisting at her side, tears began to fall uncontrollably like a small river as she almost choked on her rising fury, her resentment growing inside like a tumour. Simultaneously, she was manhandled, pushed up the stairs and out of sight from the basement.

Aila ignored her surroundings. Her thoughts were clouded with Finn; images crossed her mind of the condition he was left in. Her emotions kept jumping from her boiling temper, seething beneath the surface, to wanting to hole up and cry. She could not do anything for Finn right now, and she felt hopeless.

Was Finn okay? Would he heal? She had no idea. Her world was turned upside down in less than a week; her werewolf knowledge was nought. She needed a book on ‘werewolves for dummies’ or ‘werewolf basics, class 101’. Silver was an obvious irritant, but he was fricken shot!

That silver bullet would stay in his belly unless someone took it out. Which was definitely not going to be Finn, the last she saw of him, he looked to be going unconscious as Gabriel and Ajax called after him. A low growl vibrated from her chest as she narrowed her eyes. If she even glanced at Connor, she knew she would not be able to hold back from decking him in the face.

And right now, she needed to see how a meeting with the boss panned out. She still got a slap across the back of her head after her growl died down. Compliments of fuckface Connor. NOT HELPING. Her veins boiled with anger once again as she began to see red.

Don’t react. Play it cool.

Don’t react. Play it cool.

She repeated the mantra in her head. Calming her tense, ready to attack muscles, until she felt a little zen and arrived outside a door. Connor tapped the door politely, receiving a stunned look from Aila.

They waited then entered after hearing a low voice say, ‘Come in’, Aila’s chains were pulled on roughly, making her almost stumble forward into the room. Aila assessed the bright room she was now in. The dark blue office was decorated stylishly, unlike the bare halls and the rest of the building she had seen so far.

A set of dark-red Nordic style bookcases rowed one wall with the occasional weapon placed on different shelves ranging from a crossbow to a dagger and a gun. There was an enormous mahogany desk in the middle of the room, and to the side stood a red-brown leather settee set with a coffee table. Aila’s eyes widened after seeing Chase sitting there casually, one leg over the other, his arm draped across the back of it, looking like a brooding model. He turned his head away from her after a flash of pain crossed his hazel eyes.

Aila’s attention then moved to the overbearing presence in the room; a man dressed in all black walked into her line of sight, his gigantic frame nearly covering the floor to ceiling length window behind the desk. His jet-black hair with streaks of white was gelled back tightly, not leaving a strand out of place; his weathered skin added years to his 50 something age, she presumed he was. His hazel eyes looked down at her like a hawk from his pointed nose. There was something oddly familiar about him. But she knew she would remember him if she had met him before.

He clasped his hands behind his back and walked to stand in front of Aila. After scrutinising her face, his jaw began to tick as his eyes hardened. Suddenly, he backhanded Connor then returned his hands behind his back as though he never touched the man.

“I told you not to touch her.” His icy voice was low and intimidating—his presence demanding fear and respect from his comrades.

“She taunts me”, Connor complained.

“What are you? A child? Can you not contain yourself?” The boss spat then turned to Aila with a gentle expression, “My apologies Aila. Connor is a brute. He will not touch you. You have my word.”

His brows then pulled together after staring at her; he tilted his head,

“You have been crying. Is Connor the cause of your distress?”

“Of course, I have been crying!” She screeched; Oh well, staying calm and collected, went out the window. “He shot my fucking friend with a silver bullet!”

“Nothing he doesn’t deserve”, Connor spat from beside her.

He nearly raised his hand to her but collected himself and stopped, relaxing his fingers by his side. But his words only made Aila fist her own hands from clawing his eyeballs out.

“Subject 2?” The boss queried.

“His name is Finn” Aila spoke calmer now after realising the boss’s interest in Finn.

“Dave fetch Robert. NOW!”

The other hunter dashed out of the door, leaving it to swing open. Aila and Connor continued to glare at each other, the air becoming thin from the room’s rising tension.

“Get out of my sight. I will deal with you later.” The boss spoke in his low voice once again, dismissing him.

Connor looked like he wanted to argue, but one stern stare from the boss made him shrink back in fear and leave the room. The sounds of banging echoed from the hallway.

“Sit, please. You look exhausted.” He spoke to Aila, gesturing his big hand towards the couch.

Aila didn’t move an inch and stared blankly back at this man they called the boss. A single eyebrow raised at her stubbornness.

“I won’t rest until I know Finn is okay.”

The boss sighed, walked back behind his desk, and sat down in the leather chair.

“Again. I am sorry about all of this. I am away for one week, and all hell breaks loose in my absence.”

“Sorry about kidnapping me or how I have been treated?”

One side of his lips lifted from her statement, amusement shining behind his eyes.

“It is unfortunate to you, Aila because you are actually very important to me. To this organisation” He gestured his hands up, making Aila’s gaze look behind him to the right where a black flag hung with a symbol that had two golden swords crossed together. The letters H and A underneath it. “You are very important to the work that we do here. The kidnapping was never out of the question. Once we knew for definite, it was you who we were looking for, we acted immediately.”

“Why am I so important?”

Before any more could be said, the scruffy-looking man in a lab coat she saw originally on her first day arrived; he was slightly out of breath from running into the room.

“Silas. You said it was urgent?” ‘Lab-coat’- Robert glanced from each of their faces in the room, landing last on Aila. His eyebrows came together in a deep frown as he reached out and grabbed her by the cheeks in one hand, tutting as he analysed her face.

“Hmm, you need to put Connor back in line. Not much damage has been done since last time.” Robert spoke to the boss. Silas?

“Good”

Aila pulled back, her head out of his grasp and stepped away from him angrily,

“Not much damage? He just shot Finn!”

Robert’s eyebrows shot up by this news; he glanced at Silas as his face contorted into one of confusion.

“Subject 2,” Silas confirmed.

“Ohh. Do you need me to fix subject 2?”

Fix? What was he? A broken toy?

“Finn. His name is Finn.” Aila said through clenched teeth, standing from the side of the room. Both men ignored her.

“Yes. Fix him up and report to me when you are finished. Subject 4 will want to know about his condition.”

Subject 2.

Subject 4.

That was all they were to them; they did not see them as the living, breathing and feeling, emotion-filled people they were. They were just unwilling participants in a scientific experiment that she still had no knowledge about. Aila bit her tongue from speaking out again. The quicker he went to Finn, the better.

“Oh, and Robert..” Silas spoke quietly, making Robert stop in the doorway and look back, “You better hurry. He might already be dead.”

Robert nodded his head and ran out of the room. Quick footsteps echoed down the hallway from where he ran in the direction of the basement.

“Chase close the door,” Silas ordered.

“Please, Aila, we have much to discuss” He gestured for her to take a seat at the couch again, a warm smile on his lips that did not quite reach his eyes.

She glanced at the couch and back at Chase, who went to close the door.

“Take my seat”, He grunted as he shut the door.

Aila sat down and glanced nervously in Silas’s direction. Chase sat on the opposite couch but did not disrupt her view of the boss. The sofa felt wonderful beneath her, making her want to sink into the cushion and close her eyes from the nightmare that was her life now.

“Would you like some tea or coffee? I also have biscuits and cake.” Silas asked, his voice gentle with that warm smile again. Aila did not trust it and eyed him suspiciously. But he continued to smile and gestured his hand for her reply.

“A tea would be nice?” She asked, not convinced with this man’s friendly attitude. If Connor was fearful of him, she definitely had to be careful and play along.

“Milk? Sugar?”

“M-milk, no sugar”, She stuttered but composed herself once again.

“Ah, sweet enough as it is” He winked back at her, making her eyes go round, her cheeks go red and her stomach churn.

Silas used the phone on his desk and ordered someone on the other end of the line for three drinks orders. Two coffees for the men, both black and the tea that Aila asked for, along with some shortbread biscuits.

“I do love my shortbread biscuits, but of course, if you prefer something else. Please let me know.”

Aila shook her head, still processing this man in front of her; she glanced at Chase who’s facial expression was hard to read, but his body spoke for him. He looked tense. Even his ‘casual’ slouch, arm over the sofa look seemed forced, indicating he felt uncomfortable and wanted to leave the room. Silas’s voice interrupted her line of thoughts on the other hunter in the room,

“Do you need to go to the bathroom? There is one just next to this room. Oh, but you know that one very well. My SON tells me he has been taking you to them. Oh, did you need to use the bathroom?”

‘My SON’ was still ringing in her ears as she looked back and forth between the father and son in front of her; Chase resembled him only a little. But now it made sense how she thought she recognised the boss before. Their eyes were exactly the same, but Chase’s were full of life compared to his father’s that were flat and dead.

She did not know why she felt so affected by the news. It was not like her and Chase were friends, but she had started to build a messed-up relationship with him over the past week. Both of them chatted away to each other after he would burst through the door when her toilet time was up. She knew if the situation was completely different, they could have been friends and hung out. She banished the thought entirely and replied to Silas’s original question,

“I do not need to go but thank you. You said there was a lot to discuss. Maybe we should start while we wait for our drinks?” Aila replied coolly.

“To the point. I like that” Silas clicked his fingers and pointed in her direction, a lopsided smile on his face that soon melted away with a severe expression.

“Aila. There is no way to put this information lightly, so I will just put it bluntly.” He eyed her carefully, making her feel nervous.

“Your birth parents. They were killed by other werewolves.”