Gabriel started the bike, and the roar of the engine filled the parking lot. Tanya straddled the seat behind him and gripped hold of his jacket, tightly. His foot kicked the bike into gear as he twisted the throttle and let the clutch slip through his fingers.

“You wanna head home or go up to the forest?” he hollered over his shoulder.

“What do you want to go up there for?” Tanya yelled back as she rested her head on his shoulder.

“I feel uneasy doin’ nothing, I want a look ‘round and see if we can spot anything unusual.”

Tanya shouted her reply as a “yes” and then Gabriel headed out of town and took the road that led toward the forest. The road twisted and turned as they climbed the hill. Vista View signs appeared, so they were close. The café parking lot was full, and Gabriel drove past and turned into the ravine parking lot, a good quarter of a mile further on.

As soon as they arrived, Tanya stepped from the bike and pulled off her helmet and shook her long hair free. “What are you hoping to see up here?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Anything that might give us a clue,” he replied as they climbed the bank into the forest. Tanya ran ahead, and she smiled as she turned into her inner wolf and ran into the undergrowth. Gabriel grinned as he watched her white fur blow in the wind and brush the bushes.

“Don’t go too far,” Gabriel yelled as he walked along the dry path that led to the rocky outcrop. It had been the recent battleground that had finished the feud between the wolves and humans in C0lorado.

His eyes became fixed on the trail as he heard Tanya chasing wildlife; the low rumbles of her wolf growling as she tried to catch her prey.

At the same time, Gabriel peeked into the ferns and noticed someone had walked off the track. He thought it strange, because a wolf never left signs that they’d been there. A bushwalker perhaps? He pushed the ferns apart and stepped into the medium fill of the undergrowth. He walked further as he glanced up and saw that the sunlight had started to thin. The air had become much cooler and was damp. He glanced ahead and saw white boxes that had been strewn across the forest floor. He entered the clearing. Bags of blood were scattered across the pine needles.

Fuck, this is where they brought them.

He heard a twig snap. He lifted his gaze and expected to see Tanya. A flash of blonde hair whisked into the bushes. “Hey, come here!” he yelled as he rushed across the clearing to give chase. “Tanya,” he bellowed as he swept his hands through branches to stop them from lashing against his face.

Gabriel ran in the same direction he’d seen the person that was watching him. He stopped suddenly as he reached the edge of some rocks. A picturesque stream babbled way below, and whoever he’d chased mysteriously had now vanished into thin air, it seemed.

Branches broke as Tanya erupted out of the undergrowth and stood at his side. She changed back to her human form and panted heavily. “What are you doing out here?” she asked. “You’re away from the path.” Gabriel led her back the way he’d come. They reached the clearing and Tanya saw the white, insulated, carrying boxes that were once full of the bags of blood. “Who were you running after, anyway?” she asked.

“I thought it was you to start. It was someone with what looked like blonde or white hair. They must’ve watched me when I got here,” he replied.

“We better go. It might not be safe,” Tanya said, looking more worried.

Both Tanya and Gabriel looked up into the trees as a loud crack sounded above them. A branch fell and smashed to the ground, just feet away from where they stood. Gabriel looked up and thought he could see someone looking back down at them. “That was no accident,” he said.

Tanya looked up and then she focused upon the branch that had fallen. Now, she grabbed hold of it and crumbled it in her fingers. “It’s rotten, that’s why it fell,” she replied.

“Why is there a boot mark on the larger part?”

Tanya turned, and clear as day she could see a boot imprint on the fat part of the branch. “You’re right, shit, we better get going, because we don’t know who’s behind all this.”

Gabriel agreed. “Shit is exactly-right.”

They walked back down the pathway to the road. Tanya glanced over her shoulder and sniffed the air. It appeared they were safe. “You don’t think Edmund somehow lived, do you?” she asked.

“No chance. I ripped his heart out of his chest. He deserved it for the anarchy he caused.”

The sky darkened as they reached the parking lot. The sound of gravel crunched under their feet as they marched, now more-quickly toward the bike. Tanya kept her eyes fixed on the forest as Gabriel started the engine and pulled onto the main road. A pair of yellow (and a pair of blue) eyes pushed from the undergrowth as the bike rounded the corner and headed back toward the Creek.

The rain started to fall, and the sky darkened as Gabriel turned into the parking lot that was adjacent to Clifton Towers. His clothes clung to his body like a second skin as the rain soaked both he and Tanya to the bone. Tanya looked back as she neared the top of the steps. Gabriel noticed her shirt was soaked and pulled tight against her breasts. Tanya was never a bra wearer, and her nipples had blissfully hardened from the cold rain that lashed down on them both.

They stepped into the lobby as water dripped from their clothing. Maria appeared from her office and watched as they walked toward the stairs. Gabriel halted on the first landing. He looked down at Maria. As quick as a flash his mind digressed back to when he was alpha, and he stood in the precise position he talked to the pack.

“We need to talk to you in a while,” he called into the lobby.

Maria craned her neck and looked up. She yelled back up the stairs that she’d be in the office when they were ready. Gabriel nodded and ran to catch up with Tanya, who pushed the door open to their warm apartment.

Gabriel dashed into the bathroom and pulled off his wet shirt. Tanya stood and marveled at his physique, the dampness of his body enticed her and made her feel a warm tingling sensation within her core. Gabriel slipped from his jeans. His shorts were wet and stuck to his loins, his shaft perfectly outlined by the dampened fabric.

“Mmm,” she murmured. Gabriel looked up as his wet shorts fell to the floor.

“Jesus, is that all you think about?” he asked with a huge grin on his face.

“What better way to warm up!” Tanya breathed the words from inside her t-shirt as she pulled it over her head.

Gabriel looked at her breasts as her back arched and she purposefully pushed her chest toward him. He felt a warmth flood into his loins as he licked his lips from the rain that ran down his face.

Her jeans puddled around her ankles, and the pale pink lace of her panties clung to her sexy body. Gabriel saw the outline of her womanhood, including the delicate lines of her lips.

Tanya seductively slithered her fingers inside the elastic. “Now who’s feeling hungry?” she cooed.

“If there is food on the table, I’m not going to refuse it, am I?” he added.

“Definitely not.” Tanya smirked and pushed her cold, wet body against Gabriel, she ran her hand over his cheek and over his broad shoulder. “You want to get hot and sweaty before or after a shower? She began digging her nails into his broad chest.

Gabriel felt the excitement building up within his body. His shaft throbbed and ached as he scooped Tanya’s goose bumped body into his arms. He eagerly walked toward the bedroom with her. The warmth of his skin flooded to her as she wrapped her arms around his thick neck. He pushed the door open with his foot and walked to the bed. Gabriel lowered Tanya down. Now, she crawled up and rested her head on the comfortable pillow.

She winked and licked her top lip to tease him. Her legs parted slowly. “If you’re hungry, you’ll want something to eat.”

* * *

“I haven't spoken to anyone yet. You two are the first,” Maria said to Kelvin and Dustin. “I’m worried sick about what’s going on.”

“I’ll take care of you,” Kelvin added, obviously trying to show his bravado. He was too young, and bravado got most people killed, unfortunately.

“I know you will, but if it’s true and Noelle's blood or a hybrid’s blood is the key to a vampire-werewolf —I can’t even believe I’m saying that aloud,” she commented. “That means Declan and Noelle could be in danger as well.”

Dustin sat on the arm of the couch. He creased his brow and ran his fingers through his gray hair. “Noelle isn’t a hybrid any longer. Whoever thinks she is, might have this all wrong,” he said.

“What about Drake, he is the first one born?” Maria asked.

“Well, if he was conceived before she was turned, I reckon that puts him into hybrid wolf territory,” Dustin remarked.

Maria rocked in the large, black, leather chair. She sprang forward and rested her forearms on the desk. “You know, I read that book Tanya pulled from the shelf, over and over again. She missed something. It isn’t all about living forever,” Maria explained. “A cross between a wolf and a vampire makes them pretty much invincible. If they have a hybrid’s blood in their body before they are turned into a wolf, then that makes them the ultimate creature, and they can—” she started to say.

She was interrupted. “Crap, you mean daywalkers?” Kelvin interjected. Maria nodded, because that’s exactly what she meant. A daywalker got the best of both worlds. The vampire immortality and the strength of a wolf, and no fear of the sun. “Now that does spin a different pile of shit into our laps.”

“And you think a wolf can’t stand up against these daywalkers?” Dustin asked. Maria pushed the old leather-bound book toward Dustin. She urged him to open it and have a look inside.

“I’ve been through it twice, I can’t see anywhere where it says how to kill one.” Dustin skimmed through the musty pages of the old book. He sighed, and his weighted breath fell onto the pages he read. “There has to be a way, somehow. We’ll just have to reach out for help,” Dustin said. Maria smiled because she knew what that meant. She needed to get in touch with Declan and see if he could come up with any ideas. Just not yet. Maria knew she needed to make sure all the pack was safe. This was a more significant threat than the hunters ever were.

Kelvin stood and walked toward the desk. His lithe young body flexed as he showed Maria his muscles. He subconsciously tried to comfort her, although he looked a little like a young school boy trying to impress his first crush.

“If you take it back a few steps, then it might make sense. You said this hybrid’s blood needed to be in their system before they were turned into a vampire-werewolf. So, if they’re a wolf and they are bitten by a vampire, what does that make them?” Kelvin asked.

“Hmm! Now you have me. I’m not sure.” Maria said. “Do you have any suggestions, Dustin?” Dustin looked up from the book. His finger was pressed firmly on the page.

“I think they are still vampire-werewolves, but not immortal and not able to walk during the day,” he replied as he turned back to continue reading. “Just don’t quote me on that.”

“So, we can kill them? Or we can kill some of them before they get turned into super-vampire-werewolves?” Kelvin was trying to make sense of it as he blurted out the words.

“My god, Kelvin, not everything in life’s like a comic book you know.” Maria gave him a mature look as she stood from behind the desk. She pushed the power button on the TV and waited for the news to come on. “I have Gabriel and Tanya coming to see me in a while, they said they have some news.”

The newscaster broke the silence in the office.

“An anonymous tip was given to Sheriff Delaney’s office. We are live on the scene now. It appears the blood from the hospital has been found. It is no good for use, but it might give some leads as to who did this horrible crime.”

“That’s just past Vista View. Gabriel normally parks in that area,” Dustin said.

“It appears there are three or four sets of footprints, but with the rain, the Sheriff has no firm confirmation on that. What he did say was that one set of prints led away from the scene, and due to the spacing, the perpetrator was running. What from or what to, we have no idea at this present moment in time.”

“You don’t think Gabriel went up to the woods today, do you?” Dustin asked. Maria shrugged her shoulders.

“He said earlier that they were going to the biker bar to ask around there. That was five or six hours ago, and they’ve only recently returned. I suppose they could’ve taken a ride up there.”

“The reporter mentioned four sets of prints. If you have Gab and Tanya there, that means there were two others in the area,” Kelvin remarked. “And if there was one set of prints running, that had to be Gabriel. I’m guessing he was the only human in the woods this afternoon.”

“Dustin closed the book and looked up. “You’re right kiddo. If there were wolves there or vampires that—” Dustin tried to say.

He was immediately interrupted. “It was daylight, it can’t be vampires. You know what this means,” Kelvin said.

“Enlighten us.” Maria folded her arms and was impatiently waiting for his answer.

“It means they haven’t got any of the right blood, and it must mean wolves have gone rogue and they are working with a vampire,” Kelvin explained. Maria looked shocked at his genius progression of thinking.

“We are getting somewhere, slowly,” Dustin said. “We think we know the reason behind it. But the ‘who’ part is still a mystery, and I think it’ll be for a while yet. What we can do in the meantime though, is list everyone we only ever see at nighttime,” Dustin said. “I think we need a pack meeting, but we should hold it outside rather than in the basement.”

“Dustin, you wanna watch my back while we have a roam around outside?” Kelvin asked.

“Yeah, we’d better start being more aware of our surroundings. What makes it worse is that we still have that scaffolding up. We are vulnerable,” Dustin said as he looked at Maria.

“Another week or thereabouts, so I was told.”

“Until then, we might have to post lookouts at night.”

“I’m way ahead of you, I thought of that already,” Maria said as Dustin followed Kelvin out of the office.

“It’s only walls that have ears, eyes are everywhere.”