Hunting Ground [Claiming Series, #3]

- 7 -

Twilight came at last. She had bathed as Kane had told her and changed her clothes. Nothing, however, could rub the smell of vampire from her jacket.

No one emerged from the bedrooms, even though she expected them, judging the light conditions by the time.

And then she heard it. Even through the walls of this bunker, she could the howls of her pack. Each wolf's song was familiar to her, tied to a name. Tried to someone she loved. That they had chosen to come in this form rather than their human form told her much.

This could be a fight she lost.

She went to stand on the porch to await them, her heart hammering, her knees weak. Behind her, she heard someone lock the door.

Closing her out of the lives. Protecting themselves against her and what she had done.

She wanted to sag but forced herself to stiffen, to stand straight, to appear sure.

The first wolf burst into the clearing from among the trees. Her father, readily recognizable by his black coat and massive size. Lycanthropes became wolves exactly the same size as the humans they were the rest of the time. Her father was a powerful man, well over six feet tall, and two hundred pounds of pure muscles.

He stopped at the clearing's edge and lifted his snout, smelling the night. Then he issued a low, long howl and others followed. Her mother, petite by comparison, yet larger than an ordinary wolf, her coat colors of silver, white and caramel. The colors of her make looked like a perpetual smile.

Then her four brothers, nearly as big as their father, in every shade from white to black. She could hear others in the woods, but only the six emerged, the rest waiting to see if they were needed.

Her father approached her first, sniffing closely about her, so big that when he lifted his head he could look her in the eyes. Twice he snorted as if displeased.

Then came the other five, first her mother and then her four brothers. They swirled around her, using their acute sense to read things she could only guess at because she wasn't really one of them.

Her mother nudged her until she stepped off the porch and into the snow, way from the cabin. She reached out to touch fur with all the love she felt for them and ached when they each dodged her touches.

She knew what they smelled on her.

Then, in a motion so smooth it almost seemed like melting, her father and mother transformed into humans. It was not, however, a full transformation. Their bodies remained covered with sleek fur since they had brought no clothes.

"I smell them all over you," her father said. "Why, daughter? Why?"

"I told Mom. One of them saved my life. I've learned, Dad. Not all vampires are what we thought. Some of them are actually fighting to save humans."

"Your mother told me. I'm not sure I believe any bloodsucker could be good."

"Luka," her mother said quietly. "I told you what she said. If she's right, we can't just take her from here. We might need to help."

"Help bloodsuckers?" Luka practically thundered the words.

"Yes," said Tessa, lifting her chin. "At first, I thought a war between vampires would be a good thing. And then I saw what the rogues are doing, and what the vampires who protect me are doing differently. I thought of what it would mean to the packs if the rogues win and take over. Father, listen to me. Imagine a world overrun by vampires who are fed by human slaves. What would that mean to the pack?"