The Hunt Begins

Kieran's POV

Kieran Blackwood's wolf senses came to life when he heard the scream through the night.

His heart was beating fast against his ribs as he turned around on the dark Chicago street. He felt sick to his stomach when he heard that scream. It was full of fear, pain, and something else. Marcus and Devon, two brother pack members, had also heard about it. As the streetlight hit them, their eyes lit up orange.

"What was that?" Devon said something in a whisper as he reached for the silver knife on his belt.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The city smells hit him like a wall – car fumes, garbage, rain. But there was something else going on that made his blood chill. The smell of fresh blood that is metal.

"Someone's hurt," he said, his voice rough. "Someone's hurt bad."

Marcus, his bigger brother and second-in-command, grabbed his arm. "Kieran, we have a job to do tonight. Remember? The Romano girl. We can't get distracted."

Kieran's jaw clenched. Right. The mission. Take Isabella Romano, the mob princess, and use her to force her father into peace talks. It was meant to be simple. Get in, grab her, get out. No one gets hurt.

But that scream...

"The hospital's that way," Kieran said, pointing toward the sound. His wolf was pulling him in that way, every instinct screaming at him to help whoever was in trouble.

"So is our target," Marcus reminded him coldly. "Vincent Romano's daughter volunteers there every Thursday night. It's great timing."

Another scream echoed through the empty streets, quieter this time. Kieran's hands started shaking. He'd heard screams like that before – ten years ago, when his parents died. When he was just a scared fourteen-year-old boy hiding in the woods while Romano's men burned his family's home.

"We stick to the plan," Marcus said strongly. "The pack is waiting on us. Our father's spirit is counting on us."

Kieran nodded, but his heart wasn't in it. As they moved through the shadows toward the children's hospital, his nose picked up more smells. Isabella Romano's scent – vanilla and roses, surprisingly gentle for a mob princess. But there was something else mixed in with it.

Fear.

They reached the parking garage just as a black SUV screeched around the corner. Kieran pressed himself against a concrete wall, watching. Three guys in expensive suits got out of the vehicle. They moved wrong – too stiff, too artificial. Their smells were all wrong too.

"Those aren't Romano's men," he whispered to Marcus.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean they smell like..." Kieran paused, trying to place the strange chemical odor coming off them. "They smell like science experiments."

The men spread out through the parking lot, moving with deadly purpose. One of them held a strange gadget that beeped softly. Another carried a dart gun.

"They're hunting her too," Devon breathed.

Kieran's mind raced. This wasn't part of the plan. Who else wanted Isabella Romano? And why did they smell like labs and metal?

A car door slammed somewhere in the garage. A young woman's voice called out, "Hello? Is someone there?"

Isabella.

Kieran's dog went crazy inside his chest. Every cell of his being wanted to rush toward her voice, but he forced himself to stay hidden. Through the concrete walls, he caught a glimpse of her. Long dark hair, kind eyes, wearing simple pants and a sweater. She looked nothing like the spoiled mob princess he'd expected.

She looked scared.

"My phone's not working," she called out again. "If someone's hurt, I can help. I know first aid."

One of the strange men raised his dart gun.

Without thinking, Kieran stepped out of the shadows. "Wait."

The man spun toward him, but Kieran was already moving. His wolf strength sent the attacker flying into a concrete wall. The dart gun skittered across the floor.

"Kieran, what are you doing?" Marcus hissed.

Isabella saw him and froze. For a short second, their eyes met across the dark garage. Kieran felt something electric pass between them – recognition, maybe, though he knew they'd never met.

Had they?

The second attacker lunged at Isabella from behind. She spun around, surprisingly quick, and kicked him hard in the knee. The man howled and tripped.

"Nice move," Kieran found himself saying.

She stared at him with wide, confused eyes. "Who are you? What's happening?"

Before he could answer, the third attacker appeared behind her, raising something that looked like a metal club. Kieran's wolf roared inside him. He jumped forward, tackling the man just as the weapon came down.

They hit the ground hard, rolling and fighting. The man was stronger than he looked – unnaturally strong. His skin felt cold and rubbery under Kieran's hands.

"Behind you!" Isabella shouted.

Kieran rolled away just as the first attacker, recovered from hitting the wall, brought a knife down where his head had been. The blade sparked against the ground.

"Run!" Kieran yelled at Isabella. "Get out of here!"

But she didn't run. Instead, she grabbed a tire iron from a nearby car and swung it at the second attacker, who was walking toward them. The metal connected with a sickening crunch.

"I said run!" Kieran shouted, throwing the knife-wielding man over a parked car.

"Not without you!" she called back.

Her words hit him like a physical blow. Not without you. When was the last time someone had cared about his safety? When was the last time someone had stayed to help him instead of running away?

The strange attackers reassembled, moving toward them with those wrong, mechanical movements. Up close, Kieran could see their eyes were completely black – no white, no color, just dead darkness.

"What are they?" Isabella whispered, moving to stand back-to-back with him.

"I don't know," Kieran revealed. "But they're not human."

Marcus and Devon finally joined the fight, their wolf power evening the odds. But as they fought the strange creatures, Kieran's mind kept spinning. Who were these things? Why did they want Isabella? And why did fighting beside her feel so... right?

The leader of the attackers pulled out a small device and hit a button. A high-pitched whine filled the air.

"Retreat," the thing said in a voice like grinding metal. "Target acquired."

They disappeared into the shadows as quickly as they'd appeared, leaving behind only the smell of chemicals and the echo of their mechanical voices.

Isabella sagged against a car, breathing hard. "What just happened?"

Kieran looked at her – really looked at her. There was something familiar about her face, something that tugged at old memories he couldn't quite reach.

"I wish I knew," he said softly.

Marcus appeared at his elbow. "Kieran, we need to go. Now. More of them might be coming."

Isabella's head snapped up. "More of what? Who are you people?"

Kieran felt torn in half. The mission said to take her. His heart said to protect her. His wolf said she was important – more important than he understood.

"My name is Kieran," he said finally. "And I think... I think you're in more danger than you know."

She studied his face in the dim light. "Why do I feel like I've seen you before?"

Before he could answer, the sound of sirens filled the air. Red and blue lights flashed against the garage walls.

"The police," Isabella breathed. "Someone must have called them."

Marcus grabbed Kieran's arm. "We leave now, or we don't leave at all."

Kieran looked at Isabella one more time. She was looking at him with those kind eyes, confusion and fear mixed together. Every urge screamed at him to take her with them, to keep her safe from whatever those things were.

But taking her meant breaking everything his pack believed in. It meant picking a Romano over his own family.

"Kieran!" Marcus barked.

The sirens were getting louder.

Isabella stepped toward him. "Wait, don't go. I need to understand what just—"

A dart hit her in the neck.

Kieran spun around to see one of the black-eyed creatures standing in the shadows, carrying a dart gun. The thing had never really left – it had been waiting.

"No!" Kieran lunged forward, but Isabella was already falling.

He caught her as she fell, her body going limp in his arms. Her eyes fluttered, trying to stay open.

"Don't... let them..." she whispered, her voice fading. "The children... protect the children..."

Then she was unconscious.

The thing stepped forward, its black eyes fixed on Isabella's still form. "Give her to us, wolf. This doesn't concern your kind."

Kieran held Isabella closer, his wolf growling inside his chest. "Like hell it doesn't."

More artificial voices echoed through the garage. They were trapped.