Chapter two

"Tell us what really happened last night?" Ruby asked, sipping one of her teas, causing Hope to stop chewing mid-chew

"Where is Adam?' Hope tried changing the topic after finishing the cereal in her mouth

"Zeke took him out to the library."

"Library? This early?" she frowned; Zeke took Adam two hours before closing time because it was hard trying to get Adam out of the building unless it was closing.

"Honey, it's Sunday, and it's around four-thirty. They've been gone for a while. You're the one who has slept the day away. Don't you think it's time you tell me what exactly your 'job' is? It's not the first time since we moved here you keep coming back bloody or bruised."

"It's not my fault this is a dangerous city." Hope tried cracking a joke

"I'm serious; answer my question. Are you hunting solo again?"

"yes," she confessed; there was a stretch of long silence

"At least take Trick with you the next time you go on your suicide mission. I'm done trying to warn about the dangers. You know and clearly don't care." Ruby.

The others usually came along with the hunt the day before the full moon because they were most vulnerable except Zeke. He watched Adam and ready to move Adam to a different location if one or all of them was captured.

Once she was finished eating the rest of her cereal, she walked to the living room. Sitting on the floor center of the room wiping her katanas with a flannel cloth was Misha, and all around her were daggers and a lot of silver throwing spikes. Misha was clearly brushing them with wolfsbane oil she made.

"Samurai, do you want to go hunting tonight?" Hope offered. Hope admired Misha's fighting skills, The way she slices, dices, chops, and skewers with her swords so silently and quickly you'd think she was a ninja assassin or something. Hope wouldn't be surprised if Misha were a ninja assassin before joining them in their mission of riding the monsters of the world. Misha only nodded for an affirmative. Misha wasn't really a talker; she usually made gestures if talking wasn't necessary. She was so quiet sometimes that you forget she was in the room, but he had that air about her that has the attention of everyone when she speaks.

"We leave around ten." Hope informed her that she should catch a few more hours of sleep as she walked back to bed.

She didn't get any because Adam came home. He wanted to show her the books he got from the library.

"Are you learning Spanish?" Hope asked him when two out of the three books he got were Spanish learning.

"Yes, Mommy. It's a widely spoken language. I want to learn how to express it.

"My little Einstein." she praised him, kissing the top of his head.

"Mom, that's kind of offensive considering Einstein provided the formula of the atomic bomb that took out Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

"Einstein. I got ice cream. Come out if you want some." A trick called out popped his head in the room. Adam jumped out and ran out of the room, causing Hope to chuckle. Adam was single-minded when it came to ice cream.

All thoughts of sleep escaped her; with Adam gone from her sight, the emptiness returned. Ruby calls her actions suicidal, but in truth, it's a way to fill the void of sorrow that would have consumed her with rage and vengeance to losing her twin to those monsters. Maybe she did have a death wish.

~*~

Marcelo was at the same bar the three pups were last seen alive; for some reason, he had a feeling the hunters would return here knowing that more wolves were watching the place. And Shayla, the pack shaman, confirmed that something big was going to occur here tonight. He had his man scattered and surround the bar both inside and outside. I was watching every being that came through the door, feeling more agitated. He became very watchful of the familiar-looking female who comes into the bar a few minutes ago. Unlike the others, she didn't have a scent his hackles rose. Only witches could disguise their smells. He turned his attention on her as she ordered a drink from the bartender and sat at the same stool she sat previously from the security cameras. He could swear he was seeing her scan the crowd, her eyes lingering on some of his wolves.

She sat there for a few minutes sipping her drink before she looked down at her phone and got up, walking towards the exit. Marcelo got up as well, trailing behind her. Keeping in the shadows as she walked past the parking lot and broke out in a run towards an alley where he could clearly hear one of his wolves, Flint was grunting as he dodges attacks. Marcelo texted his men quickly as he went to save Flint from the ninja hunter. Before getting any closer, the female attacked him, barely dodging the dagger coming at him. He took out the tranquilizer and quickly secured the female. With his wolf speed and strength, she had no chance against an alpha. He needs to capture and interrogate her find the other hunters, and avenge his death; However, she held her ground and fought him like a trained martial master Marcelo could tranquil her. The ninja disappeared by the tie. He turned his attention to Flint. Going to Flint, he checked if he was still breathing as though he was still severely injured. When his other men came, he ordered Flex to heal his brother with his magic of a healer. I went back to secure cuffs on the female while she was still unconscious. His eye caught the sight of a silver necklace around her neck; even though he knew it would burn, he snatched the silver chain pendant around her neck and threw it across the alley. That's when her scent hit him. It was like being run over by an invisible force pulling at him, forming...something. He looked down at her from the expression on her face. He knew she felt it too.

"Don, what happening?" Marcelo vaguely registered Felix's voice. He couldn't turn his attention away from the female; she awoke something profound inside he wasn't aware was missing.

Felix came closer, Bewildered at first by what was happening. Then understanding dawned when he saw the vine-shaped tattoo patterns start appearing on Marcelo's chest and wrapping around his left shoulder. Felix knew then Marcelo had found his mate. And Felix was witnessing the rarest thing ever; not only was one finding their mate rare, but the bonding of a human and a shifter is the rarest for all. So rare that it's only been heard in myths and stories told by the old shamans.

Every soul has its counterpart. Whether you believe in the supernatural or not, souls are in twos, Ying and Yang. Some believed soul mates were created when a single soul ripped into two during the creation of the universe. Thrown in different ends of the world, which is why some beings live their whole life not knowing their other half, not even knowing why they've felt so incomplete all their lives. Some were wondering the earth, never knowing what they were missing, which is the saddest of all.

When a shifter meets their mate, the mate bond creates matching tattoos like imprints starting from the left side of the chest where the heart spreads and wraps around the shoulder. It's speculated that happens because the souls recognize each other they are reaching for each other. Leaving their imprint out for all to see, and they can't be separated until the bonding is complete or they both die or go insane and then die. Felix wasn't sure if he should congratulate Don or feel sorry for him, wisely deciding to leave them to drag the half-healed Flint to the van.