Hunting the Alpha: Bound by Fate

Aria had a gut feeling something was wrong or more like something bad was going to happen.

It was like an itch she couldn't scratch.

'Vague and annoying.'

She didn't know the specifics, but experience told her not to ignore it.

"Peter, go take off your uniform. No school for you today," she said to her brother, who was sitting in the living room.

"But we have a test today," Peter replied.

"You can always retake the test," Aria said and then furrowed her brow. "Shouldn't you be asking me why I told you to stay?"

"I don't need to. You know I find school boring and annoying."

"Well, that's because you have no friends. I told you to try to make at least one. Make things more bearable."

Being alone wasn't fun.

Aria knew that firsthand, as she was a Loner. Loners were shifters without a pack.

Outcast, unwanted.

Every shifter treated them with wariness.

Why?

Because a huge percentage of them were unrestrained and resorted to violent means to make a living, with Aria being among the majority.

"No one will befriend me," Peter sighed. "Everyone thinks I'm a freak, which I am."

"You're not a freak. You're a werewolf," Aria corrected.

"Even a freak among werewolves."

"You—when did you become so emo?"

"I believe puberty is at work here. I'm growing up—thick voice, strange dreams, fantasizing about girls, growing hair in weird places such as my—"

"Alright, enough, I get it." Aria hurriedly interrupted, and Peter chuckled, but a headache interrupted his laughter, causing him to clutch his head in pain. Aria then hurried towards him. "Peter, are you alright?" Aria asked, holding his arm.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Peter said, but Aria was unconvinced.

"It's back again, isn't it?" Aria asked with a frown, but Peter didn't give her an answer, which confirmed it.

It wasn't ideal for a werewolf to shift at a young age, but Peter got his wolf around the age of 10.

His wolf had forcefully come out to protect him when he was assaulted, and that had led to the constant headache.

Aria had taken him to a healer, and she was informed that his mental health would keep deteriorating until his mind turned blank, and he became a dunce.

She had paid a huge sum to treat him, and the healer had promised it would be effective, so what was this now? The bastard had lied to her. She should have known better than to trust a piece of trash loner like him.

Noticing Aria's worried look, Peter said, "Sis, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"No. That won't do. Let's just go see the healer. Since you aren't going to school in the first place, we could take that as your excuse for skipping."

"What about work then?"

"Work comes later."

"But it's a waste of time. You could use the time to make money. I'm totally fine. It might just be because I slept late reading, that's all," Peter said with a smile, trying to convince her, but Aria frowned, noting his frail skin.

He was clearly saying this so he wouldn't be a burden. Even if she took him to a healer, she had no money to pay. She planned to handle this by threatening the healer for doing a lousy job.

"Wait, did you say you were reading? What a load of bull—"

"Oh, would you look at the time," Peter interrupted nervously. "Aren't you late for work?"

Aria gave Peter a look and glanced at the time. 'Shit,' she really was late for work. She hurriedly took her bag and tentatively reached out to Peter and ruffled his brown hair. "I'm sorry I can't take better care of you."

"What are you apologizing for? You're doing enough."

"Take care of yourself till I get back, alright?" Aria said, feeling heaviness in her stomach.

She promised herself to take him to see the healer soon, but first, she needed to earn some money, or they'd both sleep on an empty stomach.

*

At work, Aria dumped the trash into the garbage dump at the back of the convenience store.

As she walked back in, her wolf's fur suddenly perked up in wary and Aria looked back wondering what the threat was.

She could sense someone or something watching her, it was a weird presence and she couldn't quite pinpoint the position as it came from everywhere.

'Who could it possibly be?'

Aria wondered, her eyes narrowing as she looked around.

Her thoughts raced to make sense of the situation.

But a voice interrupted her thought.

"Aria," Oprah called. "What are you doing?"

"Oh it's nothing, just taking in the view," Aria replied but Oprah noticed her unease.

"Hmm, I don't think so. Maybe I should just take a peek," Oprah said and her eyes glowed silver. Oprah was a Mindflayer and could read people's minds but it required eye contact, so Aria hurried to hide her face.

"Don't you dare, I'll kill you if you try it,"

"Alright alright...I'm just joking geez. Do you have to resort to death threats all the time?" Oprah chuckled, "Just want to let you know the boss wants to see you and you know he has a short fuse, "

"Don't worry, I'll be there soon," Aria said but her mind was clearly somewhere else.

"Are you sure you're alright? " Oprah asked once.

"Yeah... It's nothing, seriously. Let's go " Aria said holding Oprah's shoulder and leading her inside. The presence had disappeared when Oprah arrived.

Once the day ended she declined Oprah's invitation to go to the nightclub.

She was big on places like that, as the last time she went, she broke the hand of a drunk man who tried to touch her, causing a scene.

So she avoided clubs, but Oprah never ceased asking her.

They were both loners and supernatural creatures who worked with humans just so they could live.

Though they weren't particularly close they had each other back during work and would have been more close if Aria didn't build walls.

On the way back home, she sensed the weird presence once again, and this time it was close.

She could hear footsteps approaching her.

Someone was following and was not being stealthy about it.

Aria then walked into an alley and the cloaked figure tailing her revealed himself, from his physique, one could tell he was a man.

He followed Aria into the alley but grunted as he was met with an empty lane. Next, a cold dagger was placed on his neck and Aria whispered into his ear, "How did you find me?"

The cloaked figure smiled looking more amused than terrified before speaking, "I see you haven't gotten rusty, Aria Wright."

"I asked you a fucking question," Aria growled in annoyance pressing the dagger deeper into his skin until it drew blood.

Her wolf didn't like the vibes the stranger was giving. She couldn't scent him, almost like he had no presence. No, it was all over the place and chilling.

"The association has a mission for you," the mystery man said.

Association? She hadn't heard that in a long time.

After she became a loner and found herself starving with no place to sleep.

She decided to best way to survive was to use what she had.

She was good at hunting and a skilled fighter so she decided to utilize it by joining an assassination group.

She took on missions hunting down shifter after shifter but took missions when her target was someone she deemed should die.

But then she made a huge mistake when she killed an alpha of a pack of jackals, and that led to the loss of innocent people.

Overwhelmed with guilt, Aria decided to throw in the towel and went off-grid.

But now, her past had found her.

Aria let go of the agent and he turned towards her.

"I'm done, retired, now get lost," Aria said her chin quivering.

"I can't do that Miss Aria. Retirement doesn't work that way. You did the mission half-assedly and ran off without making a report. You broke protocols,"

Memories of the last mission began to flood in and it made Aria uneasy.

"You know what fuck you and your protocols. I'm tired of listening to your bullshit." She lashed out but the agent was unmoved.

"Listen Aria. You should be grateful the association didn't put a bounty on your head. You messed up and the association seeks repayment. This is them being considerate since you were one of the best. You can either accept it and proceed back to your mundane life or decline it and get hunted down."

"Are you threatening me?" Aria growled but the agent simply shrugged, "Call it whatever you want. Just contact us whenever you're ready preferably soon, and do not try to run. The association will be watching your every move, along with the kid."

Aria's eyes bulged and her posture stiffened, "You what the hell did you just say?"

"I hope to hear from you soon," the cloaked man said ignoring her question, and walked away.

"Wait!" Aria moved to grab his shoulder but she met thin air.

The cloaked figure disappeared like he wasn't there leaving Aria shaken.

This was bad.

They knew about Peter which meant it was most likely they knew where she lived.

With a sense of urgency, Aria hurried home, her heart racing.

She ran down the street like she was being chased.

Extreme worry fueled her every step.

should have known something like this was going to happen, and just stayed at home like her instinct had warned her.

But she ignored it like a fool.

On reaching her apartment, she saw the door was slightly ajar and her heart sank fearing the worst.

Aria hurried in, and the sight she saw filled her with dread.

Right in the hallway was Peter...