Chapter One
Benjamin
The shot rang true and I relaxed my posture, feeling pleased that the rogue vampire went down faster than his friend did.
All around me the city was alive with sirens and cars, the lights enough to make people believe they were safe.
They weren’t. I might’ve known that vampires and other supernatural creatures existed, but the human population didn’t.
I was the unknown hero who made sure they stayed alive.
Not that it mattered if they thanked me or not.
It wasn’t as if I was doing it for them.
When my family was brutally murdered by rogue vampires, I’d been too young to understand the threat of them.
But as I grew older, I realized I wanted one thing in life.
Revenge. I’d been a vampire hunter for over fifteen years and was one of the best, if not the best, in the business.
This call today had been from a panicked witch who’d been chased to her apartment by two vampires.
We weren’t allowed to just shoot vampires without reason, so I had to track them down and wait until they did something nefarious.
It hadn’t taken long. Sadly, these vampires hadn’t been rogue ones, just bad souls doing bad things.
Rogue vampires were those who got turned but their brains couldn’t function after the change.
They basically became blood thirsty animals.
These two had been of normal mind, just with a lack of respect for human life.
I couldn’t kill regular vampires up close.
They were simply too fast and would kill me in seconds.
I had to shoot them from a safe distance with my special bullets made of iron and infused with sunlight.
Witch made, but damn powerful. Often, regular vampires thought themselves on top of the food chain, so to speak, and that became their downfall.
Like these two. They hadn’t expected a mere human to end their lives.
But I had. Rogue vampires were another thing entirely.
They were easier to kill, but still strong.
They weren’t as fast as regular vampires, but I still preferred to kill them from a distance.
They could also be killed by regular bullets, just like humans could and lacked the self-healing abilities that regular vampires had.
My phone beeped, alerting me I needed to get away.
I always left the bodies. The corpses turning to ash within minutes meant I didn’t have to do any clean up.
Not that I’d bother ever cleaning up filth like that, but it was still nice that no one would stumble upon the truth I had to live with.
That monsters existed. Others had families, loved ones, people they cared about.
But I didn’t. No. Vampires had made sure of that, so I decided to keep it that way.
Having no one to care about meant no one would be sad when you died.
Doing what I did meant death was always just one mistake away.
I ducked out of the alleyway, dodging people as I made my way through the crowd that was too wasted to walk straight. When I finally reached the parking garage, I located my bike and got the hell out of there. I hated the big city. Hated the noise. The people. The fucking air.
Traffic wasn’t too bad and soon I was winding down calmer streets until I reached my home, or where I simply lived at the moment. I hadn’t had a home since it was destroyed with my loved ones’ blood seeping into the floorboards.
Shaking off those dark thoughts, I went inside and hurried to text my boss the job was done.
He’d make sure the witch who called would be informed that the vampires were taken care of.
I much preferred it like that, keeping a distance between other supernatural beings while I hunted the vampires.
I’d met werewolves, witches, vampires, shifters, and even a demon once.
Sadly, I was only allowed to kill vampires, otherwise the demon would’ve been dead, or at least slightly wounded.
I had no idea if they could even die, but the annoying piece of shit I’d met deserved to remain in hell.
It was punishment enough for the mortals landing in hell to just be around that demon.
My phone rang and I groaned. I wasn’t allowed to ignore my boss but I really wanted a nice hot shower and some sleep.
“Hazi,” I said in greeting.
“Benji,” he replied in his gruff no-nonsense tone. “I have a serious case on my hands and I need my best hunter.”
“Where and when?” I knew better than to bask in his compliments. I’d earned the title of the best, there was no need to act bashful about it.
“Keen, and tomorrow,” he replied.
Keen? “I thought Keen was a werewolf run town?” I asked, wondering if I’d heard him correctly.
Hazi sighed. “That should tell you how bad their situation is. Werewolves don’t like others in their territory, and yet, they asked for my best man.”
“So, what I’m hearing is that I have to work with werewolves? Fun.”
“You’ll be fine, Benji. You have a meeting with the town alpha tomorrow at ten. Get on the road early.”
“Will do, boss. Any details about the case?”
“No, the alpha wants to inform you in person. I only know it’s regarding rogue vampires and that he seemed pretty agitated about it.”
“I’ll repeat myself. Fun.”
After two hours on the road, I was finally in Keen. I hated working with wolves, not because I didn’t trust them, but most didn’t understand personal boundaries and the rest were territorial assholes who growled like the dogs they were.
Knowing my luck, I would need to stay in town for several days, which was the main reason I’d packed two bags.
One for weapons and one for clothes. I could survive with few clothes but my weapons were essential for my survival here.
I parked in front of the police station where the alpha had his main office, arriving ten minutes early.
I adjusted my turtleneck, a force of habit.
I always hid my neck. Always. If you really thought about it, most supernatural beings loved necks.
Werewolves bit them, vampires sucked on them, and demons…
well, they sort of did both. I was simply saving them the temptation by hiding my neck.
I shot Hazi a quick text, informing him that I’d arrived for the meeting. He didn’t need to know more than that. He would only need further details when I knew how long this would take. And once I was done, of course.
I left the car and took confident strides toward the station, one arm gently pushing against my side, feeling my weapon there. I immediately felt calmer. I was protected. I was safe.
A brush of warm air hit me as soon as I stepped inside, as did the lingering scent of pine and coffee.
An interesting mix, that was for sure. Tapping could be heard from my right so I followed the sound and found the receptionist. She was likely in her mid-thirties and sported a curly bob on her head that moved as she typed on the keyboard.
She stalled her typing and gave me a beaming smile. “You must be Mr. Green.”
“I am,” I confirmed. “I have a ten a.m. meeting with your alpha.”
“He’s already in meeting room 5, just follow the hall to your left. Do you want coffee? Tea, perhaps?”
I shot her a charming smile. “No, thank you. Hope you have a nice day.”
She smiled shyly and replied, “You too.”
The scent of pine intensified as I approached the room with a clearly marked 5 on it, it was a nice scent.
A calming one. Maybe werewolves had the right idea when it came to scenting places.
The ones I’d been saved by had led me to a house that smelled like vanilla and cake, and that had been marvelous to my kid senses.
Too bad they’d met the same fate as my family did.
I mentally slapped myself just out front of room 5. I couldn’t keep revisiting the past. All I could do was make sure rogue vampires were killed. I would make sure no other child was left orphaned because of bloodlust.
Steeling myself, I knocked and then opened the door. I was practically attacked by a pine forest as I stepped inside. The scent enough to make me all mellow with contentment. Were they doing drugs here?
A black-haired man stared at me in shock, which was granted as I just stood there and sniffed the air like I was a dog in heat. I would not stoop to their level, dammit!
“Hi,” I greeted, putting on my professional mask as I offered him my hand. “I’m Benjamin Green, the Vampire Hunter.”
“Christopher Keen,” he replied, accepting my handshake with a firm hold.
I sat opposite him, ready to get started and escape this room and all the wonderfulness it brought as soon as possible. Maybe it helped with interrogations? Even I felt my mental walls come down. Smart thinking.
“So, Alpha, what’s troubling you?”
He noticeably swallowed. “I have a vampire issue.”
I nodded. “Rogue vampires, I’m guessing?”
“Yes, all newly turned.” It was hard to determine whether rogues were turned recently or not. Even I couldn’t tell how long those I killed had been around. Perhaps it was a scent thing?
While I waited for him to continue, I couldn’t help but notice just how young he seemed.
He could be anywhere from twenty-five to forty.
I knew supernaturals aged differently than us mere humans, but it was throwing me off a bit not knowing.
He was the pack alpha and that alone often meant an elder.
“There’s so many we can’t keep up,” he continued. “I’ve had to take night shifts for two weeks straight just so none of them got further into town where the families reside.”
I grimaced. Families. I would protect those children.
“How many have you had this last week?”
“Around fifteen,” he replied easily.
My eyes widened at that. “And in total?”
“It started three weeks ago and, in that time, we’ve killed around fifty rogue vampires.”
“Fifty?!” I blurted.
Christopher smirked at me. “What? Afraid to get your hands dirty?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “No, but it makes sense why a werewolf-run town needed assistance in keeping their territory safe.”
He growled. “Be careful. I could very well demand another vampire hunter help us out.”
Shrugging, I leaned further back in my chair, emboldened now that I knew I could get under his skin. “I’m the best, so please do. You’ll need at least five hunters to do what I can do alone.”
Christopher sighed and rubbed his temples. “Can we just get to the part where you make them go away?”
“Sure,” I nodded calmly. “But first, can you please tell me why this room smells so good?” Christopher’s eyes widened in shock, likely because most wouldn’t notice it.
I liked finding things others weren’t aware of though, and felt almost proud of myself for noticing it.
“Is it to lure suspects into a sense of peace? Or perhaps to dull their senses enough to pry out a confession?” The room didn’t seem like the typical interrogation room, and perhaps that was by design too, falsely luring in the guilty and making them confess.
“You—” he began, then cleared his throat. “You can smell something? In here?”
“Oh yeah,” I nodded. “Pine and whatever else you’ve added to make me all calm and relaxed. If I could bottle it up I would. It must be a dream to inhale this all the time.”
“Fuck,” Christopher growled, then abruptly stood, pacing the floor next to the table. I hadn’t expected him to freak out over it. So, what if I noticed their tactics, it wasn’t as though I was about to tattle on them.
“What’s—” I began, but was cut off by his piercing green eyes glaring at me.
“You’re my fucking mate.”