The Hunters and the Hunted

This is my third fan fic using the Elder Brothers, but it's set in an alternate universe and I don't own any of the Marvel X-Men characters. No profit is being made on this fan fiction and I don't own anything anyway. In my movie verse, Victor and James never worked for Stryker. Stryker, Scott, Jean, Deathstrike, John Wraith, and the Professor are all alive and well.

I would also like to give a special thanks to GypsyWitchBaby for letting me borrow her Lupa character. She is a bit different here, but it's the same Lupa you'll all know and love from The Feral and The Dreaming Animal.

Rex, Medusa, Dina, Banger, Gaza, Black Bear, Grizzly, Hannock, and Haggar are creations of my crazy little mind. As are all the members of the Packs and Clans.

I'm in the process of finding a beta reader. This is a non beta read story. There will be spelling, grammatical, and context errors. I'm writing these stories for pure pleasure and my own brand of therapy from the real world. I am Dyslexic and truly can't "see" some of the glaring errors that offend some readers. If you can't stand spelling mistakes, grammatical error, and words used in the wrong context – my stories might not be for you. If you are interested in being a beta reader, please let me know.

Summary: Someone is hunting down Feral Mutants. Can the X-Men help and get to the bottom of this mystery before more Ferals disappear?

Chapter 1: The Bait and Inquires (Revised)

Victor and Lupa were reviewing the information she had acquired. It wasn't good. They now had a total of ten missing pack or clan members. All of which had disappeared in a 25 year time period. James himself had been missing for 17 years. Someone was hunting Ferals. Victor, Lupa and the other Clans elders had decided they needed to end this now before anymore family members disappeared.

In the last 2 years, Charles Xavier had been trying to make contact with the Packs and Clans. Victor had spread the word to avoid him, so he had been unsuccessful in locating any other Ferals. Lupa's new information had just changed his position on Xavier and his X-Men outfit. Xavier now had 3 Ferals working with him. It was the new pair, Wolverine and Deathstrike, that gotten Victor's attention. Wolverine was said to have retractable metal claws, a healing factor and enhanced senses. He allegedly had escaped from a laboratory with Deathstrike and they had been rescued by the X-Men. If the rumor was true he had an unbreakable metal on his body called Adamantium. His mutation was the same as Jimmy's. Victor wanted to see this mutant and find out if it was his missing Brother. Deathstrike was also rumored to have the same Adamantium skeleton and finger nail claws, enhanced senses and a high grade healing factor. She was also an escapee from the laboratory. Her mutation also fit with what Merlin had foretold.

Since the last trap had resulted in the loss of his Brother, this time, Victor was having the meeting take place in Canada at one of the safe houses. He had Rex and Medusa as backup plus Lupa. He had leaked to Xavier there were a pair of Ferals living off the land in Canada in the wilderness and Xavier had taken the bait. He and Lupa were the bait. They could hear both the Jet they arrived in and was now being to scent their visitors. There was no denying it; one of the women was Jimmy's Mate. He had Lupa tell Rex and Medusa to stay out of sight. He needed more information on these people and was going to have it. It appeared there were TWO organizations hunting Feral; this laboratory and Xavier's.

Victor had Lupa open the door and remained seated. He wanted information so he wouldn't let them know all of his secrets. He made a point not to show his fangs when he spoke and he was wearing work gloves as was Lupa.

"We offer sanctuary to other Mutants that need help with their powers or that are being hunted by Humans. My name is Scott Summers AKA Cyclops; this is Jean Grey AKA Marvel Girl, Hank McCoy AKA Beast, and Deathstrike." Scott was looking toward the male Feral. He was a very large man and reminded Scott of a Tiger. He was too still and it put Scott on edge, but Ferals did that to him in general. "The school is run by Professor Charles Xavier, he had reason to believe you two are in danger. There is a man that is hunting down Ferals and using them in his experiments. He's torturing and killing people in the name of science. Deathstrike and other Mutant named Wolverine were among the lucky ones to escape."

Victor had been studying Deathstrike, since she had entered the cabin. She was young. He didn't have her being much more than 50 years old if that. He was going to have fun teasing Jimmy about robbing the cradle with his Mate! She was a beautiful quiet Japanese woman. That really didn't surprise him; Jimmy always had a thing for Red Heads and Japanese Frails; Merlin had never been wrong with his visions. Her eyes were a unique sliver and blue combination. Her nails were also painted an unnatural bluish sliver; the color of metal. She had Jimmy's scent commingled with her own. Both of their scents had a metal undertone to it. She was his Mate. She wouldn't look him in the eye, but his scent was definitely bugging her and she didn't know why. Which confirmed his guess that she was young in years; she knew something was up with his scent but couldn't yet place that he was Family to her Mate. She was also uncomfortable around males, but she was seeking to hide her natural fear. Her fear had spiked when she had seen him stand up to welcome them. The one called Beast had immediately suggested that she wait on the Blackbird if she wished, but she declined but kept her back to the cabin wall. The one called Beast either didn't have a strong nose or was too young to smell family bonds.

Victor finally spoke. "We would be interested in meeting Charles Xavier, over the years several members of our Family have disappeared without a trace. We would welcome any assistance ya could offer in locating them." Victor was still examining Deathstrike discreetly. She wasn't looking forward to the prospect of spending more time in his present. He was going to have to get to the bottom of her fear and he already knew he wasn't going to like the answer.

The X-Men quickly agreed to offer any help they could in locating the missing family members. They explained that Xavier had been looking for Ferals unsuccessfully for years to warn them, but since he could telepathically 'find' a Feral with Cerebro he didn't actually know how many there were or how to get in touch with them. As they walked to the Blackbird, Victor made a point of saying were they were going: Xavier's Institute for the Gifted Youngsters in Westchester, NY knowing Medusa and Rex could easily hear them outside. He and Lupa packed some overnight stuff in two large bags, plus a few other things. Victor made a point of packing two of Jimmy's journals and sketch books. The one he had found after he had gotten snatched and the first one he had ever written. He gave the code for Rex and Medusa to follow them. They would discuss more once they got to Xavier's and he had more information. He wanted to meet this Charles Xavier and find out if he was part of their problem. Jimmy had to be at Xavier's as well, if his Mate was with these people. He wanted some answers from his Little Brother. Something was wrong or Jimmy would have found him by now.

….To Be Continued?

Please review..I so love positive feedback