"I can't pick up anything," Scott mused as Derek, Ethan and Kira skidded to a stop.
"Find the tracks, she can't have gone far," Derek growled, bending over the dirt.
"Why would it stop here?" Kira asked, Scott had explained to her what the Nemeton was and knew how dangerous it was.
"I don't know but it can't be good," Stiles mumbled, jogging up to the scene with Lydia.
"I can't find any prints," Ethan sighed, collapsing on the ground, "This is impossible!"
"No it isn't. We caught her scent tonight. Which means she let us," Scott said, "She didn't want to be found before, now she does."
"Why here to the Nemeton? Werecats have nothing to do with it," Kira said.
"That's what we're here to find out," Derek stood up and grabbed Scott by his arm, "We need to talk."
"What's up?" Scott asked, once they were away from the group.
"You don't smell them?" He asked incredulously, "Hunters! They've been here! Recently!"
"They can't be!" Argent left months ago!" Scott shook his head.
"Smell it Scott, they've been here. I'd bet in the last few hours," Derek insisted.
Staring at the older wolf, Scott sighed and inhaled, using his wolf senses to define the night air.
First there was the cool wind of the night, sharp and crisp, then the heady deep forest smells of trees and dirt. Next he picked up the clean slippery sense of the river over three miles away and then gasped inhaling the hunters scent.
It was just like her. The scent of leather and heat of electricity, the cool taste of metal and fading sense of roses. He shook, unable to handle it and shifted to become more human, to cut off the overwhelming reminders of his first love. It was the same scent that surrounded Allison, that he fell in love with. It was the hunters.
"Scott, Scott!" Derek yelled, bringing the Alpha back to earth.
"Yes, I smell them, but it's fading. Fading fast. How could they be here? I thought Argent broke away from the Hunters. I thought they shunned him and whatever he protected?"
"Yes, but now that he's gone, you think that they'll let a pack of wolves run around free?" Derek growled.
"Hey guys! I found something!" Lydia yelled, pointing at the foot of the Nemeton.
"What happened?" Scott asked as Stiles pulled Lydia away.
"It's an ultrasonic emitter," Scott said, picking up the silver tool with an electric light on top.
It was off, but he knew if he slammed it into the ground it would start a high pitched wail to drive werewolves and other supernatural creatures away. He knew that it was used by the hunters and that combined with the hunters smell, they had to be here.
"So the hunters are here," Ethan mused, watching Scott play with the tool.
"I guess so. We have to find that girl though, if what I think is happening, we may be in the middle of a hunt. And we can't let her get hurt."
As Scott and his pack continue to pick up the werecat's scent again, a young teenage girl had emerged onto a residential street.
She had electric green eyes and ears that ticked back and forth above her brunette hair. She sprinted down the street, her needle thin claws barely touching the pavement. Her skin was deeply tanned and was average sized. Muscles coiled and sprang open as she made her way over a fence and scrambled up a tree. She grinned, her white fangs shining under the moonlight as she leaped to a house. She peeked over the sill, satisfied to see her room was dark and no one was inside.
The girl slid open the window and slipped inside, silent as a ghost. She closed the window shut and listened carefully.
Three heartbeats thrummed and three people breathed peacefully. A snore and cough sounded, but still no one woke. The girl breathed, allowing her body to shift back to human. She looked to the clock, her now hazel eyes reading the time.
2:18am
She groaned, falling on her bed, ignoring her black leather jacket and jeans. The last sight before her eyes closed was the nameplate that she had created the night before this mess had happened. A small thing, a beautiful thing, the last remnant of her human days.
Kyanna