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Abhay was already waiting by a red jeep wrangler outside the entrance of the packhouse with a backpack in his hand. As I approached him, he flashed his signature smile and informed, "I have arranged for all the necessary equipment in this bag. Just stay alert."

I took the bag from him when he added, "And remember one thing. No matter what happens, just stick to any one of them. Either of them is enough to tackle down the danger. Alright?"

I scowled, "Don't make me nervous already."

"Am I?" Abhay asked innocently with his brows up.

"Of course. Why are you talking about danger even before I started anything with my job?" I hung the backpack on my back and cast an annoyed gaze at him.

He chuckled at my response, "I am just cautioning you to stay safe."

"I have a feeling that I'm so not going to love this hunt, whatever that implies," I said with an emphasis on the hunt word. I had no idea what was that supposed to mean! The Rudras were discussing the case where the culprit was some creature of the night. But now was the morning time. How would they hunt someone down who dwelled at night when it was morning?

A frown crossed Abhay's face, "I was apprehending the same. Things are moving too fast for you to catch up without getting scared. Not always the new recruits are assigned with hunting assistance. I am still confused why Ved agreed with Beta."

Right about then the twins walked out of the packhouse. Since morning this was the first glimpse I had of them. And man! Did they look handsome! I sucked in a deep breath and gawked at them. Both of them were wearing a pair of black pants with sneakers and hiking jackets with plain white t-shirts underneath. The jackets were of different colors though, one was grey and another army green.

Both of them were wearing sunglasses and damn, they were killing the look. I must have been gaping like an idiot when Abhay nudged at me, "Urvi, good luck."

"I need all the luck you're willing to share," I muttered as my eyes again darted towards the twins. They rounded the jeep and hopped in the front seats. Ved in the driver's seat.

"Urvi, get in," Ved commanded and I obliged without another word before waving at Abhay.

He showed me a thumbs up and flashed me his famous smile which wasn't helping me anymore. I was beyond nervous about whatever the hell I was getting myself into.

The jeep roared to life and rolled down the road. I fidgeted and stared at their heads from the back seat as that was the only thing I could do right now. I knew not what awaited me at the hunt and I didn't seem to catch on positive vibes either.

As we left the pack house vicinity, Ved addressed me looking through the mirror, "Have you heard of Shapeshifters?"

"Er... what?" I was genuinely a little lost as I was looking through the lush greenery beside the road. At places, small mountain streams and waterfalls made the landscape look like some artistic pastel painting. Every sense of mine was engrossed in the mountainous forest-dwelling of Dooars.

"She has hearing issues?" Veer quipped in.

Ved ignored him, "Shapeshifters. Have you heard of them?"

I shook my head, "No."

"Shapeshifters have abilities to metamorphose into their true forms at will."

I stared at the back of his head. I didn't understand what he meant by that. What true forms?

Before I could ask, he answered my unasked question, "We are werewolves. We shift into wolves. At will," he added at the end.

I faltered, "E-ex-c-cuse me!"

Veer craned his head back and regarded my dumbfounded expression with amusement, "Big bad wolves! That we are!" He repeated his brother's words.

I glanced between them. Ved took a quick look at me through the rear-view mirror, "Mysteries and surreal secrets are all that we deal with and this origin of ours is supposed to be kept secret from the humans."

"Then why are you telling me?" The question slipped out of my mouth, "I am a human as well."

Veer commented in between, turning back, "So you think."

"Veer! Shut up!" Ved chided at him.

"You're delaying it. Just tell her."

"I will. You leave it on me and shut the fuck up."

"Ved..." Veer was about to say something when Ved interrupted him, "Brother, trust me!"

They exchanged a meaningful look, much like the one Abhay and Ashifa did in the morning.

I intervened, "What do you mean by that? Ain't I human? Oh my!" I mumbled, utterly frightened and completely confused now. I was a human. Wasn't I? I definitely was. Last time I checked I was a human. Then what the hell did he mean by so I thought?

Ved broke their stare and looked ahead, focusing on the road, "Ignore him." Then took a moment before answering me, "I am telling you these because... well, one of the reasons could be... you're going to work with Rudra S & I."

I blinked trying to grasp his words which was when he revealed firmly, "We're werewolves, Urvi. Our pack, BloodCrown, and the European pack, Firewand deal with the issues related to the Demons and Faes. My grandmother, Maya Rudra is the leader of BloodCrown Pack, the Alpha. The only female alpha of the all six prime packs of the world."

I didn't realize I had stopped breathing until he changed the gear and the Jeep jerked causing me to jerk forward as well and I sucked in a deep breath. Werewolves. Metamorphose in wolves. Bloodcrown. Everything seemed to be messing with my head. I sat back steadying myself then glanced uncertainly at the back of his head.

For a moment I considered laughing it out. They must be playing with me. Then I thought better of it because Ved's tone was nothing but serious. The jeep sped up as the gust of wild, mildly humidified wind rolled beside my ears, earning a shiver from me. Ved continued while Veer took a pair of earphones out of his jacket's pocket and pushed inside his ears.

"These six werewolf packs are the keepers of the supernatural world otherwise unknown to the humans. The Nocturnal Pack of the American Continent looks over the matters of Vampires, as we are born enemies. The Moonvalley pack of Africa, they are the guards against all the serpentine species, from dragons to sea serpents. Ethereal Pack, the smallest one of Oceania, is assigned the legal issues relating to merpeople. There is another prime pack whose identity has been kept secret for special purposes."

I needed a moment to process. My head was spinning, for real good! God could have provided me with some mercy. But no. He was more interested in testing my limits.

Ved however, oblivious of my annoyance with God continued, "Recently, a particular demon has gone berserk. You must have come across the term 'Creature of night' on the reports regarding the missing girls. We are suspecting this demon is the one behind the abductions. Although, we do not know why he's doing this or what exactly he's after, we got a lead about his hideout. Demons work in secrecy but here he was overtly letting us know his presence. This has to have some strong motive behind. And the part that's really strangest of all is, evidently, it has something to do with you," Ved paused at this dramatically, giving me an almost heart attack.

I stared at him through the rear-view mirror for a second before panicking, "What? What do I have to do with a demon? What do you mean by that? Why would a demon try to kill me?"

Was it not enough, that I just found out there were races like werewolves, faes, demons, dragons, even vampires and my employers belonged to one of those supernatural beings? And now one particular blood demon was after my life. Why oh why God? Why did you decide to be cruel with my fate?

I stumbled upon the fact that it was indeed the demon who tried to attack me on the train. The memory of that spooky mysterious encounter rushed back to me with a jet's speed. Bloody hell! This demon had been following me before I even came here and joined the Rudras. A freaking demon! And he was trying to kill me! Who was I kidding? I was doomed.

"Calm down!" Ved assured me which did not help in the slightest, "We may not know the reason, but we'll find out soon. Veer's been working on it."

My eyes jumped to and fro between the twins as I was seriously considering my sanity. Father Andrew's words crossed my mind in that instance. Everyone is meant for something special. If this was the trailer of that special purpose of my life, then I'd prefer to surrender myself to the Police for the murder of Rakesh. That'd be a much better option compared to being killed by a blood demon. And what the heck was this term blood demon mean?

Ved resumed after a minute, "There are certain rules you need to keep in your mind when you're working onsite. Rule number one, stay close to us. Never ever stray far away from us until you received the proper training to defend yourself."

I huffed.

"Rule number two, keep yourself away from bleeding at any circumstances. Blood is very potent for any of the supernatural beings. Unless you're dead, you wouldn't want to share your blood with anyone. The consequences might not be pleasurable."

I scrunch up my nose feeling skeptical at that. How ironic for someone who was practically going to be the lamb for the beast in the next few moments!

"Rule number three, keep a vial of Drofyde always ready with you. It's a poison to counter attack the demons. It's made with holy water and the extracts of the seeds of Mountain Dewberries. This might not kill the demon, but it will buy you some time to get away from him. You get it?" He finished as the jeep screeched to a halt at the entrance of a forest.

I felt nauseous. His clipped instructive words were tormenting and enough to tell me that perhaps the days in my life were coming to an end.

Thetwins jumped out of the jeep and that very moment the destructive evil enteredmy life.