CHAPTER ONE

A tall order 

The knock that sounded on the door of her bedroom was slightly drowned out by the sound of Justin Timberlake’s voice in her ears, ripping the earbuds from her ears, she moved to the door and pulled it open, ducking from the fist that nearly hit her in the face. 

“Shit, sorry Star, Dad’s been calling you, but I guess you didn’t hear him,” Joseph smirked at the earbuds thrown haphazardly on the bed beside her phone. 

“I wrote my last ever high school exam today, sue me for taking some time to relax.” She rolled her eyes and pushed him out of the room, closing the door behind her.

“Yeah, I don’t miss that one bit,” Joe smirked down at his significantly shorter sister. 

“What did dad want?” Star didn’t comment on his decision to join the family business instead of going to college, it was a fight she wasn’t willing to rehash. 

“He wanted to talk to you about something.” Joe shrugged, pretending he didn’t know what their father was summoning her for. 

Star narrowed her stormy grey eyes at her older brother, his sudden interest in the paint on the hallway wall alerted her that he knew exactly what his father wanted to talk about and her guess was that she wasn’t going to like what he had to say. 

“Is there something you’re not telling me?” She stepped in front of him, bringing her hand to his chest, and stopped him in his tracks. Joe’s eyes widened, but before he could babble like a child, their father’s voice saved him. 

“Star!” His warning tone bounced along the walls, he wasn’t in the mood for their bickering. 

“This isn’t over.” She narrowed her eyes at Joseph, who sighed when she spun around and walked to the kitchen where their father awaited their presence. 

“Yes, dad?” Star questioned politely, taking the seat across from him at the dining table. 

“There’s a matter I would like to discuss with you. Now I know it’s not what you want, which is why I am willing to compromise.” Star’s body tensed, her spine straightened out in a defensive manner, instantly knowing what the conversation was about. 

From their position across her, it looked a lot like an intervention. Joseph sat to the left of her father, while Noah had her pinned under his gaze from his right. All three men naturally towered over her in terms of height and build, she knew in their line of work they needed to be buff and intimidating, but she sometimes thought it was overkill. 

“Star, do you remember the academy that both Joseph and Noah attended when they graduated high school?” Star nodded, it was some kind of policing academy. 

“Yes, they were both there for a year.” She glanced at both her brothers, remembering how much that place had changed them, not only physically, but emotionally too.

“That’s correct, it was important for them to attend there to receive the training they needed to join me in the business.” Star nodded in acceptance, but he was stalling and she was sick of it. 

“What does that have to do with me? I have no intention of joining the family business.” Her brothers shared a look, but her father’s face remained passive. 

“Perhaps in a year, you will feel differently about that.” Her father announced and suddenly it became clear, he wasn’t giving her a choice. 

“You can’t do this! You promised mum that you’d put us all through college, I understand that neither of them wanted it, but I do and I’m holding you to that promise.” Star’s fists balled up on the tabletop, she wasn’t giving up without a fight. 

“I know that and I have no intention of stopping you from going to college, but before you do, I need to know that you can protect yourself and that’s the only place that can teach you how. Just like your mother had a dream to send you to college, this is mine, Star.” All the fight left her body hearing those words. She hated the guilt trip, but as she studied her father’s face she saw the age lines, the years of stress he’d gone through to take care of them. 

How could she deny him this one year after he’d given her everything for so many years?

“One year. That’s it and then I get to go to college?” Her father relaxed into his chair.

“Wherever you please.” He raised an eyebrow, silently awaiting an answer. 

“Okay, I’ll go to the academy.” A small smile of satisfaction appeared on her father’s face, an action which was mirrored by both brothers, much to her concern. 

They were becoming much too alike for her comfort. 

“Before you go, there’s something you need to know.” Star’s eyebrows knit together at the seriousness that suddenly washed over his features. 

“What is it?” She felt nervousness bubble up inside her when Joseph and Noah shared a look. 

“Do you remember when we were little and we went camping in the woods, we saw that group of really huge wolves?” Star remembered the day like it was yesterday, she was so scared that she thought she was going to die that very day.

“Yeah…” She trailed off, wondering where the conversation was headed.  

“Those were not ordinary wolves, Star, they were Werewolves.” She stared at her brother for a good few seconds processing the information he’d just given her. 

“Werewolves, as in shapeshifters?” She’d read enough fantasy novels to know what werewolves were, but she couldn’t fathom that they were real. 

“It’s a lot to take in, but yes, shapeshifters do exist.” Digesting the information, Star nodded.

“Okay, what about them?” Once again the three men across from her shared a look before her fathers answered. 

“To the world, we are known as a security detail. The truth is, we are Hunters.” It took a moment of confusion before it all clicked into place. 

“Hunters of what?” Her eyes narrowed.

“Werewolves,” Noah answered and the blood drained from her face. 

“Why?” She asked in disbelief, suddenly feeling like a stranger in her own home. 

“They’re ruthless cold-blooded killers, Star. Our job is to restore balance in the world. If it were up to them, humans would cease to exist altogether.” Star struggled with her father’s words, how could they justify being killers with a straight face. 

“You don’t know that? Those wolves didn’t harm us that day in the woods, how could you say they’re ruthless killers?” She pushed herself away from the table and ran a hand through her shoulder-length hair. 

“Star…” Her dad tried.  

“Is that why you want me to go to The Academy?” Understanding dawned on her at that moment and betrayal coursed through her veins, they wanted to turn her into a killer too.

“Star, they killed our mother.” Her pacing halted and her blood ran cold, Noah’s words shocked her from her inner turmoil. 

“You’re lying, mom died in a hit and run.” Star’s jaw clenched, she was starting to question if anything they told her was the truth. 

“Star, I didn’t tell you because I wanted to protect you, that’s all any of us has ever tried to do, but if you want to go out into the world where we’re not there to make sure you’re okay then I have to make sure you can take care of yourself. I can’t lose you too.” The look on her father’s face was one of concern and fear and it stopped her dead in her tracks.

“Dad, you’re not going to lose me.” She sat back down and leaned over to cover her dad’s fist with her own hand. 

“No, we’re not, because we are going to make sure of it.” Joseph and Noah both stared at her with their jaws clenched. 

“I can’t do this.” Tears gathered in her eyes at the thought of taking someone’s life. 

“We’re not asking you to become a hunter, Star, that’s completely up to you, but I need to know that if you’re ever in a position where your life's on the line, you can handle your own.” Star sighed, shutting her eyes tight. 

“Okay… Okay, I’ll do it.” She wiped the tears that spilled onto her cheeks and sat up straight. 

Regardless of the fact that they lied to her, they always protected her, and fighting over it would only hurt everyone more.