Hunter's Heart

Chapter 37

It didn't take long for Christian to fall asleep in the passenger seat beside her, confirming to Quinn just how exhausted the man was. It was also a pretty good indication that he trusted her enough behind the wheel of the car to lower his guard enough to succumb to sleep. She had only been driving for a few minutes when the quiet was punctured by the sound of his soft snoring and she couldn't help but smile to herself and shake her head.

While Christian slept peacefully beside her, Quinn watched the empty road ahead and took the opportunity of finally having some peace and quiet to let her thoughts wander to everything she had learned so far.

After all his talk about how the supernatural races were abominations and were to be eradicated, practically beating that belief into her for as long as she could remember, Viktor was not only turning unsuspecting humans into the very things he swore he hated, but his own people too. Even if it was to use them as spies, it didn't make any sense to Quinn. Surely, he had to realize that turning Hunters into supernaturals would mean they were no longer Hunters? He was depleting the ranks of his own army.

Perhaps the Hunter Order was losing their war and it was making the Council desperate. Had Viktor become as desperate as the Council he ruled? Or was there a bigger play he was gearing up to make? The very thought made Quinn shudder. There was no shortage of machinations when it came to Viktor Antanov. Every time one thought they had finally bested him, the old man was usually three steps ahead of everyone.

And what about Jessa? The woman had always been all too willing to do whatever it took to get Viktor to even glance her way, but now? Her cousin was apparently allowing herself to be experimented on in an effort to ingratiate herself with not only Viktor, but a Hunter spy named Michael who seemed extremely dangerous on his own. What clan had this Michael come from before he allowed himself to be turned? There was something about him that made Quinn think he had his own plans, that he was doing Viktor's bidding and stringing his cousin along in the process only because it suited him. For now.

What a mess, Quinn thought to herself with a sigh.

A mess Caine would have to deal with swiftly if the werewolves were going to survive. How many of the packs had been infiltrated by Viktor's spies? How were the Alphas going to find them? Were the spies just low level omegas who would be easily overlooked? Or were there spies that had risen through the ranks to hold positions of respect within their assigned packs?

A sign on the side of the road pulled Quinn from her thoughts, indicating they were only a few minutes away from their destination, and she tapped Christian's knee gently to wake him.

"Christian?" she called softly. "We're nearly at that town you mentioned."

The big man stirred and lifted his head sleepily. "What ...?"

He glanced at the clock on the car's dashboard and let out a mildly irritated growl, shooting up in his seat. Quinn resisted the urge to smirk in response. She was supposed to wake him after an hour and had chosen to let him sleep instead.

"What the hell, Quinn?" he demanded. "I told you one hour!"

Quinn said nothing in response and calmly pulled the car over to the shoulder of the road so that they could swap seats again. She wasn't going to apologize for not waking him up. It wasn't like he had made it an order anyway.

*

The first thing they did when they drove into town was buy a change of clothes. Or rather, Christian bought them a change of clothes while he insisted that Quinn stayed in the car. That hadn't been a particularly pleasant conversation, and had ended with the Alpha getting out of the car and pointedly using the car's remote to lock the doors with Quinn still in the passenger seat.