"I hear you have a werewolf problem?"

I say as I lean against the door frame of a very large conference room. The stuffy looking old men seated around the table all turn their eyes towards me and the room goes deathly quiet. My eyes scan them one by one. Yes, this job will pay nicely by the looks of the men in this room.

"Young lady, I don't know who you are or what you think you are doing here, but this is a private meeting."

The tubby man at the head of the table addresses me. The man to his right, whom I assume to be the sheriff, slowly rises and places his hand on the holster of his pistol. Not that I blame him, really, I'm not exactly your typical run of the mill woman.

My persona screams threat, my body is clad head to toe in tight leather and I have weapons strapped to all of my extremities. Hell, I would be afraid of me.

Instead of explaining myself or my presence here, I repeat myself.

"I hear you have a werewolf problem."

This time I push myself from the door frame and walk boldly into the room. I watch the sheriff closely as his hands begin to shake.

"I believe you heard the mayor. This is a private meeting of the town council. Now leave, before I arrest you."

"Easy, Biff." The mayor warns.

"Since you are blatantly ignoring my question, allow me to first introduce myself. I am Evelyn Del Val, the Huntress."

I watch in mock satisfaction as all of their faces turn snow white and the sheriff eases back into his seat. I'd be lying if I said this wasn't my favorite part of coming to a new town. The sheer shock of actually meeting a Del Val, the elite of the Hunters, was probably the thrill of their lifetime.

They watch me with careful eyes as I occupy an empty seat and sling my feet onto the table top and cross my knee-high boots at the ankle. I lean back in the chair and wait to see who is the bravest to speak first.

The sheriff leaps up from his seat and rushes to close the door that I have left open.

"Are you really the Huntress Del Val?"

The mayor asked in a hushed tone.

"Do you want me to prove it?"

I tease as I slowly begin to pull the dagger strapped to my right hip from its sheath.

"That will not be necessary."

The mayor waves both of his hands at me and I slowly slide the dagger back into its place.

"Well, I think it is necessary." The sheriff chimes in.

"How do we truly know if she is who she says she is?"

The mayor's face turns red, but he does nod his head in agreement.

"Let me see the scar. Huntress Del Val has a scar on her right shoulder."

The sheriff stands before me with his arms crossed defiantly across his chest.

The scar tale was getting old. Everyone wanted to see the scar, but it wasn't something that I was proud of or something that I even wanted to remember.

I stood up and slowly pulled on my leather jacket and shirt until my entire right shoulder was exposed. My breathing hitched as the men gasped at the lines that marred the soft flesh between my neck and shoulder.

"Seen enough?" I asked angrily and pulled the clothing back over my exposed skin.

"The rumors are true, you did survive." The sheriff said in awe.

Memories of my mother being ripped to shreds by a lycan fought their way from the deepest pit of my memories before I had a chance to shove them back down.

"How is it that you didn't turn into one of those beasts?" The sheriff asked, but I was done with show and tell.

"Just lucky, I guess." I shrugged off his question.

It had nothing to do with luck and everything to do with my father. He had nearly died transferring all of his strength and life into me to rid my body of the lycan's deadly salvia.

"Now can we get down to business? Tell me everything that you know."

I looked at the mayor as he began.

"This nightmare has been going on for months. These monsters come in the night and have been stealing young boys right out of their homes. The town is in a mess, families distraught, and it doesn't matter what precautions we use, somehow they still manage to take a child from their homes."

"You're telling me something is breaking into homes and stealing boys?"

I scrunched up my brow trying to make sense of what he was saying to me. This definitely wasn't a werewolf. They certainly wouldn't break into homes and steal children.

"No, it's not something, it's a werewolf, just like you heard. Several of the towns people have seen it."

"I doubt very seriously you have a werewolf." I said.

"But, we've seen it!"

He was getting louder with me, which I did not appreciate, so I rose to my feet, before I continued.

"Mayor, do you know what a werewolf is?"

"A bloody monster, that's what it is." The sheriff chimed in.

"A werewolf is a man who has been bitten by a lycan."

"Isn't a werewolf and a lycan the same thing?" One of the other council members asked, finally finding their voice.

"No, a lycan is a shapeshifter from birth. A werewolf is the result of a man being bitten by a lycan."

"And why is it that you doubt that we have a werewolf?" The mayor raises his eyebrow in question.

I didn't have the time nor the patience to school these morons, but I did tell them all they needed to know to put their theory to rest.

"Because a werewolf only lives a week, maybe two before it dies. Once a man transforms into part wolf, they cannot turn back into a man, but their human organs cannot support or sustain the wolf DNA circling in their veins. Eventually, the change kills them, if it doesn't do so the first time."

The council men mouths are wide open when I finish my explanation and the silence is making me uncomfortable.

"So, you see, it can't be a werewolf, because you said this problem has been going on for months, there has never been nor will there ever be a werewolf that could live that long." I add for good measure.

"That's not what Henry said. He said that the creature that attack him was a giant wolf that walked upright like a man."

The sheriff continued to argue with me.

"There is a boy who was attacked and survived?"

My suddenly sour mood changed. If there was an actual witness maybe he could give me more detail about what he saw. Because, I was pretty damn sure it wasn't a werewolf and to my great displeasure, it wasn't a lycan either, which is what originally drove me to accept this case.

"Yes, Henry Gilbert, but I don't think you will be able to talk to him now. He's delusional and grows worst with each passing day."

The sheriff struck one of my heart cords by telling me this. I wasn't sure what this poor child saw, but anything that I deal with on a daily basis is enough to drive anyone mad.

"I still would like to see him."

"I'll take you to him."

The sheriff said and grabbed his coat from the back of his chair.

"Not so fast, there is the small matter of our fee."

"Anything! We will pay whatever you ask, just rid us of this monster." The mayor assured me.

I slipped a piece of paper out of my pocket and slid it towards the mayor.

"Wire one hundred thousand dollars to this account by sundown and you have yourself a deal."

The mayor went slack jawed but he nodded his head in agreement.

"Good. Now take me to the boy."