Ava woke the next morning when Argent barged into her room, eyes raking over the beds before vanishing as abruptly as she’d come, barking for Ava to follow her as she left. Ava shot out of bed and followed her alpha out the door.

“What’s going on?” Ava asked, shoulders tense, coiled like a spring, ready to launch into action. She heard one of the younger pack members crying from further back in the house, heard harsh whispers coming from dining room as they passed it.

“Come see,” came Argent’s reply, leading Ava to the front of the house. When they reached the front door, it was wide open, letting in the chill autumn air and sunlight. When Ava looked out, all she saw was blood.

“Who-” Ava couldn’t finish, she was choking on the fear and rage warring in her heart, her stomach, her throat. She didn’t realize she was shaking until Argent put a hand on her arm to still her.

“No one was hurt, ma chér. We’re all safe,” Argent reassured her. Ava took a deep breath, letting her fear go.

“Then what happened?” Ava ground out, rage threatening to choke her. Her blood was boiling with it. “What the fuck happened?”

“Someone - a Hunter - left us a gift,” Argent said, hooded eyes fixed on the porch. “Go see for yourself,” she added. Ava stepped out the front door, ignoring the sticky sensation of the blood on her barefeet, the iron scent lingering in the air. The source of the blood was readily apparent, and it’s message was crystal clear.

Someone had left a dead wolf on the porch, its throat slit, beautiful fur matted with its lifeblood. Whoever did this must have killed it on the porch to get this much blood.

Ava turned back to the door, coming up short before she crossed the threshold. She stared down at her bare feet for a few seconds before looking up at Argent, silently asking for help. Something in her had gone dangerously numb, and there was a terrible, deafening silence roaring in her head. She could barely think straight.

Argent disappeared, quickly returning with a towel. Ava took it, cleaning her feet quickly and roughly before stepping into the house again.

“You saw all of it?” Argent asked softly. Ava nodded, fists clenching in the blood drenched towel. When she’d turned back to the door, Ava had seen the second part of the message, written in blood.

I’ll kill you all, it had said, punctuated by a slim, wicked looking knife, stuck in the wall. Ava had immediately recognized the style of the blade, the metal it had been forged with.

“A Hunter’s knife,” Argent supplied. “Made from pure silver,” she added, taking the towel from Ava. “Be careful at school, ma chér. Did you see the inscription on the blade?”

Ava had, and she’d known it, in the same way she would know her stepmother’s blades, in the way she would never forget the feel of claws between her shoulder blades. The blade had a horrible, nasty spell on it, one of few that didn’t require any magical power on the part of the caster.

The spell was designed to cancel out the abilities of any Inhuman it came into contact with. The length of the effect varied, but it was the only way Hunters could kill some Inhumans. The spell required the death of an Inhuman to make, had to be forged in their blood, so it wasn’t easy to make. But the blades could be reused time and time again.

“We have to melt it down,” Ava spat in disgust. “Now,” she added. Argent nodded, reaching to take the towel from her.

“Isabella is already working on setting up a place to do that,” Argent said. “They must have more where that came from, though.” Of course they do, Ava thought. They wouldn’t so readily leave behind such a powerful weapon if they didn’t have a replacement.

“I’ll keep them safe at school,” Ava promised. Argent sighed, but nodded again, reaching out to lay a hand on Ava’s shoulder.

“You bear too much here,” Argent said, tapping her fingers to emphasize her point. “I’m sorry you must add more weight. Remember, Atlas was able to share his burden. You can as well.”

“I can do this,” Ava said, staring into Argent’s silver eyes. “I won’t let anyone hurt them.”

“I know you won’t,” Argent said sadly. “Just be careful. And go check on Sirius. He found the body.” Ava was halfway down the hall before Argent finished speaking, following Sirius’s scent to his bedroom. Lupus was sitting with him, trying to comfort him, but the second Sirius saw Ava, he leaped off his bed to run into her arms.

“Hey, come here,” Ava said gently, sweeping Sirius up into her arms. “Are you alright?” Sirius just clutched at her, burying his face in her neck. Lupus left, patting Ava on the shoulder as he did.

“I heard what happened,” Ava said softly, carrying Sirius to his bed. “Were you scared?” Sirius nodded, tears leaking from his eyes to coat her neck. “You’re safe, I promise. Have I ever let anyone hurt you?”

“No,” Sirius whispered, sniffling. Ava ran a hand through his brassy curls, other arm wrapped around him, holding him close, as if someone might try to take him from her.

“And I never will,” Ava swore. “I’ll always keep you safe. Now,” she continued, “let’s go see Abby. She’ll get you some breakfast while I talk to Argent.”

“Bacon?” Sirius asked, finally pulling his face back from her neck. Ava laughed, eliciting a small smile from the cyclops.

“Yes, bacon,” Ava said, standing. “You’re getting heavy. You must be growing. Are you gonna be big and strong one day?”

“I wanna be strong, like you,” Sirius told her solemnly. “You’re the toughest person in the world.”

“I don’t know about that,” Ava said. “You should be yourself instead of try to be like me.” Sirius frowned, but didn’t argue.

When they reached Ava and Abigail’s room, Abigail was talking to Argent in fervent whispers. They went silent when Ava walked in, and she made a mental note to ask Abigail about the conversation later.

“Hey Sirius,” Abigail said, unflappable cheer saturating her voice. “What’s up? You hungry?” Sirius nodded, smiling tentatively back. Abigail stood and came to sweep Sirius out of Ava’s arms. “Then let’s get you some food.”

Abigail danced out of the room, chattering away with Sirius, a small sun, bringing light back into their home. Ava turned to Argent, smile vanishing with Sirius.

“What do we do now?” Ava asked, voice like gravel. Argent stood and put a hand on Ava’s shoulder, looking down into her eyes, silver meeting gold like the moon meeting the sun.

“Come on a walk with me,” Argent said, expression hard and distant. Sometimes it was hard to forget her steel spine, but when someone threatened their pack, she was always ready to go to the mat for them.

“Where are we going?” Ava asked, already slipping her shoes on, ready to go. Argent turned and walked out, leaving Ava to trail after her.

Argent led them out the front door, where the blood had already been washed away. Ava was surprised at how quickly the porch had been washed clean, but didn’t comment, just followed Argent as she strode towards the woods surrounding the pack houses.

As always, being out in nature visibly relaxed Argent. Ava didn’t mind the trees and flowers and bird calls, but it wasn’t where she wanted to be all the time. Ava got the feeling that if it wasn’t for the pack, Argent would vanish into the woods and never look back. Most days, Ava didn’t see the appeal, but right then, it sounded like a dream.

Within minutes, the pair arrived at the edge of the small river encircling the pack’s lands. It was the kind of clear, swift water that made you want to dive right in and let it wash over you until all your worries flowed away with the current.

“Lorelai, come on out,” Argent called, waiting on the river bank. Ava stood beside her, settling in to wait. The naiad was always hard to get ahold of, usually too busy running off with Juniper or playing with the creatures living in her river or saints knew what. She didn’t stay in one place for long.

“Why are we here?” Ava asked, glaring at the water as if it would make Lorelai appear any faster. Argent’s eyes slid to her, staring for a moment before answering.

“We’re going to figure out how the Hunter made it up to our front porch,” Argent said. “Obviously they didn’t cross the bridge and walk right on up, since Lorelai would have been watching that.”

When the pack had moved onto the property, Argent had already thought of every precaution they could possibly take. The entire property was encircled by a river, which Lorelai would guard and which the only way over was a bridge wide enough for a single car. The four houses were arranged so the Rearing Den, where pregnant pack members and the youngest children lived, was surrounded by the other three houses, and was the most protected. The forest inside the river was watched carefully by Juniper, the sweet nymph who never strayed from Lorelai’s side. It wouldn’t have been easy for the Hunter to reach their home without being detected.

“You think she saw something?” Ava asked, kicking at a rock on the ground. Argent put a hand on her shoulder to still her, but the effect only lasted a few moments. Ava needed to keep moving, or she might go insane. She could barely stand waiting there for the flighty naiad to show up.

“It’s possible,” Argent replied evenly. “At the very least, we can narrow down the possibilities for how they got here. Plus, Juniper will likely follow her, and we can ask her if she noticed anything off last night.”

Ava nodded, but didn’t stop glaring at the river. Lorelai was taking longer than normal to show up, and she was too restless to keep standing around. With a vicious, sudden kick, Ava sent a few rocks flying into the river.

“What the fuck?” A voice demanded, strange and bubbly and distant, as if underwater. Suddenly, burst of water shot from the surface of the river, floating to the riverbank. The water quickly took the shape of a young woman in her early twenties, standing on the shore with hands on her hips and a dangerous tilt to her mouth. Her sapphire eyes bored into Ava.

“Not sorry,” Ava replied cooly. “We’re kinda in a hurry. Shit happened. We need your help,” she added, glaring back at the naiad. Lorelai gave her a few seconds of her attention before her eyes flew to Argent and her anger melted to concern.

“Oh, thank the gods you’re here,” Lorelai said. “I was just going to go get you. Juniper’s hurt. A Hunter attacked her last night.” Ava’s blood turned to ice at those words, memories of shredded gossamer wings and a broken body floating back to her.

“Take us to her,” Argent said, letting Lorelai lead the way, the naiad's usually shining gold hair dull in the watery morning sun. Ava followed, terrified of what she would find.