2001, 5 miles outside of Aspen Colorado

Betsy was celebrating her ninth birthday with her mother. Her father and grandfather along with most of the pack were out hunting for the night and it was just Betsy and her mom enjoying her favorite movie, 'The Princess Bride'. They were snuggled up on the couch when her mother heard a truck pull up outside. She quickly shut off the movie and grabbed a nearby shot gun. The smell of human men and gun oil told her the hunters had found them.

She rushed Betsy into a closet and ordered her to keep quiet as they heard the front door being kicked in. Her mother shot down the first two to come in but when she went to reload four more rushed in and attempted to subdue her. She sent one out a plate glass window and another through a wall but was caught in the leg with two tranquilizer darts. Betsy burst out of the closet attempting to help her mother but she shoved her back into the closet.

Jack Wade walked in holding his tranq gun and swung open the closet door. Betsy's mother grabbed his leg, "She's just a little girl you bastard."

Jack turned to her, "I take no pleasure in this."

He then pulled out his machete and removed the woman's head in front of her daughter and then turned to Betsy. He lifted his blade but as he looked at her he hesitated. He'd killed plenty of werewolves but never a child. He knew she'd grow up to be a monster but he just couldn't force himself to do it. One of the other hunters offered but it was too late. A massive black furred werewolf with streaks of grey hair burst through the wall with his pack behind him. Wade instantly recognized the beast and ordered his men to run. A second smaller wolf followed the giant beast in and Betsy ran up to it knowing it was her father and grabbed him tight and cried.

In the morning as the pack woke up Hektor stood next to a mountain of a man named Johan. He was Betsy's grandfather and father to her mother. They built a pyre and as they set it afire Johan knelt down before Betsy and stated, "I swear to you, that man will die screaming for taking your mother from us."

Hektor nodded.

Present day

Chris and Betsy sat on the couch watching horror movies and eating a huge amount of junk food. Chris looked into a half empty bag of cheetos, "Being a werewolf is gonna make me fat."

Betsy chuckled, "Not likely, the wolf takes most of the calories. Think of it like a tapeworm, only instead of making you sick it makes you occasionally attack livestock."

Chris sat up, "Do you do this often?"

Betsy nodded, "Once a week, I used to get the house all to myself. Its nice to have someone to talk to for once. The only other that goes off cycle when I do is Edgar and talking to him is at best disturbing."

Outside the house several men crept slowly toward the house, weapons ready. Two were sent to guard the main exits to the house, while another cut the power to the house.

When the lights went out Betsy reached under the couch and grabbed a gun. She told Chris to be quiet and get ready for a fight. He looked around for a weapon as they heard people enter from the front and back. Betsy ordered Chris to check the back as she went toward the front door.

Outside the front of the house a man stood watching for an attempted escape. He felt a light tap on his shoulder and turned just in time for a long blade to pierce his chest.

As Chris entered the kitchen a man in night vision goggles pointed a gun in his face but the man was yanked back into a shadow behind him then fell forward with his throat slit. A tall woman with long black hair reached out and caught him before he could hit the ground. She looked up to Chris and pushed a finger to her lips to indicate he shouldn't make a sound. Chris looked behind her and saw the back door guard lying in a heap.

In the front Betsy spotted one man and put a bullet between his eyes. Another came up behind her and went in to bring her down but a large hunting knife caught him in the back. Betsy grinned a bit when she saw the small blonde woman lowering the man to the floor. The black haired woman dragged the remaining two into the main hall and Chris followed behind.

He looked to Betsy curiously, "We're safe. Chris meet my aunts, the blonde is Bea and the tall one is Romy."

A few minutes later after the power was back on they all sat and Betsy asked, "What are you guys doing around here. Bea chuckled, "Can't we just come to see our niece graduate? Dad's here too."

Bea looked down to a blood spot on the rug, "He heard an old buddy of ours was in town too, wanted to go say hi."

A field a few miles from town.

The pack ran as several trucks full of armed hunters gave chase. As a truck was bearing down on Edgar a wolf nearly half the size of the vehicle appeared as if from nowhere and slammed into the side flipping the truck and sending the men in the bed flying across the field. The beast let out a howl and two others came to join the pack. Jack ordered the trucks to stop as he saw the giant wolf. The driver turned to Wade, "You recognize it?"

Wade nodded, "That's an elder wolf, named Johan. If he's here we're in for a hell of a fight."

The driver named Sam Cole sat back, "Has a hunter ever taken down an elder before?"

Wade shook his head, "Nothing has as far as I know."

(To be continued)