Zane gave a nod towards the both of them, then got up and walked out the back door.

Starr didn't pay much attention to the Zane walking out, it was a very typical thing for him to need a cigarette before eating. She gave Adrian a nod, the Hunter family knew the danger Nephilim face every day, and they accepted her with open arms when she came running to them covered in blood, sweat, and tears. Finally she ate the wontons in her soup, and moved on to her main course.

"Haha. Dinner is long sense passed. I'm surprised they haven't blown up your phone with messages asking where you are." Starr took a bit of her eggroll. "There's always a reason adults don't tell you everything they know. Too bad you don't always agree with their choices. At least when you do finally go to a Shadowhunter Institute then you won't have to explain why you waited so long to come to them."

"That's if I go," Adrian grumbled, pulling out his phone to see six missed phone calls from Idian and seven from Katrina. And...about fifteen unread text messages. He snicked. "Speak of the devils," she showed her the number of the missed calls and messages. "I choose to ignore them. I didn't want this life." Which was odd of him to say. He always been happy and content with his life. The only problem that had ever remained was his parent's death, though he claimed it wasn't his concern or worth his care, and the fact that he always felt like he should be somewhere different. Like make a Shadowhunter Institute, which he had no way of finding out where to go.

Not that he was sure he'd want to go anyways.

"I just think it's selfish of them. It's obvious they don't want me to go." He finished off his egg roll. "All those years of being different and feeling like I've been an angsty teenage boy who didn't know where to belong wasted when in fact it was all truth. I hang around Werewolves my entire time. Never once have I really spoken to a Shadowhunter, or at least our kind. It's so strange and new to me. And all this controversy between our packs? I don't buy it." He hadn't ever vented like this before, ever. It was so strange of him and he felt it. He had always stuck to venting as little as possible to his guardians and sticking to angsty teen journals, but this was just...a relief.

"There was a few years I actually asked them why I didn't turn into a Werewolf, wondering what was wrong with me." He shook his head at his stupid past self.

He let out a slow, relieved sigh and ate some of his rice. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to just blurt that all out like that. I don't normally do that," he said after.

Starr pushed her plate off to the side and looked at Adrian's phone, raising an eyebrow. "So they actually did blow up your phone," she said giggling.

"Wow... If they didn't even tell you straight up you weren't a werewolf, that is just unforgivable." Starr paused for a little, unsure if what she just said was a good comment to make. "It's ok, I don't mind when people vent around me. I'm not the kind of person to hold things in so I try to encourage those around me to speak their mind as well. Though about our packs, it's just greedy leaders. Both want more territory, both our packs are strong, there might be something else going on, but Donovan won't tell me anything." She shrugged.

Zane walked back in, smelling of fresh smoke. "Dad wants us home. Might want to pack up and get moving." Zane started packing up all the leftovers.

Starr got up and grabbed her bookbag, then took out a pen and wrote her name and number on a napkin, handing it over to Adrian. "Looks like that's my queue, here's my number, if you ever want to text or talk, this way you can contact me without crossing the pack's territory. I think I'm going to do some research on where the institute is, contact me in the next couple days if you still want to become a shadowhunter."

Adrian smiled at Starr, taking the napkin and smiling as he got to his feet, checking to make sure he had everything. "Thanks. It was nice meeting you," he told her before he hurried away and off to home. Yeah, his folks were going to freak on him for his disappearance and maybe when the fact he spent time in the presence of the other pack would just enrage them, but this was what he felt had to be done. He'd call Starr in a couple of days. He wanted to become a Shadowhunter, regardless of how upset he was that he didn't know about it and that it was probably what had gotten his parents killed.

When Adrian got home, his guardians were waiting in the living room as he had expected. First they had asked where he had been, second he told them about the demon and how the Nephilim from the other pack had saved his life and how he had basically saved her's too, and then he assured them that he had been properly healed and fed. Of course they were upset, but it was as if they weren't sure whether to be upset of just the basic fact that he was with the others or the fact that he was just safe and didn't cause one amount of damage to what tiny, barely possible peace they had with the other pack.

Adrian went to bed when the morning sun began to rise after news that his male guardian had gotten a mysterious job promotion and wanted to celebrate it at a small restaurant the following day. As much as Adrian should have been happy for him, he wasn't. Instead, he was suspicious. Something didn't feel right.

"It was nice meeting you too" said Starr as Adrian left.

Zane carried most of the leftovers. He left some lo mein for Natasha. It was a cool night, rather late. It was a good thing Starr didn't have work tonight, or else showing up at 3am wouldn't have gone over too nicely.

After returning to the apartment, Donovan met Zane and Starr at the door. He was a burly man: long black/grey beard, and covered his bald head with a dark bandana. He appeared to be in his early 50's. A scar marked his left cheek, and many others were spread over his arms. Donovan had seen many battles, and viewed his scars as his marks of glory. He often wore a leather jacket that says "Big Bad Wolf" on the back, just as he was now.

"A little late, aren't you two?" said Donovan. He had a stern stare pointing at Starr, but soon broke eye contact to walk aside to let them in. Their usual game was to dance around the subject, but Starr was far past that point. She walked past with a half smile and walked on to her room.

"So how'd she do? I assume she killed the demon." Donovan said to Zane, having a seat on the couch.

"Better than expected, considering most of the fight she was working alone. The Nephilim from the other pack was there, and got his wits about him at the last part of the fight. They killed the demon together."

"As they should have." Donovan stroked his beard. "I had a feeling she'd one day meet another nephilim and stray from the pack. Though I never imagined he'd be part of our rival's pack. He needs to stay off our territory from now on."

Zane shrugged and began walking to his room.

"Zane," Donovan called, "I want you to keep an eye on the nephilim boy, I want to know as much as you can find out about him."

Adrian stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He didn't go out to eat with his guardians much, even though they said they weren't going anywhere fancy. He wore a casual black button-up that was folded to the elbows and his usual faded jeans. He did nothing with his hair but a change from his usual t-shirts was what made him feel like he was throwing himself through a loop.

"Adrian, ready?" asked Katrina.

He didn't reply but came out of the bathroom. "Let's go. I'm starving," he murmured.

Once to a small diner that apparently sat on the borders of his pack and the rival's, he sat at a booth near the window. He looked out at the setting sun and the busy street, looking down at the menu. After they ordered and received their food, Adrian cleared his throat.

"Would you guys be angry with me if I wanted to leave the pack?"

Katrina and Idian paused when they looked like they were about to bite into their burgers and looked at each other with uncertain eyes. Katrina was the first to speak. She put her burger down and reached across the table to grab Adrian's hand.

"What do you mean, sweetie?"

Idian didn't let Adrian answer. "Is this about that girl last night?" There was nothing friendly in his tone.

Adrian opened his mouth, ready to say something when Idian's phone went off. He scooted out of the booth and answered it.

Adrian returned his attention to Katrina. "I want to go to a Shadowhunter's Institute," he said.

Katrina nodded her head slowly, ready to say something when Idian came back. "Ludwig wants us in his office as soon as possible." He turned to Adrian. "We'll be back. In case we're too long, grab to-go boxes and just pay the bill with this," he said, plopping a 20 and a 10 on the tabletop.

It looked urgent from the way his guardians left.

Adrian looked down at his burger and huffed a sigh. So much for a "family" meal. He then decided he wanted to find out what this Ludwig was having his guardians do that was so secretive anymore.

Starr slept up until dinner time. She was mentally and physically exhausted. When she finally woke up, she barely rolled out of bed before sleep overtook her again. Her guard shift started at 8, so it was either wake up with enough time to get ready, or sleep and then run out the door without eating. While showering she examined her calves. They looked a little infected, but nothing a little medicinal cream couldn't fix. Between her shower and getting dressed, her stomach was quite unruly about not being fed. She came into the kitchen wearing black leather boots (a different pair than yesterday, which she had to chuck upon seeing how much blood was inside), black jeans, and a black polo with a wolf insignia on the front pocket. She also had multiple holsters, many for her assortment of daggers, and one for her gun filled with silver bullets. She was skilled at fighting, but the Hunter's were convinced an extra line of defense was always for the best.

Starr found she was alone, and grabbed a scone before walking out the door. The sun was just starting to set, and the autumn breeze sent a chill down her spine. She clutched her leather jacket, and walked a couple blocks down to the police station.

As she walked in, she could hear Donovan speaking to all the guards. There was also a fresh pot of coffee on a table in the front lobby. She poured herself a cup as she listened and at her scone.

"The Eastern pack has been seen in our territory. I want to increase security near the family apartments and the public schools. Most of your assignments haven't changed, but please look at the bulletin to double check. Keep our territory safe everyone," With a final nod, everyone dispersed to start their assignments.

Starr held the warm Styrofoam cup and looked at her dark, murky reflection. She was probably going to get the lecture she missed last night, but instead of coming up to her Donovan went in another direction. Instead of waiting around, she checked the bulletin and noticed her usual area and partner had been reassigned. One that was closer to the eastern pack's territory. As she was walking out, Donovan caught her at the door.

"I know you're going to see that boy again, but make sure this isn't all a trick to get cozy behind in our territory."

Starr was almost disgusted by the comment, she knew he didn't take her to be that easy though. Instead she smacked him on the arm and said, "Don't you worry about that, I'll be careful around him."

Donovan gave her a serious stare, then handed her a card. "For when you decide to go see the shadow hunters. I suggest that you bring a change of clothes with you there, I have a feeling they won't want you to come back afterwards."

Starr took the card, and saw it had the Columbus Institutes address on it. She almost started to cry, but quickly hugged him to enable her to wipe her eyes without him noticing. "Thanks, you have no idea how much this means to me."

Donovan was a little still, then patted her on the back. "Okay, okay. Enough gushiness, time to get to work." And with that Starr left to meet her new partner.

Half of an hour had passed and there were no signs of his guardian's return. He didn't mind it, rather enjoyed the quietness of sitting alone to enjoy his meal at his own pace. He had about a quarter of his burger left, his fries already gone (save for a few tiny crunchy fries he never liked to eat). A waitress had already been by to refill his drink but he had found himself dissatisfied with flat pop.

He pulled out his phone, connecting to the restaurant's poor wifi and Google'd any nearby Shadowhunter Institutions. But he found himself snickering at his own stupidity. Shadowhunters wouldn't be so foolish as to put themselves into the internet's search engines. He exited out of his browser and put his phone to the side of his plate.

Suddenly, the hair rose up on the back of his neck as he felt as if he were being watched. He looked around the diner to find himself meeting the eyes of someone at the other end of the line of booths. This man's eyes looked feral and tiger-liked, which instantly put "demon" into his mind.

The demon looked as if he was disgusted with Adrian and got up, throwing cash onto the tabletop and leaving with no signs of any means to attack. Odd, Adrian thought. He shook his head, fighting off the need to just go after him and find out why exactly that "demon" didn't just come over and attack him.

Starr was walking to her assigned area, while thinking about what she would do about the Columbus Institute.

I'm gonna have to at least contact Adrian... But I don't have his number. I guess I should probably wait for him to contact me and then we could go to the institute together? Who knows if he's even still interested. He could have lost the number, or other things could be popping up that is more important. Maybe he was just playing nice while in my packs territory, and maybe things will change now that he got to go back home.

*beep*...

She checked her demon sensor, whatever it was, it was a fair distance away.

*beep*

She arrived at the corner she was supposed to meet her new partner at, but he didn't seem to be around. "Typical, probably off getting something to eat," she mumbled to herself. This guy was a newer member of the pack, so she could make comments like that cause she didn't know him yet. Instead, she'd wait a little while and see if he showed up. She pulled her hood up, and sat down in an alley.

Adrian got to his feet after a few more minutes of waiting for his guardians. No sign of them. He grumbled and kept the money on the table, not even caring about the change he'd get back. He pulled up the collar of his jacket and sighed, preparing to head over to the building he knew his guardians went to when they were called by their boss. He was determined. Something didn't feel right and he wanted to find out. He was going to find out.

But in the middle of the empty street before the building he was to sneak into, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He paused and looked around. No on-coming cars. So he fished his phone out and checked it. He was rather surprised to hear from Starr.

He turned around. Shadowhunter stuff felt more important to him than his guardians at the moment.

When he arrived at the spot she had told him to meet at, he paused. It felt weird, meeting a girl behind his guardian's back. But it wasn't really sneaking, he told himself.

"Sorry I'm late. I was on the other side of town," he said, running a hand through his hair as he sighed. "What's up?" he then asked with curiosity, his eyebrows knitted together.