A Hunter's Keep - #1 of "The Hunter's Series"

Lizzy’s POV

It had been one of those nights. Sif didn’t sleep, her stomach was rumbling but every time I fed her, she vomited everything up again. Finally, after what seemed like hours, she finally fell asleep.

I sighed, and to up. My sweater was soaked, but everything I had, was in the washroom. I huffed, having to walk all the way down to the washroom to fetch a new T-shirt.

When I walked into the kitchen, I surprised to see Alpha Derik there, flipping through his phone. And judging from the look on his face, I’d say he felt the same.

“Why are you up?” he asked. I didn’t reply but simply gestured the vomit on my shirt. He nodded understanding. “Sif?”

“Why are you up?” I asked, when I retuned from the laundry room, now in a clean shirt. I took a carton of milk out of the fridge and grabbed a cup. I was tired, but that kind of tired, where you can’t sleep. In cases such as these, warm milk usually helped.

“Couldn’t sleep,” He replied, without looking up. I glanced over and noticed that he was rubbing his mark viciously. Thant’s when I remembered, something my Dad had told me.

“Can you sense her?” I asked, sitting across of him.

“Sometimes,” he huffed, as he noticed what he was doing and tried to stop. But even in the dim lighting, I could see the red and inflamed mark. “But not enough to find her.”

He frowned taking his anger out on the game on the phone. Without thinking I went to the sink and made him a cool cloth. He thanked me and pressed it on the now bleeding wound. I don’t know why, but I didn’t want to see him being hurt. On second thought, perhaps I did. I think I was in love with him. Or at least falling for him; hard. I tried not to, but my heart fluttered every time I heard his voice and I found myself wanting to be near him more and more. I loved the way, he’d pick up Sif and the smile on his face when he looked at me, made my cheeks burn up.

I tried to push them aside. He had a mate, for crying out loud and although she might be dead, he…

That’s when it suddenly hit me!

I did some fast calculations.

“Three months apart?” I asked, gesturing the mark. He nodded. I gulped. Oh! In that case his mate was very much alive and the second he found her again, I would be nothing but an annoying bug at his feet. How---

“Is there something you want to tell me?”

I looked up. I hadn’t noticed that he’d been sitting studding me for a while. And of course, sensing there was something I didn’t tell him.

“No,” I said, since talking to him about his mate felt extremely awkward. Bud didn’t he deserve to know?

“But, if…,” I tried but I couldn’t get the words over my lips. So, I stopped trying. Unfortunately, that only enraged the alpha wolf in front of me. A wolf, who desperately wanted his mate back and if he believed that I was holding something from him – something that could help him get her back…

“What?” He growled; his eyes dangerously black. Yep, not a happy wolf, I thought, trying to get as much distance between us as possible. My heart skipping every other beat. Damn, these scary wolves!

“Do you know something, Liz?”

He was on his feet, before I could think about running.

“No, I don’t!” I replied, again way to fast.

“You’re lying!” he yelled and within a blink of an eye, was towering over me. My heart sank to the pit of my stomach and my breath got stuck in my throat.

“Tell. Me!”

“HEAT!” I practically shouted the words. “She’s in heat! That’s why you’re…” I stupidly pointed to the mark. “Itching.”

He took a while to take in the words. Thant’s when he finally realized the same thing I had.

“She’s alive,” he said, mostly to himself. His features softened and there was an actual smile at the corner of his lips. My breath hitched. I’d seen him smile before, but this was the first time, I’d actually seen him truly happy. If I hadn’t been sitting, I might just have fallen down. He looked beautiful…

And I’m officially falling in love with a married man, that’s twice my age, I mentally scolded myself. Not that it helped, but--- damn it!

I nodded. Hell, he couldn’t figure that out himself? If he could sense his mate, then she was alive right?

I lost myself to my thoughts again. Well, she was alive now, but probably not for long. They most likely already knew about the mate, so the only way to impregnate her would be with another werewolf. The female would fight it; she would want her mate, but the unmated wolf wouldn’t know the difference. He’d just want to fuck her, but that’s a good thing too. Sometimes the touch of another male than her mate would be enough to stop the heat.

But if she didn’t get pregnant, they would kill her. She was useless to them…

Suddenly Derik’s arms wrapped around me.

“Thank you, Lizzy,” he whispered into my neck. “Thanks for giving me hope.”