Hunter's Secret

Hunter’s POV

I get Raine settled into my bed and head back downstairs.

‘Locks, I am sleeping on the couch tonight. Raine is in my bed.’

‘K.’

‘Don’t be loud. Not in the mood to listen to you and Emma tonight.’

‘K.’

I shake my head at him and lay down on the couch. Thankfully, Cameron’s room is quiet. I take a deep breath and try to calm my growing anxiety. I close my eyes and try to go to sleep but I can’t. I lay there for a few hours trying to get comfortable, but my brain wouldn’t shut up. More specifically, River wouldn’t shut up.

‘We need to go check on her. She is up there by herself. What if someone comes in the window? What if she sneaks out? What if she can’t sleep either? We need to check on her.’

‘If I do, will you lay down so I can try to sleep?’

‘Maybe.’

I sigh and quietly make my way upstairs. I stop just outside of my door and listen for her breathing. She seems to be asleep. Hearing her breathe and her heartbeat calms me down. I want to open the door and see her, but I don’t want to wake her up.

‘Sit down. We can listen from here.’

I internally roll my eyes at River but sit down resting my back against my door. I understand now why Cameron was so antsy the first night Emma slept in the pack house. I just want to be near her. Her presence is enough to make me feel better. This mate bond really is crazy. I close my eyes and try to match my breathing to hers. She sounds so peaceful.

Raine’s POV

Despite the chaos of yesterday, I was actually able to sleep. Hunter’s bed is very comfortable. Plus, it smells like him, and he smells good to me too. Not anything specific like he says I smell like, but he smells nice. Almost comforting. This is crazy though.

I need to do some research. Maybe there is a library around here somewhere. But before I can worry about research, I need to get some food. I haven’t eaten since I had lunch with Kai yesterday. I slip my pants back on from yesterday but leave Hunter’s shirt on, tucking it into the waistband. It is big on me which makes sense because he is easily 6’3 of pure muscle. And he told me he loved me. He doesn’t even know me yet. How can he be sure that he loves me? I push those thoughts out of my mind for now. I quickly freshen up in his ensuite bathroom and messily braid my hair back. I take one more quick glance in the mirror and call it good enough.

My heart beats a little faster at the thought of seeing him sleeping. I bet he even looks good with drool and sleep tossed hair. I don’t think it is possible for him to not look good. What am I thinking? I just met him yesterday. I don’t really know anything about him. I quietly turn the door handle, trying to not wake him up downstairs. I am not really sure how good werewolf hearing is but he looked like he needed sleep, so I don’t want to wake him up. I slowly open the door, but as soon as the handle clicks, it is forcefully pushed toward me as a sleeping Hunter falls into the room.

His back lands on the floor and he quickly wakes up, blinking as his eyes adjust to the light. I look down at his stunning green eyes and they widen in shock. He moves into a sitting position and using the bed, pulls himself to his feet, groaning in pain. He stretches and I can hear his joints pop.

I don’t say anything, but I look at him expectantly, slight amusement on my face.

“I’m sorry. I was having a hard time sleeping so I just came up to check on you and hearing your heartbeat calmed me down some and I guess I fell asleep by the door. I am sorry for invading your privacy. It won’t happen again. I am sorry,” he rambles, avoiding my eyes and sitting down on the bed.

“You weren’t invading my privacy. It is still mind-blowing that you can just hear my heartbeat, but it is kind of sweet that you came to check on me.”

“I didn’t mean to fall asleep though. I should have gotten back up because now my whole body hurts. I am sorry if I made you uncomfortable,” he says as he groans again and lays back on the bed.

“You didn’t. And next time, you should just come get into bed with me,” I blab out, instantly regretting it. He tenses but doesn’t move so I just say the next thing that comes to my brain, “Need food now. Bye!”

I face-palm myself as I scurry out of his room. I think I hear him chuckle to himself, but I keep going. I can’t believe I said he could sleep next to me. Why did I say that? I don’t mean that. Do I? I don’t know. I just feel bad that he slept on the floor. Maybe we could get a couch for his room so he could be close to me. It seems to help him feel better. This is so confusing. I just met him, but I feel connected to him, and I feel safe around him. I definitely need to do research about this whole mate bond thing.

I reach the bottom of the stairs and walk into the kitchen where Cameron is prepping breakfast. Emma is nowhere to be seen. I don’t understand why she would be so embarrassed. I mean yeah she was stupid but it’s not that big of deal.

“Good morning,” I say cheerfully, and he turns to smile at me, “Cameron, what is your title now that Hunter is back to being Alpha?”

“Beta. But you can just call me Cameron. You don’t have to be formal. After all, you are my Luna so you can honestly call me whatever you want.”

“I would be your Luna too? I thought I was Hunter’s Luna? I don’t understand any of this hierarchy stuff.”

“Sorry, I meant you are this pack’s Luna which makes you higher up than me. It is just normal to say my Luna or our Luna, but it is meant as a respectful thing, not as possessive thing. And yes, you are definitely Hunter’s mate so if I want to live then I will certainly not call you ‘mine.’”

“What do you mean ‘if you want to live’? Would Hunter actually kill you? Has he killed people before?”

“No, Hunter has not killed anyone. And no, Hunter would not kill me, but River would and since part of Hunter is River, I have to be respectful. Where is Hunter by the way?”

“Probably still upstairs. There was a slight incident this morning,” I carefully say.

“Incident? Everything okay?” Cameron asks and I ignore what he is trying to insinuate.

His eyes gray over and he gives me a very boyish smile and laughs to himself. I guess Hunter told him.

“Cameron, is there a library around here somewhere? I need to get something to read, or I am going to be bored out of my mind.”

He laughs to himself again before responding, “Hunter’s office has a partial library if you want something now. Otherwise, you will just have to wait until he takes you on a tour.”

“You could just tell me where the library is and then I could go there myself.”

“Again, I want to live so no. He can show you later. Also, will you bring some food up to him? He needs to eat better. He is in his office right now.”

“Sure. I will take some up for me too. It smells really good. Thanks for making breakfast.”

He smiles and hands me two plates. I carry them upstairs and knock on the door with my foot. Hunter invites me in, so I push open the door and set his plate down on the desk before taking a seat on the couch.

He thanks me and then surprises me with a question, “Did you mean it when you said I could sleep in the same bed as you?”

“No,” I say and his face falls, “I don’t know. I just don’t like the idea of you sleeping on the floor while I am sleeping in your bed. If it helps you to be near me then that is what I want you to be able to do. I don’t think I want to sleep in the same bed as you. I don’t know anything about you yet. Maybe you can get a couch for your room?”

“I am not going to make you do anything you are not comfortable with. I can definitely get a pull out couch moved into my room. And I am an open book, you can ask me anything about myself and I will answer with honesty. Is there anything you want to ask me right now?”

Hunter put down his papers to talk to me and his eyes feel like they can see my entire soul, it is a little unsettling.

“Hunter, do you have any books on werewolf history or a library I can go to? I want to learn about all this stuff. I never really paid attention to those classes when I took them and even though my first boyfriend was a werewolf, we never dated long enough for it to matter anyway. Plus, my dad is different, and his experiences have not been typical. I just want to learn.”

He flashes a smile and opens his mouth to respond but his eyes turn gray, and he stands up from the desk. He motions for me to follow him downstairs, and I do, but he tells me to stay out of view until he deals with the situation.

I stay at the bottom of the stairs but do my best to listen to the conversation.

“Amelia, why are you here?” Hunter asks, his voice cold and flat.

“Alpha, Ezekiel wanted to know when Emma was coming back home. He is really missing her,” a woman’s voice says, who I am assuming to be the Amelia that Hunter addressed.

“Emma is staying here. Do I need to remind you that you kicked her out?” Cameron says lowly.

“Well, Beta, you are the one who took her from me. And now you are keeping me from my daughter!” Amelia raises her voice.

“Beta, go upstairs. I will handle this,” Hunter commands and Cameron sighs but obeys and makes his way over to me. When he sees me, I put a finger up to my lips and shush him. He shakes his head at me but sits down on the stairs next to me. No sooner than he sat down, he clutched his chest and his entire face twisted with sadness. He shot up and ran to his room, swiftly shutting the door behind him.

“Ezekiel is welcome anytime. He can spend the night a few times a week if he wants to. I will even personally come pick him up so he can see Emma. She misses him terribly too. You are welcome to bring and collect Ezekiel, but you are not allowed to step into my house without my permission. It is my responsibility to create a supportive environment for all my pack members, and that includes Emma. You are not allowed to make her feel bad while she is living under my roof. You are dismissed,” Hunter states, his voice still emotionless.

She huffs and leaves. I hear the door close and slowly peek around the corner. Hunter is running his hands through his hair, and he sighs. I let my feet take me to him and I wrap him in a hug. He tenses at first but gently reciprocates the hug, pulling me flush against him. He bends down and places a very soft kiss on the top of my head, still holding me in his arms. I slowly feel him start to relax and I inwardly smile. I don’t understand how my physical presence is enough to relax him, but it makes me happy that I can do that for him. What he doesn’t know is that I feel the same way. Everything is confusing and complicated, but I feel safe with him.