0150
Neah
"Dorothy is waiting for you." I mutter as Abraxas approaches the house with a shotgun resting on his shoulder.
He looked incredibly pissed off, like he had just heard the worst news in his entire life and he had only just arrived back.
"Right." He dips his head at me, "I best go see her." A small smile appeared but it didn't change his pissed off look, instead it made him look darker and creepier. What had happened out there?
"And your mate is in the hospital." I add as he brushes past me.
He freezes, but keeps his composure. "My mate was killed. I will never have another mate."
"We both know it doesn't work like that. Damien is Raven's second mate. Maybe it was time for you to be mated again."
He slowly turns his body around until he is facing me. "I don't know what you think you know, Neah. I. Do not. Have. A. Mate!"
Denial.
His hazel eyes narrow. "My mate was the love of my life. No one will ever be able to replace her. Do you understand?"
I nod back at him, though Maddie had already confirmed it was him. The moment she was lucid, she gave me his name. 'Abraxas Adler, the Hunter', there is only one of him.
As soon as she said it, my suspicions were confirmed.
It explained why she panicked when he was nearby and calmed down when he was away. All because she believed he would kill her. There was still a very real possibility he might do that.
Tears had flooded her face as she asked me how she could be mated to a Hunter. She asked why she would be punished this way and what she had done to deserve a mate like him. I didn't have the answers for her. I was still trying to understand why Lycans had been mated to Wolves in the first place.
"How long have you been back?" He had to have been nearby for Maddie to be aware and go into a panic.
"I've only just got back." He replies coldly
"Really? You haven't been lingering in the forest, watching Mallory's home? Her house does back out onto the forest."
His face becomes unreadable as he stares at me. He was good at keeping things hidden when he was talking to people. Not so much when he was alone.
"I am not, nor will I ever be mated to another, especially not a fucking Lycan."
"You didn't answer my question."
"Because it wasn't a question that needed answering. I have been away, trying to solve your problem." He jabs a finger in my direction.
I roll my eyes, his denial is on another level. "Then why don't you just reject her instead of torturing her?"
"I don't know what you are talking about Neah." He shakes his head. "To reject someone would mean I need to be mated to them and as I have already told you, I am not mated to her." He spits on the floor, making his feelings very clear. "She told me, Abraxas."
"It's a lie."
"Why would she lie about something like that?"
"Why don't you ask her? You are her leader." His answers are a short and snappy.
""I will."
His brow wrinkles up and his hand tightens around the gun on his shoulder. "Or maybe I should pay her a visit, put her out of her misery. Especially if she deems it suitable to make up these lies." "You won't do that!" I warn him
"Try me." He growls back. "You know I'm not afraid to stick a bullet in someone. Now if you will excuse me, my baby girl is waiting for me." He struts into the house, plastering a grin on his face for Dorothy.
I glance across the grounds where Mallory is sitting on the small porch in front of her house with a cup, watching me. 'He's denying it.' I mutter through a link to her.
'I get it.' She tells me 'He is a Hunter, she is a Lycan. I don't know what's going on.'
'He's in denial, or maybe it's his own way of torturing Maddie.'
'No, not him. The Moon Goddess is the one that pairs us, right? Why would she do this?'
I don't know if she could see my movement, but I shrug my shoulders and turn around to face the house, trying to decide on my next move. I didn't want a gun pointed at me again.
"Did he tell you?" Klaus makes me jump
"Tell me what?" Klaus has a heavy set frown too. "I'm guessing by your expression that you found out it can't be done." "Actually what I found has nothing to do with you and everything to do with me."
"You?"
"It took me by surprise too." He drops his gaze. "Do you remember what I told you when we first met?"
My brow creases as I try to remember our first conversation. I had been a nervous wreck at the time. "About being bound?"
He nods his head at me. "But also that I was born into a different pack or so I thought."
"You weren't?"
"Oh I was, but I wasn't part of that pack." He sits down on the steps. "Turns out, my parents had infiltrated the pack. It's where Brax and I have been the last couple of days." "Why?"
"According to Brax, the pack was attacked about a decade ago by Rogue Lycans."
""Your parents?"
"My birth parents were killed just after my birth. The people that raised me and then had me bound were part of the pack but yes, they were killed in the attack. The Luna there confirmed it."
"They killed your parents? Why? Because they snuck into the pack?"
"My birth mother was heavily pregnant with me. She asked for help, The Alpha and Luna gave it."
"You said they infiltrated?" I mutter
"I guess that's the wrong word. My parents told the Alpha and Luna that Lycans were going to attack the pack. They didn't believe them because Lycans weren't a thing or so everyone thought. The Alpha thought it was a trap and the moment my mother started pushing me out, he had them slaughtered. I was taken in by one of the childless Omegas. Her and husband went on to bind me when I became a threat." "You are hardly a threat, Klaus. All you like to do is help."
"Now. Being here probably helped. Being supported and given a home. My life was very different before I met Dane and if my parents hadn't been killed, I would be just like Brax."
"Don't be stupid. You are nothing like him."
"Turns out I am. My parents were Hunters, Neah. That's why they knew Lycans were about. That's how they knew the pack was going to be under attack."
"You're joking, right?" He shakes his head. "You are not a Hunter, Klaus. You don't hate Lycans. You like spending time with my boys. I see chatting away to Damien about stuff. You are not a Hunter."
"It came as a bit of a shock to me too." He lowers his head, as sadness fills his eyes
"You can see souls?"
"No." He shakes his head.
"Abraxas talks about information passed down through the blood. You've never...."
"I had an idea that you weren't a Wolf when I met you. Besides being bound, you were just a little different, the kind I couldn't quite put my finger on. How do you think I found the books with information about your kind so easily?" "You had already been looking?"
He nods and gives me a small smile.
"I'm guessing a lot of it has to do with nature vs nurture. I wasn't aware that Hunters existed. I was always a quiet kid. As I said, I was bullied for not having a Wolf for so long. Maybe because I wasn't raised in that life, my brain just forgot." He smiles at me, "If you haven't noticed, I'm not much of a killer either."
"Does Dane know?"
"I thought I would tell you first. I don't want you wondering about the safety of the twins around me. And I would also prefer to keep that part of my life quiet because I definitely don't see myself as a Hunter."
I nod. "Are you related to Abraxas then?"
"Not that I'm aware of and he doesn't seem to think so. He isn't the only Hunter in the world Neah." Why had I never considered that?
'Because you can be stupid.' Nyx mutters. She had been quiet for a little while now, but suddenly this conversation was of interest to her. "So there's more." I scowl, ignoring my Lycan again.
"Yes and they could be a problem, especially if they learn that Lycans are on the move to come here."
"We will be sitting targets."