26. Hunter
TWENTY-SIX
HUNTER
Seven days! It’d been seven days since Odell had left.
Every day was an excuse.
My aunt needs me.
She’s sad.
I think her cough has returned.
She says I’ve made a mistake.
But there were also other messages that had me worried he didn’t want to come back and was only making excuses.
I’m so tired.
I don’t feel well.
So sleepy and my tummy hurts.
My heart, or what was left of it, couldn’t take it anymore.
I’d worn my robe that he’d had on that first morning in this house and made a list of what I’d done since he left.
1 Called and messaged.
2 Sat in the red car that I’d had one of my men bring back from the cabin.
3 Parked outside his aunt’s building one night in case what? He went for a midnight walk with the bodyguards shepherding and tailing him?
4 Not been to the office but had worked at the club until late six nights running.
Odell had apologized, begged me to forgive him for staying just one more night, whispered how he missed me and promised he’d be back by my side soon.
I’d ranted to myself about his aunt keeping him from me, but even in my darkest moments, I understood how her world had been ripped apart and she was holding onto the one person she loved most.
I’d convinced myself Dellie didn’t love me. If he had, he wouldn’t have stayed away. We’d been through so much, and when we could finally be together, he’d taken off. He didn’t feel the same pull I did.
But again, I yanked myself back from that cliff and pictured myself in his position. He was mourning the uncle he loved, what he’d left behind, and the tug-of-war between his aunt and me.
My mate was trying to please both of us. I hoped his aunt was happy, because I wasn’t. I stamped my feet in the car and smiled, the first one all week. I was doing the toddler impression Odell had called me out about. He was right. I had temper tantrums, and growing up, they got me what I wanted.
Not today!
Be smart!
That’s it? That’s your advice? This was the same wolf who’d howled in a park near Aunt Louisa’s building late yesterday. He asked to shift, but I refused to leave the city, so he’d taken his fur in the park. But he was supposed to be stealthy. Maybe looking for squirrels or rabbits, not calling his kind and having humans dial 911 about a wild animal on the loose.
Didn’t understand the word stealthy .
But here we were again, outside the building, hoping to catch a glimpse of my mate.
I tried to come up with solutions.
Aunt Louisa could live with us. I’d have a cottage built at the back of my house. Our house. But given how she thought about me, I doubted she’d accept. That was my compromise. She’d need to give a little too and accept my offer.
She loved where she was staying, but if she wanted to live with Odell, she’d have to come to us.
But knowing that she might never be at ease in my company, I’d come up with a possible solution to get her on my side. Ranger had griped about the money we’d lose, but Flint agreed with me.
“You and I don’t have extended family on our mates’ side,” my big brother had told brother in the middle.
Ranger had rolled his eyes. “That’s because they’re killers who did a runner or would-be murderers who are rotting in jail. And now little bro has joined the club with his mate’s uncle who sold him off to pay debts.”
Both my brothers had been separated from their mates in the early stages of their relationships.
“When Tony left, it was days before I saw him.” That was Flint recounting when he’d let Tony go after kidnapping him.
“Days,” Ranger scoffed. “Matt and I were apart for two months when he left me, and that was because he thought he’d put his brother in danger.” He addressed me. “Thank the gods you and Odell have been apart for only seven days.”
Ranger had more inner strength than me. If my mate and I were separated any longer, I’d camp out on his aunt’s terrace, and I loathed camping.
Maybe instead of pleading with my mate, I had to show his aunt I was a good guy, or goodish. And I’d never let anything happen to Odell. I’d conveniently forget to mention the shooting, getaway, and Stefan’s death.
I got out of the car, and with a nod to the bodyguards, strolled across the street and buzzed.
Odell was standing in front of the elevator when the doors opened. He didn’t fall into my arms as I expected, though I did have a bunch of roses tucked under one arm. My belly churned, my wolf complained, and I froze, as a scowling Aunt Louisa stood behind her nephew.
“You came,” she noted and turned her nose up at the flowers. But she accepted them and walked into the kitchen.
“Hi.”
“Hi,” Odell replied. His eyes were puffy as though he’d been crying, but his cheeks were more hollow than when I’d last seen him.
“I’ve missed you.” I’d relayed that message many times in phone calls and texts during the week.
He nodded, his eyes glistening with tears.
“How about we go onto the terrace and talk.”
“Okay.”
He sat in one of the loungers and hugged a cushion, and I pulled a stool opposite him.
“Talk to me.” If we continued as we were, he might never return.
“You hate me.”
“Where did that come from? Never. There’s nothing that you can do or say that would make me hate you. Even if you run away and I never see you again.” No matter how upset I was, I could never do anything but love him.
“I owe Aunt Louisa so much. My life, really. And she is adamant that I stay with her and resume it.”
He extended a hand, and I took it, our first skin-to-skin contact in a week. Now the tears streamed over his cheeks, and he let out a sob. My wolf insisted I take him in my arms, and I longed to. But not yet.
“Every day I waver about being the person she brought me up to be and the best mate. You’re upset and so is Aunt Louisa. And I feel like my insides have been ripped out and I’m just a shell.”
“My darling Dellie. When true mates are apart, they pine for one another thanks to instinct that has been honed over the centuries. That instinct keeps mates tethered to one another.”
My mate placed a hand over my heart. He gasped. “Hunter, it’s different. It used to thrum so beautifully, and now it’ssimilar to music being played off key.”
“That can’t be good. What do you think might fix that?”
He pursed his lips. “I can’t imagine.”
But we had to be serious, and I had a confession. “I was also worried that despite being fated mates, I was wrong for you and your aunt was correct.”
“But I’m concerned that part of the attraction to you is the excitement, the adrenaline of getting away from those goons and taking down Stefan. That’s not real life.”
And there was that gap between his human existence and my shifter mafia one.
“It is mine,” I admitted.
He looked down, and I followed his gaze, wondering if he was thinking the stoneware needed cleaning.
“But in here,” he pounded his chest, “it feels right. And Aunt Louisa doesn’t know you like I do.”
“I hope not.” I caught his eye, and we giggled. “What if there is something else that bonds us, not just fate?”
Odell rested his chin on his hand. “Go on.”
“Perhaps your heart—or if you prefer the word soul—was destined to be linked to mine because of our personality. Your love of danger, how you can almost taste it. We’re connected not just because of our hearts but because we love taking risks. We’re thrill-seekers.”
A smile tugged at the corner of my mate’s mouth. “You think so, do you?” Now he was grinning. “You want to know what I think?” He charged ahead without giving me a chance to reply. “I think you’re full of shit.”
Whoa, really? And I was so hopeful that he’d see and sense that connection and agree with me.
My mate put his hands on my shoulders. “You want me to know I’m not a bad person if I kick some bad guy’s ass.”
He could kick my butt any time if he thought I'd been bad.
“You’re a good person, Dellie, one who lives a life according to human laws and donates to charities if they can and helps little old ladies across the street.”
“Does the pack look after its elderly members?”
“Of course.” I was taken back that he would ask. “We respect our elders.”
“And do you give money to victims of natural disasters like floods and fires?”
“Yes. No matter what, we donate.”
“And would you help an old lady with a walking stick across the road?”
Oh, I got a hint of where he was going. “Without question.”
“Hmmm, so if we add a trace of danger and a dash of guns and bullets, you’re not so different from the good guy you mentioned.”
That was a stretch. A huge one, but I’d run with his idea.
“Neither of us is perfect.” I stroked his mating mark and noted the bruises from when I’d grabbed him the day we met.
No more bruises , my wolf insisted.
Never!
“Says you.” His lopsided grin made my body tingle. “I’m close to it.”
I chuckled, longing to have him in my arms and my home.
“You brought Aunt Louisa flowers. Don’t I get a present?” He winked.
“Me. I’m the gift, one that keeps on giving.”
He tweaked my ear. “You are so full of yourself.”
“Not today, nor for the last week. But I’m hoping to be back to being full of myself very soon.”
“Good.” He rubbed his nose on mine.
“But I do have a little surprise.” I dangled a key in front of him.
“Is that what I think it is? For the Red Beast?” He didn’t wait for me to reply but threw himself into my arms. “I love you.”
“Should have given you the car sooner,” I grumbled.
Odell’s aunt stood behind the huge glass sliding doors, glowering at me.
“Louisa, I hope I can call you that.” She didn’t reply, and I added, “I understand your life is in flux, and my family and I want to offer you security.” I handed her a large envelope.
“What’s this?”
“The deed to this apartment. It’s in your name. You can live here, sell it, sublet it, whatever. It’s yours.”
She tore open the envelope and flipped through the pages.
“I didn’t sign this, but it is my signature. In the dealings I had with City Hall, my signature always had to be witnessed.”
A tiny oops. “No need to worry about that small detail.” It was ironic that that was how I’d met Odell. Damned paperwork.
I’d offered bribes to so many city officials, snitches, mafia guys spying on other packs, plus workers and managers in factories and businesses across the state.
But I’d never given what was essentially a bribe to provide my mate’s aunt with security and my mate some peace so he would worry less.
“I don’t know what to say.” Louisa’s hands were trembling, and Odell had his arms around her as they read the deed. “This place must be worth a lot.”
It was why Ranger was so peeved we’d given it away.
“Thank…” She cleared her throat. “Thank you.”
She staggered inside, mumbling about her amazing luck.
Odell grabbed me. “You just bribed my aunt.”
I made a silly face. “Ummm, yes. I can take it back if you prefer.”
“Don’t you dare.” He put his lips on mine and stuck his tongue down my throat, mumbling, “I think it’s time we went home.”