Chapter Eleven
Hunter
A scream jerks me out of a dead sleep, and I shoot up in bed.
My wolf’s vision kicks in, and I take everything in by just seconds.
It takes me less time than that to realize Sherese is having a nightmare.
I can hear her racing heart and uneven breathing from here.
I climb out of bed silently and make my way to her room, being careful to stay out of sight.
I lean against the wall next to her door.
When she first came to live with me, I spent many an hour outside her door, without her knowing I was here.
I didn’t know what to expect from the vampire, and I have the safety of the entire pack on my shoulders.
I spent most nights listening to her breathing and thinking.
When nothing came of the first few nights, I started killing time on my phone.
I read how to treat trauma victims because there is no doubt in my mind that this is exactly what Sherese is.
I knew she was dangerous and deadly, but I also knew she was a victim in all this.
Because of that reading, I know now that I can’t wake her.
So even though it kills me, listening to her screams, I stay in the hallway.
“Mom! Mom!”
The utter devastation in her voice is like a punch to my gut.
I squeeze my hands into fists and will myself to stay out here in the hallway.
My wolf paces restlessly inside me as we listen to the nightmare playing out in the room behind us.
And then her cries ratchet up. “No! No! Please!” And then she screams. I’ve just decided I’ve had enough.
I can’t stand here a moment longer, but the scream suddenly dies off and I hear her suck in a strangled breath.
I close my eyes and lean my head against the wall.
She’s awake. I don’t make any noise to alert her that I’m in the hallway, only a few feet away.
I hear moving and know I have to move. I make it back into my bedroom and close the door most of the way.
I hear her open her door and stride down the hallway.
I listen carefully, and when I hear the front door open and close, I curse and grab my phone before following her.
When I get outside, she’s already gone. I strip quickly and shift instantly.
I’m hot on her trail a moment later. I give my wolf the lead, and he runs after her.
He runs fast, but no matter how fast we run, we can’t catch up.
She’s simply too fast. I let him run for a while, but when her scent starts to grow cold, we turn back.
I don’t want to miss her when she comes back.
When we get back, I shift and head inside.
Minutes later, I’m back outside, fully dressed.
I sit on the steps and wait for her to get back.
It’s a long time before she gets back. I keep an eye on the time, worrying she won’t get back before sunrise.
But just a few minutes before it’s set to rise, I hear her coming.
I quickly stand and make my way inside. I head into the kitchen and start making an omelet.
I watch the time and will her to get inside before the sun crests the horizon.
Right on time, the front door opens. I’m not sure what the relief crashing through my chest means, and I don’t let myself ponder it.
She walks right past the kitchen, and I debate saying something.
I turn at the last moment. “Are you okay?” She either doesn’t hear me or ignores me and keeps going.
I listen as the door to her room closes and the shower kicks on.
I keep an ear tuned in her direction as I finish cooking my breakfast and eat.
She takes a really long shower, and I know for a fact there’s no way she still has hot water.
When the water finally turns off, I listen, wondering if she’ll come out.
As the minutes tick past, I realize she’s not coming out.
I’m not sure if I’m relieved or disappointed.
I put my dishes away and clean up and then head to the basement for my workout.
When I come up later, she still hasn’t come out.
I shower and get dressed for the day. I debate knocking on her door before I leave for the day, but decide against it.
I know she has her phone, so she can call me if she needs something.
I force myself to leave before I do something stupid like knock on her door to talk to her and see if she’s okay.
On my walk over to the pack house, I wonder if I put on a fight tonight, if she’ll sit with me like she did last night.
Of course, I don’t know if the fight was what triggered her nightmares.
I really hope not. As far as I know, she hasn’t had any since she got to my house.
Either that, or she’s suffered in silence.
That thought does weird things to my chest. It’s not until I look up and see the pack house in view that I realize I’ve thought about the vampire the entire way here.
I frown and purposefully push the vampire far from my mind.
The day turns out to be long and frustrating.
We’re no closer to figuring out what to do about the vampire threat.
Bryce has been in a mood and is impossible to deal with.
I know he’s worried about his mate and our pack.
Seeing a master vampire on pack lands has made us all edgy.
I feel it just as much as anybody else. I don’t understand how he managed to cross our borders without our knowledge.
It infuriates me. The entire thing does.
The vampires are growing in both power and numbers, and if we don’t do something, we’re going to have another war on our hands.
We finally finish with our last meeting of the day, and Bryce sends everybody out. “Hunter, stay a minute, will you?”
I stay in my chair as everybody else makes their way from the room. “What’s up?”
He turns towards me. “Ava’s pregnant.”
Shock hits me first, and then it all clicks into place. I feel a small smile form. “So that’s why you’ve been acting like a—” He cocks an eyebrow, and I smirk. “That explains a lot. Congratulations.”
He finally smiles. “I’m happy; I really am. I’m just—”
“Worried,” I fill in for him.
He nods. “Don’t tell Sherese.”
“I won’t. We're not exactly the secret-sharing type,” I say wryly.
Bryce chuckles. “Yeah. I just meant that Ava will want to tell her.”
I nod. “I won’t say a word.”
“What’s going on between you and Sherese anyway?”
“Nothing.”
He watches me carefully. “You’re protective of her.
” He puts his hands up. “I get it. Believe me. She’s been through hell.
I find myself wanting to protect her as well.
” I bristle at his words, and he notices.
“See. That. Right there.” He leans back in his chair.
“You know I am a very happily mated man.”
“I’m assuming you have a point to this, more than just pointing out the extremely obvious,” I say dryly.
“I’m just saying that you know all that, and you still reacted when I said I'm protective of Sherese. See, you did it again.”
“Well, then maybe stop talking about her,” I snap.
His smile fades. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know.” My words are terse.
“Hunter, we’ve been friends a long time. I, of all people, am not going to give you a hard time if—”
“Stop,” I growl at him. I really don’t want to hear the rest of what he was going to say. “I don’t know,” I repeat.
“Is she your mate?” he asks quietly.
I don’t answer right away. “I don’t know,” I finally admit.
Bryce doesn’t give me a hard time for not knowing.
“You know she was a healer before they turned her, right?” his words are quiet.
I nod, even as anger burns through me. I don’t ever let myself think about what Sherese has gone through.
If I ever let myself fully dwell on it, I’m afraid I might snap.
“So, you know it’s a possibility, right?
Even if she wasn’t a healer, just the fact that she was a human before makes it possible. But now...” his voice trails off.
“Yeah.” I don’t say any more; I don’t have to. He knows. She’s a vampire now, and that changes everything. There are times when I think she might be something more than just someone I’m protective of. But then I wonder if I’m just making it into something it’s not.
“I’m sorry, Hunter.”
I acknowledge his words but don’t say anything. What is there to say? He must be able to tell I’m done with this conversation because he changes the subject. “Garrett wants to meet.” I don’t even have to ask what it’s about. Things are getting worse with the vampires.
“When?” I ask.
Bryce shakes his head. “He hasn’t set a date yet. He said they’d be happy to come here, but I feel that we should go to them. They’ve come when we needed them; it’s our turn to go to them.” I nod in agreement. “Of course, that was before I realized Ava was pregnant.”
I study his face for a moment. “We can have them come here.”
He blows out a breath. “I know, but that’s not fair to do. I know they’ve had a few pregnant mates travel when we needed them. It’s our turn to go to them. I just worry about Ava.”
“She’ll be fine,” I say softly. “Your mate is strong.”
Bryce’s face softens the way it always does when he’s thinking about his mate. “Yeah, she is.”
“What about Sherese while I’m gone?”
He meets my gaze. “Garrett requested her presence.”
I go still. “Why?”
“I imagine it’s so they can talk to her and get her knowledge on the vampires.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “No.”
Bryce leans back in his chair. “Why not?”
I open my mouth to tell him that she’s fragile right now, but that’s not even true.
She’s still strong, but I think about last night.
My gut tightens. “She’s not the cold, merciless killer people think she is.
If we take her to another pack, all they know is that she’s a vampire.
They’ll treat her a certain way, and she doesn’t deserve that. ”
“I know she’s not a cold, merciless killer, but she is a vampire, Hunter. Garrett and his wolves won’t look the other way on that.”
“And that’s why she won’t be going.”
“She may not have a choice,” he returns.
I stare him down. My voice is low when I speak. “She will always have a choice.”
“And if I command her to go?” Bryce asks.
A slow smile forms. “Good luck ordering Sherese to do anything.”
Bryce watches me a moment longer and then pushes back his chair.
“Thanks for staying after. I need to get home. I’ll let you know what Garrett says, and we can make a plan.
” He stops at the door and turns back. “And Hunter?” I turn to him.
“For what it’s worth, I don’t think there’s any question what she is to you.
” He doesn’t look away. “And you’ll have me in your corner if that’s what you both want.
” He’s gone a moment later. I, on the other hand, don’t move from the table for quite a long time.