Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Hunter
Idon't make it home until well past nine, and the first thing I do is pull out my phone and text Caleb.
Need to talk. You at your place?
The reply comes in seconds.
With Rachel. Come over.
I consider putting it off until morning. My brother's fiancée doesn't need me interrupting their evening. But the rogue wolf situation can't wait, and neither can the growing knot of anxiety in my gut about everything that happened today.
The drive to Caleb's house takes less than five minutes. He lives on the other side of Willow Creek in a renovated cabin that used to belong to our uncle. Through the window, I can see warm light spilling out, and I catch a glimpse of Rachel moving around the kitchen.
Caleb opens the door before I can knock, taking one look at my face and stepping aside. "That bad?"
"That complicated," I correct, following him inside.
Rachel appears from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel. Her dark hair is pulled up in a messy bun, and she's wearing an oversized Clemson sweatshirt that probably belongs to Caleb. When she sees my expression, concern flickers across her face.
"Should I give you two some privacy?" she asks.
"No need," I say, genuinely meaning it. Rachel knows what we are. She has known for over a year now, ever since Caleb couldn't keep the secret anymore. She's proven herself trustworthy a hundred times over. "You might as well hear this too."
We settle in the living room, Rachel curling up next to Caleb on the couch while I take the armchair across from them.
"The rogue?" Caleb asks without preamble.
I nod. "Spotted him just before sunset. Up near Pebble Creek, the same area where the enforcers found tracks last week."
"Did you engage?" My brother's tone is carefully neutral, but I can hear the implications behind it. The rogue was something the pack needed to deal with sooner rather than later.
"Briefly. He was watching a hiker. A researcher from Clemson collecting water samples. Young woman who was alone. She got hurt." I run a hand through my hair, the memory of Ava falling into the creek making my wolf growl low in my chest. "I couldn't let it escalate."
"The researcher saw you?" Rachel leans forward, her journalist instincts immediately picking up on the potential problem.
"She saw two wolves. I made sure she didn't see the shift." I meet her eyes. "But she's smart, Rachel. Really smart. She knew they were wolves, not dogs or coyotes. Insisted on it even when I tried to convince her otherwise."
Caleb and Rachel exchange a look. The kind of wordless communication that comes from a solid relationship. It makes something twist in my chest.
"Did the rogue hurt her?" Caleb asks.
"No. He was watching. But his positioning was aggressive, and when she fell..." I stop, remembering the spike of pure terror I'd felt seeing Ava slip on those rocks. "I had to intervene. Couldn't risk him doing something stupid."
"And he backed down?" There's surprise in Caleb's voice. Most rogues don't submit easily, especially not to an Alpha they don't know.
"Eventually. But he didn't leave the territory.
I could still smell him in the area after I shifted back and went to help her.
" I lean forward, elbows on my knees. "He's not behaving like a typical rogue.
He's not aggressive enough to be looking for a fight, but he's not avoiding us either. It's like he's... observing."
"That's unsettling," Rachel says quietly.
"It gets worse." I look at my brother. "The researcher, Ava Sinclair, she's here studying environmental changes. Genetic mutations in plant life."
Caleb goes very still. "Mutations."
"Rapid ones. She says they're happening too fast to be natural. She thinks there's contamination in the water supply."
"Shit." Caleb scrubs his face with both hands. "The last thing we need is a bunch of people snooping around in our territory. Especially curious science types. How much does she know?"
"Just that something unusual is happening. She's been collecting samples for about a month, and she's determined to find the source." I pause. "I asked her to be discreet when she publishes. To not include specific GPS coordinates. But I can't stop her from doing her job."
Rachel is watching me with those sharp, analytical eyes of hers. "This researcher. How injured was she?"
"She sprained her ankle. I took her to Urgent Care in Parkerville, got her checked out and back to her rental." I try to keep my voice neutral, professional. "She should be off her feet for a while."
"That's good," Caleb says. "Gives us time to figure out what's going on with the rogue before she's back out in the woods."
"And gives you time to decide what to do about her," Rachel adds, and there's a knowing tone in her voice that makes me look at her sharply.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
She raises an eyebrow. "Hunter, I've known you for over a year. I've never seen you this worked up about a stranger. You drove her to Urgent Care, made sure she got home safely, and now you're here at nine o'clock at night debriefing about her research like it's a security threat."
"It could be a security threat," I argue. "If she starts publishing about unusual environmental changes in our territory?—"
"That’s not the threat you're worried about." Rachel's voice is gentle but firm. "You're worried about her. About what might happen to her if she keeps going into those woods alone."
I want to deny it, but the words stick in my throat. Because she's right. The thought of Ava back out there, alone and vulnerable, makes my wolf snarl with protective fury.
"She's human," I say finally, as if that explains everything.
"So am I," Rachel points out.
"That's different. You and Caleb?—"
"Started exactly where you are right now," Caleb interrupts. "With me trying to convince myself that getting involved with a human was a terrible idea, and with every instinct I have screaming the opposite."
I look at my brother, seeing the understanding in his eyes. He knows. He's been through this.
"I just met her," I say, but it sounds weak even to my own ears.
"Doesn't matter." Caleb leans back, his arm around Rachel. "You know as well as I do that wolves don't work like humans. We don't need time to figure out what we want. We know."
The word hangs in the air between us, unspoken but heavy with meaning. Mate. My wolf knows. Has known since the moment I caught her scent in the forest.
"The elders won't be happy," I say quietly.
"The elders are never happy," Rachel says with a slight smile. "But they accepted me eventually. Well, most of them."
"You're marrying my brother, not the Alpha." The distinction is important, and we all know it. "They'll see this differently."
"Maybe." Caleb shrugs. "Or maybe it's time for them to see that things are changing. We can't hide forever, Hunter. Eventually, the world is going to figure out that we exist. Better to have allies when that happens. People like Rachel. People like?—"
"Ava." Her name feels right on my tongue, natural in a way that should scare me but doesn't.
"So what are you going to do?" Rachel asks.
"I don't know." I stand, suddenly needing to move. "First, I need to deal with the rogue situation. Then I need to figure out what's causing these environmental changes before Ava's research leads her—or anyone else—to conclusions we can't afford."
"And Ava herself?" Rachel presses.
I meet her eyes, and I can't quite keep the truth off my face. "I need to make sure she's safe."
"Even if that means getting close to her?" Caleb asks. "Even if the elders object?"
I think about Ava's green eyes, sharp with intelligence.
Her determination, her bravery, the way she insisted those were wolves even when it would have been easier to accept my explanation.
The way something in my chest pulled tight when I carried her, when I wrapped her ankle, when I drove away and left her alone in that cottage.
"Yeah," I say quietly. "Even then."
I leave Caleb and Rachel's place around ten, intending to go straight home. Instead, I find myself driving through Parkerville, taking the turns that lead to the edge of town almost on autopilot.
Ava's rental house is dark except for a single light in what I assume is the bedroom. Her beat-up Honda Civic is parked in the driveway, and everything looks peaceful, safe.
I park across the street, far enough away that I'm not being creepy but close enough that I can see the house clearly. My wolf is restless, pacing beneath my skin, demanding I go to her, check on her, make sure she's really okay.
The rational part of my brain knows this is excessive. She's fine. She's inside, safe, probably already asleep with her ankle elevated like the doctor ordered.
But the wolf doesn't care about rational. The wolf only knows that our mate is injured and alone, and we should be with her.
My phone buzzes with a text, and I check it almost guiltily. It’s my brother.
You're sitting outside her house, aren't you?
How did you know?
Because I did the exact same thing with Rachel. Multiple times. Go home, Hunter. She's fine.
I’m making sure.
You're going to make yourself crazy. And if she looks out the window and sees you lurking out there, you're going to scare her. Go home. Check on her tomorrow.
He's right, but I sit there for another ten minutes anyway, watching that lit window, before finally forcing myself to start the engine and drive away.
The whole way home, my wolf protests, a low whine of anxiety that doesn't ease even when I pull into my own driveway.
Inside the house, I try to distract myself with work. Pack business, territory reports, anything to keep my mind occupied. But my thoughts keep drifting back to Ava. Wondering if her ankle is bothering her. If she's comfortable. If she's thinking about what happened today.
If she's thinking about me.
Around midnight, my phone rings. It's Ryan, one of my enforcers, and I answer immediately.
"What's wrong?"