Chapter 4 - Hunter
By the time we reach the house, I’m still angry enough to tear something apart. But even if the rage hasn’t settled yet, I keep it just beneath my skin, hot and volatile.
As hard as I try to get my mind off it, I keep seeing Hayes there anyway.
The image of his hands on Tessa keeps replaying in my head, along with the bruises forming along her throat and wrist, the fear in her scent, and the way she looked at me afterward, like she genuinely couldn’t comprehend why I stepped in. Like nobody ever had before.
My inner wolf still hasn’t settled either, but rather than fixating on Hayes, it’s stuck on one word.
Mine.
The possessiveness pulses again, hard enough to make my jaw tighten.
I don’t know what the hell is happening to me tonight, but I can’t shake it.
All I know is that every instinct I have is screaming to keep her close and eliminate every possible threat around her. More than anything, I want to make sure that nobody else touches her, even if the thought is irrational.
That alone is concerning, and it only makes me angrier.
Tessa jerks away from me the second we step through the front doors of my place, which now sits empty without Cole or Mom around.
“I’m leaving.”
“No, you’re not.”
Anger flares in her eyes, and she grits her teeth as if that will be enough to deter me. “You don’t get to decide that.”
“I already did. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”
The foyer lights cast a soft glow across her face, finally letting me see the full extent of what happened out there, and just how much she has changed since I’ve been gone.
Bruising shadows her pale throat, and mud streaks her jeans and coat. Her light-brown hair is still a bit tangled from Hayes dragging her through the woods, and there’s exhaustion in those honey-colored eyes now that the adrenaline’s beginning to wear off.
And despite all of that, she looks beautiful.
The realization settles in deep enough to irritate the hell out of me, only because I noticed.
Tessa was always pretty to me, even growing up.
I just never let myself look too closely because I knew exactly what that would mean for me.
I knew from day one that it would crumble the careful walls I put up to block those little whispers in the back of my mind from guiding me to her.
I couldn’t risk giving in to that pull... not after what happened.
Now there’s no missing it, and no burying it as deeply as I can to save myself the damning reality I never wanted to face.
Her soft curves are wrapped in stubborn fury, all the while those eyes burn with exhaustion and defiance. Her full lips press tightly like she’s preparing for battle every second she’s around me, and my wolf likes it entirely too much.
This is dangerous territory, and I’m dragging her in it with me. She had always been the spark to my innate urges that became more like dry tinder each time I saw her back then, and even now, I’m walking a fine line.
“Tessa.”
“What?”
“You’re staying here,” I reiterate while she stands there, heels angled to prevent herself from being pulled forward.
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes. You are.”
She clenches her jaw tighter, uttering, “This alpha thing is already going to your head.”
My temper spikes instantly, not understanding how she can see this as anything but me trying to help her. “Someone just attacked you.”
“And it’s over now,” she returns, crossing her arms to put whatever barrier between us that she can.
“He targeted you specifically, in my territory.”
“There’s your problem. You think I matter enough for things to be personal,” she mutters.
Something about the resignation in her voice twists ugly in my chest, and it forces me to take a small step closer.
Tessa immediately steps back, and the movement hits harder than it should, because I know exactly what it is.
Fear… she’s afraid of me.
I should expect that after tonight, but instead, it feels more like a punch to the ribs.
Forcing down how much that bothers me, I clench my jaw tighter and gesture to the nearby chairs. “Sit down.”
“No.”
“Tessa.”
“I said no,” she returns, surprisingly harsh through her fear.
My wolf presses harder beneath my skin at the challenge, already agitated from the fight and prepared for more.
Mine.
That goddamn word circulates in my head all over again, and the instincts are becoming difficult to separate from my own thoughts.
I’ve felt this before, and that’s exactly why I had to put space between us. It was the only way I could stay sane.
Dragging a hand down my face slowly, I fight for whatever patience I can find. “Why didn’t you fight him?”
Her expression closes up instantly, retreating within herself so quickly it almost gives me whiplash. “We’re not doing this.”
“He dragged you through the woods like prey, and you barely resisted.”
Something flashes across her face then. Rather than anything rooted in fear or resistance, it looks a lot more like exhaustion, and the kind that settles in so deep that it’s almost impossible to get out.
“I tried.”
The quietness of the words catches me off guard, along with more honesty than I want to hear.
I study her carefully. “You gave up. You didn’t even shift.”
Tessa goes very still, and for half a second, I think I pushed too far. Then anger ignites across her face so quickly it surprises me.
“You think I don’t know that?” she snaps, far bolder than I’ve ever seen from her.
Even if this could be taken as insubordination, I don’t scold her. Not when anger is better than that empty resignation she wore earlier.
“At least you’re fighting now.”
Her eyes narrow. “Oh, screw you, Hunter.”
The hostility should bother me, and it certainly would if it were coming from anyone else. Instead, some dark part of me is relieved by it, since this sharp-tongued fury is more alive and less hopeless, like she had been with Hayes.
“You fought me harder than him,” I repeat. “I don’t know if I should be flattered or irritated with you.”
She scoffs and crosses her arms even tighter. “Neither. Not while you’re the source of my trauma.”
The word cuts through my irritation unexpectedly, and I lock onto it immediately.
Trauma.
I stare at her as it sinks in, allowing me to see every telltale sign her body gives me.
Tessa glances away like she already regrets saying it, but through the silence between us, we both know it was a bit too honest.
Too many things click into place at once, painting a bigger picture for me now. From the isolation and resignation to the way she looked at Hayes like she already knew nobody was coming…
Rage curls low in my stomach again, but not at her. At the pack and me, and every goddamn thing that led us here.
“Tessa.”
“No.” Her voice cracks slightly this time from exhaustion more than emotion, and she shakes her head subtly like she can’t take any more. “I’m tired, Hunter.”
The sound of my name from her mouth does something strange to my chest, and I ignore it immediately.
“You still haven’t told me why Hayes targeted you specifically.”
“He didn’t.”
“He dragged you into the woods in the middle of the night. I’m not assuming that was a coincidence.”
“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He wanted leverage against you and your friends. That’s it.”
“Against me… I haven’t done anything to him directly.”
Her eyes flick toward mine briefly. “You’re the alpha now. That’s why.”
The title still feels strange sometimes, almost like it’s too large, regardless of how long I’ve been preparing for it.
Yet hearing it from her does something completely different to me, as if the word suddenly means carrying responsibility differently after tonight.
I look at the subtle bruises on her skin again, noticing them slowly fade as her body heals. While it’s somewhat of a relief, the fact that he touched her at all makes me feel murderous.
Hayes is lucky I let him leave breathing.
“You’re not going back to that cabin.”
“Tough.”
“Tessa,” I repeat, looking her square in the eyes with every serious bone I have in my body.
“No,” she fires back while squaring her shoulders despite how it clearly weighs down on her. “I’ve spent years taking care of myself, and I don’t need you suddenly deciding to play savior.”
“That isn’t what this is.”
“Then what is it?”
The question lands directly where I don’t want it to be, since I don’t have the answers.
Because I don’t know, and I don’t understand why seeing Hayes touch her sent me into a fury so violent I nearly killed him.
Every instinct I have is demanding I keep her close enough to protect her anyway, and I definitely don’t understand why I can’t stop looking at her.
I tell myself it’s just a physical thing.
I’m not blind to how Tessa grew into a woman any wolf would notice immediately.
She’s beautiful in a way that sneaks up on you instead of demanding attention, all soft edges and exuding the kind of fertile pheromones that anyone would want, most of all an alpha.
But that’s not all this is… I know that. I’ve known since I was young, before it had anything to do with lust or desire.
Attraction alone doesn’t explain the possessiveness clawing through my chest right now, or why my wolf went feral at the sight of her in danger.
A deeper, quieter truth is surfacing beneath all of it, even if it terrifies me to let it after so long of trying to conceal it.
I noticed her far sooner than tonight. I just buried it under resentment, distance, and old wounds I never dealt with properly.
It hit me too young, when I didn’t know what to do with it, and when I was too immature to realize how my actions might affect her.
The real wound beneath it all exists because of her parents and what they did.
My father’s blood was on their hands by proxy, despite them being gone too.
Even years later, that scar aches when I touch it directly.
I hated them after the fact, and a part of me still does, but Tessa was never them. Still, it didn’t stop me from treating her badly anyway, and even now, that guilt still exists inside me.
Tessa watches me carefully now, like she’s waiting for another command she can fight against.
“You’re staying,” I say finally, quieter this time. “Argue with me tomorrow.”
“I’ll argue with you now.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
Despite everything, a small part of me wants to let some amusement slip, given how stubborn she’s being. Instead, I gesture toward the hallway. “The guest room’s upstairs.”
She doesn’t move.
“Tessa.”
The silence falls into place again before I finally murmur, “You should rest.”
Tessa stares at me like she’s trying to decide if I’ve lost my mind entirely, and in all honesty, it feels entirely possible.
Still, exhaustion eventually wins over anger, and I see the exact moment it happens.
Her shoulders sag slightly while the fight drains from her expression, little by little, until only weariness remains, and as much as I don’t like seeing her worn down, it means there’s a chance we can move past the arguing.
My wolf settles marginally at the sight. She’s safe for now, and that’s what matters.
Without another word, Tessa finally turns and heads upstairs.
I wait until she disappears completely before moving, and the second she’s out of sight, I brace both hands against the nearest chair and drop my head with a long, slow exhale.
What the fuck is happening to me?