“I take that you’re messing with me again.”
“Not really, but when you do ask me, that’s how I want it to be done. I’m an old fashion girl.”
“Your father is dead.” Haley looked at him and stared. Maybe he shouldn’t have broken the news to her that way. But it was done and he couldn’t take it back. Haley’s eyes batted and she began breathing quickly. Then she screamed.
“No. You’re just being mean to me. I would never be that mean to you, Hunter. You know my father isn’t dead.”
Hunter stood and walked across and sat on the side of her. “He’s dead, Haley. Your father knew something could happen to him, and he wanted me to take care of you. That’s why he sent you with me.” Haley broke down. She stared at Hunter. Her mouth taking a downward turn, and then tears welled in her eyes and then they flowed.
“Don’t cry. You have me.”
“I have someone who wants to get rid of me. I have no one.”
“You can live with my family.”
“I don’t know your family, and your father wants me out of here.”
“That’s because you’re a human.”
“That’s a stupid answer. Your mother is a human and my father was a werewolf. Do you think I’m that stupid? I knew what my father was. He tried to hide it from me, but he couldn’t. He thought I didn’t know or understand anything because I was human. But my mother told me that I was adopted, and what they were. She couldn’t have any children of her own.”
“There is a bounty out on me if I’m harboring a human child.”
“I’m not a child for the umpteenth time. They are mistaken about me. I’m an adult. My father dressed me up like a child and sent me to school. I don’t know how old I am, but I know I’m older than what I’m portrayed to be.”
“It doesn’t matter. You will have to go off to college to be with humans. You need an education. Your father made me promise to take care of you.”
“I want to be with you, Hunter.” Haley said wiping her eyes.
“You can’t be with me.”
“You don’t have anyone, now that Katie has made her choice. Why can’t I?” Hunter didn’t want to be reminded of Katie and Devin. He became more irritated with Haley. His anger deepened. His mood dark.
“I have Christine.”
“Her? She dates lots of guys. You’re not her first man. I heard the nurses talking about it.”
Not that Hunter cared. He knew what they were to each other. A safe port in a storm. A place he could go to satisfy his longings and lust.
“She’s not a virgin like me.”
“I don’t want a virgin. I had one and one is enough.” Hunter looks away. His voice resentful.
“Did Katie do that to you? Make you bitter about women?” Hunter didn’t hear her. His mind travels. He turns back to Haley.
“She’s not someone who will be true to you. You are an Alpha male and you don’t need someone that will sleep with any human or shifter that comes along. I’m a virgin. I will make you a good mate. I will have your pups.”
Hunter heard nothing that Haley said. He peered off into the void, passed mountains. He did that often now. He longed for something he didn’t know about but was familiar. He longed for a wilderness and freedom.
Once he thought living in Alaska was hell and now he thinks it is paradise. He didn’t belong here at his father’s ranch in his father’s home any longer. Wilder needed him, but he could get along without him. He replaced him with Devin. Hunter thought.
“What I don’t need is to be told what I need, Haley. I know what I need and it’s not a young girl. I need someone who can become my mate when I’m ready. I need to find her and it’s not here. And it’s not you.”
Chapter 16
“Do you want to see me, Hunter?” Wilder said looking into the face of his first born. How much Hunter had changed? He’s a full grown werewolf now. It’s time for him to find his way into this crazy world of men and werewolves, Wilder thought.
Wilder had come from a hunt with Lycell and Drayton, and he appeared tired and his body dripped with perspiration. Drops of water fell from his forehead. The front and back of his blue denim shirt soaked up all the sweat on his chest and back.
“Can this wait? You know how your mother insist that I take a shower. When I’m at the cave, I don’t have to worry about any of that. I can be myself, but she refuses to see me if I haven’t shaved or showered.” Wilder smiles but he feels tension in the air.
“What is it Hunter? I know something is wrong.”
“Nothing is wrong, father. I just can’t do this anymore.”
“Do what?”
“Be here under your roof. I have to find a place for myself. I have to go out into the world.”
“I thought you had enough of the world with that ordeal in Alaska.”
“I thought so too, but that’s the real world. Tough and nasty. You were able to find yourself and not under your father’s protection.”
“My father died before I became full grown.”
“All you want to do is protect us and the pack you and mother have created. What about me? I need to organize my own pack. I need to find a mate.”
“But what about the council?”
“You have Devin and then there’s Lycell’s brood who will be yearlings in a matter of weeks. They can help Devin. You have all you need.”
“I don’t have you, Hunter. You are the light of my life, and if you leave your mother will be heartbroken.”
“I know she will, but I have to go. You will have to tell her because if I do, then I won’t be able to go. She will cry and I will stay. If I stay, I will eventually hate everyone and everything around me.”
“What about Haley?”
“I’ve spoken with her. She’s to be sent off to school. I will make arrangements. She need to be away from Samsaville. There’s too much going on with the killings.”
“Did you and Claire discover anything new?”
“There’s nothing new to discover. Claire and I know who it is even if she didn’t say. We know it’s Eric committing the murders. The sheriff could bring him in, but then we have to prove that he did it, and there isn’t enough evidence to prove it, at least not now.”
Wilder sat with disgust and disappointment written over his face. “What do we do now?” He takes his hand from his mouth and gestures into the air.
“We have to wait until he makes another move. You have to get with the council and discuss how to keep the humans safe in our town, otherwise, it won’t grow and the humans will rebel against our family, and the packs in this country won’t be able to save us. We will have to go underground again until we’re strong enough.” Wilder raised an eyebrow.
“That’s one reason why I’m leaving. I can’t be here. I have plans. I’m leaving tomorrow for San Francisco.” Wilder sat gazing at Hunter sadden and worried about Hunter’s future and the future of his family.
How could he deny Hunter the chance to grow when he knew he had been the same way? He took off and left his father’s house at just the same age. Only to come back after his mother died. He knew deep in his heart that Hunter would be back and his family would be whole again.
But for now, the ache in Wilder’s heart couldn’t get any worse.
“I’m taking my inheritance and starting a company. I plan on integrating myself into the world of men. If I’m to save this family and the werewolf packs, I have to live and act like humans. I have to think like them. It’s my mother who taught me this.” He smiled.
“Are you leaving because of Devin and Katie?” Hunter studied the question.
“Yes and no.”
He finally recognized that he would be a problem in their relationship and he wanted to give Devin and him a chance to mend their broken bonds. A bond that never should have been broken in the first place. And Hunter knew that he was singly responsible for the break in their relationship.
“I have to go now, father. I have to say goodbye to
a friend. Tell Claire that I wish I had met her under different circumstances. She’s beautiful and a tough shifter.” Hunter smiles thinking about how he would have liked to have gotten her in his bed. What fun nights he would have had with her purring and scratching.
Wilder grabbed Hunter and held him for a few minutes. He didn’t want to let him go. Just when he got his son back he was losing him again. When Hunter broke from his father’s arms he turned and walked away. Wilder stood in the same spot wondering what he could say to Adrienne, and how she would take not seeing Hunter.
When she found out about Bane taking Hunter, she cried and cried and made herself sick. Robert thought that her pregnancy would be in jeopardy, but she managed to carry Drayton’s one pup to term. Finally she accepted that Hunter might not come home, and she tried to occupy her time with her pups.
Now she had to face that fact again and Wilder didn’t know what she would do.
Hunter turned around in the foyer gazing at the beautiful ranch that had been home to him. He looked at the marbled flooring that Adrienne had replaced with the wooden flooring. He looked at the columns inside separating and creating a foundation for the stately home. He would miss looking out over the ranch and riding his horses and having his dogs at his feet.
Hunter had dreams too just like Wilder, and he would try to make them come true. He stepped out into the spring thaw and climbed on the motorcycle and rode into town to say goodbye to Christine.
Parking in the courtyard he hurried up to her apartment. Ringing the bell she answered and she opened the door. “Oh Hunter, I didn’t know you were coming,” she said smiling and closed her top as if he was a stranger. He thought it odd that she didn’t invite him in. He sniffed the air and she smelled of a shifter. He couldn’t connect the smell because it was masked with floral shower jell.
“I have a visitor. I think we agreed that we wouldn’t be excusive to each other.” That was a human notion not a werewolf one, but Hunter embracing that part of himself had forgotten. If he was to live a human life, he had to control his emotions, and smile even though he wanted to tear the shifters head off for crossing his territory.
“No problem, Christine. I just wanted to tell you that I’m leaving town. I don’t know when I’ll return, and I had a great time with you.” Christine looked behind her and she leaned her face through the crack in the door and kissed Hunter on the lips.
When Christine pulled away she said, “I wish we had met sooner.”
“So do I. Take care of yourself and don’t let any strangers into your apartment.”
“I won’t. Bye Hunter. I’m going to miss you.” Hunter didn’t say anything because he didn’t feel the same way about Christine that he felt about his family. It was his family and Katie that he will miss and it was because of them that he had to leave.
He didn’t think too much about Haley only that she was someone else’s responsibility. Hunter took a slow walk to his bike.
Reaching for his motorcycle, jumping on it, and starting it up, then he thought of Haley and about how she liked riding on the back of his motorcycle. He smiled because he knew he would miss her eventually.
Having her tell him how much she loved him stroked his ego. And because of her, he was able to feel better about losing Katie. However, he would never admit that to Haley.
Hunter placed his helmet on his head and took off into the night. He had a smile on his face because he didn’t know what his future would be like, but it couldn’t be worse than facing the arctic tundra of Alaska.
Chapter 17
Arriving at the exclusive Millennium Hotel in San Francisco, he sat outside and looked up into the sky. It was the first time he had seen a skyscraper. It extended up into the fog ridden sky with its chrome and glass façade on the building.
The Blackstone Group owned this magnificent structure. He checked his watch and it was nine am the next morning. He rode all night through fog across the Bay Bridge into San Francisco. Wilder had given him the name of the hotel. It seems his father had dealings with the owners when he thought about running for state senator, but Adrienne had the final word and Wilder’s plans were put aside until later.
Wilder said he could take up residence in one of the hotel’s suites until he found a place.
He stopped and handed his motorcycle to an excited attendant. “Take care of it.”
“Your name, sir.” And he wrote Hunter Samsa down and handed Hunter a ticket.
“How long are you staying, sir?”
“I don’t know. Maybe a week or two.” It would take that long to find a place he felt comfortable in, however, he needed to be in San Francisco to get the feel of the place. Maybe walk around the city and talk to the locals.
“Do you need help with your bags?” the eager young man said, forgetting that he didn’t see anything but the hundred dollar tip Hunter had given him. Hunter could afford the tip.
He could afford whatever he wanted. Devin at first had invested the pack’s money wisely, and made a lot of money for his father and uncles as well as for him. He did do something right. He wasn’t a complete fuck up. But after Devin became in charge of the estate, and he started drinking, something went wrong.
Devin’s vice was that he liked money and women too much.
After staring at the attendant when he hopped on his motorcycle to park it, Hunter stepped through the open doors greeted by two men standing in impressive uniforms with gold braids on jackets wearing cream colored suits.
They held the doors wide with equally wide smiles. No doubt they were smiling because another rich man had dared to enter the Millennium where suites go for five thousand a night. Hunter glanced around the lobby. Men in expensive black and dark blue suits were milling around reading the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and the San Francisco Chronical. Some were sitting and discussing before he walked in. They turned to look at Hunter holding a helmet in his hand wearing a pair of leather jeans and biker boots and then resumed what they were doing.
If he was there they thought he was just another young eccentric billionaire. The hotel catered to men with money. It was why his father had suggested he stay there. He could meet men who would be able to help him get started in San Francisco.
“I have a reservation under Hunter Samsa.”
“Everything is taken care of. If you will excuse me, I will check to see if your room is ready. While he waited, Hunter looked around at the furnishing. Expensive art pieces on the wall. He had seen some of the pieces in books his mother forced him to read. “You need to know these things to live in the world of men,” she had said. Modern and antique sofas and chairs filled the lobby. Older men in expensive suits walking around with young blonds.
Then he looked down at the way he was dressed. The clerk placed the phone down and walked to Hunter on the other side of the counter. “Your room is ready. Is there anything else you need, sir? Maybe you would like to purchase some clothes?”
“I need a tailor. Can you recommend one?”
“I can send Mr. Blackstone’s tailor. Mr. Blackstone is in New York and he hasn’t used him lately, but he’s on call and you should have no problem obtaining his services.”
“How soon can you have him up to my suite?”
“He can be there at ten am.”
“I need a few hours of rest first and something to eat, and then have him come up.” The clerk called a man and he showed Hunter to a suite on the thirty eighth floor. He had never been that high off the ground before. He never wanted to be that high. But he had to adjust and adapt.
For Hunter it was like dropping a polar bear in the middle of a desert.
When the bell captain showed him to his room and opened the door, Hunter dismissed him with another hundred dollar bill. “No I don’t need anything. I want to be left alone.” It was at this time he took a look around the suite. Everything was new. The sofa, the chandelier which hung over the glass and chrome dining room table, new. The curtains which covered the panoramic glass
leading out to the terrace was new. The bed was new and the mattress that lay on it was new.
Inside Hunter, his feelings and desires were old, and they washed over him and came back with an old vengeance. It wasn’t home, but he had to make it home. But he couldn’t make it home. It was too sterile and lonely to be home.
There were no pups crying, and no Katie to watch at. Haley wasn’t there to stroke his ego and tell him what he didn’t know about himself, and that Katie wasn’t the last woman in the world, and that he was too handsome to even care if she dumped him.
Even Christine wasn’t there to sooth him at night when the moon is full.
He looked around and found the phone. “I’d like the largest steak you have and I’ll take two.” The staff asked him how he would like it cooked, and he almost said uncooked. He had to be careful with that. That was a tell. Many werewolves tried to hide among humans only to be outed because of their desire for raw meat. “Make it rare.”
“Expect your order in a half hour.” He would be sleep in an hour. Hunter waltzed into the restroom and found the shower. He stripped of everything he had on and climbed in. Just when he was enjoying the shower he heard the bell. A woman said that she had his order.
Not thinking, he dashed out of the shower and opened the door. Then he realized that he was naked. It was natural to be naked. But not in a city of humans who didn’t know that he was a werewolf.
“Oh. I’m sorry,” she said breathless. He cupped his manhood behind his two large hands.
“Working in a hotel you get to see all kinds of things. I just pretend that you’re not there,” she said gazing at him. He was too good looking to pretend he was ordinary, so she took a peek at his hard ass when he tried to slide into the back room to retrieve a robe.
“Just place it over near the terrace. He tried to hide as he walked rotating one hand after another from front to back. Who was he kidding? He couldn’t hide a body like his. Hunter came back and looked over the table to make sure everything was to his liking. He had the water he wanted and if he ran out, there was a fridge with everything in it.
Insatiable: Moon Tide Book 6 Page 10
