The Hunter's Mate

by Christina Benjamin

  “Cali’s right, babe,” Grey grumbled. “This is our best shot. And we need all the help with can get when it comes to the hunt. Plus, it’s a job.”

  “Yeah, one where you’ll be eye candy for a bunch of horny shifters.”

  “I can be all the eye candy they need if it helps me protect you.”

  “Grey . . .”

  “Etti, I’m a big boy. I can handle some unwanted flirtation.”

  “Yeah, but maybe I can’t.”

  “I like this possessive side of you,” Grey smirked, his wolf’s pride brimming.

  “I don’t. It makes me anxious.”

  “Babe, it’s a job, it’s close to home and it gives us the best chance of keeping tabs on the hunt. I can’t pass this up.”

  Etti scowled. “I don’t like it, but as long as you agree to let me work the desk here, I can concede to you working at Horney Wolf. But I swear to God, if another woman touches you . . .”

  Grey pulled Etti to her feet and kissed her. “No one has anything on you, Etti. You’re mine.”

  She melted into his possessive kiss and he could feel the tension easing from her with each claiming brush of his tongue against hers. “Come on. Let’s go home and get you into bed, babe.”

  Cali shook her head. “I said best rest, Grey. Rest being the keyword!”

  Grey laughed. “I know. I think we’ve all had enough excitement for today.”

  Chapter 18

  Wes

  It was hours before Wes made his way home, only to remember there wasn’t much left of it.

  Nothing was the same anymore.

  He knew he should go to Cali’s. Or maybe find Etti and apologize. But he didn’t have the energy to do either. He barely had the energy to pull the mattress off the splintered bedframe after drinking half a bottle of Jack on the long walk home. He’d been kicked out of Horney Wolfe again and the bartender took his keys. He should’ve been more upset about the long walk home, but he needed the time to think.

  Wes had instantly felt like shit after he’d walked out on Etti. Her words replayed over and over in his head. He was the problem, not her. It wasn’t Etti’s fault she didn’t love him the way he wanted her to. He couldn’t blame her for not returning his feelings. Especially after the way he was acting. He was being a complete dick, holding their friendship hostage. She deserved better—better than him—better than Grey.

  The thought of Greyson West made Wes sick. Etti’s life had never been easy. It’d been filled with more hurt and heartache than any twenty-six year old should have to experience. Her mother wasn’t kind, secretly hating Etti for her shifter heritage. She mistreated her with years of abuse all while keeping Etti’s true identity from her. And her father never did a thing to stop it. Wes had urged Etti to run away time after time, saying he’d go with her, but her mother always reeled her back in with guilt and family obligation.

  It had become Wes’s job to try to shelter Etti and give her the family she deserved. But now, when it counted, he couldn’t. Yet, she was happy. As much as Wes didn’t want to believe it was true, he saw the new strength and joy radiating from Etti.

  Somehow, in the strangeness of the past few months of unlocking her shifter gene, getting pregnant and engaged to a cursed shifter, Etti had found happiness. And it killed Wes that he couldn’t be happy for her. Even after she’d truly apologized and admitted she needed him.

  Wasn’t that all he wanted?

  But still, he turned his back on her and ran away like the coward he was.

  Wes sank down on his mattress, the weight of the last few days washing over him. There was no anger left, only sadness, as he stared at the scrawling ink covering his massive arms. Ink Etti had put there herself. His body was a tapestry of their lives together—a constant reminder of how intertwined they’d become. Wes could no sooner cut Etti out of his life than he could scratch away the tattoos she’d bled under his skin. Because that’s where Etti lived—under his skin, in his heart . . . forever.

  “I thought I might find you here.”

  Wes looked up to see Cali standing over him.

  God, why had she not given up on him already?

  He needed to stop this destructive cycle with Cali. He couldn’t fuck his problems away this time, no matter how much he wanted to. “Cali,” he began, but she cut him off when he turned to face her.

  “Jesus! Wes, what the hell happened to your face?”

  He gingerly touched the cut under his eye. “I’m not welcome at Horney Wolf anymore.”

  “Who did that to you?” Cali growled, fire dancing in her pretty blue eyes like flames.

  “I did it to myself. I think . . . I don’t know. It’s hazy.”

  Cali grabbed a wet cloth, returning to sit on the mattress with him, gently pulling his face toward her. “Wes,” she murmured. “You can’t keep doing this. I don’t think your face can handle it. And I’m sort of attached to the way it looks.”

  He barked a laugh. “Ah, come on. I’m not that pretty. Besides, who else are you gonna practice your mad healing skills on? You can fix me right up.”

  “Yeah, I could if you were a shifter. But you’re not, Wes.”

  “Don’t remind me,” he huffed.

  “Seriously. You’ve got to stop picking fights you can’t win.”

  “Tell me about it,” he muttered under his breath.

  Cali ran a soothing hand through Wes’s hair. His eyelids shuddered closed. He loved when she did that.

  “Wes, I know you’re hurting and I wish there was something more I could do for you, but—”

  Wes stopped her roving hands. “Cali, you’ve done more than you should already.”

  Hurt washed across her face, but she quickly recovered. “I knew what I was getting myself into with you, Wes. But what I was going to say, is that you need to stop this before you do something you can’t live with.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Cali sighed, looking sadder than he’d ever seen. It prickled his nerves to see her normally resilient exterior ruffled. “Today, after you left the Painted Wolf, Etti was so upset that her stress started to endanger the baby’s heart rate—”

  “What?” Wes was on his feet in an instant.

  “She’s fine,” Cali said quickly, putting a hand on his chest to stop him. “But if you can’t control the way you act around Etti, maybe you should consider staying away. This thing between you isn’t good for anyone.”

  Wes sank back to the bed, hot tears leaking from his face. He was shaking, unable to hide his self-loathing. He couldn’t believe what he’d almost done. If anything happed to Etti—to her baby—because of him . . . He couldn’t live with himself.

  He let Cali soothe him until he could regain control of his emotions. He cleared his throat and stood up, striding across the room, collecting clothes and shoving them into a rucksack.

  “What are you doing?” Cali asked.

  “You’re right. I think I need to stay away from Etti, from everyone, for a while.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Somewhere to think.”

  “Maybe I can come—”

  Wes cut her off. “I need to be alone for a while.”

  Chapter 19

  Etti

  “So you don’t have any idea where he might have gone?” Cali asked.

  “No. I’ve checked all his usual spots,” Etti replied. “And Grey even asked around at work. No one’s seen him.”

  It’d been almost a week since Wes took off and Etti was starting to worry. He’d never done anything like this before. At first she thought he just needed a day to cool off . . . but a week?

  Etti could see how worried Cali was about Wes, so she tried not to make things worse by voicing her concerns. Cali already thought it was her fault for telling Wes how badly he’d upset Etti the last time they’d spoke.

  “I’m sure he’ll turn up once he stops pouting.” Etti muttered. “It just sucks he’s going to miss the wedding.”

  “
I’m sorry, Etti.” Cali replied. “I know you were hoping he’d be here.”

  “I look better in a tux than he does anyway,” Marc called from his booth.

  Etti laughed. “Best man of honor in town,” she called back.

  “Damn straight!” Marc shouted.

  Etti smirked at Marc’s enthusiasm. She was glad at least a few things still felt the same. She was currently sitting behind the counter at the Painted Wolf with her feet propped up while she and Cali split lunch. It had become their routine ever since Wes took off. Plus, it gave them time to go over the wedding details.

  Etti and Cali needed to put their heads together if they were going to pull off a wedding and a baby shower in the short time that remained before baby Izzi arrived.

  “So, are we all set for the shower tomorrow?” Etti asked, turning her attention back to Cali. Etti was hoping party details would distract Cali from worrying about Wes.

  As usual, Cali perked up. “Yes!” she said, her blue eyes gleaming with excitement. “The baby shower is all set! I’ve confirmed the catering headcount and have a car scheduled to pick up Grey’s family from the airport.”

  A nervous flutter rippled through Etti’s stomach and for once it wasn’t the baby. She was more than a bit anxious to meet Grey’s family. His mother, Sarah, and younger brother, Ethan, had only been able to fly in the day before the wedding, due to their busy work and class schedules. And that was fine by Etti. She was already a ball of nerves about the whole thing. “I think Grey wants to pick his family up himself,” Etti added trying to keep her nerves from her voice.

  “Right!” Cali said. “I’ll cancel the car.”

  “And what about my dress?” Etti asked looking at her round belly. It looked like she was smuggling a motorcycle helmet under her shirt. She’d finally given up her old shirts and started wearing Grey’s t-shirts and flannels. “Do you still think I should wear white? I mean I don’t really look like a bride. Maybe I could just wear my usual—”

  “You are not wearing motorcycle boots and a leather jacket to your wedding, Etti,” Cali practically growled. “The dress is beautiful, you look beautiful, everything is going to be beautiful. I just have to reconfirm some things with the florist, but otherwise everything is set for the wedding. Just sit back and relax.”

  “Fine,” Etti muttered chomping on another bite of her burger.

  Cali was insanely bossy, but frighteningly good at party planning. Etti was grateful to have her. She never could have pulled everything together so quickly, or elegantly. She wasn’t good at that kind of stuff. Now give her a motorcycle or tattoo . . . that was a different story.

  Marc poked his head out of his booth again. “So, still no to the bachelor party?”

  “No!” Etti and Cali shouted at him in unison.

  Marc shrugged. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

  Grey said he didn’t want one and Etti decided that ship had sailed when Cali brought up a bachelorette party. They were already cramming a baby shower and a wedding into the next two days. There really wasn’t time for anything else. Especially since Wes had made it painfully obvious that he wasn’t around to help.

  Etti tried to hide how much it hurt her feelings when she was around Cali and Marc, but Grey saw right through it. She’d spent more than a few tearful nights over it. She thought Wes would eventually change his mind and except her decision to be with Grey. But with his disappearance and the wedding two days away, it seemed less likely every day.

  Etti was going over last minute details with Cali when Grey busted through the door looking frantic. Despite how slow Etti was moving these days, she was on her feet in an instant. “Grey? What’s wrong?”

  He ran to her, wrapping his arms around her, touching her all over like he was trying to make sure she was real.

  “Grey, you’re freaking me out,” Etti warned trying to get his attention.

  He finally breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re okay.” Disbelief still shone in the silver of his eyes, his wolf close to the surface.

  “Of course I’m okay,” Etti replied.

  “You didn’t answer your phone.” Grey’s voice was clipped.

  Etti glanced down at the desk to her phone’s black screen. She’d killed the battery with all the wedding planning and forgotten to plug it in. “It’s dead. I’m sorry. What’s wrong?”

  “I even tried the office,” Grey muttered, still breathing heavy, like he’d run all the way from work.

  “I’m sorry, Grey,” Cali replied sheepishly. “I was using it to confirm wedding details.”

  “Grey,” Etti led him to the couch. Even Marc curiously poked his head out to see what all the commotion was about. “Tell me what the hell is going on,” Etti urged. “Why do you look like you saw a ghost?”

  “Because I did,” he replied and Etti’s skin stippled with a fear.

  Her voice was barely a whisper. “The hunt?”

  Grey nodded.

  “Who?” she asked fearing the worst.

  “Jaxon.”

  At least it wasn’t Derik, but then again, the ruthless Alpha never did his own dirty work. “Did he get away?” Etti asked already calculating how much time they had.

  Another nod.

  “Shit,” Etti whispered.

  Jaxon was the fastest in the pack. He was probably halfway back to wherever Derik was hiding out by now. Or had at least relayed the info that Grey was still in Blue Creek. They shouldn’t have stayed. They should have left Blue Creek and kept running the minute they were free of the hunt. But no, Etti had wanted to stay. She didn’t want to leave her shop. She wanted to be around family and friends when she had her baby. All of that sounded so stupid now. Because if Derik came after them now . . . A chilling thought lanced through Etti, making the fear more real than it had been a moment ago.

  “Does he know?” Etti asked, voice trembling.

  Grey didn’t answer, but his head hung in defeat.

  “Does he know about the baby?” she demanded.

  At last, Grey lifted his head and Etti knew the answer before he even opened his mouth. The silver of Grey’s wolf shone in his eyes, heavy with shameful despair. She could feel her wolf pushing to the surface, wanting to defend her mate. Etti pushed back against the shift, fearing it would rush her due date and that was the last thing she wanted with the hunt nearby.

  “What happened?” Etti asked in a voice much calmer than she felt.

  “I was talking to a customer,” Grey muttered. “I shouldn’t have been, but I couldn’t help it. She was showing me photos of her kids and I started talking about you and Izzi and how excited I was about getting to meet her in a few weeks.”

  All the color leeched from Etti’s face.

  “I’m so sorry, Etti. But he knows. Jaxon knows and that means Derik will know soon too.”

  Etti only stared at Grey in utter disbelief as her fragile world crashed down around her.

  Cali stepped in, breaking the silence. “There’s no time to beat yourself up over this, Grey. If Jaxon was here, it’s because Derik sent him. And that means the hunt probably got wind of the baby already. And even if you hadn’t been talking about it, Jaxon could have scented the baby on you if he’d known what to look for.”

  Grey only blinked at Cali—her words couldn’t seem to penetrate the guilt he felt.

  Cali continued. “The point is the hunt was going to find out eventually. The best thing we can do now is alert the Wolfe clan and set up a perimeter.”

  Etti erupted. “We can’t stay here!”

  “You won’t be any safer on the run,” Cali argued. “Think about it. At least here we have help and the hunt has lost the element of surprise.”

  Etti turned to Grey. She wanted a different answer. Something that sounded better than waiting for the hunt to come back and finish what they started months ago. There was so much more at risk now. “Grey, what do we do?”

  “The only thing we can do,” he replied. “Stay here, prepare and keep livi
ng our lives.”

  “Keep going with our wedding plans? Just pretend we’re not being hunted?” Etti couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You can’t be serious, Greyson?”

  He blinked the silver from his eyes and focused on Etti’s face. “This doesn’t change anything. I love you and want to marry you. And this baby is coming whether the hunt knows about her or not. If they make us put our lives on hold, they win. And I won’t allow it.”

  Chapter 20

  Greyson

  Grey rubbed the exhaustion from his face with his large hands. The last few hours had been rough. Neither Etti nor Grey got any sleep. He’d been up pacing all night, while Etti cried out in her sleep with nightmares so terrible she refused to tell him about them. They’d no doubt been about the hunt. Grey continued to rack his brain for any advantage. He couldn’t figure out why the hunt was even out of their territory. They were only supposed to hunt during the hunter’s moon. Grey and Etti were supposed to have more time. They were supposed to be safe.

  Grey glanced over at Etti. She sat next to him in the passenger seat of Marc’s car, anxiously chewing her nails. Marc had traded Etti his car for her motorcycle a few weeks ago and Greyson was beyond grateful Etti agreed to it. He didn’t want to explain to his mother that the woman carrying her grandchild still thought she could drive a motorcycle. He already had enough to fill his mother in on.

  “Don’t be nervous,” Grey said, pulling Etti’s hand from her mouth. “My mom’s gonna love you.”

  “I’m more worried about endangering her. Do you really think it’s a good idea to go through with this?”

  “Etti, you aren’t getting cold feet on me, are ya?” Grey asked, letting his mouth slip into the crooked grin he knew she couldn’t resist.

  “I’m serious. I don’t want anything to happen to your family, Grey.”

  “You’re my family, Etti. You and Izzi.”

  She squeezed his hand at that. “I know. I’m just scared. You joined the hunt to protect them. I’d never forgive myself if they were hurt because of me.”