The Hunter’s Mage

by Bryce Evans

  “Come on, big brother. Let them be for now.” Simone pulled her mate until he finally walked over to the door closing it behind him. She couldn’t help it, but her wolf started rubbing against her skin. The damn wolf was purring like a cat. Yes, yes, I know you like him, Jade thought.

  “Uh, Lennox?” Jade asked.

  “Hmm…” This was all she got. She actually heard him growling.

  “Can I get up for a minute. I can’t concentrate like this.” Jade waited until he finally released her. She slowly got up and put some distance between them. When she looked at him, he was staring at her like he was going to attack. She had all these strange feelings inside her. A string pulled on her from the inside. Pulling her toward Lennox.

  No, no, get that thought out of your head right now. They had a lot to discuss and she wanted to see the bear. Who was now a lady. A shifter? Why, why would a shifter do this to her?

  The low growling jerked her attention back to Lennox. Jeez, he looked feral as he stared at her. His body was bent forward almost like he was going to pounce on her.

  “Are you all right?”

  Blinking hard, Lennox shook his head back and forth. His eyes were so bright, she could barely see the color. Staggering as he got onto his feet, she ran to hold him up. “Lennox, what is it? What’s wrong? Tell me.” Jade thought his weight would topple them over, but the strangest thing happened. She eased his heavy frame forward. No way she could have done that a week ago. What was it with this unknown strength coming out of her?

  Sitting him down, Jade stood in front of him.

  “It’s the mating pull. It’s getting harder and harder for me to fight. I’m sorry, baby.” Lennox rubbed his face, but the expression was impossible to miss. He was in pain.

  “Are you in pain?”

  Lennox opened his eyes and the smile was more than flirtatious. It was something she had only seen on Arden and Quinn’s face and even her brother and Simone, but never for her. Until now.

  “Let’s just say, the hard on I’ve got isn’t helping.”

  Jade’s eyes lowered, about popping out of her head. “Oh, oh…”

  “It’s okay, Jade, I’m not pushing you into anything, but you have that effect on me and I can’t hide it anymore. You’re my mate and I know you’re having a difficult time realizing that my bear and the man want you. Stop looking at the scars on the outside and look at the woman on the inside. Because she is both beautiful inside and out. I don’t lie, so don’t even say that. I can see you shaking your head, but you don’t see what I see.” Lennox walked to her and turned her around to face the mirror. Pulling her hair away from her shoulders, he kissed the side of her neck as she melted against him. “This is all beautiful.”

  Jade watched him in the mirror and finally she couldn’t help but smile and in return that made him smile too. “Now let’s see what is going on with the bear. It seems you two are connected in some way. I’ve never seen anything like this before and I’ve seen a lot of strange shit in my life.”

  “Like what?” Jade asked.

  “It was like she was pulling you out of the truck and then you screamed out in pain. Did you feel anything similar to that?”

  Turning around quickly, Jade put her hands-on Lennox’s arms.

  “That’s exactly how I felt but it was so painful. Why? What does she want with me?”

  “Let’s find out.”

  Jade and Lennox peered into the small window from the hallway. Inside the reinforced room, Arden, Bane, Tate, and Finley stood against the walls. Lying on the couch was a woman with long blonde hair. Her skin was a beautiful pale color. She had never seen anyone so pale. Her eyes were closed but Jade could see the battle within her at this distance.

  “Look at her eyes.” Jade pointed out.

  “She’s struggling in her dreams.”

  “She’s running from someone” Jade said.

  Lennox turned to face her. “Jade, how do you know that?”

  “I feel it inside here.” Pointing at her heart, Jade had to look away to take a deep breath. Would anyone believe her? It sounded crazy to her too.

  “This isn’t right. How is that possible? Come over here and sit down.” Lennox pulled a chair away from the door. “Look, you need to tell me exactly how you’re feeling.”

  “I can’t explain it, but I know she’s running from someone and she’s scared.”

  Lennox looked in the window and motioned for Arden to come out of the locked room.

  “Jade, are you feeling better?” Arden asked, followed by her brother and the others.

  “She’s running from someone and she’s scared,” Jade announced.

  “Good!” Bane said, putting his hands on his hips. “I don’t care. There is no way I will forgive that.”

  “Bane. I know you’re upset but there had to be a good reason for the attack,” Jade responded. She never knew how much pain her brother was in. She realized how selfish she had been. Only thinking of her pain and not Bane’s. He had felt helpless when he couldn’t protect her nor find the bear that did it.

  “I can’t believe you are not in a rage. She’s here, Jade. We finally have her in our grasp and you act like you feel sorry for her.”

  “I can’t explain it, but I feel she had to do what she did, and we finally get to find out what that reason is. Don’t you want to know? Where she’s been all these years?”

  “No! I had hoped she was ripped to shreds,” Bane answered, throwing his hand out to the side. Turning around, Bane leaned his head against the wall. “I can’t just let this go. She caused too much pain for my family.”

  Jade moved toward her brother and pushed her arms around him and hugged him tightly. “I can. I feel the biggest weight being lifted off me. I don’t know why. I should be angry but I’m not and I pray that you will let this go too. Like you have always told me…This has made me a stronger person and I can handle anything. If you really meant that, Bane, then forgive her. Let’s get our answers and then go on with our lives. It’s taken too much away from us and it’s time to finally be free from the pain.”

  Bane turned and hugged his sister. “Look at my sister, the redeemer. Always finding the good in everyone, even the ones who don’t deserve her forgiveness. I don’t understand it, Jade, but I’ll try. That’s all I can do.”

  “Tate, you have the first watch. We wait until she wakes up,” Arden said, pointing at the guard.

  She watched as Tate nodded and positioned himself in front of the door. Something told her that it would be a while before the woman woke. She sat in the chair. Emotions ran through her making her wolf anxious. What if questions plagued her. She wanted answers and she wasn’t going to get them any time soon.

  “Your wolf is restless?” Lennox asked, watching her.

  Jade nodded. She needed to run, to do something to take her mind off the woman.

  “Let’s go run. I think we both need it and I want to check to see what the guys have gotten done.”

  Smiling, she got up and followed Lennox to the front door. She could hear Arden and Bane in his office talking. They wanted answers just like her.

  Picking up the small bag, Jade followed Lennox to the path that would lead to the Death Hunters land. “You ready?” Lennox asked taking his shirt off. All she could do was stare at his chest. “Jade?”

  She looked away, embarrassed now. He was built like the statues she read about in Rome. He was beautiful. Not an ounce of fat on him. Each part of him was finely sculpted. Just like a work of art.

  “Don’t look away from me.”

  “I just never...” Jade couldn’t form a sentence. This was her mate. She was going to see him without clothes in a few minutes and he was going to see her.

  “You’ve shifted in front of your pack, right?”

  “Yeah, but I’ve never been attracted to any of them, but you’re different. I…” Jade turned around as he started taking off his jeans. “Shit.”

  Chuckling, Lennox pulled her body up against hi
s. “Soon, this will all be yours. I want to lick every inch of you, Jade Cross. You will be mine and I will be yours. Never will you look away from me again. I will give you this moment, but soon we will mate and I will be the one taking your clothes off.”

  She could feel every inch of him as his arms pulled her in tightly against him. “Okay,” she squeaked.

  Lennox laughed again, then he pulled away. She felt a nudge against her leg. When she turned around, the biggest black bear was behind her. She froze remembering the attack. But this was Lennox and he would never hurt her. She swallowed hard and slowly reached out to touch him. The bear never moved even as her hand shook, the bear just watched.

  Taking a deep breath, Jade moved closer until her fingers slipped through his fur. He closed his eyes as she moved her hand up and down between his eyes. She giggled when he flopped down on the ground. His eyes were still closed as she continued to run her fingers through his coarse fur.

  He was a magnificent animal. Larger than any bear she had ever seen. She smiled as Lennox rolled to the ground. He probably wanted her to rub all over him, but her wolf was eager to run and if she continued to scratch the big beast, she would never release some of this anxiety.

  Instead, she shifted. Her clothes dropped on top of his head as she jumped over him. She didn’t waste any time; Lennox’s bear would be fast and would easily catch up to her. But that was the fun part, the chase. She missed this. With everything going on at the store, she hadn’t joined any of the pack runs and she regretted that now. Her wolf needed this and so did she.

  The wind felt wonderful as she ran as fast as she could, but she could hear him closing in on her. The nip at her tail let her know he was right behind her and doing exactly what she wanted, to play. He was fast, but she could jump over logs and that was the only way she would stay ahead of him.

  At least that was what she thought. She watched, jaw handing down, as Lennox’s bear leaped through the air landing in front of her. Now he was in front. Okay, so he wanted to play hard ball. Jade did too. She jumped as hard as she could and landed on top of him. She figured he would stop, but no, he continued to run and all she could do was dig her claws in and hold on.

  Her wolf loved it and apparently Lennox’s bear did too. When they came to the property line, he slowed, letting her easily jump off. She couldn’t remember having this much fun. She stayed beside him as someone jumped down from a tree in their path. It was a young woman with long black hair. She held a bow in her hand as she glared at her.

  Who was this woman? Lennox acted like he knew her because he didn’t seem offended that she blocked their path. Whoever, she was, she was beautiful and Jade felt the uncertainty rush through her. Those feelings that she wasn’t good enough or pretty enough for someone like the Alpha of the Death Hunters.

  Lennox shifted and stopped in front of the woman. “Welcome back.” Jade immediately felt betrayed when he hugged the woman. She stepped backwards watching but the woman was watching her too and the looks she was giving her told her that she didn’t like her either.

  “Raven, this is my mate, Jade Cross.” Raven never acknowledged her, never even nodded her head at her. The bitch. Who was this woman?

  “I lost them. They knew they had a tail on them. I don’t know how they did it, but they ditched me in Atlanta,” Raven said smiling at Lennox.

  “Wow, you, you got caught. Never thought I would hear that. They will turn back up and I’ll send you some help.”

  Raven put her hand on Lennox’s arm and Jade started growling. They both turned and stared at her. If she didn’t get her hand off her mate, she was going to lose that arm. “Raven, stop it. She’s going to be your alpha’s mate soon, don’t start off on the wrong foot.”

  “Sorry, Alpha, she may be your mate, but she’s got some proving to do. I’ve heard that she’s submissive. Never thought you would get one like that.” Raven smirked, turning her back on Jade and walked back into the woods.

  Jade dove toward Raven ready to give chase, but Lennox caught her, holding her back. She nipped his arms trying to get away. She didn’t want to hurt her mate, but she wasn’t going to let that go. “Jade, enough! Another day, baby.” Blood dripped down his arm as he held on. “Raven needs to cool down. She didn’t mean it.”

  Shifting in his arms, Jade screamed, “Let me go.”

  Lennox dropped her on the ground. Her butt hit hard which made her even madder. “Now, calm down. Raven isn’t the one to mess with, especially right now.” Lennox held his hand down to her, but she wasn’t having any of it. Not this time. He didn’t even take up for her or dress Raven down to size.

  “Calm down? Did you hear how she talked about me. You didn’t do anything. You just let her treat me like a piece of dog crap.”

  “Jade, baby, if I take up for you every time someone says something you don’t like, they will never have respect for you,” Lennox said.

  “Then you should have let me go after her and teach her a few lessons.”

  Lennox laughed. “Look, baby, Raven is a Death Hunter. She kills people for a living. She’s a tracker and she has gone after and handled male shifters that would tear you apart. She’s trained for battle and she knows how to take care of herself. You would have gotten hurt and I’m not going to let that happen. Now shake it off and let’s go—”

  “What was I thinking? You’re going to protect me, right?”

  “Yes, Jade, if necessary, even from yourself. Like I said before, you would have gotten hurt attacking Raven or worse.”

  Shaking her head, Jade could feel something inside of her growing. Rage like she had never felt before shot out through her. Throwing her hand out, Jade punched the tree. She watched as the tree cracked and split making her and Lennox jump away from it.

  “What the hell was that?” Lennox’s eyes widened. He was looking back and forth from her to the tree. “How did you do that?”

  Jade didn’t know. All she knew was she wasn’t going to be with a mate who didn’t believe in her. Protect her, her ass. “Go ask your precious Death Hunter. Maybe she can tell you just how submissive I am.” Jade pointed. “And you, you can kiss my butt.”

  Having enough, she shifted and ran as hard as she could back to Dixon pack land leaving Lennox standing there inspecting the tree. When she got back to the porch she jerked her shirt back on then her pants.

  “What’s wrong?” Bane asked, coming out the back door.

  “Nothing.” Jade started to walk off, but she’d had enough of everyone thinking she was a weak pitiful wolf. “Hey, yeah, let me ask you a question. I want you to be honest with me. I will know if you’re lying.”

  “Cross my heart,” Bane said, smiling. His grin faded, when he seen how upset she was.

  “Do you think I’m weak and can’t take care of myself?” Jade waited and when her brother never said anything, that made her even madder. “You do.”

  “I didn’t say that, Jade. I think you need more self-defense classes. For so long, we protected you and never made you learn anything. Now, I can see that was a bad mistake.”

  Shaking her head, all she wanted to do was cry. That’s how mad she was and disappointed not with her brother, but with herself. She needed to drive. Clear her head and then call Cosmo for more classes. Maybe they could meet in the morning and then in the evening. But she wasn’t ready to forgive Lennox. Not yet.

  “Where are you going?” Bane asked.

  “Away. I need to be alone.”

  “Let me get someone to go with you,” Bane said.

  “No, Bane. I just need to be alone. I will stay in the car and I have my phone. I just want to drive. I won’t go far. I promise, but I need to clear my head. Okay?”

  She watched as Bane struggled inside. He didn’t want her going anywhere alone. “Damnit, Jade. What if someone knows about you mating with the Death Hunter? They could be waiting for you.”

  “Really, how would anyone know that. We haven’t mated and nobody knows. Don’t you think the guar
ds would have seen someone lurking around. Come on.”

  Bane let out a long sigh, shaking his head. “If you’re not back in one hour, I’m sending everyone after you. Understand?”

  “Yeah, I do.” Jade kissed her brother’s cheek and then ran to her car. She needed to head down Potter’s Road and think about everything. Rolling down her window, she let the air blow through her hair. This was exactly what she needed.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Oliver turned and looked at his beta. “Did we just go through the whole town?”

  Danny snorted. “Unfortunately, now you see why it’s so hard to stay hidden in this area. The good thing is those are the only two stores besides the furniture store. One is called Southern Treasures and the other is something gooey, whatever, it’s a bakery. Great actually.”

  Narrowing his eyes, Oliver said, “I hope you are making a point.”

  “Oh, yeah. Well, the alpha’s mate is huge in this town. She sells jewelry and purses. Some kind of shit like that. I looked her up and she is very popular online. Her name is Jade Cross.”

  “Turn back around. Let’s sit in the diner parking lot. Nobody would think anything about that.” Oliver pointed at a dirt driveway. “Have you seen her yet?”

  “Yeah, one time but she was with him. They looked like they were after something. The police chief and a few other men had guns. Looked like they were hunting. The store closed shortly after that. This is the only place open right now.”

  “Then you will recognize her?”

  “Oh yeah, if you see her once, you will never forget that face.”

  “Pretty?”

  “She has a scar from here to here. No way to miss her,” Danny said.

  “Interesting. Wonder if he did that to her.”

  “Nah, on her website it said she was attacked when she was ten years old by a bear. The bear scarred her face and back.”