A Hunter's Chance - #2 of "The Hunter's Series"
Twenty-Four

Go to our room?!

Yeah, right!

“Sure, babe,” I said in my sweet voice and enjoyed his reaction, just as I turned around and left. He knew there was trouble ahead and I could feel his eyes burning holes in my back. I knew he said that, because he worried what the other wolfs would do to me, if they decided to take matters into their own hands. But no way in hell was I going to go to my room like a fucking scolded child!

I had an idea of what might have happened and perhaps to even track Oscar. But like all wolves, they would never trust a Hunter and I wasn’t going to risk his life over petty arguments.

And as usual – there was only one person I could turn to…!

I knocked on the door--- only to come face to face with Mindy! The bitch I really didn’t want to see…!

“You!” she exclaimed in disgust and was just about to slam the door in my face, when I pushed it wide open.

“I’m not here for you, I’m here for Derik,” I scoffed, not in the mood for her bullshit. I was done! I was done saying sorry for existing. I was done apologizing for being what I was. I was done being their bloody doormat!

If they wanted a Hunter—it’s about time I showed them how we played in the big girls’ league!

“Derik’s not…,” she hissed between clenched jaws, but I didn’t let her finish.

“DERIK!” I shouted into the room, ignoring the angry she-wolf that looked ready to kill me. “I need your help!” If he could guilt me into talking to him, I was going to guilt the hell out of him!

“Lizzy?” he said, emerging from the bathroom, draped in nothing but a towel. “What’s…?!”

“I need your help with something,” I said, crossing my arms and leaned against the doorframe. “Coming?”

Mindy was glaring daggers at him, warning him not to go. But Derik gave her a look of her own, forcing her wolf to submit. I didn’t particularly like being the cause of them fighting, but I never asked to be part of his pack or for his wolf to accept me as his own blood. And like I said: I was done apologizing for shit I had no influence over…

Derik nodded towards me and disappeared into the room again, while I eyed the hallway for Xyen’s men. I don’t know if they knew I wasn’t supposed to be here, but I wasn’t about to test the theory.

“Derik…!” Mindy growled, clearly pissed, just as he reemerged in a pair of sweats and a simple white tee.

“I’ll be right back,” he just stated and placed a swift kiss on her lips. “Stay here!”

And somehow that just was the drop for me…

“What is it with you men and telling us females to stay in our rooms?!” I exclaimed turning to Derik and even taking Mindy by surprise. “She pissed at you right now and has very good reason to be. If she wants to leave the room, for heaven sake: let her! I’m the only Hunter here as far as I know.”

I pushed myself off the doorframe, while both wolves eyed me with different expressions. Derik had that ‘seriously?!’ look on his face, while Mindy had a ‘WTF?!’ look. I just shook my head and sighed.

“Come on!” I huffed, going down the corridor. Lucky for me, I already knew the layout of the house, but I still needed to be extra sneaky, not to run into Xyen while they were investigating…

“Is someone going against her mate’s orders?” Derik grinned, just as I pulled him behind a wall, so I didn’t run into Jackson, the Third. I scowled and if I could, I would have growled at him. He didn’t even need to say it: he didn’t like me being Xyen’s mate, but his wolf wasn’t going to pick a fight with another alpha over a mate. It was the wolf’s way! But stubbornness kept me from telling him that, one: I was only his mate until the end of the week and two: my life was none of his goddamn business! Because whether I liked it or not, I was always going to come back to Derik – my brother!

“Alpha commands don’t have an effect on me, remember?” I whispered, leading him to the back yard, stopping under the balcony where I’d seen Luna Fray talk to the rogue the other night.

“So what are we doing here?” Derik asked, but I ignored him.

“Do you smell a rogue here?” I asked, gesturing around us. His eyes flashed black, as he let his wolf surface and took a deep sniff of the air.

“Yes…” he growled, not liking at all, that a rogue had been this close to the pack house. And he was probably going to give Xyen hell for it too, but right now I didn’t care.

“I need you to replace that rogue!”

“Find a rogue?!” he exclaimed, his eyes wide in surprise. Disgusted by the notion alone. “Lizzy that’s…”

And that’s when I lost my shit!

“And that’s why I hate werewolves!” I cried out, my fingers flexing to strangle my brother. “You hear one word and then jump to conclusions! Hunter: bad! Rogue: bad! Girlfriends: bad! You’d think that having an open mind would kill you people!”

Derik took a surprise step back, but quickly picked himself back up; knowing that this probably wasn’t just about a rogue. And he’d be right…

“Lizzy! I was trying to do the right thing…”

“Well, stop trying and just do!” I sheeted, letting it all out: “Taking Sif away from me, wasn’t the right thing to do! it was the wolf’s way to do things! Telling me, ‘I told you so’ when Kevin found his mate and beat the fucking shit out of me, wasn’t the right thing to do! And I don’t give a fuck if a ‘wolf’ would understand! Just because you got a mate doesn’t give you the right to treat your girlfriend like yesterday’s trash! And it most certainly doesn’t give you the right to abuse her!” I was practically screaming at the end of my rant. I took a step forward, standing face to face with Derik. His blue eyes flashing with hurt and regret. And a lot of black! “Or the dick of a brother/alpha to just stand by and watch!”

I was fuming. Angry and hurt, but DAMN! Did that feel good to get off my chest!

Derik was shaking and his wolf was surfacing. He wasn’t going to apologize. I knew that much. He wasn’t anything like Xyen. He was an alpha wolf who led his pack the wolf’s way. But seeing that he was fighting his wolf for control – to put me back in my place – was enough for me. He didn’t ask for forgiveness and I wasn’t going to give it.

But I was going to put it behind me…

Besides--- I needed this back on track! There was still a kid missing…

“I think Alpha Cade is hurting Oscar,” I blurred out, taking Derik by surprise and effectively defusing the situation. “I noticed Luna Fray talking to a man on the first night – this rogue and I think he’s helping her get Oscar away from Alpha Cade.”

“Why would Alpha Cade be hurting his own kid?” Derik frowned.

“Well, I’d love to ask Luna Fray about that,” I replied dryly--- and maybe there was just a hit of sarcasm in there. “But I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to get a one and one with her while I’m on lockdown.”

He smirked.

“Trouble in paradise there, Lizzy?”

I frowned. He definitely didn’t like Xyen--- but two could play at that game…

“And what will he say, when he replaces you with his mate?” I questioned, flashing him a grin of my own. “Last I heard, he said he’d kill you and knowing Xyen he usually don’t make empty threats.”

He frowned--- and I smirked.

“Come on!” he growled, heading deeper into the surrounding forest. “Let’s replace that rogue.”

I grinned and followed. Not that I was keeping score or anything--- but that round totally went to me!