Hunter's Secret
Chapter 14 - A Trade

Titus’ POV

A few weeks later, the entire Red Rock pack, minus Liam who I kicked out of the pack and forced to become a rogue after the incident, gathered for the funerals of both my mother and my unborn daughter. My mother passed away only six days after we found out about the miscarriage. Even though they passed away on separate dates, Lillian and I decided that the remembrance marker should include both of their names. It was a way for my mother to “meet” my daughter and I hoped they would replace each other in whatever comes after death.

***Six Months Later***

I am sitting in the office, trying to come up with a plan on how to save our pack’s finances. I learned that my father had a gambling problem and lost most of our pack’s money that way. Even though this is a very small pack, I still needed to replace a way to support everyone. I am running out of time and ideas. Sighing, I stand up and stretch, just as Lillian comes in. I open my arms and she moves in for a hug which instantly helps calm me down. I take a deep breath and just hold her for a while. The way she calms me down is still amazing to me.

“Let’s go for a walk,” I offer, and she surprisingly agrees. I know everyone grieves differently and I know grief is complicated and messy and unpredictable, but she has changed. I mean I have changed too but she has changed a lot. She hasn’t left the house since the funeral, and she barely sleeps at night. I tried to get her to go to the doctor, but she refused. I don’t think it would be helpful for me to try to make her go either so I try to be as patient and comforting as I can be.

I know she is still hurting, and it hurts me to know she is hurting, and I can’t do anything to fix it. I am always the one to initiate any kind of physical contact and she rarely accepts. I never want to push her to do anything she doesn’t want to do. She asked me to stop sleeping in the same bed as her, so I sleep on the pullout couch in our bedroom now. I try to give her hugs and kisses and compliments, but she just feels farther and farther away from me. I don’t really know how else to help her as I never had a good example myself.

Before my mother was diagnosed with cancer, my father was often distant and withdrawn from her and from me too. Maybe that was his addiction talking but I noticed he stopped spending so much time with her and stopped doing nice things for her. Everything changed when she got diagnosed though, and my father started doing all the things he stopped doing. He would bring her flowers and chocolates. He would read to her as she sat in the living room, hooked up to all the chemotherapy machines. He started to pay more attention to me too and I was happy. For a while. My mother was even declared cancer free for a few years, but the cancer came back and was worse than the first time.

My father became angry with her for reasons I still don’t understand. He would leave the house angry and come home angry. I started going with her to all her treatment sessions because he refused to, and I didn’t want her to be alone. The chemotherapy really took a toll on her the second time around and it eventually stopped working altogether. For two years, I was her sole caretaker. I made sure she had her medications, I made sure she was comfortable in her bed, I helped her shower when she became too weak to do it herself, I made all her food, I cleaned up all her messes. I had to grow up because my father never did. And then he just left. Now, I have to deal with all of her end-of-life care.

“Titus, are we going to go on that walk now? Or do you just want to keep holding me while you think about your father?”

I haven’t heard her speak that many words to me, all at one time, in months. Even though she is quiet most of the time, I know she is still in there somewhere. A thankful smile spreads across my face and I break our hug and lead her outside.

We walk outside and she turns her face toward the sun and a hint of a smile almost appears on her face. We walk hand in hand around the pack grounds, I am careful to keep us away from the gravesite. I watch as she just takes in the scenery, watching the birds fly in the sky, and listening to the tall grasses move in the gentle breeze. I didn’t realize how much I missed her company. This is the first time I feel hopeful that we might survive this tragedy. We walked for almost an hour when she started leading me to the one place I tried to avoid.

“Are you sure?” I cautiously question. She doesn’t respond but also doesn’t stop walking toward the pond and gravesite. I watch as she stops to pick some flowers from the fields and then gently lays them down by the marker. She kisses her fingers before touching her hand to the ground. I see her smile for a second but when her eyes meet mine again, they are empty. She reaches for my hand again and I let her take it, as we silently walk back toward the pack house.

An unknown scent suddenly hits my nose and I immediately go into high alert. I move Lillian behind me as I try to figure out where the smell is coming from. My pack is severely under protected right now; there is still no Beta, we only have a handful of skilled fighters, and I have given up my own training to sit behind a desk to try and fix things, a decision I am deeply regretting right now. I yell for Lillian to go back to the pack house, and she does without question.

I shift for the first time in a few months and Ryker takes the lead on tracking where the scent is coming from. We move farther away from the pack house, getting closer to the edge of the woods when I see a shadowy figure dart between the trees. Immediately, Ryker charges after the figure and despite the large head start, he quickly catches up to the figure and goes to jump on it. Right as he is about to land, the figure completely disappears. It reappears behind us, and Ryker goes to jump again but he can’t.

“Ah, ah, ah, little wolf,” the figure warned, “you stay right there.” Still unable to move, our only option is to watch as the figure slowly removes its hood, revealing a girl not much older than I am. Her bright purple eyes and silver hair are a stark contrast to the dimly lit forest. “That is no way to greet a lady, wolf.”

With a motion of her hand, I involuntarily shift back into myself. She moves her hand again and I am now clothed with clothes from my own closet. I open my mouth to speak but she holds her finger up and shushes me.

“Before you ask, no I am not a danger to you or your pack. Yes, I am a witch. Yes, I am also currently homeless because I was kicked out of my coven for being too ‘unruly’ and ‘unreliable with my magic,’” she emphasizes with air quotes before continuing, “I just need a place to live and as a trade I will help your pack learn magic.”

She walked closer to me and stuck out her hand, ready to shake mine. Without really thinking, I choose to believe her and shake her hand in agreement. She smiles and turns to leave but looks back over her shoulder and adds, “The name’s Ash by the way. Nice to meet you, Titus.” I try to ask her a question but before I can get any words out, she simply vanishes.