Hunter's Secret
Chapter 18 - Raine

Despite Titus’ broken heart, he knew he couldn’t just abandon all the people who had moved into his pack. So, with Ash’s help, he moved his entire pack of misfits to the eastern edge of the kingdom. Their new, smaller, territory is desolate, and bleak surrounded by woods on three sides. The back of the land backs up against the Blue Flame pack where Jackson and Alice Levitt are the Alpha and Luna.

Raine has healed from her physical wounds, and she is starting to come out of her shell. She is six years old now and has become quite attached to Titus. He has basically adopted her as his daughter and has moved her into his new house. Ash built her house near the border of the two packs. Even though Titus has been stripped of his Alpha title, his pack has enough respect for him that they let him remain as the unofficial Alpha. It has been three years since Lillian rejected Titus as her mate and a part of him died when she left.

“Happy Birthday Titus!” a smiling Ash says as she stands at the door of Titus’ new house. Titus rolls his eyes and invites her inside.

“You turn twenty-two today and we are doing something fun!”

“No,” Titus responded flatly.

“Yes, we are,” Ash argues back, looking down at Raine who is holding onto Titus’ hand, “Raine and I have something planned so you have to come.”

“I said no.”

“Now, Raine!”

Titus looked down to Raine who was looking up at him with puppy dog eyes, her bottom lip sticking out, “Please?”

Sighing deeply and shooting Ash a dirty look, Titus crouched down to Raine’s level and smiled, “Well, since Ash has decided to exploit your cuteness and you asked me so nicely, I will go. What do you two have planned?”

Standing back up, he ruffled Raine’s hair and looked at Ash, expecting an answer. She just told him it was a surprise. He sighed again. Feeling a little hand tugging on his, he looked down at her and a smile lit up her whole face. She lifted her arms in the air, and he gently picked her up. She snuggled into his shoulder, and he involuntarily smiled. She sat up in his arms and placed her hands over his eyes.

“No peeking, daddy! It’s a surprise!”

He chuckled at her excitedness and asked, “Okay, but how I am supposed to get there if you cover my eyes?”

“Ash is going to lead you!” she giggled.

He shifted Raine onto his hip so he could hold her with one hand and reached the other hand out in front of him. He felt Ash’s cool hand grab his and he immediately stiffened. She didn’t pull back though and led him out of the house. The cool fall breeze stirred up the fallen leaves, blowing them around before they floated back to the ground. Titus could feel himself being walked up the hill behind his house. Raine giggled the whole way there, her laughter warming his heart.

She removed her hands from his eyes and squealed, “Ta-da!”

He adjusted his eyes to the light and saw a picnic blanket laid down with a basket full of food sitting off to the side. He smiled but then realized Ash was still holding his hand and quickly jerked it away. A look of hurt flashed across her face, but it was quickly replaced with a smile.

“We just wanted to do something nice for you, Titus. Don’t read anything else into it.”

He sighed and set Raine down in the grass, “You ready to eat, Rainey?”

She nodded her head enthusiastically and ran over to the blanket, taking a seat. He was so focused on watching Raine, he almost missed Ash walking away.

“Ash, you can stay. Have dinner with us?”

Shaking her head and giving him a smile, “No, it’s okay. Enjoy the time with Raine. She won’t be little forever.”

“I want you to stay. Please?” Titus asked quietly. She didn’t respond but did walk over to the basket and started setting everything up.

Ash and Titus ate in comfortable silence while Raine chattered on about something she did earlier in the day. As the sun was starting to set, Titus watched as Ash and Raine played in the grass. Raine’s shrieks of laughter made him smile.

Titus’ POV

Twenty-two. I am twenty-two now. I never thought I would be sitting watching my daughter play in the grass with a witch who is honestly my best friend now. These past years were nothing like what I thought my start to adult life would look like. Thinking back on that night three years ago brings tears to my eyes. Losing my title was a devastating blow but I don’t place any blame on Ash. I was the one who accepted her into my pack and all the people who know her know she is not bad. I wish the High Council could have met her before making their decision.

My tears don’t come from losing my title. My tears don’t even come from losing Ryker. I haven’t felt him or anything since that day. At the time, I thought the pain came from being stripped of my position, but I know now that was not the reason. I reach up to touch the mark on my neck, now an ugly scar that will forever remind me of her. My tears come from remembering her. I am brought back to the present when I hear my daughter ask me a question.

“Daddy? Don’t cry. It is your birthday! Why are you sad?” she said, wiping the tears I didn’t realize had fallen off my face. Ash walks up to me, squeezes my shoulder in support, and leaves to head back to her house.

“Daddy? Will this make you better?” Raine sweetly asks, holding out a small white daisy.

I smile, “You are all I need to be better. I love you so much,” I open my arms and she steps into them for a hug.

“Why are you crying again?”

I smile again, “I am just so glad you are my daughter. You are everything I didn’t know I needed,” I tucked the small daisy behind her ear, and she gives me another hug.

“I love you too, Daddy.”

“It is your birthday too so what do you think about getting into your pajamas, eating some ice cream, and watching a movie?”

I think I might be deaf in my left ear now. She let out a high-pitched excited squeal and started to help me gather everything so we could go back to the house. I don’t actually know when her birthday is but we met on my nineteenth birthday, so we just celebrate together.

I shake my head at her, trying to pick up the basket that is basically the same size as her. I told her I would get it and for her to run back to the house. She takes off, her beautiful long brown hair blowing behind her. How did I manage to get such a wonderful daughter?

I got back to the house to replace her anxiously waiting on the couch for ice cream and a movie. I put the picnic stuff away and got two bowls of vanilla ice cream and I put sprinkles on hers. She likes to have the same kind of ice cream as me, so I put sprinkles on mine too. I sit down next to her on the couch and hand her the bowl and spoon. She looks at me and I smile, offering her my bowl so she can have the first bite of mine too. We start some princess movie and when she finishes her ice cream, she climbs into my lab and snuggles in. I start to get a little teary eyed when I think about how she won’t always want to snuggle with me while watching a movie. She is six now and I think she changes every day. I didn’t know how much I would love being a dad. She is growing up so fast and I am not ready for it.

I think we get about halfway through the movie before she fell completely asleep. I know I should take her to her bed but watching her little chest rise and fall as she breathes brings me an incredible sense of comfort. She has me completely wrapped around her finger and I love it. I love her. I feel myself start to drift off too and internally groaning, I slowly get up, making sure not to disturb her. I carry her to her room and tuck her in for the night. I head to my own room and a pang of sadness hits me, knowing that my bed will be cold when I get into it. Pushing those thoughts out of my head, I slip out of my clothes and put on a pair of shorts before climbing in and I quickly fall into a deep sleep.

My alarm goes off too early and I don’t want to get up, but Raine will be up soon, and she will need breakfast. Rubbing my face, I headed to the kitchen to start making pancakes. As soon as I round the corner, I see Ash eating a bowl of cereal at the table. Her back is to me, so I just walk into the kitchen and open the fridge. I hear her spin around in her chair.

“Do you not have food in your own house?” I teasingly complain.

“I do but my house doesn’t give me breakfast and a show,” she teases back, “Can you put on a shirt before you come out next time?”

“Could you wait until I am awake before coming into my house and eating my food?”

She just huffs in response. I roll my eyes and just continue to get the ingredients out of the fridge and cabinets. I can feel her eyes on me though. I mentally tell myself that it isn’t cheating if she is the one doing the checking out. I mean I know it isn’t cheating anyway but it still feels wrong. As messed up as it is, I still love Lillian. But I won’t lie, I don’t hate Ash’s attention.

I don’t think she has ever seen me without a shirt on before, well if you don’t consider the fact that she totally saw me naked when she forced Ryker to shift back before she gave me clothes, when she introduced herself to me. But that was four years ago now and I have changed since then. I wanted to make sure that I could protect Raine, especially with Ryker being unavailable. So, I started working out a lot after Lillian left, plus it was a good distraction. I don’t want to sound egotistical, but I know I have a good-looking body. I have worked hard to get into the shape I am in now and I am proud of the body I have.

“Your cereal is going to get soggy if you keep staring at me, Ash.”

She chokes on her air, and I hear her turn back around. I can tell I embarrassed her, but she was the one checking me out so she kind of had it coming. I get the pancakes started cooking and I hear the pitter-patter of little feet coming down the hallway. Raine comes into view, dragging her blanket with her. I can tell she slept good last night because her hair is all messy.

“Daddy!” she says cheerfully and runs over to give me a hug. I pick her up, and after giving her a few kisses on her head, I balance her on my hip while I continue to make pancakes. She looks over my shoulder and sees Ash who she also cheerfully greets. Ash returns her greeting and goes back to her cereal, trying to hide her embarrassment. With the pancakes done, I send Raine over to Ash to get seated at the table. I go throw on a shirt and then come back out and serve us breakfast. Raine rips off a piece of the pancake I put on my plate and pops it in her mouth. She smiles at me, and I can’t help but smile back at her.

“So, Ash what are your plans today?”

She hesitantly meets my eyes, and I can tell she is relieved when she sees that I put on a shirt.

“I have a lesson planned with some of the teenagers who are interested in learning some basic magic skills.”

“I want to learn some magic!” Raine pipes up.

“You have to be a little bit older, sweetie,” I explain, “but Ash will teach you when you are older. Now, finish up so we can get you ready for school! Miss Sarah will be here soon to pick you up.”

Raine nods her head and finishes her pancakes. Ash is also done with her breakfast, so she says goodbye for the day. I followed Raine back to her room and helped her choose an outfit. I attempt to tackle her crazy hair next. I finally got it all brushed out and braided her hair back into two little braids. I hear a knock on the door, so I quickly gather up Raine’s schoolbooks and put them in her backpack. I open the door and Raine runs out to give Miss Sarah a hug.

“Thank you for picking her up today. I just have some things I need to do this morning and wanted to make sure she got to school on time.”

Miss Sarah smiles in response and reaches down to hold Raine’s hand. Raine shimmies out her grip and runs back to me, giving my leg a hug. I pat her head and tell her I love her. She runs back to Miss Sarah and takes her hand to start walking. She looks back one more time to give me a small wave and I wave back. Man, I love that kid. I always watch them walk until they are out of my view and today is no different. They almost reach the dirt road when two wolves walk out from the trees. I don’t recognize them, and they are staring directly at Raine and Sarah. I have to protect them!