Hunter's Secret
Chapter 38 - Shopping

Raine’s POV

I am sitting in Hunter’s office reading a history book while he is working on paperwork and making phone calls. Emma has still been avoiding me, but I understand why now. Apparently when she put her hands on me, she also put herself in a potentially deadly situation. According to werewolf law, threatening or acting aggressive toward a Luna of a pack is punishable by death. Like Hunter could decide to have her killed just because she touched me. I mean, he won’t do that because she is Cameron’s mate, and she didn’t actually hurt me, but he could if wanted to, which is wild.

I didn’t realize how much I actually didn’t know about werewolves even though I lived among them for most of my life. Respect is of utmost importance and even just forgetting to address someone by their title can be seen as an attack of their authority and is punishable by death, which is also wild. There are so many rules, and I don’t understand most of them. I don’t think I could be a very good Luna. I frown to myself and Hunter’s head jerks up and he looks at me with concern.

“Are you okay?”

His eyes search my face and I smile and nod my head.

“Then what is wrong?”

“Nothing, I am just thinking about the future,” I half-lie.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I just have already been here for three days, and I have to go back soon.”

“I know,” he says with a hint of sadness in his voice.

“Yeah…” I agree, surprised at my own sadness. I look out the window and smile at the beautiful view. Trees are dancing in the gentle breeze, children are playing in one of the fields, and everyone just seems so happy. I don’t know if I really want to leave. I feel safer here. Plus, Hunter has been so sweet. I glance back over at him, and he averts his eyes, a small blush dusting his cheeks. He takes a quick breath in and looks back at me.

“Will you go on a date with me?” he asks nervously.

“I would love to.”

“Really?”

I smile at him, “Of course. What do you have in mind?”

“It’s a surprise. Can you be ready around 7?” He smiles, a glint of excitement in his eyes.

I returned his smile and nodded my head. It is about 4 now so I have a few hours, “I am going to go so I can decide what to wear and so you can finish your work. See you later!” I blow him a kiss and he dramatically “catches” it and places it on his lips.

I softly shut the office door behind me and headed downstairs. I know Cameron is out for the day, but I think Emma is still here. I am pretty sure she sleeps in Cameron’s room every night, but she also has her own room. I knock on her door, and she opens it, definitely not expecting to see me.

“L…Luna. What can I do for you?”

“Emma, my name is Raine. Please just call me that. And I was hoping you might be willing to go shopping with me?”

“Shopping?”

“Yeah…Hunter is taking me on a date, and I don’t have anything to wear. Like I actually don’t have anything to wear, my clothes are still back in my apartment, and I only have casual clothes at my dad’s house which is what I am wearing now.”

“Are you sure you want me to go with you? Aren’t you mad at me?”

“Emma, the only person who is mad at you, is you. I am not offended but I might be if you don’t come with me. As much as I enjoy Hunter’s company, I need some girl time.”

She laughs at me and actually smiles, “I feel the same way! And sure, I would love to go shopping! When do you want to leave?”

“Are you free now?”

“Definitely! I could also take you on a tour of the pack if you want.”

“That would be really nice. Can we go now then?”

“Sure, but please go tell Hunter where you are going. I don’t want to be on the receiving end of River’s rage.”

I nod my head, but I don’t quite understand what she means by that. As I make my way up the stairs, I think about him. River seemed so gentle when I met him. And he is beautiful. I can tell that Hunter is a part of River as much as River is a part of Hunter. I know I should have felt scared standing face to face with a wolf who is as tall as I am, but I wasn’t. I was more amazed than anything. His yellow eyes were kind and caring. He made me feel safe, just like how Hunter makes me feel safe.

I slowly open the door to the office and Hunter’s eyes meet mine. My heart involuntarily speeds up a little and I know he hears it because he smirks. I roll my eyes at him, but I can’t keep the smile off of my face.

“I just wanted to let you know that I am going to shopping and taking a walk around the pack,” I pause, seeing him tense up, “Relax. Emma is going with me. I will be fine. She is obviously strong.”

He still looks displeased, but I think he realizes that I wasn’t asking for his permission, so he gives me a nod of understanding and approval.

“Be safe,” he gently says, looking back down at his papers.

“I will be. See you later.”

I head back downstairs again, and Emma is waiting for me on the couch. She gave me a big smile and we headed out the door. We causally talked as she took me on a tour of the pack lands. I learned about her family some and it makes sense why she was worried about me with Cameron. Everyone she has ever loved has been taken away from her. She has been through a lot in the past few years. And she is only twenty.

We reach the department store and Emma immediately starts collecting things for me to try on. A few other people are milling around. They eye me suspiciously before slightly lifting their noses. Their eyes widen and they quickly lower their gaze, scurrying away from me and Emma. Weird.

“Emma?”

“Hmm?”

“Why is everyone moving away from us?” I softly ask.

“They can smell Alpha Hunter on you,” she states nonchalantly.

“What! Really?”

“Yeah. You smell like him. So, everyone knows not to mess with you. I don’t know if they know you are his ma…well you know what I am talking about…but they don’t have to know that to be respectful to Alpha.”

“That’s crazy. So, everyone has an individual smell, but you can identify who they have been around by what smells they have around them too?”

“Pretty much.”

“Wow….”

I really need to keep reading. There is a lot I don’t know.

“Try these on next. The colors will really good on you,” Emma tells me as she hands me several long dresses.

“Emma, these are too long. These might fit you, but I am like six inches shorter than you are.”

“Oh yeah right. Sorry. I will be right back.”

She brings back some more dresses and shirts. We spent a few hours trying everything on and I found a few things that I like. She refuses to let me pay for my own clothes. We are lazily making our back to the house but decide to take the long way back so we could talk a little more.

“I hope we can be friends. I really enjoyed spending time with you today, Emma. And thank you for helping me replace some clothes and for paying for them. You are very sweet.”

“I would be honored to be your friend, Lu…Raine. We should hang out more!”

I look over at her and I giggle at her intentional name change. She laughs too and I smile. I do really like her. Even though she is quite a few years younger than I am, she is a good person. I have never really had any close girl friends other than Kai’s wife, but we have only been friends for a few years. I have just been so busy with school and my hectic schedule that I never really had time for any close friends. And I definitely have not had time for any serious relationships. I told myself that when I finished with this residency then I would finally let myself look for someone to date. I just didn’t expect the person to replace me first.

“GET DOWN!” Emma screams and I quickly drop to the ground. I hear growling to my left and when I look over, Emma is gone. In her place, is a gray wolf who is fighting a much larger brown wolf. The brown one clamps down onto the gray wolf’s shoulder and blood starts seeping out of the wound. I don’t hesitate to start running in the direction of the pack house. I hear a yelp behind me and glance over my shoulder. The gray wolf is now laying, unmoving, on the ground with blood pouring out of its shoulder. Satisfied that the gray one is not going to get up, the brown wolf turns its attention to me. Its eyes are red and very angry. I start pushing myself harder, trying to get to the house faster. I hear it get closer and when I think it is going to jump, I stop running and duck again.

The wolf flies over me and angrily lands on the ground, turning back to face me. I know I can’t outrun it anymore, so I squared up. I know I can’t fight a wolf and win but I am not going to go down without a fight. Remembering what my self-defense teacher told me, I try to steady my breathing and calm my heart. Big emotions cloud your brain and I need to be able to think clearly so I can figure out how to get out of this mess. Although I am really glad I took a self-defense class, I don’t think the techniques are really going to work on a wild animal, but I am going to try anyway.

I dug one of my heels into the ground and readied my arms. The brown wolf is staring me down and I suddenly feel like prey. His red eyes are locked onto me, and Emma’s blood is dripping from its bared pointy teeth. Its fur is patchy and despite the large size of its body, I can tell it hasn’t eaten a full meal in a long time. I thought Hunter made sure all his people were taken care of. Why is this one so skinny? I don’t have time to really think about it anymore because it lunges at me and easily knocks me onto my back. It places one paw on my outstretched right arm, and I feel my bones crunch under the weight. I wail in pain as it stands over me, Emma’s blood now dripping onto my face.

It lowers its face closer to mine and I squeeze my eyes shut. I brace myself for more pain, but I hear the wolf grunt as I feel it get knocked off me. I open my eyes and am filled with relief. An even larger black wolf tackled the brown one. I recognize the wolf as River. A golden wolf joins the fight too and I recognize that one as Cameron’s wolf. I slowly get back to my feet, and clutching my painfully broken arm, start running in the direction of the house again. I don’t want to leave Hunter, but I can’t help; I am not strong enough.

I only make it a few feet before I twist my ankle and fall back down, landing on my arm. Waves of pain travel through my body and I can still hear growling and the snapping of jaws behind me. A menacing growl vibrates the ground and I hear a man’s voice say something before I hear the unmistakable sounds of choking. I don’t allow myself to look behind me again. My arm is killing me and the sounds behind me make me feel nauseous.

The growling has stopped, and I hear someone running over to me. I really hope it is Hunter. I see black paws come into view and I watch them turn into legs. I feel myself being lifted off the ground and I start crying into Hunter’s chest. I can hear his heart pounding and his arms tighten around me, making me cry harder. Every step he takes jostles my arm and I know is trying to be gentle, but I am in so much pain.