Hunter's Secret
Chapter 9 - Emma: Part 2

Cameron’s POV

‘Get yourself under control man. And take a breath. Like a deep one. I don’t you have breathed since you saw her.’ Xavier scolded me.

‘I am cutting you off for a bit. I can’t concentrate with you talking to me too,’ closing the connection before he had a chance to argue.

Following Xavier’s advice, I take a deep breath, and turn my attention back to Emma who is so breathtakingly beautiful. She removes her hand from mine again to put Ezekiel down again. The lack of contact makes my heart physically hurt. Which I didn’t even know was possible, but it definitely is because that is what is happening.

With Ezekiel back on the ground, he reaches up and holds on to Emma’s hand. I am guessing he is around four or five. Emma grabs my hand again and looks back up at me, our eyes meet and my breath hitches in my throat again.

“What?” she asks innocently.

“I just can’t believe you are my mate. I wasn’t even really looking for you, but I am so glad I found you. I didn’t think I was ready. I just turned eighteen seven months ago. Why didn’t I see you at the party?”

“I had to babysit,” Emma said coldly.

“Oh,” is all I manage to say. Mentally face palming myself, I try to break the tension some.

“You live pretty close to the border. Why did your parents choose here?”

“It was the only option left. I am glad they are putting new houses in. We need them.” Emma replies, her voice void of emotion.

Making a mental note to talk to Hunter about that later, I try to get her to relax some because she is obviously upset about something. I start rubbing my thumb over her hand and she just removes her hand from mine completely. I internally panic, trying to figure out why she is so upset, ‘Did I do something?’

Emma gently leads Ezekiel up the stairs and knocks on the door. An older version of Emma opens the door, obviously not expecting company. She is dressed in pajamas and has dark circles under her eyes. Her eyes meet mine and I can tell she is holding back tears.

“Mom, can we come in or are you just going to keep staring at him?” Emma asks plainly.

“Right, yes, of course. Please come in.”

She opens the door and motions us to come in. The first thing I notice is the darkness. All the curtains are pulled shut and all the lights are off. My eyes adjust and the second and third thing I notice is the smell combined with the piles of trash and dirty clothes everywhere. Trying to not scrunch my nose up, I watch as Emma goes over to flip on a light. Bending down with a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes this time, she says, “Zekey, can you go play in your room for a little bit? I need to talk to mom about something.”

He toddles off, oblivious to the tension in the air.

“Beta Cameron, to what do I owe the pleasure? Also, I apologize about the mess, I was not expecting visitors today.”

I open my mouth to say something, but Emma beats me to it, “Beta Cameron just wanted to make sure I got home safely since I was by myself with Zeke. Alpha Hunter and him met us at the playground where they were just passing by.”

Emma shoots me glance that pleads with me to go along with it, so I do, “Yes, that is right Mrs. Grover. I just wanted to make sure they both got home safely.”

Emma’s mother unsuccessfully tries to choke back a sob and Emma rushes to her side, rubbing her back and shooting me a death glare, “Thank you, Beta Cameron. I think we are good now. I am sure we will see you around.”

“Yes, of course. Have a good night.” I reply taking the hint to leave. I barely make it out of the house before tears prick my own eyes. Opening the connection back to Xavier, he immediately starts chastising me.

‘You put me away for five minutes and you screw it up so badly that our mate hates us and practically kicked us out of her house.’

‘I know. I don’t know what happened. She was fine one minute and then completely different the next.’

‘We need a run.’

Not arguing, I shift and take off to the woods, giving Xavier complete control.

Hunter’s POV

It is almost midnight, and I am still up, waiting for Cameron to get home.

‘He must be having a goooood time with her,’ River remarks.

Laughing, I respond, ‘I guess so.’

I take a seat at the kitchen table, sipping a cup of hot tea and start looking over the documents that dad gave me to go through. I start going through the numbers and try to come up with new plans on how to get more land or get more funding. Our pack is outgrowing the resources we have, and I will need to do something. Sighing, I put the papers back into their folder. I can’t focus on that right now. I am preoccupied with thoughts of my own mate, out there somewhere. I wonder if she is thinking about me right now too. I turn twenty-one in five months, and I still haven’t crossed paths with her yet. At least, I don’t think I have.

‘You would know if we did. Trust me. You would know,’ River calmly stated.

That doesn’t necessarily make me feel better though. That just means I am not any closer to replaceing her. I am not jealous of Cameron.

‘Yes, you are,’ River interjects.

‘No, I am not. I am really happy for him. He fell so hard so fast. I have never seen him look at anyone that way before.’

‘So, you are jealous of Emma?’

‘Okay, River, your side comments are not helpful. Go lay down or something. You are getting on my nerves.’

River just huffed in response and dramatically laid down. I rolled my eyes at him and went back to my train of thought. I am definitely not jealous of Emma. Cameron and I have been best friends for basically my entire life, and he is more like a brother to me than a friend now. He knows me better than I know myself sometimes. Still the way he looked at Emma made my heart hurt a little bit. Not because I want to be on the receiving end of Cameron’s look, but because it made me realize what I don’t have. I am not jealous of Emma, but I want to be able to look at someone like that and have them look at me that way too.

Glancing up at the clock, I realize it is almost 1 a.m. and Cameron is still not back home, nor have I heard from now. I am sure he is fine but for my own peace of mind, I need to make sure so I mind-link him quickly.

‘Locks, you good?’ I ask softly.

‘NO!’ he growls.

Anxiety starts rising in my chest, I have never heard him sound like this before, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, what’s going on? Where are you?’ I ask.

‘Out,’ he states and cuts off the link.

‘That’s not Cameron talking. It’s Xavier,’ River tells me.

I am even more worried for him now. I mind-link both my father and Ryan to inform them of the situation.

‘Dad, Ryan, I am leaving the pack house to go replace Cameron. He is upset and Xavier is in control. Before you ask, if I need help, I will ask for it. I am just letting you know.’

‘Whatever you think is best Alpha. But he is my son so if you aren’t back in a few hours, I am coming after you,’ Ryan says, not asking for permission.

‘I trust your judgement, Hunter,’ Dad mumbles, sleep clear in his voice.

Closing the mind-links, I leave the house as quietly as possible and immediately shift.

‘River, I don’t know where he is, so I am relying on your nose,’ I state and River takes off toward the woods. We spend about thirty minutes running through the woods before River picks up his scent. Following it, we finally catch a glimpse of Xavier running and run after him. Xavier, acknowledging River’s presence, chooses to ignores it and pushes himself faster and farther away. River still manages to catch up with him relatively quickly. Xavier stops and turns to face River, his blue eyes filled with anger and pain.

He growls and starts circling which ticks River off. Growling back, River stops circling and faces Xavier who does not back down. Xavier lunges first and River dodges it easily. However, Xavier quickly turns back around and lunges again, this time grazing River’s back leg with his teeth. A low daring growl rumbles out of his chest but Xavier still does relent. River lunges toward Xavier and grabbing him by the back of his neck, pushes him to the ground. Xavier still tries to turn around and snap at River which causes him to tighten his grip. Xavier yelps and finally turns and shows his neck in submission. River lets go of his neck, backing away and Cameron appears but does not get up off the ground.

I shift back too and was thankful I grabbed some extra clothes before I left. I slip on a pair of sweatpants and move over to Cameron who is just laying with his hands holding his legs in the fetal position. Swearing under my breath, I sit down next to him in silence. After a few minutes, Cameron sits up and takes the sweatpants I offered him and puts them on. He lowers his head back into his hands and does not meet my eye.

“Locks, you look like actual trash. What the heck happened?”

Still not raising his head, he whispered, “She hates me.”

Sighing, I mind-link Ryan and tell him the situation and to tell him I had it under control now. Turning my attention back to Cameron, I ask again, “What happened?”

“It was fine until I asked why she didn’t attend my coronation. She just said she had to babysit and then she let go of my hand. We got to her house and her mom answered the door and I could tell she had been crying. I don’t know why though. I tried to introduce myself as her mate, but she didn’t let me say that. Then her mom started crying and then Emma told me to leave,” Cameron’s voice cracks with that last part and tears run down his face.

I move to sit directly next to him and offer him my shoulder, which he accepts. I am not really sure what to say so I just let him cry on my shoulder. When some of the tears subside, I shrug him off my shoulder and turn to face him. Holding his face, I wipe the remaining tears away and when his eyes meet mine, I can see the pain and emotions swirling. I move away slightly, and he just drops his head back into his hands, supported by his knees.

“She didn’t reject you though. You can still fix this,” I said, trying to say anything that might comfort him.

“She will though, H. She hates me,” Cameron whimpered, and more tears started falling. I have never seen Cameron this way ever, he is always the one to comfort and support me.

“I understand that it feels like that right now. Let’s go home and we will figure it out in the morning,” I say, standing up and gently tugging on Cameron’s arm to encourage him to do the same. He doesn’t even budge or look at me. I am starting to feel a bit desperate so I do the only thing I can think of; I call his mom.