Fated to the Huntress

Chapter 4

Darrin paced behind the desk in his office while Eric sat and stared at him in confusion. He could feel the nervous energy coming off Darrin in waves, which was something he’d never had to deal with before, and it made him just as nervous.

After a few more back and forths, Darrin stopped and turned to look at his beta. Eric was concerned to see the dilated eyes that showed Shadow just under the surface, but Darrin’s voice was steady.

“I found my mate.”

For a moment neither of them moved, but then Eric jumped up in excitement.

“Luna was one of the rogues? But you didn’t come back with her…is she coming? Surely you wouldn’t be mated with a feral. Maybe she’s on the run from her old pack? That will be great! You don’t have to tour, the council is here so they’ll meet her immediately-,”

“She’s human,” Darrin interrupted, causing Eric to stop and reassess.

“…OK, well…it might take some convincing since there aren’t many human mates, but the Moon Goddess knows best-,”

“She’s a human Huntress.”

“For f**k sake.” Eric plopped back into his seat and dropped his head into his hands, shaking it as he did so.

As far as he knew, there were only two human Luna’s across the packs, but they had been the subject of much discussion since it was harder for them to adapt to the role. They didn’t understand pack dynamics the way that a she-wolf born into the pack would. She definitely wouldn’t know the history, and how big of a deal Darrin was, or how much pressure was on him, that she was meant to alleviate.

But to have a Huntress!

That was unheard of, plus moronic. Most had stopped directly attacking packs in the last few years, but the rumor was that they were still very against any supernaturals. A Luna who may have been responsible for deaths in another pack would only bring that pack's anger onto her own.

Eric sighed. Bringing a Huntress back as Luna would almost be worse than having no Luna at all. He was sure there would be issues in the pack, not to mention Favian might actually explode. And Sabrina…

Darrin had resumed his pacing. “I couldn’t approach her then, but I should be able to track her easily if I go now-,”

“You can’t be serious!” Eric interrupted, making Darrin turn to him in surprise. “You’re seriously going to keep her?”

“She's mine!” Darrin and Shadow growled.

Eric held up his hands in surrender, but his heart felt heavy. “Look, I know you’ve been waiting a long time, but think of how dangerous Hunters are. Our only real protection is they don’t know packs exact locations, but they’ve been getting good at locating territories. If you invite one here, that’s opening up our location to every other Hunter in her lodge, and maybe others.”

Darrin had to admit Eric made a valid argument. There had been information circulating about how the Lodges operated with the point system, and he had no doubt that he would be a prime target for any Hunters trying to advance, not to mention how many wolves he had in his pack.

“I have to talk to her. We can figure this out.” He started walking toward the door, Shadow jumping around in his head at the thought of seeing his mate again, and being able to talk to her this time, but Eric blocked him.

“She’ll know you’re a wolf, she’ll try to kill you!” Darrin only growled and made to throw Eric’s hand off him.

“She’s mine. She’ll love me,” Shadow growled out. He didn’t like that his beta kept blocking him from getting to his mate, and was growing increasingly impatient to find her. Darrin felt his heart beating too fast in his chest, and a pit formed in his stomach, like something bad was about to happen.

His claws extended and he felt his bones starting to reform, but he couldn’t care that Shadow was taking over as a sharp pain ripped through his side and he stumbled into Eric.

“Mate…she’s hurt!” The last of his fur sprouted through his skin, and now he stood in his office in full wolf form. Eric barely had time to throw the door open before Shadow barreled through it and took off into the woods. The part of his mind that wasn’t focused on the pain that was now growing in his abdomen heard Eric’s paws following him, but Shadow only turned toward where they last saw her.

He needed to get to her now, or he might lose her before they even met.