The vampire and the wife

Chapter 9

Hunter ended up taking us back into town and to an average-looking house. He parked outside while on the drive way a car was already parked.

"Ah crap, looks like my mum's home." He muttered as he ran his hand through his hair. "I'll apologise now if she makes you uncomfortable in any way, shape, or form. It's just... Since Kara... My mum's been trying to get me to date and bringing you here is probably the stupidest idea ever, as she'll get the wrong end of the stick and... Yeah, so I'm sorry."

I couldn't help but laugh and shake my head. "It's fine, really. Awkward is what I'm used to when it comes to families." I shrugged and felt a pang of guilt in my stomach at the comment as I thought of my dad for a moment.

"Don't worry though; I'm pretty sure Annie will have your back on this." He grinned. "Now mutt, behave." He warned as he looked in his mirror at Shadow, who was now standing up and howling.

"What's up with him?"

"He wants out." Hunter shrugged. So we both got out and I went and stood at the side of the car boot as Hunter opened the boot and Shadow jumped out and shook himself, sending waterdrops all over Hunter and I. "Twat." He muttered as he went to clip the lead on him but Shadow came to me instead and sat waiting for me.

"What? He's got the lead, not me." Hunter handed me the lead and I clipped it on. "Happy?"

Hunter laughed as I handed it back to him. "He really is in a mood today." He sighed as he walked around the side of the car and to the side gate. I followed closely, a little on edge as to what to expect. Now I was beginning to feel a little out of my comfort zone with it all. When I went through the gate, I shut it straight away as Hunter took Shadow to what looked like a shed, but there were a couple of other dogs already in it on one side. It looked like the second side was empty.

"One of them is Annie's dog." He pointed at the black labrador. "That's Molly and the brown one is Miles, my parents." Hunter got Shadow into the other side, away from the two dogs that were playing. "Shadow can't be trusted with these two." He muttered.

"That does not surprise me." I couldn't help but laugh as Hunter shut the door and Shadow paced around for a few and then curled up.

"Now that the easy part is done, let's go and introduce you." Hunter grinned as he walked to the back door and opened it for me. I stepped into a gallery kitchen that had a breakfast bar running down the middle; it looked so modern and clean, being white and a light grey colour. At the table was Annie and a woman who looked like an older version of Annie, which I guessed had to be Hunter and Annie's mum.

"You never told me Hunter was bringing company." The woman looked at me, blinking in confusion.

"Because I didn't want you to scare the poor woman away." Annie laughed. "Hey Rosa... it was Rosa, right?"

"It was." I blushed a little, wondering just what Annie thought of me after my night of drinking.

"Mum, Rosa, Rosa, this is Tracey, our mum." Hunter muttered as he helped me out of my coat. "Before you start, no, there's nothing going on; we're just friends. Rosa's been through a bad breakup with someone and she needed a friend so I suggested we took Shadow for a walk together to just escape a little. Drink?" He looked at me with a grin as if he had done his part and now I was left to deal with whatever on my own.

"Umm, yes, please." I muttered.

"If your putting the kettle on, I'll have a cup of tea." Annie muttered as she folded her arms over her chest.

"Coffee Rosa?"

"Sure." I shrugged and sat down, leaving a space between Tracey and I.

"It's nice to meet you, Rosa, and if something more were to happen, I wouldn't be upset with you both." Tracey grinned.

"I told you, mum, no one will replace Kara." Hunter sighed. I looked over to see his head slump down a little and his shoulders. I guessed this had been what he'd meant about his mum going on about him dating another woman. "Kara was my world and no one will ever be her."

"I know that, sweetheart, but you still need to live too."

"I do live." Hunter told her as he stood up straight and lent against the counter, looking at his mother. I knew that look all too well, I'd used it on my own mother a fair few times; it had been the shut up and leave me alone.

"You and Shadow are not living a life and neither is living in that pack." Tracey seemed angry at Hunter's choices.

"It's not all that bad." I muttered, making Tracey and Annie look at me. "No, I don't live there or anything. I know Jen, who lives there, and she's lovely and wouldn't make anyone do anything they don't want to."

"Thank you." Hunter muttered. "I told you this. You should meet Jen and Eric; they aren't as bad as you seem to think they are."

"Let's not do this in front of Rosa." Annie shouted over the top of them all. "Let's enjoy the company and you two can fight later about the whole wolf thing. Personally, my thought is: If your happy, then so am I."

"The way it should be." Hunter turned his back on us all as he took three cups out of the cupboard and began to make the drinks.

"So Rosa, what do you do for a living?" Tracey asked. Panic began to swell up in my chest. I couldn't just openly tell her I was an assassin or that I used to be but I gave up the life.

"She's a student and she's between jobs at the moment. She's been studying animals. That's why Shadow seems to like her." Hunter answered for me. "Let's not interrogate her, please, mum. She's been through a bad breakup and has come out to get away from it all."

"So what happened with the breakup? Who broke up with who?" Tracey asked. Wow... I couldn't believe how blunt and to-the-point she was.

"He just decided he'd had enough." I answered as I rested my hands on my lap and clenched my hands into a ball, forcing my nails into the palm of my hand. "He broke up with me." I looked at Tracey. I had a feeling that wasn't going to be enough for her. "I was in the hospital when he did it, as I'd been hurt badly."

"Mum, really, don't make her drag it all up." Hunter growled. "Rosa... you don't owe anyone an explanation." He came and brought the coffee over to me and hugged me gently, then went back and got the other two cups. "She's been through a lot of crap and Rosa and I are friends and we are just enjoying each other's company. Trust me, neither of us are feeling up to much else than that. In the future... who knows what could happen, but right now? We're just friends because that's what we both need. So if you don't like it, tough luck." Hunter looked at Tracey and she seemed to look back at him as if she wanted to argue with him but chose to bite her tongue instead.

"I should get back to work." Tracey got up. "It was nice meeting you, Rosa." She seemed to quickly leave. When we heard the door shut, Hunter and Annie seemed to let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm so sorry about her, Rosa." Hunter offered me.

"She still can't accept what Hunter is. That's her problem." Annie told me from the other side of the breakfast bar. "Our Dad is really cool with it. He's like, Yeah, you got bit and turned; your still my son; I still love you. I was like, Does this mean you have super powers like Spiderman, and she's like, Nope, nope... nope your wrong, your not a wolf..." She shrugged. "That's why they fight a lot because she can't accept it, just like she can't accept that Kara was his mate and was the love of his life and he's lost her and there won't be anyone else unless he's given a second chance."

"It's fine, really. I understand. My mum and I don't see eye to eye and she actually kicked me out over my life. My Dad on the other hand... It wasn't what he wanted..." I let out a sigh as I looked down into my coffee and began to think about that conversation I needed to have with him about Xander and I. I could feel a tear coming to the surface so I quickly wiped it away.

"So is it ok to ask how you fit into all this?" Annie asked. "If your not like Hunter, then how do you two know each other?"

"Annie, Annie, Annie... The world is filled with more monsters than just me." He grinned. "Rosa here is simply a human who got wrapped up in the wrong shit."

"Which reminds me. The guy I spoke to at the bar, Liam."

"Oh. Him yeah."

"Annie, you need to stay away from him." I warned. I looked over at Hunter and saw him clenching his jaw shut tightly at the news. "Him and I have history and he ruined my life for me. He's the reason I got thrown out of my family, so you need to stay away from him. Please."

"Please tell me you've not been seeing that snake, Annie." Hunter finally asked.

"He's been in the bar a few times. There's nothing going on, I swear."

"Stay away from him Annie. Like Rosa said he's trouble and if you don't I'll find him and kill him."

"Get in line. I'm first." I warned Hunter which made them both laugh.

The rest of the time that we were there, we all ended up laughing about things and we ate lunch together.

Hunter glanced out the window seeing that the night was starting to roll in. "Crap, better get you back so that your best friend doesn't have my guts."

I glanced at my phone to see a text from Dorian. Hope your ok. Text me if you need me x D x "It seems like he's grateful I'm not sitting around in self-pity." I laughed. "It was lovely to see you again Annie."

"It was lovely to see you again, Rosa, without being drunk." She added with a grin.

"When are you next at work, Annie?"

"Tomorrow."

"I'll come and pick you up." Hunter got up and got my coat for me, helped me get into it and then went and got Shadow, who came and stood next to me when I got outside.

We all got in the car and Hunter drove back to the house and then he pulled up and looked at the windows. "Coming to the door?" I asked.

"I don't want to get on Dorian's bad side." Hunter laughed.

"You are not picking me up tonight."

"No, but I've pretty much spent the day with you. That might be enough to warrant my death to him." He grinned. "I've really enjoyed myself today, Rosa. Thank you for the invite to coffee."

"Thank you for letting me tag along on your walk with Shadow." I looked over at Shadow to see him sitting up, looking at us both. "Thank you, Shadow, for being nice to me." I couldn't help but laugh a little.

"So shall we do this again?" Hunter asked.

"Definately. You don't mind if I save your number, do you?"

"Not in the slightest." Hunter grinned. "Now, you better get going before Dorian comes out. I'm sure I can see someone hovering by the doorway."

I couldn't help but laugh a little. "Sweet dreams, Shadow. I suppose sweet dreams to you too, Hunter." I took my belt off, got out, and shut the door. I walked up the path, stood on the door step and watched Hunter drive away as I waved. I looked up at the black sky and looked at all the stars as if seeing them again with new eyes. "Maybe I can do this." I muttered and then turned, opened the door, and went in to find Dorian in the hallway.

"You smell like the mutt." He complained.

"Good evening to you too. I'll go and shower first, then I'll come back down." I couldn't help but laugh as I took off my jacket, shook my head a little and headed up to grab a shower. Today certainly had been just what the doctor had ordered for me; I just hoped I'd have more days like this so that I could fall in love with my life again.