The vampire and the wife

Chapter 17

I took a deep breath and looked up at Hunter with tears running down my face. I'd hate to think what I looked like to Hunter except a crying mess in that moment.

"Because I'm a f*****g i***t that got played." I decided to settle for my answer. "I thought if I saw him, I'd feel better. But I didn't feel better." I'd decided I wasn't going to be totally honest with him about the real reason I was going to see Marie and Xander.

"Why did you go back?" Hunter reached across, took my hand in his and squeezed it to give me a piece of comfort. What was I to tell him? The truth, he'd understand. He didn't judge you for going there, did he?

I took a deep breath and looked at our hands together, then looked up and let out the breath. "Dorian called and told me that my best friend, who works for Xander, got hurt. I knew I should have gone home, but my anger got the better of me and to top it off, my anger got worse with who he was with tonight..."

"So you went to give him a piece of your mind?" Hunter laughed. "That's my girl." I couldn't help but laugh at his comment.

"Yeah." I finally answered. "But he wasn't there. He called to tell me about my friend, though, and then basically hung up when I asked questions." I let out a sigh and lent my head back against the back of the seat.

"Let's go drop this off to Jen and then I'll take you to mine."

"Hunter, that's not..."

"You need Shadow, love." He muttered as he put his belt on and started the car, so I put my belt on too. "You'll feel better afterwards, I promise. I'll get Jen to call the vamp and tell him your with me."

"You really don't have to."

"Mmm, I do." Hunter laughed. "Starting to feel responsible for you now, so... tough."

I didn't say anything as he began to drive back to the pack grounds. I knew it was going to be hard to not confront Xander at the house about Sarah and what happened.

"So what happened to your friend?" Hunter's comment cut through my thoughts about going to hurt Xander.

"I don't know." I confessed and it didn't feel good to confess it out loud to him either.

"Nothing bad, as I'm sure the vamp won't let anything bad happen to the humans."

"He wasn't there when she got hurt, so anything could have happened." I sighed and curled up in the corner against the door.

"She'll be fine. I'm sure." Hunter muttered.

"Mmm." I closed my eyes to try and relax a little, but I just couldn't. I just felt on edge and ready to pounce on anyone who said the wrong thing to me. As I began to feel a little calmer, I opened my eyes and looked at Hunter.

Hunter moved and hit a button to turn on the radio as he began to tap the steering wheel to the song. I turned my head away and looked out the window despite the fact that it was dark outside and I couldn't see anything, but then I recognised all the trees close by. Hunter turned off and then took the turn instead of going straight like I was used to.

The drive was longer than if we were going to the vampire house, which made me realise just how far away from each other they were.

"Nearly there to Jen's." Hunter sighed. "I'll get out and drop the stuff off; you stay in the car and stay warm."

"Ok." I muttered as I fished my phone out of my pocket and checked it to make sure I hadn't missed a call from Xander or Sarah.

We drove a little further and then pulled up in front of the all-too-familiar house. I lent my head back again and closed my eyes as I heard Hunter get out of the car and then the boot of the car opened. "Jen," he called, which made me open my eyes as he closed the boot of the car. I watched Jen come out and then they both seemed to talk quietly so I couldn't hear a single word.

"If you need me, call."

"Eric's back already, so it's really fine." Jen took the bags and then looked at me. "Go on."

Hunter waved goodbye and got in the car. "Let's go." He grinned and then drove down the road that I hadn't realised was there. Eventually, after passing a load of houses, Hunter pulled into a driveway and turned off the engine. "Welcome to my house; it's nothing fancy."

"Thanks." I muttered as I undid my belt and got out as Hunter locked the car.

"Door's open." Hunter called to me. "Go straight in."

I wanted to question him about leaving the door open, but I figured since the pack was close, they trusted each other with everything. So I went and opened the door and walked into a small hallway with the stairs straight in front of me. I was about to go to the living room when Shadow came rushing at me and seemed to run around in circles.

"Hey Shadow." I lent down and began to fuss him, feeling the tension in my body as he lent up and licked my face. I couldn't help but laugh a little at him and stood up.

"See, I told you all you needed was Shadow."

I shook my head a little. "How do you live with him?" I asked Shadow with a grin.

"Haha, coffee?"

"Sure." I muttered as I took off my coat.

"Make yourself at home, Rosa." Hunter disappeared into what I saw was the kitchen, which was through a door that was in the living room. I wondered around the room, looked around, and went to the fire place. I spotted a picture on top of the mantel piece and looked at the Hunter with the woman in the picture.

"I'm guessing that's her Shadow." Shadow nudged my hand and I began to fuss the top of his head lightly again.

"Yeah, that's Kara." Hunter muttered from the doorway as he was casually leaning against the frame, watching me. "There's some times things you do and say that remind me of her." Hunter laughed, shaking his head. "Guess that's why I feel protective of you as well." He shrugged and then went into the kitchen and came back in with two cups.

"Thank you." I took the cup and looked at Hunter. "She's beautiful."

"Thank you." Hunter laughed as he went and sat down on the sofa as Shadow went over to him and then jumped up into his lap, which made me laugh as I went and sat in the chair. "Shadow, get down. Feeling better?"

"A little." I answered and took a sip of my coffee.

"When Kara got herself upset like this, she'd turn around and say to me, Let's order takeaway and make sure you get ice cream too. We'd find something really crap on TV and watch it together." I couldn't help but laugh as I looked over at Hunter. "Do you want to do that?"

"Why not." I laughed softly and drank the rest of my coffee. I had no clue where tonight was going, but I was hoping it was going to at least end a little better than it had started.