Chapter 5

Hunter

Watching from the window, I see Faythe follow Alice into the Pack House, the second the two females cross the threshold, I feel a sense of calm settle over me. For six months I’ve been tormented with the fact that my fated mate is being abused by her mother and I had no way to prove it, my enforcers have been watching over Faythe but Fiona, her mother, has been careful about leaving marks or letting Faythe be heard. The only thing that has made me keep my distance is knowing that I can’t claim Faythe yet; she’s not yet twenty-one and she hasn’t got her wolf. If I were to declare her my mate and future Luna, I would be stripped of my title as Alpha, and I would lose the Pack I’ve helped build up from nothing. Although I’m glad Faythe is in the Pack House, I hate that I can’t see her anymore. I can’t go and talk to her like a normal person, so I’ve had to keep my wolf satisfied with watching her from the shadows.

“I feel like a stalker.” I growl as I place my forehead against the massive window; the chill of the night soothes the raging fire my wolf, Asher, is lighting within me. He’s pissed that our mate is so close and I’m forcing him to hold back. He doesn’t care that our Pack won’t like a wolfess Omega as Luna or that it will mean a life in the Forbidden Forest; he just wants our mate as close as possible.

‘Mate.’ Asher growls in my head. I look at my reflection to see my eyes are glowing yellow thanks to Asher trying to force his way out. If I let myself shift, I know I won’t be able to stop him from going to Faythe. Thankfully I don’t have to fight with him. I feel my shift starting to recede as the reflection in the window changes to show me Starling has entered my office; she’s dressed in her usual red, form-fitting dress that shows off the witch marks on her arms. It always fascinates me when they change colour; their normal hue is a solid black like a tattoo but they change colour depending on the spell she’s casting. Right now she’s covered in a set of stairs and swirls that are slowly shifting into a soothing foam blue. I close my eyes as she starts muttering softly under her breath; she’s done this more and more since Faythe joined the Pack. It's either let Starling soothe Asher or I chain myself up so he can’t break free.

“Thanks, Starling.” I mutter as I feel Asher slip further into me; he’s pushed as far back as he can be and he’s purring softly; even he can’t fight the power of a white witch. Most Packs have a witch to help with warding the borders or keeping feral wolves in line but normally it's a red witch, a female born in the firelands and they tend to use fire magic to protect the Pack they’ve been assigned to. As a white witch, Starling was born in the snowy region and tends towards cooler and softer forms of magic; not many white witches leave the safety of their homeland, but Starling was called forward by my wolf. We have a special bond; nothing compares to it, she’s like a sister that has been grown just to compliment me. For the longest time I thought she would be the only connection I had for myself and then six months ago my mate showed up.

“You need to stop torturing Asher like this; he just wants to be close to his mate, you can’t avoid shifting forever.” I feel Starling’s hands on my bare back; there isn’t a single sexual thing about her touch; she’s just ensuring Asher is locked down and not going to rear his head again tonight.

“I thought bringing her here would settle him a little but it's only been a few minutes and he’s already wanting to burst free.” I shrug off Starling’s hands and push away from the window so I can walk across my office to drop into my high-backed leather desk chair. The lights are off but that doesn’t stop me from navigating the familiar space; Asher has been pushed back but I still have access to his improved eyesight and senses. If I wanted a drink from my little bar, I could walk across the room without bumping into anything, and that has nothing to do with the years of navigating the space. I watch from my desk chair as Starling flicks her wheat blonde hair over her shoulder and lets out a heavy sigh; her cosmic tattoos are slowly darkening back to their natural black.

“I told you, nothing short of accepting her as your mate is going to calm down Asher.” Starling explains as she drops herself onto the sofa against the far wall of my office; she spreads herself out until the full two-seater is completely taken up by her. She’s been saying the same thing for the last six months but it's hard to listen to her when my Beta is constantly reminding me of the disasters that would come from claiming a wolfless Omega as mine.

“And I told you, I can’t risk every life in this Pack just because my wolf craves his fated mate; I would lose everything and so would the Pack.” I groan as I lean the chair back so I can stare up at the ceiling; Starling enchanted it years ago to look like the night sky; it makes it easier to be stuck inside on nights like this. I can see the stars twinkling down at me; it helps to stop me from feeling quite so suffocated.

“Sometimes we have to think of ourselves, Hunter, do you really think I’d allow you to be stuck in the Forbidden Forest with your young mate?” She’s said this before as well; next she will offer to take me back to the snowy region but we both know my wolf would never survive there. He needs the nature that the forests provide just like every other wolf. Every wolf needs the freedom to run free and the icy spikes and frozen caves of the snowy region just won’t allow for that to happen.

“Stop it, Starling.” I growl as I feel my anger starting to get the better of me; even the stars above me aren’t enough to calm me. “I’m sick of hearing you and Connor go on about this. I can’t claim my mate but I will keep her close, you know as well as I do what her mother is like. I can’t leave her to be abused by a drunk while I fail to claim her as my own.” I glance over at Starling to see her eyes have glazed over and her focusing on the wall just above my head; she’s likely not heard a word I’ve said because she’s too busy using her inner vision to check on the Pack. I know from experience that I’ve lost her for a good few minutes so I push out of my chair and walk over to the bar, the second I pick up the bottle of whisky, my office door opens. Connor steps into the office bringing the scent of my mate with him and just like that, Asher is right back to pushing forward; the scent of Faythe’s soft, delicate floral scent surrounds me and I have to grip the edge of the bar to keep myself from running from my office. Her scent drives me crazy and has me wanting to pin her against the wall. I knew the fated mate bond was strong but I had no idea it was so strong that I would want her just from her smell. She’s not even here and I can feel myself getting hard.

“Alpha.” Connor bows his head slightly as a sign of respect. “Alice said Faythe is securely in her room and she’s successfully stopped Sapphire from meeting her. It will happen eventually, though; it's unavoidable.” I groan as Connor mentions the female that has been hounding me like crazy; she thinks she runs the house and the school and no matter how many times I put her in her place, she still finds a way to torment those weaker than her. It was a risk bringing Faythe here with Sapphire in the same class but I figured I could place people around my mate to protect her. Hopefully with fully grown shifters around, Sapphire won’t realise that Faythe is wolfless and then won’t target her.

“She’s starving. Why the hell didn’t you feed her, Connor?” Starling sounds pissed; I don’t bother saying anything to defend my Beta because I’m trying to contain my rage. Connor was supposed to bring Faythe to the Pack House while the enforcers were eating so my mate would eat without being harassed by her new classmates. If Starling is saying she’s hungry, then my mate must really be suffering, and I won’t stand for that.