Chapter 3 - Hunter

The hallway of the room Belle had prepared for the tigress was quieter than Hunter expected, even with the literal ten guards standing by in different places out there, just waiting for just one suspicious speck of dust to deal with the Valiant girl. However, they were all in their proper places and greeted Hunter silently as he passed them, stopping in front of the bedroom door where, surprisingly, there didn't appear to be a fight or anything being smashed against the wall.

“You look beautiful, darling.” a female voice, hoarse and very different from the one he had heard earlier at the altar, said “And, if that damned dog wasn't able to say it to you, I will.”

“Thank you, Octavia.” Corinne replied, with a smile in her voice “But, don't say it too loud. They clearly have as good hearing as we do. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

“I would gladly get in all kinds of trouble to punish that idiot for being rude to you.” the woman named Octavia growled “How dare he not even put the ring on your finger. If he had been in our pack and at the time your grandfather ruled, he would have been forced to walk on his knees on glass in front of you, to make up for this nonsense…”

That was the moment when Hunter chose to enter the room, wondering if the two tigresses would be brave enough to say that in front of him, instead of just cursing him behind his back. However, instead of alarmed looks and gasps of surprise, the two women just turned towards him calmly, Corinne with a confused expression and the woman called Octavia, who had dark hair almost completely covered by gray and sharp black eyes, looked at him with pure contempt.

“I will speak to your lady alone.” he said, crossing his arms over his chest “Get out.”

“Our Alpha has already fulfilled your ridiculous demand that Corinne not have a large escort, worthy of the princess of a pack!” the woman growled, her feline fangs beginning to appear over her lips “And now you want to be alone in a room with her? What are your intentions, anyway? You made it very clear in that unhealthy ceremony that you have no intention of treating her cordially, and now you want to take advantage of her?! I will never allow it...”

“My intentions with her are not those.” Hunter interrupted her, starting to get dangerously irritated with all the questions, as if he were the danger there and not the girl who continued to look between the two of them, as if she didn't really know what to do “And even if they were, that would never be any business from someone like you. Whether you are her escort or not does not give you any power over my territory or the orders I give. Now, leave, before my patience runs out.”

“You’d be surprised, wolf…” Octavia growled, slowly directing her hand towards the single dagger that was still holstered at her waist “With what I would be able to do to protect my Alpha’s daughter…”

"Is this a threat?" Hunter growled back, his wolf agitated, ready to lunge at the woman because of the animalistic feeling that she was putting herself between him and his mate.

“Octavia…” Corinne got up at the same moment, positioning herself between the two and placing her hand over Octavia’s hand, preventing her from releasing the dagger “Please, do as he said and leave us alone for a while. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

“I don’t trust him, Corinne…” Octavia complained, looking genuinely dismayed for the girl’s safety, more than Hunter thought a simple escort would be “He’s a wolf.”

“This is how life is going to be from now on. So, I guess I should get used to it.” she sighed, less regretfully than Hunter expected “Besides, you told me earlier that we're in the minority here. So try not to be taken away from me, okay? You are all I have left at home.” Corinne said, sounding so sweet that, for a moment, Hunter was almost fooled by the acting of those two.

“Oh, Corinne… Soon, you’re home again.” the old woman promised, placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing it gently for a moment, before finally pulling away, keeping her look of pure menace on Hunter the entire time “I'll be right outside the door, wolf. And I don't care if you're the Alpha of this place or not. If I have even the slightest hint that you harmed Corinne, I will rip your throat out.”

“If you don't control your words around me, tiger…” Hunter narrowed his eyes, knowing they were turning silver with savagery, as his wolf threatened to speak out “Then this is the fate I will give you and nothing more than that.” 

“That’s enough.” Corinne spoke, with an imposing and diplomatic tone that Hunter didn't know someone spoiled like her was capable of learning to use.“My escort has already agreed to leave us alone, so there's no point in continuing these threats. From neither side.” she asked, waving in Octavia's direction and making the old tigress finally get out of there, even though she mumbled in spite of herself "Now..." she took a deep breath, taking a step towards him with her chin up and her shoulders down, the perfect image of calmly “What matter brought you here, Alpha Calibur?” 

For a moment, Hunter just looked at her, wondering how that girl could have gotten such a bad reputation, since she was so good at pretending to be restrained like that. Certainly, she could have fooled people in her homeland very well, if she had taken the trouble to act that way with everyone and reveal her true self at calculated moments. Or maybe that was the problem. Among tigers, she probably never had the need to mask herself, but in that moment, in front of him, Hunter was sure that was what she was doing, posing as a friendly and harmless wife, facing him as if she really was willing to listen to him and reach a consensus with him.

However, if she thought she would be able to deceive him, to gain his trust and stab him in the back when Hunter least expected it, then he would prove how wrong she was.

“Do you know what we are, to each other?” he asked, with an almost cavernous voice, as he approached her, knowing that she would know very well what he was talking about.

Getting closer to her, however, might not have been his best idea, because that made her scent become more potent in his nose, causing his damn wolf to want to weaken and take control of his actions, to wrap himself around her and claim her voluptuous body all night long, as only an Alpha male knew how to do. All wolves, although they had unique scents, always smelled like earth, musk, or leather, some more and some less. On the few occasions he had met with the Tiger Alpha and his subordinates, they all seemed to smell like moss and spices, something that made Hunter's nose hurt and was almost repulsive. But, not Corinne.

Her smell was a mixture of something citrusy, floral at the same time and with a fuzzy touch that seemed like her tigress calling her wolf. It was an addictive, delicious, almost maddening aroma, one that made it very clear to Hunter how easy it would be to get lost in that mating urge, older than time itself, and simply forget that, as long as he wasn't completely sure that tigers weren't were behind the mysterious attacks on his pack, they were enemies, even though they were husband and wife, now.

“The fact that we are fated mates, you say?” she sighed, as if that was a bad thing, which bothered him more than it should have, thanks to his traitorous wolf “Yeah, it would be hard not to notice.”

“Contrary to what your escort seems to think, I didn't come here to consummate our marriage. Better than anyone else, I want you to know that what happened today was nothing more than the execution of a contract between me and your father. You will never be my wife or have power over this territory. Maybe you've heard that, in my people's culture, we call the Alpha's mate a Luna. She is responsible for guiding the people alongside her and has equal influence over everyone, especially when she and the Alpha are fated mates. But, not you.” he warned, coldly “You will never be the Luna of my people. Do you understand that, Corinne Valiant?”

She nodded silently at his question, appearing unaffected by his words. In fact, it was almost as if she had already expected this, but since it was so difficult to look at her face and try to understand her without giving in to his wolf's desires at the same time, Hunter just looked away and continued speaking, firmly and distant, as he would be with her from then on.

“For your own sake, I hope you're not lying when you say you understand what I'm saying. All the problems you cause in my territory will return to you and, unlike what happened in your homeland, you won't have your father to overlook your mistakes and protect you. If you don't know how to live without disturbing my wolves, then your life certainly won't be peaceful either. Therefore, try to ensure that I don't even remember your presence in this place and we can both free ourselves from this commitment as soon as possible. After all, I believe you understand this too, don't you? Our marriage will only last until I can end this war between my people and our enemies, who insist on hiding in the shadows.” As she continued to show no reaction, he got even closer, placing his face in front of hers, while repeating what he wanted most not only Corinne, but also his inner beast, to understand “I would never subject my people to the punishment to have someone like you as their Luna.”