HUNTER

 

Three weeks later…

 

“…Now other people will tell you otherwise, but they would be wrong. I’ve been doing this all my life. You want to know what the trick is?”

She nodded her head softly to me.

“You put a little peanut butter on one slice of bread. Then you put the jelly on the other slice of bread. Then… you take both slices of bread and you push them together. Like this.”

I pressed the sandwich together. Emily’s eyes widened in amazement as she marveled at the creation before her.

“Now you give it a try,” I said.

“Okay…”

She took a deep breath and started spreading the peanut butter across the bread. The way she stuck her tongue out between her lips as she focused made me laugh softly to myself.

“There,” she said as she put her sandwich together. “Like that?”

“Perfect. I’ve never seen a better peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Now comes the best part.”

“What’s that?”

“Eating it, of course!”

She giggled at me as she put the mouth up to her sandwich. She was missing a few teeth but her smile was as adorable as anything I’d ever seen. The young blond Omega smacked her lips as she swallowed her bite of sandwich.

“This is good,” she said.

“I know. It’s my favorite.”

“Cookies are my favorite.”

“Cookies are good, too. Maybe we can make some peanut butter and jelly cookies.”

“Can you really do something like that?”

“Sure!”

“Wow…”

The enthusiasm on Emily’s face was infectious.

I’d only spent a few days at the shelter but all of the Omegas were just as charming as Emily. They all had an innocence about them that made you forget what was happening in the rest of the slums.

As Emily and I enjoyed the first bites of our sandwich, Saxon walked into the kitchen.

“Hello, Saxon!” Emily said.

“Hi, Emily! What do you have there?”

“A peanut butter and jelly sandwich. They’re Hunter’s favorite!”

“Yeah,” Saxon muttered as he eyeballed me. “I know they are…”

“Do you want a bite?” she said as she held hers up to him.

“Sure! But first I need to talk to Hunter, if you don’t mind.”

“What’s wrong?” I said.

“There’s someone here to see you. He’s waiting at the front door.”

“Oh?”

I raised my eyebrows in curiosity.

“It’s nothing like that,” Saxon said as he put his hands up. “He seems harmless. Just a Beta.”

“A Beta… I wonder what a Beta is doing at the shelter…”

I excused myself from the kitchen and Saxon took my place keeping Emily company.

I thought about who it was that could possibly be looking for me at the shelter. When I got to the door, I saw the face of a young man I hadn’t seen in such a long time.

“Brady!” I said. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s been a long time,” the young Beta said.

“It has. How did you find me?”

“Once you stopped showing up to the construction site, people started wondering what was up. Word got around. I thought I’d drop in and say hello.”

“Sure. Come on in. Take a look around.”

I wasn’t as embarrassed as I could have been inviting Brady into the shelter. The renovations were well underway. A fresh coat of paint. Reupholstered furniture. Everything was polished to a shine. The shelter was one of the best looking places in all of Dirge, let alone the slums.

“Do you want something to drink?” I asked. “Something to eat?”

“I’m fine, thanks,” Brady said. “I just wanted to check in on you and make sure you were all right.”

I narrowed my eyes at Brady. It was strange behavior coming from him.

“We heard about the fight,” he said. “Up in Azure. Wild stuff.”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “It was wild indeed. But it’s over.”

“You know, some of the boys kind of miss you.”

“Miss me? Last I checked, I spent my lunch breaks by myself while all the Betas spent time around each other.”

“True, but it’s strange not to have you around, sitting on the edge of the building and staring off into the distance. You must not need the work though, since it looks like you’ve got a good thing going over here.”

“I’ll be around. Not as often as I used to be. But the city can never have too many guys doing construction like us. There’s always something in Dirge that needs to be built.”

“You got that right.”

“I’ll tell you what,” I said as I put a hand on his shoulder. “Why don’t you take a break, too?”

“Me? Take a break? What do you mean?”

“I mean why don’t you come and volunteer at the shelter. Spend some time with the Omegas. They can use the company. I’ve got enough gold lying around, so I can pay you something decent. Not a lot. Just a little extra coin for you to spend.”

“That sounds like a good deal.”

I shook Brady’s hand and escorted him back out of the shelter.

“I just wanted to say hello and make sure you’re doing okay,” he said. “It looks like you’re doing just fine.”

“Don’t be a stranger, Brady. There’s plenty of room for you here.”

“Take care, Hunter.”

I shook his hand again before he went on his way. Just as he started walking down the street, I saw the one person I cared about more than anybody else coming toward me.

“Hey,” York said as he pecked me on the lips. “Who was that?”

“Just an old coworker I used to work construction with. He stopped by to say hello.”

“An old coworker… Do you miss working in construction?”

I sighed as I thought about it.

“I’d done it all my life,” I said. “It’s strange no longer being obligated to it. I miss it a little. But it was time for me to move on.”

I put my arm around York to give him a hug. Despite the dreary scene of Pandora surrounding us, there was nowhere else in the city I’d rather be than right here.

“York! York!”

We both spun around when we heard the voice.

Ruby slowly walked up to us, cradling our child in her arms.

“There you are!” Ruby said. “Little Preston has been crying for you all day.”

“I’m sorry,” York said as he took the baby into his arms. “I just needed to pick up some groceries.”

York rocked the baby back and forth as Ruby and I looked on. York looked so natural with Preston. If there were any doubts he was an Omega, seeing him with his child would have removed all of them.

“Here,” Ruby said as she took the small bag of groceries from York’s arm. “Let me take these and I’ll get started on dinner for tonight.”

“Thank you, Ruby,” York said.

Ruby made her way back into the shelter. I put an arm around York and looked out onto the streets of Pandora.

York kept his head down, his attention focused on the small child in his arms.

“What is that?” I whispered.

I narrowed my eyes and turned my head up the street. The streets were usually empty, so it was strange to see something moving. I kept looking until I saw a car come into view. Just from how clean it was, I knew the person it belonged to wasn’t from the slums.

I expected the car to keep rolling past me but it came to a halt right in front of the shelter where York and I stood.

York perked his head up and stared wide-eyed at the car in front of us.

“Who’s that?” he asked, noticeable worry in his voice.

“I don’t know… Maybe you should go inside…”

Before I could finish, the back door of the car opened up.

A man in an expensive suit stepped out. If it weren’t the suit, everything else about him screamed some type of affluence. His blond hair was slicked back over his head. His goatee looked like it had been just groomed.

He stuck his chest out as he walked toward me.

“Hello,” he said with a polite nod of his head.

“Hello,” I said. “Can I help you?”

The man looked at both York and me. I was waiting for him to say something. But before he did, a smile formed on his lips.

“You must be Hunter,” he said to me. “That would make you York.”

“That’s right,” I said. “Who are you?”

“I’m sorry. Where are my manners?”

He stuck his hand out to me.

“My name is Donovan. I’m from Azure.”

“That’s not surprising,” I said as I shook his hand, trying not to smile.

“Word spread about the fights that Valentine hosted,” Donovan said. “I want to apologize on his behalf.”

“Apologize?” I said.

“Not all jaguars are so arrogant with their money. You have to understand that for some in Azure, entertainment is found by taking advantage of those below them.”

“I understand. But Valentine’s fights gave me an opportunity. And it’s over now. I’m alive and won’t be fighting again.”

“What are you doing here?” York asked.

“I’m here to offer you a proposal,” Donovan said to me.

“I said I wouldn’t be fighting again,” I said.

Donovan smiled at me and nodded.

“I had a different kind of proposal in mind.”

He looked over my shoulder and stared at the shelter behind me.

“You’ve done a lot of renovations with the orphanage,” he said.

“They were necessary,” I said. “There are a lot of Omegas who need help.”

“I agree. That’s why I want your help. Both of you.”

“Our help?” York said. “What do you need our help with?”

“I met my husband in Pandora,” Donovan explained. “He was an Omega who had to struggle his way through life like so many. There are others like him, as you know. He doesn’t want that for them. We can’t help all of them but we want to help as many as we can. I trust that you feel the same way.”

I turned to York. York’s eyes were widened in surprise. I was just as shocked as he was. I blinked my eyes in disbelief as I turned back to Donovan.

“You’re serious?” I said.

“Absolutely,” he replied. “I have more gold than I know what to do with. You should know that better than anybody after what you had to deal with in Azure. I see no better opportunity to invest than in all of the shelters of Pandora. There are too many Omegas out there who need help. I’m not asking for much. I’m only asking for whatever it is you want to do. You live in Pandora. You have a part in making it a better place just as much as anybody else.”

Donovan stuck his hand out for me to shake. It was an easy decision to make but I looked at York just to make sure. He smiled softly at me and nodded.

“Okay,” I said as I shook Donovan’s hand. “I can’t promise you anything. But we’ll do our part.”

“This shelter could be the model for all of the other shelters in Pandora,” Donovan said. “I’ll have someone contact you to get everything in order. I’d like to get the ball rolling as soon as possible.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“It was a pleasure to meet you, Hunter… York…”

Donovan nodded politely before stepping back into his car. I stared at the car as it disappeared down the street in the distance.

“Can you believe that?” York said. “An Alpha jaguar just came to our shelter telling us he wants to help. Now I’ve seen everything…”

“After everything we’ve been through, you find that hard to believe?”

York looked up at me and smiled.

“No,” he said, giggling softly. “I guess not. I believe anything is possible now.”

“The only thing you need to believe is that I love you and Preston more than anything.”

“Yeah… I believe that.”

I leaned my head down and kissed York softly on the lips. My arm wrapped around York, I looked down at our child as he slept peacefully in my Omega’s arms.

Then I turned my head up and looked out into Pandora.

The sun shined bright in the sky. I was surrounded by the people I loved. There was no darkness on the horizon.

There was still much work to be done in Dirge. There were others out there who were searching for something even though they didn’t know what it was. I didn’t know what the future held for them. But if I could find my happiness, I knew they could, too.