Chapter Twenty-Three
Hunter woke with an ache in his shoulder. He could hear hushed voices nearby, one of them Cade’s.
“I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t let him die…”
He sat up, swinging his legs to the floor.
“Cade?”
The door opposite him pushed open.
“You’re awake. How are you feeling?”
“Better. I guess the poison wasn’t so fatal after all? Or you got your hands on an antidote?”
“A little from column A, a little from column B,” the omega replied. “Do you feel up to a walk?”
There was an awkwardness between them. Hunter wasn’t sure where it was coming from. “Sure.”
He got up, taking note of the bed he’d been sleeping in as he followed Cade out the door. “Was I out for long?”
“Overnight. It’s mid-morning now.”
Cade opened the front door and gestured Hunter out ahead of him. The alpha stepped outside, walking down a short path to a gate that led to a road. A group of kids ran past the gate, a fox with a reddish coat among them, and Hunter was distracted watching them. Cade stepped up beside him.
“Welcome to River Den.”
As he watched, one of the other kids shifted into a coyote and chased the fox, the other kids screeching and running after them.
“They can shift.”
Cade grinned. “Of course. We’re shifters. Everyone here can change form.”
Hunter swallowed hard. “Everyone?”
“Come and meet them. They’ve been waiting for you to wake up.”
They followed the kids through the village. It was a warm day, the sun beating down on them, a cool breeze ruffling the trees along the path.
“I don’t understand,” Hunter said. “Where are we?”
“I told you, River Den. Look, there’s Ollie.”
“Cade! He’s up, finally!”
They were accosted by a man about Cade’s height, with short blonde hair and an excited grin. He bounced on the balls of his feet and Hunter had to resist the urge to press hands on his shoulders to stop him bouncing away.
“Hunter, this is Ollie, my brother. Ollie, this is Hunter.”
He suddenly had an armful of omega as Ollie dived forward and hugged him. “Thanks for bringing our brother back. We were starting to think he’d never come home.”
“Ollie, give him some breathing room,” Cade chided, tugging the other omega back. “Sorry,” he said to Hunter.
“He doesn't mind. Do you, Hunter?”
Hunter looked from one omega to the other. “You’re littermates, right?”
“Right,” Ollie said. “He’s older, by five whole minutes. Though most of the time, he acts like it’s five years.”
There was a rustling in the trees above them and Hunter glanced up, finding a pair of eyes staring down at him.
“Is that a koala?”
Cade looked up, hand on his hip. “Isla, you’re supposed to be in school.”
“That’s… that’s a kid?”
Ollie giggled. “Of course. Geez, you’d think you were a human.”
“As good as,” Cade said quietly.
The kid in question climbed down the tree, shifting as she reached the ground and running off through the trees. Hunter watched in fascination.
“Has Dr. Dreamy given you the all clear?” Ollie asked, bringing his attention back to the two omega.
Hunter frowned. “Dr… Dreamy?”
Cade elbowed Ollie. “He means Jensen, our resident doctor, and vet. He treated you when you arrived.”
“Is that who you were talking to before?”
Cade looked troubled. “Oh, you were awake for that?”
“Not really. Just heard voices as I was coming to. Why Dr. Dreamy?”
Ollie giggled again. “You’ll see.” He pulled a phone from his pocket. “Hell, I’m gonna be late. Eve is already out for blood this morning what with the generator acting up. Catch you later, guys. Nice to have a new face around.”
He hurried away, leaving Hunter and Cade alone. At least, Hunter thought they were alone. He glanced up at the trees with suspicion.
“Koala shifter, huh?”
“We have all sorts here. You’re our first-” Cade shut his mouth.
“Your first wolf.”
Cade looked away, avoiding Hunter’s eyes. “That’s something we should talk about later.”
They resumed walking, heading toward the larger building that Ollie had entered.
“How are you doing so well here? This place feels alive. How are you thriving despite being so isolated?”
They got to the door and Cade turned to him, settling a hand on Hunter’s shoulder. “We’re not isolated, Hunter. You are.” He pushed open the door. “Welcome to the twenty-first century.”
Confused, Hunter followed him inside.
“We’re almost totally self-sufficient here but we rely on our business. It takes us all over the country.”
“Business?” Hunter asked, followed the omega along the corridor. Cade stopped in front of an open door and glanced inside. Hunter followed his cue. There were about half a dozen people seated in front of computers.
“Yeah.” Cade was grinning. “We run a matchmaking service.”
“For shifters?”
“Humans, shifters, anyone who’s looking for love. Putting our omega talents to good use. We’re naturals at it.”
“That’s why you were so interested in Joe and Axel. Even Elena.”
Cade shrugged. “I had other priorities but I just couldn’t help it.”
“So you must have known the second you saw me that you and I were hopeless.”
Cade rubbed a hand across the back of his neck, flushing pink. “We’re notoriously bad at seeking love for ourselves. We’re picky and for good reason.”
Hunter nodded. “Yeah. I imagine I wouldn’t come up to scratch. Not when you’re surrounded by people who can actually shift. And handsome doctors.”
“You’re on the wrong track there. Doctor Jensen… let’s just say we’ve been trying to solve that puzzle for a while. Some of us are beginning to wonder if there are people who are just destined to be alone.”
Footsteps behind them revealed Ollie. “He’s not talking about you, sugar. The good doctor though… he seems to be impervious to our talents.”
Ollie slipped past them into the room and started a whispered conversation with one of the other workers. Hunter was having a tough time working out what was going on.
“What did you mean about my being isolated?”
Cade let the door close, turning back to him. “Let’s go get some coffee, I think we’ll need it before we continue this conversation.”
A few minutes later, they were sitting in a small kitchenette, drinking coffee and eating toasted bagels.
“Remember a few decades ago when the bears, the lions, and the wolves broke the Sherwood Pact?”
“Sure. Well, I’ve heard about it, anyway.”
“The bears used to protect the dens. They stopped doing that, even took over some of the den lands. And the wolves, they stopped attending any of the interspecies meetings and closed off their borders.”
“Okay, yeah, but that’s wolves being wolves and bears being bears.”
“No, Hunter. It’s not. For generations before that, things were different. There was interspecies mating, omega were welcomed by packs, not chased off.”
“No one’s chasing omega off.”
“Baelon imprisoned me. I was stuck in a cage at your Gathering, like an animal.”
“And that was wrong, I can see that now.” Why hadn’t he seen it so clearly before?
“Hunter, the Cove hasn’t welcomed an omega in nearly thirty years. Most of the other wolf packs are the same. The bears… don’t even get me started on them. The lions are just as bad.”
“The reason it feels like things are falling apart… it’s because they are, isn’t it?”
He could see it now. There was a huge difference between the kids here and those in the Cove. Here, they seemed more alive, vibrant with energy, with magic. With the something that the Cove was missing. “The wolves are dying out.”
“And the bears. And the lions. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We’re living proof of that.”