Chapter Twenty-Four
They finished their coffees and Cade decided to show Hunter the rest of the Den. He wasn’t sure why but he felt both excited and nervous about showing the alpha around. Hunter seemed a little awed by it all. Less so the farm, but the windmills that helped power their generators, their technology, but most of all the people.
“So, how is it that omega are so good at matchmaking?” Hunter asked as they walked. It looked like they were ambling around randomly but Cade knew better. He was bringing Hunter to meet their oldest resident and he wasn’t sure how the meeting would go.
“It’s nothing new,” Cade explained. “We’ve always been that way. Years ago, that was our function at Gatherings, to oversee the Choosing. We had the final say on matings.”
“Above the alphas?” Hunter’s disbelief only made Cade laugh. “Most alphas don’t have the first clue about matings. They leave that to us. Or they should.”
“Is this him?” a voice asked. Cade shut his eyes for a brief moment, before opening them and turning.
“Yes, this is Hunter. Hunter, this is my brother Dav.”
“Davyn,” his brother corrected.
Cade resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He hoped his brother wouldn’t make a scene.
“I’m just showing Hunter around.”
“Have you brought him to see Eamon yet?”
“We’re on the way there.”
“Then you’re going the wrong way. He’s over by the waterfall.”
Davyn folded his arms, staring at Hunter.
The alpha stared back at him, impassive.
“Thanks, Dav,” Cade said brightly. “We’ll head back that way.”
Dav snorted and shook his head. “Figures, doesn’t it?”
Cade tugged at Hunter’s arm, urging the alpha to move. But Hunter stood fast. “What does?” he asked.
Cade pleaded with Dav with his eyes, urging his brother to keep his opinions to himself. The situation was delicate, it had to be handled carefully. Once Hunter learned the truth, there was no telling how he’d react.
“Nothing,” Dav said. “It’s nothing. Nice to meet you, Hunter. Join us for a few beers tonight.”
“We will,” Cade said, relieved, and they walked on.
“What was that about?” Hunter asked, grimacing and rubbing a hand across his shoulder. The motion wasn’t lost on Cade but he was distracted by Hunter’s question.
“It was nothing.”
“How is it you all say nothing and make it sound so much like something?”
“We should catch Eamon before he moves on.”
“Moves on?”
“He’s old. He wanders,” Cade said, deciding it was best Hunter saw the rest for himself.
When they got to the waterfall, Cade, unable to see Eamon anywhere, announced their presence.
“Eamon, it’s Cade. I’ve brought Hunter to see you. He’s the alpha I traveled here with.”
No answer.
Cade glanced around. It could take all day to track him down.
Hunter suspected they were chasing a ghost. Other than the roar of the waterfall, there was silence around them. If Eamon was there, he was doing a good job of being invisible.
There was a crashing through the trees behind them and Hunter spun around, pushing Cade behind him. A huge shaggy black form burst out from the bushes with a loud roar, beating his chest with both hands.
Hunter stood his ground, feeling the anger well up inside him and something else as well, something that rippled under his skin. Cade was standing behind him, close to his back. His hands settled on Hunter’s shoulders and his words, though quiet, were audible under the gorilla’s roar.
“It’s Eamon, Hunter. He won’t attack us.”
Hunter wasn’t so sure, but Cade’s words tempered the flames, and the rippling under his skin settled.
The gorilla turned, and Hunter caught sight of a patch of silver fur on his back before he disappeared through the trees.
Hunter turned back to Cade, looking him up and down. “Are you okay?”
Cade nodded, managing a weak smile. “Yeah. Sorry, I should have warned you.”
“Cade,” a voice called from nearby.
“That’s Eamon. He sounds calmer. We should…”
Hunter stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “Are you sure it’s safe?” He wasn’t, given they’d just been accosted by an angry gorilla who was now calling them forth.
“It’ll be fine. Trust me.”
Hunter insisted on going first through the trees, keeping Cade behind him. Better safe than sorry, even if this was one of the Den’s alphas.
Through the trees, there was a man sitting on a rock by the river. He was old. Older than Hunter had expected, his hair gray, his skin wrinkled. Sitting beside him was a hat and a pipe. Eamon was watching the river and didn’t turn as they came closer. Hunter paused a few feet away. Cade stepped around him but Hunter stopped him with an arm across his chest.
“Hunter, hmm? An apt name.”
The alpha spoke as if they’d said something.
Eamon turned, looking at Cade. “You’ve seen him fight.”
Cade nodded. “I have.”
“Is he the one?”
Cade glanced at Hunter, a quick look out of the corner of his eye.
“I don’t know. He doesn’t even know who or what he is.”
Eamon finally turned his attention to Hunter. “Is that true?”
“Is what true?” They were back to riddles.
“Your pack, who are they?”
“Moonrise Cove.”
Eamon nodded as if that meant something to him.
“And your father?”
“I don’t know.”
Eamon nodded again, turning his attention back to the water. “Your anger has always run hot.”
It wasn’t a question but Hunter answered it anyway, stepping closer to the bank until he was standing parallel to Eamon and looking out at the waterfall.
“Yes. Since as far back as I can remember. It’s why my mom brought me back to the Cove. She’d left years before that.”
“And it helped, being around your own kind.”
“For a while, yeah. But the anger keeps growing and my control isn’t keeping pace. They’re afraid -I’m afraid- that I’ll hurt someone, maybe even kill someone. When it comes over me… it’s like a red mist descending, and there’s not much can pull me back from under it.”
“But you didn’t attack me just now. Even though I must have seemed like a threat. Your protective instincts kicked in, you shielded Cade with your own body, but you kept your anger at bay.”
Hunter couldn’t explain that.
“When I’m around Cade… I seem to have a better handle on it.”
Eamon looked to Cade. “You’ve mated?”
The omega turned red, his reply stuttered. “No, we haven’t. We pretended, kept up a ruse for his pack.”
“What do your brothers say?”
Cade shrugged. “Not much. Davyn’s not happy. Ollie is, but Ollie’s always happy.”
“And you,” Eamon said, turning back to Hunter, “do you know why you’re here?”
Hunter winced. Recalling how he’d basically claimed Cade while he was a prisoner at the Gathering wasn’t high on his list of stories he wanted to tell. “It’s kind of complicated.”
Eamon snorted. “So no, you don’t.”
“What should we do, Eamon?” Cade asked. “Jensen said-”
“I’ve already spoken to Jensen. He said he made the choices clear to you.”
“But-”
“I can’t tell you what the right thing to do is. Because you already know. You just have to accept it.” He stood, picking up his things. “And you,” he said, stabbing a finger toward Hunter. “If you don’t know who you are or where you’ve come from, you’ll never get to where you’re going.”
With those cryptic words, he marched off through the trees. Hunter went to follow, determined to get an explanation but Cade held him back.
“Leave it. We were lucky to get that much out of him. He doesn’t spent a lot of time in human form these days.”
Sure enough, seconds later they could hear the crashing of leaves and low grunts as Eamon moved into the distance.