Chapter 3

And, of course, I didn’t.

I had been walking in the rain for two hours. And not just any rain, it seems that the sky is about to split in two. I shivered with every step I took, my teeth chattering from the cold.

The worst of the case? The rain didn’t allow me to see where I was walking, so I wasn’t even sure I was going to the right place. In the forest, everything was dark, with no trace of moonlight to guide my way. I tripped over a root in the ground again, hitting my knees as I fell to the muddy ground.

I got up, even when it was just provoking me to stay there, give up and wait for, hopefully, the members of the pack to look for me all over the forest.

I was tired, hungry, and dead from the cold. I couldn’t think coherently. I just wanted to take refuge in the heat of the pack.

It haunted me to think that while I was having the worst day of my life, Hunter was on a date, having fun, happy.

I collapsed, exhausted. There was not the slightest sign of being near the herd. I was lost in the forest, with the icy water wetting my soul. I stayed in the dream, not caring about the mud around me. My legs did not give out more.

I just had to wait …

I didn’t know how long it was before I felt the presence of some kind of predator nearby. My body immediately became alert, grabbing a nearby fallen branch to protect myself. I felt that something or someone was stalking me. My clothes were soaked, full of mud. The rain sec was falling furiously around me, but that didn’t matter. There was something out there, and I was not going to become anyone’s dinner.

I released her as soon as I recognized Hunter’s wolf-like appearance. He was black as night, impressive, captivating. I knew anyone who saw it would wet their pants, but I was so happy. He had found me and was coming to my rescue. Luckily for both of them, he always carried a change of his clothes in his bag. He was used to having to transform suddenly.

I turned around as he transformed, giving him as much privacy as possible. I listened to it, feeling a chill. I didn’t know what his mood was.

Maybe he was angry that I missed the bus and had to go find me. I was clumsy. I should have stayed on the road, but to enter the pack, I needed to cross the forest. There I got lost.

His arms wrapped around my back. I felt the warmth of him, the strength of him, the agitation of him. His breathing was rapid and uncontrolled. It seemed that he had run for hours, terrified. I was angry with him, furious, yet the relief was so great that it removed all reproachful thoughts from my mind.

He had taken me by surprise, but I let him hold on to me as the rain continued to fall around us.

“I was so worried,” he whispered. “Nobody knew where are you exactly, and I was afraid something had happened to you. I’m so sorry, Sienna.”

“It’s okay, Hunter.” I tried to comfort him, but he wouldn’t let me move from where he was. “I’m fine, you’ve already found me.”

I felt tears burning in my eyes. I wanted so badly to cry and scream at him that I had been so scared. My whole childhood was running through forests and villages, fleeing from something unknown. Reliving those days was a hard blow, but his presence meant I was safe. And I appreciated the fact that he had found me so much that I ignored that he was, in part, one of those responsible for this situation.

“How far are we from the pack?” I asked, dreading the answer.

“About a twenty-minute walk.”

I moaned in regret when I heard him. I had had the absurd hope of being close. I was so tired, my feet ached, and I couldn’t walk without feeling a pinch on my right ankle.

“Get in,” he ordered, pointing at his back.

“That? I’m not going to ride on you!” I exclaimed in shame.

“Your feets is hurting, Sienna. I can take you and we will be there in just ten minutes.”

Yes, werewolves were very fast and strong, but that didn’t imply that I was excited about being on top of him.

Lies, the only thing that prevented me from jumping on him, was the shame he would give me.

“Okay, I can walk, Hunter.” I knew I was being stubborn, yet I didn’t give my arm to twist.

“As you like.”

I took a couple of steps before I felt his arms lift me up, bride style. I screamed in surprise, staying very close to his face.

His hair was matted, his eyes a little red as if he were holding back some tears. His lips were in a fine line that I wanted to erase with my kisses. God, this man was going to end up killing me.

I took refuge on his shoulder. The heat of him managed to counteract the cold in my bones. I felt his heartbeat, erratic.

“Thank you,” I murmured.

“You don’t have to thank me. You wouldn’t be in that state if I hadn’t let you down. I’m never going to forgive myself if something bad happened to you,” he declared, tightening his chin.

I knew him well enough to know that he was upset with himself. I didn’t need words to understand it.

I caressed his jawline, getting him to look me in the eye. I tried to smile at him and erase that tortured expression from his face.

“You had other more important things to do, I understand.” I instantly regretted what I had said. It had sounded like complaint and jealousy, the least we needed at that moment.

“Nothing is more important than you,” he declared so firmly that there was no room for doubt.

He kept walking, despite my insistence that I could walk on my own. He didn’t let go of me or complain. The rain was waning; the trees were helping us a little.

I closed my eyes for just a second, breathing in the scent of him, wanting to stay that way forever.

Together.

I couldn’t open my eyes. Not with the severe headache that troubled me. I tried opening my eyes a few times so I knew I was in my room in the mansion’s attic. I had the blankets covering me up to the jaw, and yet I was still shivering from the cold. I could hear the fireplace burning. The fire crackling and the smell of burning wood were unmistakable.

When I managed to feel a little better, I looked at everything around me. The room was dark and only the fire lit dimly. I was surprised to notice that Hunter was sitting on the small sofa in my room, totally asleep.

I tried to get up, but the pain in my body was much more substantial. I felt burning, my temperature was high, my throat was dry, and my ankle throbbed.

I had gotten sick from the rain, it was apparent. I was always in poor health, which is why the Alpha had forbidden me many times to play with Hunter and the other pups in the pack. They could be for days in the rain without problems. I, on the other hand, had the health of a bit of a chick. I let out a soft groan, but it was enough to wake Hunter and have him by my side in the blink of an eye.

“How do you feel?” he asked with concern.

“Like shit,” I replied hoarsely.

He laughed a little, he seemed to be in a better mood so I smiled back at him. He touched my forehead a couple of times, frowning.

“You have a fever. Do you want to eat something?”

“I have no appetite,” I muttered.

“It would be best if you ate something, Sienna.”

“I feel bad, Hunter,” I whimpered. “Pamper me.”

The tremendous and future Alpha had a weakness. One he could never resist. And that was the sad puppy look. I knew how to use it well, so it was still very efficient. He gently stroked my hair with that expression of resignation, knowing that I had won this battle.

His mouth twisted. He seemed to be thinking of something. He was so handsome, and I was a mess.

In my defense, no one looked good being sick.

“If you eat something, whatever is healthy, I promise to pamper you the rest of the day.”

“Deal!” I exclaimed, delighted.

I could make the sacrifice to eat something if it meant having him around all day. I liked spending time with him, even as friends. Our video game and movie afternoons were my favorites. Because we grew up together, our tastes used to fit together. Things like fighting over which movie to put on were alien to us.

Complicity. We were so complicit in all aspects of our lives that, in one way or another, we ended up synchronizing and complementing each other.

“I hate soup,” I grumbled after I finished it. I knew he was going to take advantage of my misfortune.

To my regret, that was also part of our friendship. What kind of friends didn’t tease each other from time to time?

“I know,” he admitted, grinning.

He lay down next to me, like every night where silences weren’t uncomfortable, where I didn’t need to explain things to him because he already knew. Hunter feared storms ever since his mother left him in the middle of one. The Alpha told me about it once, just because he noticed his son taking refuge in my room every rainy night.

When the former moon decided to leave office and her family, the rain was falling outside with great fury. Little Hunter was outside the mansion all night, waiting for his mother to return. Not even the Alpha could convince him to take shelter in their home.

So they ran an incredible feeling of loneliness in Hunter, even when so many years had passed since then.

However, we were already teenagers, almost adults. He no longer came seeking my protection, but the habit remained between us.

“I’m so sorry,” he apologized for the fifth time that day.

“I already told you we’re fine. It wasn’t a big deal.”

“You’re sick because of me. I should never have listened to Wynter.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, frowning.

“She said it would be okay to escape for a while. She said the bus would run until nightfall, that she had already checked it out.”

“No bus passed in two hours, Hunter,” I spat. I wanted so badly to smash that wretch’s face.

She did it on purpose. She knew for sure. Did I have proof of it? No, I didn’t. But that didn’t take away my annoyance. Someday I would charge her for everything she had done to me during my childhood and adolescence.

But now, she claimed to be the future moon of the pack.

What would she do to me then? I couldn’t stay here if she commanded me to leave. Not even Hunter could protect me. I was sure she would make my life miserable.

No, she was nobody’s moon.

I shook my head to remove all the unwanted thoughts.

“I know. I arrived here, and many hours had already passed, and you’re still not home. Nobody knows where you are. I was petrified. I had never been so scared in my life.”

He was crying. Not in an outrageous and disgusting way. No. Tears were running freely down his face, and he didn’t try to stop them or pretend that he wasn’t crying. He opened up to me, allowed me to see his heart even though it wasn’t necessary.

“Listen to me well, Hunter,” I spoke seriously, forcing him to meet my eyes.

“It wasn’t your fault. I should have called someone when I saw that a bus did not pass. Yes, I ran out of battery at the bus stop. However, no one forced me to get lost in the forest.”

“But you didn’t have to make that decision if I had been there.”

“I’m tired, Hunter,” I admitted. “I don’t want to continue being the weak human of the pack. I’m only here because you forced them to accept me.”

“That’s not true.” He tried to deny it, but we both knew he was lying.

“I can’t even make it to the pack on my own. What does that say about me?” I sniffed loudly through my nose. I was seconds away from crying.

“I never tried to show you the way. It’s my fault, not yours.” He was desperate, and it was evident in his voice.

“And I didn’t learn it on my own.”

We both let out a sigh in unison. It was useless to argue. We would both blame ourselves. It wasn’t the first time, of course not.

When we were kids and someone was caught up in mischief, we used to blame ourselves. The Alpha never really knew who to punish, so we usually ended up punished together.

We talked for hours. Hunter hadn’t had a day off for months, and the Alpha gave it to him with the excuse that he was going to take care of me. I didn’t have to worry about him catching it since werewolves rarely got sick.

I sometimes envied them. They were more potent, more agile, and with better resistance to all kinds of diseases than humans. In comparison, I was just a paper doll, too weak.

But that would change. It needed it to change. I was going to ask Hunter to show me the way, to train me. I couldn’t just remain the friend of the future alpha. Not if there was a chance, however small, that Wynter was his moon.

I had to learn to take care of myself. I couldn’t remain a burden to Hunter.

Not anymore.