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Chapter 9: The Other Man

Penulis: Lauren Rutherford
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2022-09-17 14:08:37
Tourists swarmed the town. With only a few days until the festival, people were pouring in, wanting to make sure they got a room at the hotel in town instead of having to commute in. The festival lasted all week but on The Fest of the Forest, the real celebration began and lasted all day.

It was quite a sensation. People traveled from states away to visit and see the spectacle. It made Willow tear up every year. Many people came to pay homage to The Women of the Moon. What they thought was a folk tale was really the telling of Willow's ancestors. It always warmed her heart to see the people dancing in the streets, bedecked in all sorts of luminaries.

She had been so busy she hadn't even had time to think of Garin. Much. It had been a few days since he had stopped here. She hadn't seen him since but every so often she caught a whisp of his scent outside of her door. Being busy had also meant that she hadn't seen a lot of Lyall as well but now, here he came, holding the door open for a large group of women who ogled him as they passed.

He was still wearing his smile when he sat down at the counter nearest her.

"Hey babe," he said and leaned over, kissing her cheek. She fought rubbing it off on her shoulder.

"Hey, how was your meeting today?" she asked, not listening as a large number of orders came in. Her newest employee, Caitlin, handed her a stack of cups, orders scribbled on them.

"It was good. We found a decent space a few blocks from here. It doesn't have a great workshop in the back but dad thinks we can make do,"

"Great. That sounds wonderful," she murmured as she made three drinks at one, her mind elsewhere.

"Yeah, I could see you every day then."

"Yep," she said, not hearing a word as she scalded the milk and had to dump it out. She was rinsing the pitcher out when she felt his hand clamp down on hers. Her eyes rose to meet his.

"You aren't listening to me," his eyes were narrowed, his pupils dilated. She leaned closer to his face, to anyone else it would appear she was about to kiss him.

"Get. Your. Hand. Off. Of. Me." She growled, feeling her hackles shift under her skin. He held on for a moment longer before he had to concede. She gave him a sweet smile in case anyone had been watching and went back to work.

He set back, looking around to make sure no one had noticed. His eyes met a familiar face through the glass. It was one of the hunters. Garin, her grandmother had told him. He was glaring daggers at him. Lyall looked towards Willow who was too busy to notice and looked back at Garin, flashing him a large smile. He knew what their exchange had looked like. It had looked like two lovers sharing a secret.

This seemed to have enraged the hunter who stalked off. Lyall sat back in his seat, feeling smug. He looked over at Willow and thought, mine.

Garin had been casually strolling by the café every day, occasionally seeing Willow. She had hired a new girl to help with the festival, so she hadn't been in as much. He only went in on days that she wasn't at the counter. He wasn't quite ready for another run-in with her so soon. It was enough to be drinking the coffee she roasted, surrounded by her scent.

He wasn't sure why she had so enraptured him. They had barely even spoken. Sure she was gorgeous but there were gorgeous women everywhere. Most of whom weren't the sworn enemy of his entire lineage. His thoughts harkened to Romeo and Juliet but no, that wasn't quite right. His attraction to her was different, deeper somehow. More of a Heathcliff and Catherine perhaps.

He wanted to know her. Audrey had said that she loved reading, so as an aspiring Literature professor, he had been trying to glimpse the book that he had spotted her reading in the mornings, between customers.

No luck yet. He decided today, that enough was enough and he would actually talk to her as opposed to skulking around like a teenager. Audrey was right, this legacy business was old and he had never actually seen anyone shift. Perhaps it was all a fairytale. Perhaps his father had an undiagnosed condition. Either way, he was at least going to say hello.

If she refused him, he would move on and forget about the beautiful barista. Steeling his nerve, he walked up to the door and looked in. He saw the flash of her auburn hair, pulled back into her characteristic tight braid. She was busy at the espresso machine, a long line of customers at the register. He heard a crash and saw her close her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before walking to the sink.

He was about to go in when he saw a familiar man sitting at the counter closest to her. It was the guy that had been with her at the restaurant. The one she didn't seem interested in.

The man reached out and grasped her hand. She stopped and looked at him before drawing her face close to his and then leaned back, a smile on her face. His heart dropped. So there was something there. Of course, there was. The guy looked around and then directly at Garin, and grinned.

Garin stormed off, pushing past the bustling crowd. He needed to be away from people. He drove back to his house, an anger building slowly inside of him. The smirk on that guy's face made him see red. He wanted so badly to go back and knock that smug face on his ass.

But he wouldn't do that. He had never even been in a fight. He needed some air. When he got home he grabbed one of the preloaded hiking backpacks that his father left beside the basement door.

"In case we need to hunt one on short notice," his father had replied when Garin asked. He didn't care why, he threw it on his back and within a few short steps, he was in the forest.

With no destination in mind, he began walking, the town slowly falling away behind him. He was alone.

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    The rain began to come down harder now. Garin was huddled underneath a tree, the cold rain had seeped into his thin sneakers. He was shivering uncontrollably. He wrapped his arms around his knees, trying to stay warm. He had eaten most of the food in his pack. It was only meant to last three days max. He had only a handful of granola bars and jerky left to get him through, but he had no idea how to get home. He had wandered for two days; the trail being washed out from the storm that had ripped through the mountains. He didn't know what he was going to do. He sat watching the rain pelt down, rivulets of water running down his face and into the neck of his sodden jacket. Willow was irritated. Lyall had come by every day while she was at work until she finally told him that she needed space. He was too distracting. He took it the wrong way of course but at least he had left her alone. She hadn't seen Garin in a while and was crestfallen. His scent was washed away with the freak sto

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  • The Alpha and Her Hunter   Chapter 11: An Unlikely Savior

    His scent wavered at the river. Willow bent down, digging her hands into the mud, and lifted it to his face. Thankfully, he had decided to not cross. It would have surely killed him. These were glacial fed rivers, numbing the skin within seconds of contact. He went west. She rinsed her hand and quickly dried it on her pants, stuffing it back inside the gloves she had grabbed as she left her house. This was a furious storm. Thunder echoed miles away, crashing against the mountains that separated them from the next valley. The river was rising, swollen and angry. Torrents of rain continued falling down. She could barely make out his footprints along a drier patch of mud that was slightly sheltered by an overhang of shale. She paused her herself, breathing in his deep, woody scent. He had trailed his hand along here, keeping himself steady. Her heart thrummed. She would find him alive. He had to be. The next part of this trail was the worst, it hugged the side of the cliff with no r

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  • The Alpha and Her Hunter   Chapter 12: When Flames Ignite

    A large gust of wind shook the tent, waking Garin. His head pounded but at least he wasn't freezing anymore. In fact, he was incredibly warm and suddenly aware of the soft body pressed against his. He opened his eyes, thinking that it had been a dream. Her red curls were tousled all over the place, draping over her shoulders and his arm, which was very much asleep underneath her head. He realized he had been holding his breath, afraid to wake her. Her breathing was slow and steady, she still slept. Without waking her, he pulled his arm from underneath her head and rubbed it vigorously, trying to get some feeling back into it. Glancing down at her sleeping face, he figured the pins and needles were worth it. He swept his hand across her face, brushing away a stray curl. Yellow eyes snapped open and stared at him. He drew his hand back quickly as if he had been stung. "Sorry," he murmured, embarrassed. Her face was also flushed as she struggled out of the sleeping bag. He found h

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  • The Alpha and Her Hunter   Chapter 13: The Red Hoods Are Coming

    Dawn broke brightly over the tent. Willow squinted against the glare. She looked over and realized that she was pressed against Garin's back. They must have moved together sometime during the night as if attached by a magnetic force. Part of her didn't want to leave. There was something fragile and tenuous between them here. Their families didn't seem to matter. Who and what they were didn't matter? It was just them. The few minutes she had spent alone with him had been more electrifying than the many years she had spent with anyone else. The initial danger that she had felt when they first met was gone. Perhaps it would be the death of her, but she found she didn't care. Sitting beside him last night, almost kissing him, made her feel more alive than she ever had. Perhaps it was the forbidden nature of him that so drew her to him. She knew that nothing good could come from it but here she was, playing with fire. She peeked outside of the tent. It was light enough for them to get

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  • The Alpha and Her Hunter   Chapter 14: Worth the Risk?

    "Willow are you alright?" her grandmother asked, noting her distracted stare. Willow turned her eyes on her. "Yeah, sorry. I was lost in my thoughts," she replied, shaking loose the thoughts from the other day. She hadn't seen Garin since they met his family in the woods. She was still shaken by the hate and venom in his father's eyes. She knew hunters were their enemy. She knew it in her bones, but she had foolishly thought that those days were past. The treaty had been enacted a hundred years ago; her grandmother had penned most of it. She had encountered other Red Hoods before, but they were more civil, just stopping by every few years to make sure the treaty hadn't been broken and to share news with her clan elders regarding other parts of the world. It was tenuous at best, but it worked, and they never stayed. Until the Brochades came. With a shiver she looked down at her plate and began gobbling up the eggs there, hoping to leave before Lyall wandered in as he had been doin

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  • The Alpha and Her Hunter   Chapter 15: Fraying Family Ties

    Garin smoothed down his chestnut hair, hoping to tame the wayward cowlick that refused to comply. He hadn't seen Willow in a few days. After his dad had dragged him home, he had been too embarrassed to face her. That and his dad made Silas escort him anytime that he went into town until Garin had had enough and went back to his apartment for a few days just to get some breathing room. Now he was waiting in his car outside of the café like some lovestruck idiot, hoping to catch a glance of her. The town was full of people anxiously awaiting the festival in two days. The line to the café was stretched outside. He shouldn't bother her. Not when she was this busy. He saw a tall, lean man come loping up the sidewalk and peer into the windows. He felt his teeth clench when he realized it was the guy, he saw her with before, Lyall. He even hated his name. Lyall cupped his hands against the glass and left, a slightly crestfallen look on his face. Good. Garin was half tempted to tell him ho

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  • The Alpha and Her Hunter   Chapter 16: A Risk Worth Taking

    Willow anxiously waited for her last customers to leave. She kicked herself for letting Caitlin go home early. Garin had asked to see her later and she hadn't been able to focus on anything else since. She contemplated telling the patrons to leave but she had a stellar five-star rating and she didn't want to risk it. The couple waved their goodbyes as they left. Willow hurriedly locked the door behind them, spinning the closed sign so hard it nearly snapped the chain. She dashed and locked the register; she would worry about the deposit tomorrow. Before she left, she checked her appearance in the antique mirror above the sink. Her mascara was smudged, as always, and she had a long streak of what appeared to be mocha sauce across her cheek. She scrubbed her face and quickly pulled her hair out of its braid. She noticed how much Garin seemed to like her hair when it was down and crazy. He was waiting by the door as she locked up. He looked up as she walked out, and her heart lurche

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  • The Alpha and Her Hunter   Chapter 17: A Not So Subtle Threat

    Willow's head was still spinning from the night before as she walked to work. Her grandmother had offered her the car again, but Willow had too much energy flowing through her. She couldn't keep the smile from her face, even as the rain began to fall. The streets were quiet, the tourists still sleeping off the night before. Willow's heart was soaring, and she knew it was only a matter of time before it came crashing back to reality, but she didn't let that dampen her mood. When she walked into her store, she remembered that she hadn't cleaned up last night in her rush to see Garin. With a groan, she trudged back to the utility closet for the cleaning supplies. She flipped on the radio as she wiped down the tables, singing softly along, the strong scent of the lemon cleaner filling her nose. Mopping the floor, she noticed a curious set of footprints on the wooden planks. They lead to her office. She placed her boots next to the print on the floor. They were much larger than hers.

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  • The Alpha and Her Hunter   Chapter 47: Healing Wounds

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  • The Alpha and Her Hunter   Chapter 46: Field of Blood

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