HunterIrina amazed me again. She was dealing with this power so well. She was dealing with impossible situations as if they were nothing. I could see the strain, but only because I could also feel it through our bond. I loved my human mate more than anything and I was falling in love with her more and more each day.Now that she was pregnant again, I wanted her to take it a little easier, but my mate didn’t know the meaning of the word!IrinaHunter was on my case to get up later and come home earlier from the shop, but I had things to do!“Hunter! For goodness’s sake! I am pregnant! Not incapacitated!” I sighed deeply as his eyes turned a little sad. He was in my office for the third morning in a row to try and convince me to go into the shop later. I closed the gap between us and let my hands rest on his chest as his arms encircled me. “I love you, and I understand that you are just trying to protect us, but I’m really fine. I haven’t been as sick as I was with Archer.” He nodded.
IrinaHunter kept the biggest business in the city because most of our funding came from there, but our businesses in town were quickly picking up speed! The day we opened the spa, we invited the entire town. I planned it to fall on a holiday because I wanted everyone to experience the treatments we had available. Opening day was really special since we planned to give people free treatment, and I just loved watching the women sparkle when they left.Since our town was still fairly small in comparison to other towns, we could accommodate everybody for the treatment they wanted. Hunter wasn’t sure about my business idea at first, but as I was standing outside watching people walking in and out of our new spa, he pulled me into his arms and grinned.“Who would have thought free stuff would draw so much attention?” He grinned and I smacked him.“Free stuff, as you call it, always draws attention. You just wait and see, after they get their first taste, they will pay to come back.” I wink
IrinaThe excitement in our pack hadn’t been like this ever and it felt really great to watch our people bloom again. Not long after that, Ingrid had her turn and she turned into a beautiful grey wolf on the night of her party. Having just one of them turn was a huge blessing already. Having both of them being able to turn was the greatest relief we could have had.With two alpha children being able to turn, our pack’s future was more secure than ever. They both started their training with the warriors and I stood on the porch watching them train with the warriors. Unfortunately, I couldn’t think about our blessings. All I could think about was the war and that one day, my children would probably have to face some kind of life-threatening thing!I felt overwhelmed by the thought and when Hunter joined me, I blurted it out without even thinking. He smiled at me and pulled me into his arms.“They will probably never face what we did, my love. The chances of anyone trying that again with
IrinaIf I thought dealing with them when they were teenagers was bad … Archer was looking forward to the day he was going to turn eighteen. As the two years ticked by, I could see the relationship between him and Hunter slowly deteriorate. There wasn’t much I could do about it. No amount of talking to the two of them helped.They were both alpha males. Hunter was trying his level best to teach Archer everything and Archer seemed to think he knew everything already. They were both stubborn as hell and driving everyone mad as their tempers would flare up at any time. Hunter even threatened to make Archer wait until he was twenty-one before he handed over control of the pack.“We’ve indulged that boy far too much! If he learnt things the hard way, he might not be so damn stubborn!” Hunter stormed into my office where I was busy teaching Ingrid about businesses. Archer would take over control of the pack from his father. That meant that Ingrid would take control over my businesses. Once
IrinaI walked down the stairs and had to stop for a moment to take it all in. It was so beautiful! Emily and Ingrid had outdone themselves! For weeks, everyone had been running around getting things ready for Archer’s Alpha ceremony, and tonight was finally the night.“It looks incredible! Better than my party.” Hunter grinned as he slipped his arm around my back and I smiled, pulling him a little closer.“The girls did all of it.” I breathed in his scent. Up until that very moment, I didn’t realize how nervous I was about everything. Handing over control to our children was probably the most nerve-wracking thing we had ever done. It felt worse even than the day I changed. I didn’t want them to grow up! I didn’t want them in those positions! In that kind of danger …Some of the pack walked over to greet us and I was pulled out of my thoughts and smiled. Everyone was happy for Archer, but as expected, everyone was nervous. There was a clear difference in managing styles between Archer
Irina“The alpha is hurt! The alpha has been hurt!” Those words will forever be burnt deep into my heart! I sat upright in bed trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Hunter was already up and dressed in a pair of shorts as I tried to gather myself. Archer and the others were going out for a second run after us old people went to bed.They were only going for a run near the lake! I jumped out of bed and put on the clothes Hunter threw on the bed and we rushed out of the house. Shifting as soon as we hit the forest, we rushed to the lake. My blood was rushing through my body so loudly that I was almost struggling to hear what the hell happened. Archer’s beta was trying to explain through the pack link, but the boy sounded so rattled that we couldn’t figure out a word of what he was saying.All we could hear was that Archer had been shot. We reached the lake and the group were huddled around Archer who was lying on the ground. My heart stopped. I had been trying to call out to
IrinaSince Ingrid wouldn’t turn eighteen for a couple of months, Hunter and I decided to take back our titles for the time being. Archer’s death still had to be investigated and Ingrid wouldn’t be able to handle that just yet. She had received some alpha training over the years, but she would have to do a crash course over the next couple of months first.The investigation that Hunter and the sheriff did launch to explain Archer’s death brought to life the events of what happened. The young wolves were playing around the lake in their wolf form and somehow the hunters got onto our land. Border patrol noticed their scent too late, and it showed us that we had become too complacent in checking our borders.After the war, we had our warriors checking the borders more stringently, but as time passed, Hunter cut back on the patrols. There was no big threat out there anymore, so such stringent security wasn’t necessary. Or so we thought. We never expected humans to come out and hunt us! No
IrinaIt hurt! It hurt so badly that it felt as if I couldn’t breathe! It hurt that I had to put on a brave face for everyone when I was slowly dying inside. I wondered if it would have hurt less if we didn’t have to go through the fake funeral and the trial, but I knew it wouldn’t. Yes, those were constant reminders, but I lost my son. Nothing would ever make that any easier.As the days slowly ticked by and we sat through the farce of a court case, my anger grew. It wasn’t directed towards the man who shot my son and killed him. It was directed towards the man sitting in the back of the courtroom studying everyone. The real reason my son was killed!All my life I have tried my best not to hate anybody. I believed that people acted the way they did because something in their lives wasn’t entirely right. I rationalized a lot! This time around, however, I couldn’t help myself. I hated the hunter! I felt like leaping over the rows of benches and ripping out his throat in front of everyo