As the grain tower shook before his eyes, Hunter even considered the idea of leaving where he was, hidden among the trees right behind the man Corinne was strangling without using her hands. That probably made him a shitty Alpha, but his first instinct upon learning of the invasion had been to look for his mate and make sure she was safe, rather than rushing out to face his enemies. It had been a martyrdom to first run to where the invasion had started and make sure that his warriors had control of the situation, before following Corinne's scent there...
And find her using magic.
Like every other wolf cub, Hunter had grown up hearing horror stories about how sorcerers of the past had made his ancestors slaves, locking them in cages and torturing them for their own amusement using the terrible and sadistic magic many said which had even almost completely disap
Once Corinne was finally in his arms, Hunter could feel her tense, apparently more out of shock than fear, and he hated to think it was because she expected him to attack her right then and there, after finding out she was capable of use magic... Just like her mother, the woman he didn't even know how she looked like, but who Corinne seemed sure was enough to make him hate her with all his strength.“What…? What are you doing?” she gasped through her tears, starting to move to try to get away, but Hunter didn't let go of her for a single second “Let go of me! You… You can’t…!”“I’m not leaving here until you calm down, tigress.” Hunter grumbled, resting his chin against her head as he pretended not to notice that she was still shaking as she cried “So, stop fighting and take a deep breat
“What?” Corinne gasped, completely disarmed by his words and Hunter knew very well why.“There’s no other way to describe it. That’s what he was.” Hunter sighed “You might think I'm a bad son for saying something like that, but, well, if I've spent even a few minutes of my day with him since I was born, then that's a lot. Even when my uncle was still alive, he took his job as a advisor very seriously… Or something like that.” he snorted, full of contempt “However, when he became Alpha, then raising me became my mother's exclusive job, even though, for us, wolves, raising a child is a job for the entire community, but mainly for both parents.""If he was still pretending to be doing something useful for the pack, then maybe I wouldn't have to say something like that, but even that wasn't what he cared
“Hunter!” she gasped, like he was crazy or something “You… Should you really be saying something like that? And the promise you made to your mother?”“You mean the promise she forced me to make? Only to try to make me be like her? So that I would worry more about reputation than what was really wrong?” Hunter laughed, without any humor, just disdain “I've been holding on to this shit for too long. Maybe you don't know this, but I was just a 19-year-old kid when my parents died. And, like everything in Calibur at that time, to even put them in a coffin a lie had to be invented.""Felicity was becoming too insistent, delusional that my father would one day kick me and my mother out of the pack to make her his new Luna and Jennifer his heir. So when he realized he could no longer control her, Owen had no qualms abou
“Why… Why did you tell me all this?” she asked, confused.“Well, I really wanted you to not feel vulnerable now that I know a secret of yours, so I wanted to give you one of mine in return… But mostly, I think it's because I know you would never hold it against me. ” Hunter admitted, smiling at her until her cheeks turned rosy “I know I can trust you, even to tell you something as shameful as my family's past. That's why I don't care who your mother was or what traits from her you inherited, Corinne. I will never see anyone else when I look at you, just as I hope you don't see my father when you look at me, now that you know the things he did.”"I would never do that." Corinne stated and, as if she finally understood how he felt, she smiled, shyly “Thank you, Hunter. I... I'm sorry for acting that way, thi
“So there is a sorcerer helping these invaders.” Gregory sighed, sitting on the other side of the desk in Hunter's office, right across from where he and Corinne were sitting “That... Complicates things, certainly. I'll have to come back early and warn Alpha Eli about what happened here. We must be prepared in case the next attack is aimed at Valiant.”“Wizard or not, they will still have a huge army of well-trained tigers and wolves.” Hunter stated, making Isabelle and Aiden nod nearby, although they didn't seem as confident as him “Magic may be powerful, but it is not invincible. Our ancestors proved this to us a long time ago when they defeated an entire army of magic users and freed themselves from their slavery. We will do the same. And now, we will be prepared to deal with whatever these bastards still have in store for us.”
“And here are some snacks that Cindy made for you to eat along the way.” Corinne smiled, placing the paper bag inside Gregory's backpack, which had almost arrived at Calibur and now seemed about to burst from being so full “Well... I guess that's all. You are ready to go." she sighed sadly, smiling at friend, who was once again completely covered by his cape and hood “Please, be careful on your path. We don’t know who we are dealing with.”"Don't worry." Gregory smiled, approaching her “I will send your father the question you asked, I promise. But try not to let those kinds of thoughts get to you, Cory.” he pleaded “She fell off the cliff when she was being chased by Eli and other warriors. They found a burned body around that time after she tried to set the forest on fire. It's impossible for this to be her doing. She is dead. She can’t hurt you
“I think that's all I have to say about our security setup when the caravan bringing Alpha Valiant and his family arrives. Should I change something?” Aiden's question sounded like a buzz to Hunter, as if he were on the other side of the world at that moment."No. That’s more than enough perk for those tigers.” Felix grumbled angrily “We shouldn't roll out a red carpet for them just because they're related to Corinne, like that old goat seems to want. If she had accepted having formed a family with me years ago, as she should have, then she wouldn't need to treat her Alpha as if she were her son or something, wanting to spoil him like that.”“Stop whining about it, Felix. We have to be as accepting of wolves as we would be of any other of our allies. Plus, this visit is really important to Corinne. That's why Hunter agr
“Corinne?! What the hell have you been doing there for so long?! Come over here so I can see how that dress looks on you!” Penelope ordered, from the other side of the bathroom door, while the doorknob turned non-stop, as if the swan was about to break in at any moment “Don't you dare take it out first!”“Penelope… That doesn’t look good on me…” Corinne swallowed, eager to convince her “Believe me, we’d better try something else…”“Corinne, if it were your choice, you would have welcomed your family with a faded blouse and dirty jeans from that disgusting stable.” Penelope’s tone made it very clear that she was rolling her eyes “If you really want this occasion to be special, then you have to dress the part. Besides, weren't you the one who said you want to