Page 36 of A Hunter Turned
Archer closed his eyes for a moment as his doubts – his phobias – reared their ugly head before he shook it off. Dropping a kiss on the top of her hair, he tried for nonchalance. “Of course she is. Why wouldn’t she?” and wished he felt as confidant as he sounded.
Sissy ducked her head deeper into the crook of his arm, her words muffled yet still audible as she said, “I saw the females earlier. Heard them tell her to go.” Sissy looked up quickly before once more dropping her head. “And then the Hunter left.”
Despite his best efforts considering Sissy’s proximity, Archer couldn’t contain the growl or the snarled, “Who?”
The teenager was shaking like a leaf and her grip around his back tightened, but she seemed to understand his anger wasn’t directed at her. “My mom, Marceline, and a few of the other elder females.”
Archer’s mind was spinning. Christ, that text from Jamie he’d received earlier may well have been an easy brush-off and she could be anywhere by now. His eyes narrowed. Those meddling females…
Recalling who was in his arms, Archer took a steadying breath and hunched down. “Thank you for telling me, Sissy. You did the right thing.”
Sissy nodded, her eyes meeting his just briefly before she asked, “She is coming back though, right?”
His nod was as much to reassure the juvenile as it was for him. Even if Jamie had left pack lands, she wouldn’t leave the area, he reminded himself. She and Morgan were setting up the training facility, not to mention, Jamie had every intention of sticking around and helping Kane. She had also taken up the hunt for that scarred bastard, Marlin Hughes, and she wouldn’t leave that unfinished. Bailing wasn’t her style. She just needed a little time away, that was all.
His thoughts brought him a semblance of calm, a moment of clarity, and possibly saved those females responsible for driving his mate away, their skins.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Morgan was in the house fixing something to eat for her and Travis when Jamie’s laptop, open on the coffee table, began to chime with an alert. She was half-way to it, to check what was up when her phone began to ring. Knowing that Jamie would have gotten the same alert on all her devices, she expected it to be Jamie on the other end with an update. Instead, the caller ID said Kane.
“Hey, what’s up?”
Kane’s voice was strained, edged with worry as he said, “Hey, listen. You know that little wolf, Nicky I’d been seeing?”
Bracing for bad news that she’d have to report to the pack alpha, Morgan asked, “What about her?”
“She’s not answering her phone. Could you go check and see if she’s around?”
“Why?” Morgan asked with narrowed eyes though Kane couldn’t see them.
“Just,” was followed by a frustrated sigh, “please go check for me. Please. Then call me back?”
She’d known Kane since he was a teenager, and while the Born cared deeply about his team, he wasn’t one to get attached to any of the multitudes of women that passed through the revolving door that was his bed. Last she’d known, the little wolf that had been sniffing around him of late was nothing more than a temporary diversion. Of course, she had to admit that despite her best efforts to stay in the loop, her attention hadn’t been one-hundred-percent focused, not since a crack had appeared in the stone encasing Sophia. The fracture was small, just at the shoulder, but it was the first sign they had that Travis’s sister was attempting to come back and they were determined to be there for her when she emerged. Had she missed the mighty Kane falling in love?
“Fine, but I expect an explanation.”
“You’ll have it. Call me back.”
Tucking the phone in the back pocket of her jeans, Morgan left the house to jog down to the cluster of cabins in the center of pack territory and knocked on a door. Nicky still lived with her parents, parents that were, last Morgan knew, oblivious to their daughter’s relationship with the Born, though how the girl had managed to keep it a secret with the way pack gossip worked was a mystery.
There were lights on inside, and Morgan could hear a TV, so someone was home. She was just raising her hand to knock again when the door swung open. The big man who’d answered, Nicky’s father, did not look pleased by the interruption. Nor did he offer a greeting, rather did he just stand there and stare at her with an expectant look.
“Is Nicky home?”
“She’s in her room. Why?”
Shit. She needed a reason, didn’t she? And calling Kane back with a confirmation without actually laying eyes on the girl probably wouldn’t fly.
“Can I talk to her for just a minute?” She asked, hoping Nicky’s father wouldn’t press for details since Morgan was coming up blank and the truth would probably have the door slammed in her face.
The man looked grumpy but didn’t deny Morgan’s request, simply turning his head and bellowing his daughter’s name.
The attractive female appeared a moment later, her eyes lighting up when she saw Morgan. “Hey, what’s up?”
Waiting for the girl’s father to move out of earshot and resume watching his show, Morgan said, “Kane wanted me to check on you, he said you weren’t answering your phone.”
The girl’s face practically exploded with joy. If she’d been a cartoon character, little heart bubbles would have been floating around her head. “Oh, my God! That’s so sweet!” she gushed. “He must regret sending me away. I knew he would.”
