Page 3 of A Hunter Cursed
Once the room cleared, Archer motioned for Jeremiah to follow him out. “Let’s go outside to finish this discussion.”
Stepping out into the hazy, late morning sun, the humidity hit Jeremiah in the face and sweat immediately began to bead on his face and lower back. “I assume I’m not just going to be lurking in hallways keeping an eye on things. Morgan doesn’t strike me as the type to appreciate me hovering.”
Archer swiped a hand through his hair to push it off his forehead. “Officially, you’ll be there to train the other shifters or reinforce any training they’ve already had on tracking and non-lethal take-down techniques. You’ll also be educating the non-shifters who might end up with one of ours on their team about how we react to certain things and what to expect from one of us out in the field.”
“And unofficially?”
“I trust Morgan, hell, I’m mated to her best friend who I love with every beat of my heart, but that doesn’t mean I trust vampires as a whole.”
Jeremiah nodded, “And there’ll be other vampires there.”
“Ones that aren’t necessarily from around here. They may technically fall under Kane Fletcher’s jurisdiction while they’re here, but…”
“Their loyalty will be to another of the Born who may have ulterior motives,” Jeremiah finished, a growl rumbling through the words.
The Born were natural vampires who considered themselves the leaders of the supernatural world, and in some ways, they were. Fast, strong, powerful, with abilities and resources that had allowed them to hold that position. Every territory around the world had a Born in charge. In the case of Louisiana, that Born was Kane Fletcher who had managed to establish peace, even a friendship between the vampires, the shifters, and the witches, but not all Born were of the same mindset. Many of them chose to rule like dictators, subjugating the other supernatural species in their territories, and dealing harshly with any that stepped out of line. A vampire sent in from any of those areas, might be coming in with preconceived notions of superiority and cause trouble for any of the shifters who had chosen to train with the Hunters.
“I’ll keep an eye on them.”
“I’d also like you to keep a discreet eye on Jamie.”
Jeremiah chuckled. Jamie was Archer’s mate, a vampire as well as a Hunter who would be training the recruits interested in learning the IT side of hunting. “She’ll be pissed if she finds out you’ve put a guard dog on her.”
Archer’s nod was sharp. “She will, but at least I’ll be able to sleep at night knowing her safety is assured.”
Putting a hand over his heart, Jeremiah vowed, “I’ll protect her with my life.”
Archer held out his hand for Jeremiah to clasp and his alpha pulled him in until their shoulders bumped. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Let’s hope I’m just being paranoid and that you really are going to be bored out of your skull with this assignment.”
Pulling back, Jeremiah shot him a grin. “Hey, I might get lucky and there’ll be a selection of fine females, one of whom might want to get down and dirty with a wolf.”
With a bark of laughter, Archer clapped him on his back, and they resumed their walk, their conversation turning to the usual pack business of patrol schedules, supplies, and necessary repairs.
Once their talk concluded, Jeremiah returned to his small one-bedroom cabin for some much-needed sleep after having come off a night watch before Archer had called the meeting. His sleeping habits also made him the best suited for taking on the job at the training facility. Most of the classes would be taught at night to accommodate the Turned vampires that couldn’t be out in the daytime like the Born could and Jeremiah was already accustomed to sleeping during the day.
Raking a hand through his hair, he grimaced. He needed a cut. Typically, he wore it buzzed close to his skull, the military-style cut easier to deal with, especially in these summer months, but he’d let it go recently, the woman he’d been seeing had asked him to grow it out for her. She was gone now, so too should be his pathetic attempt to please her.
Jeremiah blew out a breath and collapsed on his bed with a grunt. His tone may have been joking when he’d mentioned to Archer his hope of meeting a woman, but he’d been serious. He wanted so badly to find his mate, or if not his mate, at least a good woman he could talk to and spend time with. Someone to help break up the monotony of his life. Eat, sleep, work, repeat. He sighed. He had so much love in his heart and no one to share it with. He’d had this yearning for a while now, only growing exponentially worse at seeing Archer with his mate, Jamie. Of course, his most recent attempt at dating had been an utter disaster.
God, he’d been such a fool when it had come to her. The only bright side was that she’d shown her true colors before he’d done something stupid like reveal to her what he was. He should have known she was too good to be true. They’d had so much in common, she’d liked everything he liked, or so she’d let him believe. But the Cara Novak he’d thought he was falling in love with had been a carefully crafted illusion.
Pushing thoughts of her away, he picked up the remote and turned on the TV, needing a distraction before he fell asleep. The last thing he wanted was that bitch invading his dreams.
∞∞∞
It was a dream. Keegan knew that, yet she couldn’t manage to bring herself out of it. In the dream, it was nighttime, and she was on Bourbon Street though she barely recognized the place. The buildings were dark, the brightly colored neon lights had been extinguished, and Keegan was utterly alone. Turning a circle in the middle of the road, there was not another soul in sight. This was wrong. Her heart raced and fear clogged her throat. She tried to call out to someone, anyone, but no sound emerged.
The ground shook beneath her feet, the pavement cracking, releasing steam with a hiss, and Keegan’s mind screamed for her to wake up. She didn’t want to see this.
There was an odd gurgling noise and she looked down to see the cracks in the pavement oozing with a black, tarlike substance bubbling to the surface and spreading across the street. That same tar was also dripping from the buildings, leaking from the windows like black tears. There was a malevolence in the air that was so strong it was suffocating, choking her, until Keegan felt like she was drowning.Wake up!
She was no longer alone. She could feel someone else, someone close. Turning slowly, with panic a tight knot in her chest, she spotted the man a few yards away. He was a fearsome sight crouched with one hand braced on the ground, his eyes a glowing amber as if lit with an inner fire, his upper lip pulled back from his teeth in a snarl. And yet, the sight of him had her heartbeat slowing, the tight vice around her lungs easing. He – whoever he was – despite appearances to the contrary, made her feel safe.
“Miss Bishop?”
A touch on her shoulder had Keegan jerking awake, her eyes wide as she met the concerned countenance of a stocky, dark-haired woman wearing khaki trousers and a yellow polo shirt with an embroidered logo of a smiling cartoon apple tree. Shaking off the aftereffects of her disturbing dream, she looked around the room and met quite a few staring pairs of eyes. Crap. She’d fallen asleep in the waiting room at the dentist’s office. How embarrassing.
“Are you all right, Miss Bishop?”
