Hunter's Secret

Hunter's POV

“Race ya there!” Cameron said, shoulder bumping me before letting Xavier take control and he started running toward the town hall.

“You’re on!” I shouted, letting River out.

We quickly caught up to Xavier and tackled him in the grass. Xavier quickly responded to River, exposing his neck in submission. We both shifted back and threw on some clothes we had stashed behind some trees next to the town hall.

“It’s no fun when Xavier gives up so easily,” I remarked.

“He doesn’t have a choice, H. River’s presence is enough to just make him submissive. You wouldn’t understand because he is part of you.”

“I guess but still, a little challenge would be fun.”

“For you maybe. But not for us. Since you have been able to successfully connect with River, your Alpha aura is incredibly strong. In our human forms, it doesn’t impact me as much because I have known you for so long but for Xavier, he can’t help but submit. River just exudes power,” Cameron replied, offering a small smile to me which I responded to with a sigh.

“I didn’t think about it that way. I am glad it doesn’t bother you as much. I don’t know what I would do if you didn’t challenge me on things sometimes. That is one of the reasons I chose you as my Beta in the first place.”

Winking, Cameron replied, “You don’t have to worry about that. I will always challenge you.”

“Thanks.”

“Anytime.”

“Boys! Get in here! You were supposed to meet the elders twenty minutes ago!” My mother said sternly, giving us both a ‘you’re in trouble’ look.

We both swore under our breath and quickly smoothed out our clothes, following my mother inside. We walked in and my mother took her seat next to my father. I sat at the head of the table and Cameron took his seat to my right.

“Apologies for the delay. My Beta and I were doing border checks and got carried away. I am sure you can all remember what getting your wolf was like…” I tried to joke but not a single elder cracked a smile. Taking a deep breath, “Anyway, what is the status of our treasury? How have the newest builds been coming along?”

I discussed back and forth with the elders about the current issues of the pack. I continued asking questions, listening to the answers, making suggestions, and deflecting questions I couldn’t answer to my father who answered them easily.

“Thank you for all coming today. Again, I apologize for the delay, but I appreciate your patience. I will see you all next week,” I said, effectively closing the meeting.

The elders stood, bowed, and left the room one by one. After all the elders and my parents left, it was just Cameron and I. Cameron patted me on the back and told me that I did a good job in the meeting. I thanked him with a smile and then we walked side by side out of the town hall too.

“So, what other plans do you have for us today?” Cameron asked me as we walked.

“I just figured we would go on a walk around the pack lands and talk to some more people. I want to make sure everyone feels like their concerns are heard and valued.”

Nodding, Cameron fell into step with me. We walked in comfortable silence toward the playground where all the young pups were playing. I knew that talking to younger families would be helpful for knowing what the growing pack may need.

I asked, “Cameron do you want to go and talk to those families over there and I will go talk to those ones on the other side?”

Cameron did not reply. I quickly turned around and saw Cameron had just stopped walking and he looked like he had seen a ghost.

“Locks? You good?”

“It’s her.” Cameron replied, his voice barely over a whisper.

I followed his gaze and saw a beautiful woman sitting on a bench, reading a book but keeping her eye on a young pup who was wrestling in the dirt. Her back was turned to us, but we could see her brown hair falling in curls over the back of the bench, the wind gently stirring it and blowing her scent directly toward us.

Understanding what Cameron meant, I started walking toward the woman.

‘H, stop! I can’t go over there! I am not ready to meet her yet!’ Cameron screamed over mind-link.

‘Too bad,’ I replied, cutting off the mind-link and continued my walk over to her.

Cameron realized that I was not going to stop so he quickly jogged after me and followed behind me.

I entered her peripheral view, paused, and quietly cleared my throat, and said, “Excuse me, miss. Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?”

Glancing up, she quickly realized it was me. Apologizing, she bowed and greeted me with respect.

“Alpha Hunter, I am sorry. I didn’t realize it was you. What did you want to ask me?” she said slowly raising her head.

“Actually, I didn’t have questions for you, but my Beta did.” I replied, gesturing back toward Cameron.

She followed my hand, locking eyes with Cameron and immediately started jumping up and down before jumping over the back of bench and running to a very still, very shocked Cameron. She quickly pulled him in for a hug and as soon as she reached him, he realized what was happening. He gently wrapped his arms around her before bending down and snuggled his nose into the crook of her neck.

Pulling back from Cameron, she grabbed his hand and led him back over to where I was standing, amusement not so hidden from my face.

“Earth to Cameron….do you want to introduce me?” I questioned.

“Uh yeah, this is uh, ummm uh,” Cameron glanced down to the woman who so easily slipped her arm into his, “Sorry, what is your name?”

“I’m Emma Grover.”

I cleared my throat and reached out to shake Emma’s hand. This caused a low growl to escape Cameron’s chest. I held my hands up in understanding.

“H, I’m sorry. I don’t know what that was all about,” Cameron stammered.

“It’s okay. No hard feelings,” I replied before turning to Emma and saying, “I will apologize on his behalf. He is normally not like this and he”

Cameron interrupted me by blurting out, “Oh my gosh, you are so perfect.”

“Oh really? A little forward hmm? Especially since you didn’t even know my name like literally thirty seconds ago.” Emma teased, causing Cameron to run an embarrassed hand through his hair.

“Right. Yeah. Sorry. I um, am just really happy.” Cameron said bashfully.

“Well, I forgive you completely.” Emma said and stood on her tiptoes to give Cameron a quick peck on the cheek causing a deep blush to spread across his face.

I just watched my crazy confident best friend turn into complete mush.

‘Emma already has him wrapped around her finger. Is the mate pull actually this strong?’ I thought to myself.

“Emmy!” the little boy said, running over to where Emma was standing. She quickly removed her arm from Cameron’s, causing a flash of hurt to move across his face, and reached down to pick up the little boy. She rubbed a patch of dried dirt off of his forehead and introduced him.

“This is Ezekiel. He is my little brother. He was kind of a surprise pup if you couldn’t tell,” Emma explained, “I should probably be getting him home soon.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. Alpha, we should probably be heading back too,” Cameron replied.

“Cameron, you should walk me home first,” Emma stated, shining him a smile that reached all the way to her eyes. He quickly shot me a look which I returned with a nod of approvement.

Moving Ezekiel to her hip, Emma used her freed hand to wave to me, “It was very nice to meet you Alpha Hunter. Thanks for letting Cameron walk me home.”

“It was nice to meet you too. I would tell you to be careful, but I highly doubt Cameron would let anything happen to you,” I smiled.

Emma grabbed Cameron’s hand and started leading him toward her house. Cameron glanced back at me one more time and mouthed the words, “oh my gosh.” I winked at him and turned to head back to the pack house.