Taken in the Night

Chapter 16- Hunter

EDITED

--Hunter--

"Who are you?" I ask. I'm curious as to why he's so protective of my mate.

"Her brother," he says, stalking off. I run to catch up to him.

"Brother?" I ask. I'm questioning and not getting any straight answers and honestly I'm sick of it already.

"I'll tell you her life story once we get back to the pack and you've got clothes on," he replies, still walking. I hurriedly catch up.

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We're sitting in a park, me with clothes on. We've been sitting like this for about 5 minutes.

"So... Why is she like she is?" I ask finally.

"You'll need to keep an open mind when you hear about every detail that's happened in her life," he says. I search his face for any hint of humour and find none. I nod.

He takes a deep breath, "her name is Peace, although I suspect the other have given her a different name-"

"Others?" I question.

"Yes, there are 3 other panthers that she hangs around. I believe she's friends with them. Anyway, when she was two she wandered off without our parents knowing. From what I hear everyone thinks she was eaten. From what I've seen it looks like she was raised."

"By who?" I'm getting confused. This is making no sense.

"The panthers. I believe green eyes found her, raised her as her own as well as the other two, who I think are her children."

"Green eyes? Who's that?"

"The panther with the green eyes," he answers. I frown.

"I saw the girl with two cats once, she was getting them to carry a body somewhere. The body of a cat. She seemed very protective over it, I just assumed it was her meal or something," everything is starting to click into place. Kinda...

"Oh no..." The boy trails off.

"What?"

"That would mean green eyes died. From what I saw she was like a mother to Peace. She must be heart-broken," he says. Tears filling his eyes. I shake my head.

"This is probably the worst time to ask, but what's your name?" I would like to stop calling him 'the boy'.

"Ryder, Ryder Thomson," he says, holding out his hand.

I shake it, "Hunter Jefferson."

"Back to what I was saying before. I first met Peace two years ago, I always suspected she was alive but I was surprised when I found her. It was the night she was meant to shift so I watched her turn into a panther. I think the goddess thought it would be unfair to wipe away all her feline instincts and replace them with some more similar to the canines. Anyway we had this whole adventure where she was almost killed by the Warriors, her friends saved her. Kinda. They arrived after she stunned the Warriors by shifting.

"Today when she saw you I could tell she didn't want to fight. I could tell some of the pull is there but not all of it. I could tell by the way she shivered something reacted. But her first instinct is to protect, it happens every time I visit. It's like... If your brother or sister was in danger you would jump in between the threat and your sibling. Right, well even though she doesn't know who I am she still has that same instinct. My theory is since she hasn't had very much human contact the trigger that screams mate is weak, it can't recognise you."

Honestly, I didn't expect that. I just thought he would say she doesn't like alphas and has some genetic malfunction.

"Where did she live then?"

"In a cave in the other side of a waterfall," Ryder answers like its the most normal thing in the world.

"So your saying that she calls that jungle home?" I ask, my eyes widening a fraction more. I get a nod of confirmation.

"My mate, is a cat, lives in a jungle and her best friends are panthers?" I shout. Again a nod.

I put my head in my hands, "now what?" I mumble.

"Now you leave her alone, let her continue her life," he says like it's obvious.

"But I can't do that. I'm an alpha, I need a mate so I can lead the pack. I can't just leave knowing she's living in the middle of a jungle!" I cry.

"You'll have to," he states. I shake my head.

"My mate WILL NOT stay there. I'm going to tell Alpha Granger about this, he can help get me some men to get her out of there. She can be taken to the pack house, learn English and how to-"

"If you take her to the pack house she'll resent you. She's a wild animal, she can't be tamed as easily as you think," he cuts me off.

"Of course it won't be easy! I just want her to be able to function like a normal person," I say.

"I don't think she'll ever be a normal person," Ryder whispers before walking off. Leaving me there thinking about all the possible ways to get her out of that cave.

Hi!! I'm updating again, one chapter away from 30 in my secret chapters. And I'm wanting to catch you guys up.

Please comment what you think! I've been getting more votes which is awesome but I'd also like some more comments please!

-Wolfy