Chapter 18
Hunter
Five years later
It had been five years since Emily had left me the card at the hospital. I had chased her scent all over the world, and missed her by a day. All the towns had the same statue with the same green eyes. The eyes of royalty is what it is called. Only there when a snow leopard of royal blood makes contact with the statue, or looks it in the eyes. Emily had taken the more direct approach and actually touching it for about a month or so. But then it all ended. I was on my own so I decide to head back to the United States. I get on a flight in Spain that goes directly to Pittsburgh, and I would have to find a new home somewhere outside of Irwin.
Once I got off of the plane I make my way through security and see Mrs. Evans with a sign that has my name on it. Once she sees me a smile crawls across her face as she runs towards me. "Hunter, it is so good to see you!" She wraps me into a surprisingly strong bear hug, "Mrs. Evans, why are you so happy to see me? I told you I would bring your daughter back, and here I am without Emily." Her smile somehow broadens, "She called and told me what happened. She asked if I could take you back to the house for a bit. There is a clue as to where she would be there." She led me to her car which was a beat up Jeep, and we made our way back to her Irwin home. When we got to the house and she led me in, the furniture was the same as when I had come around the first time. On the coffee table there was a box wrapped in red paper, and a card with my name on it. I open the card and instantly smile as I read the message Emily left for me.
Hunter,
How's it going? So I guess your still a little mad about the whole thing five years ago, but hey I have kept you busy now haven't I. Well there is something I want to apologize for. I am sorry for the way that I acted, and how I am currently acting. The truth is, the royal council is on my tail, and I am just trying to stay away from them for as long as possible. Anyway, your hint is this. Remember at JFK airport, I told you I might meet you somewhere north. Well I hope to see you there.
-Emily
P.S- Your elder told me to give the box to you. I have no idea what it is, so be afraid.
I place the card on the table and look at the small rectangular box on the table. Then I begin to unwrap the package, only to see the book of legends. I begin to flip through the pages and see that it is the one that I have read since I was a little boy. I smile at the sudden kindness that the elder was showing. But something falls from between the pages. It was a picture of the elder holding a baby, and her actually smiling. Then a note falls from the pages as well.
Hunter,
I have been wanting to tell you this for a long time. Emily Evans was once a member of our village. Her father was a mountain lion, and her mother was supposedly human. I married them together and in the end they made me Emily's godmother. When the big three came to see what had happened between a human and a shifter they asked me to hide her. So I put her on the door step of the Evan's house, and when I came back to the village her mother and father were dead. Killed by the big three, well now I guess karma finally got to them. Her mother knew who she was a descendant from, and warned her father. But love is stronger than anything. And I was blind enough to let my own hatred of what had happened to them cloud my judgment. Go to Emily Hunter, she is your mate, and she needs you right now.
-Karyn (elder)
Well that was a shocker, who knew that the elder was Emily's godmother. And why had she never told me, more importantly did she tell Emily? I look at the two cards, each from a person who cares about me for different reasons, one as a child, the other was my mate. I stare at Emily's card and our conversation at JFK airport comes back to mind. "I will be waiting for you, maybe in Canada." Up north, well that was definitely north. Soon Mrs. Evans comes out, "So did you find out where she is going to meet up with you? Or do I have to spell it out to you?" I give her a surprised look, "Yes she told me, just in case you couldn't remember. There are no specifics though sorry. All she said was keep your nose up, and keep moving forward." I let out a laugh, "That means she has no idea where she is going either." As I say this a pick up truck comes up and there are two teenage guys in the back. A burly looking man with black hair then comes out of the cab of the truck. I instantly recognize Mark. He knocks on the door and Mrs. Evans smiles, "I'll get it." The door opens, "Hunter, your ride is here."
I smile and go to the door, "Hunter, long time no see. I think you should come with me for a while." He couldn't help but break a smile as he grabbed my arm and dragged me towards the truck. I waved goodbye to Mrs. Evans who also had a smile on her face as she tried not to laugh at my desperate look on my face as I tried to free my arm. Once in the cab of the truck, Mark burst into laughter, "Oh the look on your face Hunter was so priceless!" I smile, "Well I am still trying to get used to the whole wolves being friendly thing. That was just panic at first." A smug laugh escapes his mouth, "I forget that your a mountain lion. You should have been a wolf or something, you would have been better at it." I roll my eyes and we drift into silences as we start to head towards New York.
After countless hours of sitting in the passenger seat, we finally stop and Mark looks at me, "This is the border to Canada. This is all the farther we can take you without getting into the other pack's business. So good luck Hunter, I hope you find her soon." With that he got back in his truck and sped back up the logging road that had led us to this point. I shake my head and shift, my knee was perfectly healed, but it sometimes liked to lock when I shifted. I move my left hind leg until a loud pop could be heard, then I begin my journey into the deep forests of Canada.
Months later
It had been months since I had set out to find Emily, and yet this girls was proving to be more trouble than I thought. I had been through countless miles of forests and yet still not one whiff of her scent. I was sitting on top of a cliff in as me, but keeping my sense of smell, and all of the sudden I see a gray figure making its way down the hill on the other side of a near bye river. I smile to myself and shift, quickly scaling the rocky side of the cliff until I was at the river. The figure starts to come out of the brush, her gray fur slowly turning into white fur that coated her stomach and chest. Black spots caressing dark patches of gray, and large paws slowly making their way towards the river, her green eyes never leaving mine.
She gives a playful yowl and begins to run down river of our location. She doesn't even look like she is trying, but I have to sprint in order to keep up with her. Once we reach a narrow part of the river I jump across and she looks back from her leisurely pace, and begins to go faster. Why did she have to make this difficult? I try to go faster but my body would not allow it. Also how can she move this fast? She is a swimmer, and everyone knows that swimmers are like the most ungraceful people on land.
As if on cue she jumps into the water and seems to disappear into the murky depths. I sit on the bank and catch my breath. Then I go to a rock jutting out over the river and see if I can catch sight of her. Then all of the sudden I see movement in the water, and it just keeps reoccurring all over the river. I don't know where to focus until it is too late. With a playful yowl a very wet snow leopard leaps out of the water and tackles me to the ground. Both of us shifting as we tumble down the rock until she is on top of me out of breath. I look at her, "What happened to the Autumn forest, and the fallen deer?" She gave a smile, her hair plastered to her bare back and face, "I thought about it and realized that I write my own destiny. Having something set in stone doesn't seem to be my cup of tea, so I improvised." I lay my head down on the ground and watch as a moose walks up. Emily waves to it, "Thanks Anna, you were a huge help!" With a snort the moose made her way back into the forest.
After a while we went to go get Emily's clothes, which were a loose t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants. as we walk I can't help but notice her scar, "So how did it happen?" She gave me a curious look, "What?" "The claw marks down your side. How did they happen?" "The jaguar caught me in mid air when I was jumping over the lion. You should have seen the whole thing though, it was pretty epic." Judging how the big three were now six feet under and she only had four scars down her side, I would say that what she accomplished was pretty epic. "Tell me all about it when we get to the next village." She smiled, "Well how about when we get home." "That would take weeks!" She let out a giggle, "Not if you have a dragon to give you a ride. Hey Bafon can you come pick us up?!" Sooner than expected we were whisked away by a giant bird like paw. Emily pulls me in close, and places her lips on mine, when we separate she says breathlessly, "I thought this would be a little more exciting than being on the ground and doing this." I slowly nod my head and try to catch my breath. That one kiss made everything seem brighter and all that much better. I watched as she leaned over Bafon's clawed fingers and looked at the world below. A look of pure amazement was plastered on her face, but her eyes were no longer unreadable. I had finally gained all of her trust with that one kiss, and she had finally accepted me as her mate. We spend the rest of the trip with our hands intertwined and our faces looking down at the earth as it slowly draws closer and closer to us and we find ourselves home once again, in the forest where it all started.
