Hart and Hunter

Chapter 25

Ch. 25: Julian

Freya's arrival has an immediate and positive effect on the atmosphere. The tension lifts, joy replaces anger, and our disagreements are forgotten—for now.

From the way he refuses to make eye contact, I know Dane is well aware the conversation isn't over. It's not something I'm looking forward to, either, but he needs to understand that forcing his will on me is an absolute no-go and a solid boundary in our relationship.

Meanwhile, I'm happy enough to let things rest as we welcome Freya to our home.

Dane's oldest sister is among the first of his family I'd ever met, and it's impossible not to love her. Aside from the fact she saved my life once, she's gorgeous, good-natured, and gratifying just to be around. She'd also given me at least one unfortunate nickname, which had stuck.

"Juju-bean!"

She catches me in a crushing, leather-clad embrace, and I wince.

"Hey, Frey." I grin up at her when she releases me, doing my best to extinguish the emotional coals still smoldering in my chest and to convey nothing but welcoming cheer. "How've you been?"

She shrugs and smiles crookedly. "Same ol' same ol'. Caught a vampire in New Orleans last week. That was fun."

Dane frowns at that. "You're being safe, I hope."

She winks as she joins us at the table, dropping into a chair. "Always and in every way."

Ingrid giggles as she serves Freya a bowl of soup, but Dane's frown deepens to a scowl. Overprotectiveness aside, I understand why he worries; dangerous bounties are one thing, but there are uglier, and more mundane perils out there. Born beautiful, Freya passes easily in all ways save one: few cis women are as tall as her.

"Stop." She leans over and hits his arm with the back of her hand. "You know I can handle myself, and anyone else, too. But you'll be happy to hear I got a hunting partner now—just like you wanted."

"You do?"

She smirks. "Mm-hm. He's kinda on-again-off-again, but he comes when I want him to."

Her playful tone suggests there's a double entendre in there somewhere, and Dane's scowl remains fixed in place.

"He?"

Freya rolls her eyes. "How 'bout we stop worrying over my business for a minute, and concentrate on you, hmm? What you got going on here?"

Over the course of our continued meal, during which Freya devours three large servings of soup and half a loaf of bread, we relate the events of the last few weeks.

"Skin-changers, huh?" She muses as she leans back in her chair. "Can't say I've encountered 'em before. They got a scent?"

Dane returns from the kitchen with a couple of beers and hands her one. "Possibly. It seems animals can detect them, but I haven't had a chance to find out if the same is true for Wolves."

Freya's brows lift with surprise. "What? Why not?"

Dane shrugs. "None of the scenes have been particularly 'wolf-accessible' so far."

"Hm. Well, lucky I'm here, then. My sense of smell is almost as good in this form as in my other," she explained for my benefit. "Which, believe me, is not always a blessing. Public restrooms are hell."

"We'll be glad for the help," Dane says. "But the case isn't why I called you here."

Freya arches a brow at him and glances between us. "Right. The land-bonding. You sure you two are ready for it? Kind of a big deal, you know."