Two Hearts: The Hunt [Slowly Editing]

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Adrianna's POV

"Stay in the car, understand? Stay. Here."

For once, I did as I was told without even a thought of objection.

I heard the driver's door slam hard enough to rattle the entire truck, shaking me along with it. Caleb approached the man, who, through further inspection, had eyes that were glowing bright yellow, like Caleb's did when he was either about to shift or already-shifted. Even from where he was standing a rather far distance away from the car, I could still clearly make out the sharp, animalistic nails protruding from his finger beds and toenails, for he was barefoot. His ears were pointy as they stuck out from the bushiness of his dark head of hair, and thick, black sideburns framed the edges of his face, looking stark against his rather peachy-skinned complexion.

But there was something about him- something in the way he stood and in that deep scowl twisting his face that instilled me with a vague sense of familiarity, not quite like déjà vu but prominent enough to leave me wondering whether or not I had seen him in the past, somehow.

I diverted my attention to Caleb, who was approaching the man as if he wanted to severely hurt him-but he only managed to catch my interest for a moment. For it was then that realized that the wolves settled behind the muscled man were probably the scariest, most beautiful sight in the entire area.

The moment they witnessed Caleb, I saw something in them snap at once, as if they were one single, interconnected unit. And they were, I told myself. They were a pack. Their tight muscles relaxed just a fraction-simultaneously, like watching dozens of balloons pop at precisely the same time. This was when they appeared to be more alive, in my opinion: no longer were they standing there like an army of frozen, straight-faced statues. No, instead I could see people hiding behind those wolf eyes, which lit up at the mere sight of Caleb. A few tails twitched in what I could only assume to be happiness.

Even through our measured distance and the metal-and-glassed exterior of the truck, I was still able to capture everything Caleb and the man were saying.

"What the hell is this?" Caleb demanded, his voice clearly enraged. He spread his arms out to his sides, gesturing to the army of wolves standing around and behind the man, who narrowed his glowing eyes.

"Caleb," his voice was low yet intimidating-a warning; a threat. "I was just taking extra precautions."

"Extra precautions?" Caleb echoed in bewilderment. "Dad, you have the entire pack here, minus mom and the kids."

Dad

"Your mother is watching over the children-"

"You didn't trust me," Caleb cut him off. There was no anger in those words, just wariness. "Of course not. I don't know why I even try with you."

Hearing the way they spoke to each other only emphasized their familial connection. This man was Caleb's father.

The Alpha.

It was no wonder why he was standing in the forefront, looking the most intimidating of them all. And it was no wonder he looked familiar: I could see snippets of Caleb engraved in the making of the man's personal framework, like patches on a quilt. The threatening scowl. The strong stature. The yellow eyes.

The temper.

"Caleb enough," his father snarled in exasperation, which looked ten times more frightening because of his half-shifted, wolfish face. "You can't blame me for wanting to be safe."

"Yeah, because she's totally stupid enough to attack one of us on our territory-"

"Caleb!" the Alpha shouted, his eyes blazing yellow, a flash of the color increasing in brightness to the point where it became momentarily blinding. The sound of his son's name was loud enough to echo off into the pack lands. The wolves behind Caleb's red-faced father winced in response to the loud yell, some whimpering and others cowering with their tails between their legs.