Loyalty Or Honour (Book 3)

Chapter Fifteen

Vote ~ Comment ~ Enjoy!

Orion and Hunter part ways outside Ross's home. Hunter watches his brother stride away before he pushes the door open and strides in. Jacqui guiltily jumps to her feet, putting distance between herself and Ross even though they had only been speaking before Hunter's abrupt entrance. Her cheeks blush with heat and she runs a hand through her hair. Ross chuckles and nods at Hunter. She glares readily at him for finding it amusing.

"It is only Hunter." He reminds her, "You did tell him about us far before we knew we could trust him." He adds on cheekily. She shakes her head.

"What if Orion had followed him in? How would we explain my presence here?" She points out. Ross just shrugs his shoulders. Part of him would actually like to be caught out so they could bring the sneaking around to a halt. He knows, however, that is the opposite of what she wants. Hunter looks between the two of them before heading for his room.

"Maybe if you two stopped pretending to hate each other and just appeared as friends there would not be an issue." Hunter tells her before shutting his door behind him. He hears Jazqui speak and Ross answer in murmurs and decides to ignore it. No point getting involved in a couple's squabbles. He had never done it with Bronco and his wife. He smiles to himself, maybe he did when it involved Sparrow and Wolfe but that had been entertaining. He drops down onto his bed and closes his eyes.

Hours pass with little to no noise coming from the streets outside. He wakes slowly around midnight, the light from the moon shining into his room, colouring it an eerie blue. His bleery eyes dart around the room. Something must have woken him, but what? Nothing is out of place, there are no peculiar sounds. The village is asleep along with all of its occupants. Hunter considers going back to sleep. Instead he rises and tugs at the clothes he fell asleep in which have become uncomfortable. He stumbles over to the window and gazes out. He rubs his neck and glances at the closed bedroom door. No sounds come from the rest of the house. Jacqui left hours ago and Ross is clearly dead gone in the world of dreams.

He edges the window up and slides out underneath. The cool night air leaves cold kisses over his bare skin on his neck. Hunter looks back, wondering if he should have retrieved his cloak before leaving. He misses the hood shrouding his face. With a shake of his head he decides to go for a walk without it.

He walks for what could have been mere minutes but according to the sky is more like hours. As the sun peeks over the hills in the distance Hunter pauses and finally takes note of where his feet have taken him. He should be shocked but he is not. His feet have taken him exactly where his mind has drifted in every spare, boring minute. He gulps and steps back so he stands on the other side of the cobbled street, well covered by the shadows spread by the dark of the early morning hours.

He remembers his harsh words with outstanding clarity. I ended up in a much better situation with him than I would have with you. He had said the words with ice that could cut through flesh. I was wrong to come here. He had meant the words in that moment. Now he doubts them. Is it not better to have met her and known the truth? He grinds his teeth momentarily. Did he really want to know that she never fought for him? Would it not have been better to live in ignorance? Never had he felt more like being ripped apart. Finding out Claire was not his mother had been painful but it had explained so much. Knowing his true mother did not want him causes a searing pain within his chest.

Almost a full day has passed since she told him the truth and now the full weight of her words pushes down on him. Her other words meant little. Who cares if she regretted the decision? She never did anything about it. He had come all this way. He had come to her home. He had given the woman who abandoned him a chance.