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Chapter Quote:
"Oh gods! My eyes! My innocence!"
~Connor, Bloodrose
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Chapter 36

Josilyn

After Elsa left, I went back to reading my book. The next time I heard footsteps, I knew it wasn't my friend. They were too heavy. In fact, you could really never hear Elsa walking so if you could, you knew it wasn't her. I turned to face the new visitor. He was a tall, dark-haired Searcher. When his eyes landed on me, he flashed me a smile.

"Hi there," he said.

"Hi," I replied nervously.

"I'm Nick. You're part of the Laroche pack right?"

"Yeah, I'm Josilyn. I'm Ren's second's daughter."

"You're Shiloh's daughter? Wow, your temperament is so different from your fathers," Nick laughed.

I smiled. "My brother got that gene. I inherited my mother's temperament. So what's your job as a Searcher?"

"I'm a Striker," he answered, sitting on the bench with me. I pulled my legs up closer to my chest. This guy, while he seemed nice, was still kind of creeping me out.

"What are you doing out here? I don't come across many people this time of night unless it's one of my pack."

"Thought I'd go for a walk. It was getting too stuffy in the dining hall. What about you? What book are you reading?"

"Oh, um, I didn't want to read in my room. And I'm reading Anna Karenina. Elsa recommended it to me. She had to go do something but she should be back soon."

"Hopefully not too soon. I'm enjoying talking to you, and considering you're always with your family, that's kind of hard to do."

I shifted uncomfortably on the bench, pulling out my phone and texting Elsa an 'SOS' message. "She texted me saying she'll be here in a couple minutes. She had to go talk to her brother. As for me always with my family, it's a pack mentality. None of us really go anywhere without one of the others. And that's not just because we're being hunted. We do it when we're not being hunted too."

"Do you ever get tired of constantly being surrounded though? Surely you like alone time?"

"No, I like being with my pack mates pretty much constantly. I mean not all of us are like that. I know Elsa, Gracie, and Diana like to be by themselves. But other than that, the whole pack likes being together."

"So why were you out here alone when I came around?"

"Like I said, I'd been talking to Elsa. She had to go talk her brother really quick."

"Wasn't she supposed to be here by now?"

"Um, no. She still has a few minutes," I lied.

"This is going to sound really straightforward so please forgive me, but you are absolutely stunning," Nick complimented.

I blushed. "Oh, thank you. You're handsome yourself."

He smiled. "You're cute when you blush."

"So do you have a boyfriend? I heard you were dating the Laroche alpha but I never see you two together."

"Um, we're-"

"Hey, there you are. I've been searching all over for you," Hunter said, walking up to me and giving me a kiss. While I was glad he was here, there was no mistaking why he was here. Someone was moving in on his mate, and he was here to make sure the newcomer knew his place. It was an unmistakable act of dominance and possession.

"Hey you," I said breathlessly.

Hunter stood up and looked at Nick. "Who's this?"

"I'm Nick Landry. I found Josilyn out here and thought I'd give her some company."

"I can relieve you of that. Josie, your favorite show is about to come on. I thought you'd want to come watch it," Hunter said.

"Yes!" I exclaimed, jumping up. Hunter took my hand in his. Smiling at Nick, I told him it was nice to meet him even if it really wasn't and that he had seriously creeped me out. Hunter led me out of the garden back to my room, which was situated right next to his.

"Thank you for getting me out of that," I said.

"You're welcome," Hunter replied. "Good night Josilyn."

"Really?" I finally asked. "You come to my rescue, give me that... that kiss, and then just tell me good night? Hunter, what did I do that has made you hate me?"

He turned around. "I don't hate you Josilyn. Far from it. I'm madly in love with you. But you tell me all the time that I deserve someone better than you and that makes me believe you're trying to... I don't know, find a way out of the relationship. I can't get any better than you because you are the best there is. So I guess I'm going to be a lone alpha because if I can't be with you, then I don't want to be with anyone else."

"Hunter, I do want to be with you. I've been saying those things because I believe them to be true because I can't keep up with you Hunter, my health is terrible even if we do have it under control, and I feel I'm holding you back."

"You have never and will never hold me back. Unless you ask me not to do something. Then I'll hold back, but other than that, there's no way you can."

I shuffled on my feet. "Elsa told me what you told her, about how you didn't care if you had kids or not. Is that true?"

"Yes, and I told you that as well. Why believe her and not me?"

"Because she had the bright idea to listen to your heartbeat when you said it... I'm sorry, Hunter. For everything."

"Me too. Do you forgive me for being an ass?"

"I'll always forgive you," I said. Hunter grinned before pulling me into a kiss. It'd been way too long since he'd kissed me like this and I missed it. I grabbed his shirt in my fists, trying to bring him closer even though that was kind of physically impossible. He got the message though and pinned me against the wall.

We would've kissed for ages had someone not cleared their throat. Hunter growled at being interrupted. He pulled away and faced the intruder. My brother stood there, his eyebrows raised and a smirk on his face.

"Sorry for interrupting you sticking your tongue down my down sister's throat, but we have a situation in the foyer," Noah said.

"Unless it's Hunters or someone's dying, I don't think it's more important than Josie right now."

"Does a heartbroken sister count? Because that's what's about to happen to Elsa. Spencer's ex just came back from the dead and she's in the foyer. She's a wreck."

"Hunter, we need to go," I said, taking his hand in mine.

"I really wished I didn't agree with you at the moment. Come on." Hunter, Noah, and I ran to the foyer. I was glad it wasn't far from our rooms because even that short distance of running had me huffing and puffing.

When we arrived, we were one of the firsts. Lily was kneeling next to Callie who was sobbing. My heart went out to her. She was beaten terribly and I could only imagine the pain she was in. Mom, dad, Loren, Shiloh, Carrie, and Melinda were there. Thea, Riley, Dmitri, and Sebastian were there too. However, the rest of the pack showed up barely a minute later. Spencer and Stark were the last to show up, skidding to a halt next to Lily. Callie looked up at the former, cried out his name, and leapt into his arms. Spencer would've fallen backwards had Dom not steadied him. Callie pulled away briefly to give Spencer a kiss (who seemed utterly shocked by it) before she rambled about how much she missed him and how sorry she was for hurting him and all this other stuff that made no sense. I glanced over at Elsa. Despite her phenomenal acting skills, even she couldn't hide the hurt this time. I saw the sadness wash over her. I wanted to go over and comfort her but I knew Anna had it under control. Besides, it would probably draw attention to us and I knew she wouldn't want that.

"What is going on?" Babatunde asked, striding into the room with Braeden behind him.

"Baba, this is our pack mate Callie Hart," Lily introduced. Callie looked over at the head of the Academy but stayed glued to Spencer's side. "Callie, this is Babatunde."

"Hello Miss Hart. It's a pleasure to meet you. I've heard many things about you," Baba said.

"Nice to meet you," Callie said shyly.

"Come, let's get you to the infirmary, help you get those injuries healed faster. We can introduce you to the rest of the people here later. Lily, Stark, you two come too. Spencer, would you be so kind as to go get some food for Miss Hart here? I'm sure she's starving. Take someone with you perhaps," Baba suggested.

Spencer almost instantly looked over at Elsa but I was surprised when he said, "Dom, mind helping grab some food?"

"No problem," Dom said, staring at him curiously. Our group started dispersing after Callie went away. I decided to take that chance to go see Elsa but she was already half way down the hallway with Anna holding her hand.

Hunter and I headed back to his room. We got into bed and I curled up in his arms, silently glad there were no other girls I had to worry about losing Hunter to.

"Do you think Elsa will be okay?" I asked.

"She always is, isn't she?" Hunter responded.

"Yeah... and I mean she has Anna and Stark to take care of her now too."

"What do you think Stark's interest in Elsa comes from? You don't think he's in love with her do you?"

"No!" I exclaimed, shuddering at thought of Caleb being in love with his little sister. Gross. "No, I know Stark is really protective of her after what she's done to help Spencer and what she's been through with family and stuff. They're similar, that's all."

Hunter sighed. "I just wish she'd tell me things. She always told Caleb things over me and now she's telling things to Stark over me." He gave a small chuckle. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say Stark was Caleb, but I think I'd know if my own brother was here. Come on, let's get some sleep. We'll check on Elsa in the morning."

Hunter kissed me before turning out the light. All I could think of was what would happen if I told Hunter about Caleb? He'd either be glad his brother was back or he'd try and go kill him. Caleb wasn't here to rain on Hunter's parade as alpha. If he was, he would've made his presence known by now. But it wasn't my place to tell. Caleb wanted to keep his identity a secret and I was going to respect that. Closing my eyes, I allowed myself to fall asleep.
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There's your chapter SACarter. Now I want my Secrets chapter! Review please :)