Page 44 of The Hunter's Heart

She hoped that her brother and Lucian could get their friendship back on track. The business would suffer if Mal refused to forgive Lucian for putting Mia in harm’s way.

“I think that’s everything, right?” she asked, leaning forward and kissing him.

He pulled her against him and kissed her more fully. “For now, sweetheart. Let’s get cleaned up and go to Wilde Creek.”

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

“Why did you join the hunters?” Mia asked as they drove to her house.

“A few years after I enlisted, I was offered a position with them. The head of the organization told me that being a hunter meant standing between danger and innocence, being willing to put your own life on the line to ensure that those who intended to cause harm to others weren’t allowed to. I kept thinking that if hunters had been around, my mom would’ve been saved. I didn’t want any other kids or families to suffer the way I did. I was robbed of my mom and my childhood, by a male I thought was dangerous.”

“Your grandparents lied to you, though. Your father’s berserker wasn’t a monster to fear, and neither is yours.”

He clenched the steering wheel tightly enough that his knuckles cracked. Forcing himself to relax, he said, “I know.”

“Do you hate them?”

“I hate the lies, and that they made me afraid of what I was. But they raised me, and for whatever reason – fear or hate or something else – they thought the best choice for my life was to turn me against my father. Maybe they thought they were saving me. I can’t change the past, I can only do better with what I know now. It’s easy to hate; it’s far more challenging to forgive.”

“How are you feeling about your dad?”

He reached for her hand, linking their fingers and kissing her knuckles. Then he rested their joined hands on his thigh. “Knowing the truth doesn’t make my mom’s death any easier. I wish I hadn’t lost all that time with him. I wish I’d seen through the lies.”

“He could’ve been really bitter,” she said. “He had every reason to have a huge chip on his shoulder about their mistreatment, and you staying away for so long, but he was gracious and forgiving.”

“I think dads are supposed to be that way.”

“I’d like to think that no matter where the choices in my life took me, my dad would always be there for me.”

“Your dad’s a good guy.”

“So is yours,” she pointed out.

Lucian felt a little like he was dreaming. It was surreal to think of how much had changed in his life in such a short period of time. He’d lost his job, found his dad, embraced his berserker, and claimed Mia. For all of the loss, he’d still gained so much more. He could dwell on the past, and be bitter about not being a hunter anymore, but all he had to do was look at Mia, and he knew he’d never want to put either of them in that much danger again. A nice desk job in Wilde Creek was exactly what he needed, if Mal would cooperate.

Turning into her driveway, he squeezed Mia’s hand and then turned off the truck. There were multiple vehicles parked in front of her house, which made it pretty obvious that there were people in her home. He recognized Mal’s car and her parents’ sedan, but not the others.

She’d called her parents from the hotel room before they’d checked out. It had been an attempt to tell her side of things, but her father had been furious and her mother had just cried. Mia teared up, and Lucian had felt entirely helpless to comfort her. He was the source of the pain, after all. Because of him, she’d been harmed, and he didn’t blame her parents for hating him.

Mia inhaled shakily and said, “Whatever happens in there, Luc, I just want you to know that I love you.” She turned glistening blue eyes to him.

“I love you, too,” he said, cupping her face and drawing her close for a kiss. He didn’t think he’d ever tire of the way she tasted, sweet and wild like a flower in the woods.

He got out of the truck and opened her door, helping her down and keeping hold of her hand as they walked up the sidewalk to the small house she’d called home for several years. He’d known where it was all along, but he’d never visited it, even in secret. He wished now, among hundreds of other things that he’d change about the past, that he’d walked up the sidewalk years before and asked her to be his.

She twisted the doorknob and found it unlocked, as he’d suspected. “Ready?” she whispered.

“For anything,” he said, trying to sound more confident than he felt. Already he harbored a lot of guilt for the past, and now he was going to have that all laid bare for her family. His beast was hovering just under his skin, ready to defend Mia if anyone hurt her. It wasn’t that he thought she’d be physically harmed, but both he and his beast hated to see her cry. That salty scent of her tears was his undoing.

She opened the door and they walked inside. He was immediately aware of the utter silence in the home, as if everyone had stopped talking the moment they walked in. His enhanced senses told him that they were in the back of the house, but it wasn’t only her parents and Malachi; there were others there. Wolves.

He put out his hand and stopped her. In a low voice, he said, “I smell wolves.”

“Duh,” she murmured back.

“More than your family.”

Her brows drew down and she tilted her head, inhaling slowly. Her eyes flashed to the amber of her wolf, and then she snarled lightly. “Acksel and the elders. Shit. Talk about an ambush.”