They woke together early as the sun rose and the San Francisco lights dimmed. Haley’s body nude body lying vertical on top of Hunter. When she opened her eyes, she looked into the eyes of her lover and mate for life. She smiled and he fanned her hair away from her eyes.
“Your hair is long. I like it that way.” He trailed his finger down her leg and she caught his hand before it went any further.
“I need to cook.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I always cooked for my father when my mother died. And I need something to eat. I promised Tracker I would cook a steak for him. He likes when I use seasons.” She gave a closed smile and sat up ready to put one foot on the floor. “He likes the way I cook the steak with just enough blood left in it. Not over done.”
“When are you going to tell him about us?” Hunter questioned.
“Oh, he knows by now. The noise coming from here would wake the dead. You know those sharp ears heard everything. Now let me go and make up for dissing and snubbing him.”
Hunter frowned at the thought of her doing something for Tracker. Not because he was jealous of his brother, he had never been before, but because he saw Tracker as a challenger for Haley’s affection, she appeared to like him a lot, and he had never learned to share.
She attempted to get out of bed to take a shower and he grabbed her wrist. “Don’t go. It’s Sunday. I can order something for you. Tracker can cook his own fucking steak if he’s that hungry.” His voice showing uneasiness and his eyes narrowing into a shiny glance.
“Why are you so jealous? Is that a family trait?”
Haley pulled her hand away, stepped on the floor, and scurried to the bathroom. Hunter heard the shower and turned over to get some much needed rest. In a matter of minutes, she was out of the shower and slipping on her dress without a bra.
“You’re not going around him like that. There is still a moon rapture and he is in heat especially since he didn’t mate with you last night.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be ok. Tracker won’t do me anything. Not with my big bad wolf around,” she said giving him a hurried kiss.
“I’m going in there just in case.” Hunter quickly found a clean pair of jeans and pulled them up his long legs, zipped and buttoned it. But Haley was in the kitchen laughing with Tracker before Hunter could enter.
When he walked into the kitchen they were whispering as Haley sat across from Tracker drinking a cup of coffee.
Hunter standing in the doorway glanced at both of them. They in turn stop talking. “Don’t let me break up anything,” he said walking to the fridge and taking out a bottle of milk. There wasn’t a label on it. It could have been several kinds of milk from cow to goat’s milk.
“You haven’t broke up a thing. I was just asking Haley if she wanted to put up with a jealous overbearing werewolf for the rest of her life,” Tracker said with a raised eyebrow and a non-threating smile. Hunter moved in Tracker’s direction and stood over him.
Tracker sat looking up at Hunter. Tracker shoulder’s as wide and as muscular as Hunter. But Hunter didn’t spend his teenage days getting tattoos like Tracker. Hunter was lost in Alaska getting a different type of tattoo on his body. Scars from guns and bear traps.
“Did you ask her to marry you?” Tracker said slanting his head to the side looking up at Hunter. Haley and Tracker both broke out with a teasing laughter. Hunter’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t like to be teased or laughed at. He was a serious werewolf and nothing could be more serious than how he felt about Haley.
“If I did or didn’t that’s none of your business.” Tracker didn’t take offense. He continued to smile at the seriousness in Hunter’s eyes and voice. “She’s marrying me. She belongs to me. She’s mine,” Hunter said trying to quell any notions Tracker may have about Haley.
Tracker and Haley glanced at each other and laughed even louder and longer. “What is so damn funny?” Hunter said his hair rising on his back.
“I didn’t know you would cave in so soon, big brother. I thought Haley and I would have to go a little longer in our charade, before you the mighty Hunter, would weaken and ask Haley to marry you.”
“What?” Hunter’s eyes darkened with confusion.
“It was my idea. Haley was against it the whole time. She didn’t think it would work on you. She didn’t think making you jealous would cause you to see what you were about to lose. Frankly, I didn’t think so too when I concocted this plan.” The two brother’s watched at each other. Tracker smiling and Hunter bewildered.
Hunter dropped in the bar chair near Haley gazing at her. “I met Haley at one of those frat parties and she was sitting alone and I was alone, too. I didn’t recognize her because I had seen her maybe twice. Her hair was different, it was short then, and now it’s long. She dressed different. More like a woman than a girl.”
A lot of guys were interested in her but she wouldn’t even look at them. I walked over and introduced myself to her and she didn’t even look at me. She knew who I was, but I didn’t know her.” He looked over at Haley for confirmation and she shook her head yes.
“It’s not hard to recognize the Samsa men. Except for a variation in hair color, eyes, height and age, the faces are about the same,” Haley said.
“Haley tried to distance herself from me. She walked away and sat in a chair alone. I got up and followed her. She couldn’t get rid of me. I liked her but I didn’t know why. Then she said for me to get lost because the guy she was in love with was my brother. At first I thought it was Thorn or Damon, you know what kind of reputation they have,” Tracker said with a smile. “Well we are about her age. I never dreamed she was talking about you, big brother.”
Hunter’s hand goes to his mouth and the other reaches for Haley’s hand. He squeezes it tight.
“Haley called out your name and a tear fell and I just knew I had to do something to bring you two together,” Tracker said looking across at Haley.
“Couldn’t you let us figure this thing out?” Hunter questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“No, because if you didn’t declare to her that she was your mate, I would have. Maybe not now, but as soon as I became a yearling, and I could go out on my own.” They all sat together, their eyes wandering to each other. Hunter looking serious and Haley wondering whether Hunter would be angry.
“And what about your promise to one of Robert’s daughters? Saadia, I think that’s her name,” Hunter said with a closed smile.
“I was a pup when mother and father set that up. I’m sure that will change,” Tracker said with a warm careless closed smile.
Hunter shook his head, and a wide smile crossed his face. He laughed long and hard. After he stopped laughing he said, “I have to tell mother. I need to announce our wedding plans to father as well.”
He rose and said, “Get ready, Haley, we can eat later. We’ll stop and get you something to eat along the way. If I remember you like fast food. A hamburger with everything on it.”
“Yes. You haven’t forgotten with extra pickles.” Hunter reached for Haley’s hand and she stood near him.
“I’m not riding on the back of that motorcycle, Hunter.”
“You can use my Audi until he buys you a car,” Tracker said with a smirk.
“I’m not waiting for Hunter to buy me a car. I can buy my own car,” Haley said to Hunter’s surprise.
“See what I mean, Tracker. You couldn’t handle her. She needed an older more seasoned werewolf like me to give her a spanking when she gets out of control.”
“In your dreams.” Haley rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Yes, all of twenty one.”
“Let’s go, Haley,” Hunter said. Tracker stepped in his way and looked him in the eyes. Tracker is six two wearing jeans and a flannel red and black hunter’s shirt.
“There’s one stipulation about the car.” Hunter shot Tracker a curious glance with a raised eyebrow. “You have to take me with you.”
“What about my company?”
“I have that covered. Leave that to me. And I need to drive. I don’t trust it to anyone that rides a motorcycle.”
With the commotion of Haley being at his place and what happened last night, Hunter had forgotten about the two dead lion shifters. He stopped in his tracks.
“I forgot to tell you about the lion shifters.”
“Lion shifters? What would they want with us?”
“It’s not us they want. It’s Haley. It seems that a lion shifter got the notion that he could just take Haley and marry her, and make her a part of his pride.”
“I thought you had taken care of that, Hunter,” Haley said her voice rising showing shock. She held her hand on her chest as if she couldn’t breathe.
“Haley, you can’t tell a lion shifter that he can’t have what he wants. No shifter can tell the lion that he can’t have a female,” Hunter said.
“Then what do you do?”
“You can’t do anything. You have to hope that he forgets or is distracted by all the females in his pride and they convince him that they can’t handle any-more females or cubs. But it appears he has his sights on you,” Hunter said.
“I can’t go with him. I don’t love him.”
“We know that, Haley. I’ll never let you go with him.” Hunter wrapped his arms around her. She looked into his eyes, and then she finally realized that Hunter meant what he said, and more than that, he truly loved her.
“But what about your father?” she couldn’t help but wonder. “He’s the alpha of the pack and bent on sending me back to him just to keep peace.”
“That was before I realized that you would be my mate for life, and a part of my family.”
“Wilder will see things different now that you’re marrying his first born,” Tracker assured Haley. “My father will never allow you to be sent away. There’s no way he would let my uncle turn you over to a lion shifter,” Tracker said.
“My father hates them too, and we are mortal enemies,” Hunter said looking over to Tracker for support.
“Get dressed, Haley, and rest assured that you will never leave me. I will never let you go. You are mine now. No one can claim you or take you from me.”
“That’s because he knows I will take you in a minute,” Tracker said with a playful laugh.
Haley turned and walked to the room to ready herself for the ride back to Samsaville. She knew that Hunter would never let anyone harm her. She knew that he would protect her with his life, but it was difficult to protect her twenty four seven around the clock, and that’s what he would need to do, or rid himself of the lion shifter for good.