Hunter's Secret
Chapter 2 - Appearance

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“Of course, Alpha. As you wish,” Ryan said respectfully and turned to leave.

When the three of us were alone, and with my dad’s help, I told Cameron everything. From the yellow eyes to the pacing and Cameron, being only eleven, couldn’t help but drop his jaw in shock.

“Cameron, you are Hunter’s best friend. I know you care about him a lot and since Hunter will hopefully be the next Alpha…” dad said, shooting me a look, “…he will need someone to help him. I think you can be that person for him. With that said, I trust you will not tell anyone else what we have discussed here today. I also am making you Hunter’s permanent sparing and training partner. You must report all concerns about him or his wolf directly to me. Do you understand?”

Cameron nodded in response. Dad told us both that we would not be returning to school that day and gave us permission to talk and train when he left. Cameron turned to me and said, “Is he mad?”

“Oh yeah. He is p-i-double s-e-d”

“I bet. Hunter, you are my best friend. Why didn’t you tell me? Do you not trust me?” Cameron asked, with a hint of sadness in his voice.

“Locks, it’s not that I don’t trust you. You are so smart, and you are my best friend. I just wasn’t allowed to tell anyone.”

“Oh. I understand. So why tell me now?”

“I need your big smarty brain to help me figure this out.”

Despite Cameron being two years younger than me, he was a genius and in the same cohort. Cameron barely had to study and effortlessly passed all his classes with A’s every time.

“Sir, yes, sir! I will help you with your training, and your math too, sir!” Cameron dramatically said, raising his hand to his forehead in a salute.

Chuckling at my friend, I replied, “Thanks Locks. I just can’t focus with all the pacing. That is the biggest problem I think.”

Cameron quickly got to work researching everything there was to know about werewolves being able to feel their wolf before turning eighteen, which was not a lot but enough to come up with a plan. The next few years were spent with us training every day to strengthen our muscles and become lighter on our feet. Cameron tutored me after classes and helped me to start passing with better grades. He also spent lots of time teaching me mindfulness and breathing techniques to help me calm my wolf. When I felt grounded and relaxed, my wolf would stop pacing and it made it so much easier for me to focus.

We became even closer and pretty much never went anywhere without each other. We would always greet each other with a smile, and one would ask, “You got me?” while the other responded, “Always.” The techniques that Cameron taught me were effective and allowed us to stop worrying about my wolf and just be teenagers.

***Present Time***

However, the closer it got to my eighteenth birthday, the more restless my wolf became. One night, I was unable to sleep so I quietly crept down the stairs, through the kitchen, and across the hall to Cameron’s room. Cameron immediately sensed me and asked me what was going on without even turning over in bed.

“It’s my wolf. He is going crazy and nothing I have done so far has helped him at all” I whispered to Locks as I sat down on the bed. Cameron turned over and quickly lowered his gaze and sat up in shock.

“What?” I asked quietly.

“Your eyes, H. They are yellow. Like when we were younger but not the same. They are brighter and have a sense of something to them that I just can’t quite place,” Cameron whispered back.

“Something?” I asked.

“Yeah, it is hard to look at you. It feels wrong to look into your eyes for some reason. Like I would be being disrespectful or something,” he explained.

“But it’s just me. I don’t even feel any different. I don’t understand. Just look at me again.”

Cameron raised his eyes but quickly lowered them again, “Hunter, you need to get him under control. You are scaring me.”

“Look at me Cameron. See me. For I am River, the future of Blue Flame,” a voice boomed from my mouth.

“Oh crap,” we said in unison.

“H, we need to go get your dad. Now!”

Running to my dad’s room, we stopped just outside of the door. I knew my dad would not be pleased to have uninvited guests in his room in the middle of the night, but we were desperate. I motioned for Cameron to stay outside while I slowly crept up to the bed. I did not reach the bed before my dad’s eyes shot open, and he immediately grabbed me and pushed me against the wall.

“Who are you?” he demanded, his canines elongating and his claws appearing, and I was scared he was going to hurt me.

My mom was startled awake, and Cameron ran into the room and flipped the lights on. With the lights on, my dad realized it was just me and released his hold on me.

He returned to normal and said, “Hunter, you scared me. You know not to come in here at night. What in the heck is going on that you would sneak in here like that?”

“You didn’t know it was me?” I said shakily.

“Crap. No, I didn’t. You don’t smell like you anymore. And your eyes, they weren’t green. I am sorry for scaring you,” he said, pulling me into a hug.

“That is why I came in here. My wolf, he spoke to me when I was in Cameron’s room,” I explained what had happened and watched as my parents exchanged worried looks.

“It must be because your birthday is coming up soon. River is ready for your first shift,” my dad said.

“Then we need to get you ready too,” my mom added softly, “You only have two months until you turn eighteen. So, you need to be mentally ready for your first shift. River is powerful.”

“Your mother is right, but that can wait until tomorrow. Both of you try to get some rest now. You will need your energy, Hunter.”

Cameron and I went back to bed, but I could not sleep. I just laid there thinking about what River had said. ‘The future of Blue Flame? What does that even mean? I am not ready to be the future of anything. What am I going to do?’ My thoughts came so fast that I could hardly keep them all straight. To top it all off, River was pacing in circles in my head again. Around and around and around. All night long.

I eventually gave up on sleeping and went to the training grounds. Cameron came out a little while later. We were up way before the sun was and we trained for hours. I skillfully dodged and blocked Cameron’s blows. As much as I was trying to focus, my thoughts kept drifting back to what River said but my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Cameron’s body hitting the mat.

“Ouch, H! What the heck?!? Not so hard. You almost broke my ribs,” Cameron complained, groaning as he took my hand to get back on his feet.

“Sorry, I am distracted and forgot to pull my punches,” I replied.

“Yeah, I can tell,” Cameron remarked, rolling his eyes before quickly sweeping me off my feet and pinning me against the mat.

“Dang Locks, when did you get so strong? You almost had me,” I said before I flipped Cameron over and pinned him, “but not quite. You let me distract you and you loosened your grip.”

“You suck. And get off of me you animal! Your sweat is dripping on my face!”

“Not until you tap,” I teasingly said before shaking my head, and my sweat, all over Cameron.

“You’re nasty. Fine I tap. You win, again,” Cameron grumpily said. He jumped to his feet and surprised me by launching himself onto my back.

“Boys, Alpha Jackson wants to see you both in his office,” my mother commanded, her voice barreling through the grounds taking us both by surprise. Cameron immediately got off my back and being the person he is, bowed and greeted my mother with respect while I just nodded.

“Cameron, you know better than to bow. You are basically my son too and you are growing up to be an incredible young man. Your parents, and I, are very proud of you,” she remarked, her voice back to its usual softness, “And Hunter, I am proud of you too. You have worked really hard these past few years to turn things around. Now go see Alpha Jackson! But please shower first!” she called after us, but we were already running back to the pack house.

After a quick shower, I met Cameron outside the office, and he knocked on my dad’s office door. We were invited in, and we shared a quick glance with each other, entered and closed the door behind us. My dad was sitting in his chair, looking over some documents. Dark circles were under his eyes and I could tell that he didn’t get much sleep last night either. He ran a tired hand through his graying hair and sighed.

He started to explain that River was a very powerful wolf who would need me to keep him under control. He went on to explain that if kept unchecked, I could totally shift into my wolf and not be able to return to my human form. River would then have full control over me and would do whatever he wanted to, and I wouldn’t be able to stop him. I was shocked that my dad knew all of this about me but never thought to tell me.

A soft knock on the door paused our conversation and my dad invited the person in. My senses immediately went into high alert and my eyes turned yellow as River tried to take control. Cameron, seeing my eyes turn, quickly whispered “breathe” into my ear. I blinked and my eyes turned back to green, and I realized why I was so alerted. The small-statured stranger removed her black hood to reveal silver white hair and dark purple eyes.

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