HUNTED-Chapter 341: Where have you been? (2)

Aldric and Harry spent the day at Cathy’s, spending time with Elissa and attempting to include Rex. But Rex did not speak to Aldric, and that silent treatment went to Harry as well. Occasionally, Aldric did catch his son watching them from time to time; otherwise, he remained in the corner playing a game, playing with his cousin, Jack or leaving to go to the conservatory alone.

From time to time, Harry did leave to make a few phone calls, else he stayed and played a supportive role in a day that Aldric would remember for the rest of his life. When dinner time came, Aldric suggested he and Harry go out for dinner, seeing as the house was already busy with the return of Cathy’s husband, Mark. The man glared at Aldric, but he didn’t say anything.

Aldric never really liked Mark. He had the feeling Mark didn’t like him, and that was before he was taken by the hunters. At the mention of leaving, Elissa cried out to her dad again, and Rex watched Aldric with a stormy expression. Mark sighed and nodded at Cathy, who then asked them to stay for dinner.

It was an awkward dinner, one where Aldric and Harry sat on the sofa because of the space around the table.

They left the children, including Cathy’s eldest, Daisy, who returned from a school trip, to sit at the round wooden table in the kitchen while the adults were in the living room. Thankful for the dinner, Harry collected their dishes and washed them up while Mark sent the children to their bedroom.

When everyone settled again, Cathy was the first to speak, her eyes downcast. "What happened, Al? Emma refused to believe you’d left her. Months went by, but she insisted something wasn’t right. You must have been in trouble.." Cathy looked up at him, tears slipping from her eyes. Eyes that were so similar to Emma’s.

"I didn’t believe her.."

"It is a long story.." Aldric began and held up a hand after Cathy glared at him. It didn’t mean he wasn’t going to tell them.

She and Mark sat on the soft cushioned sofa across from them, the curtained window behind them and the tv and small fireplace to his right.

"You’ve heard of the hunters?" he swallowed, thinking about how much his sister-in-law knew about the hunters. Now that they were out in the open.

Cathy and Mark nodded, brows knitting together.

Aldric glanced at Harry. Chase described the hunters as a type of law enforcement to the humans, and so far, it seemed they believed that, and nobody had come forwards to say otherwise. Either the hunters who didn’t share the same beliefs in Chase were biding their time, or they knew revealing the evil deeds they’d committed might act to the supernatural creatures’ benefit.

There was a sense of humanity and compassion out there as well, and experimentation and torture were a big no-no.

What surprised him more was that no supernatural creatures hadn’t ousted them yet. Though, he put that down to their leaders. Rogues or those on their own in any kind most likely didn’t care; their goal was to survive.

Now, Aldric had to explain this to Cathy and Mark. Sighing again, he raked his fingers through his hair and told them about the hunters and what they were really like. He then went on to tell them what happened eight months ago and how he didn’t leave by choice.

"Are you saying.." Cathy began. Her hands were pointed together, covering her mouth and nose, elbows leaning on her thighs as she stared at Aldric incredulously. "You were.. there.. with the .. that whole fight between those..

creatures?"

Aldric nodded; he knew it was hard to process. Though Cathy and Mark knew he was not human, and their minds had expanded to the possibility that there were others like him out there, he didn’t tell them what else was out there. The news stirred up a lot of fear about all of the supernatural creatures. Cathy didn’t stare at him, afraid, though; she looked angry with a sharp glint in her eyes.

Mark, on the other hand, seemed to eye him suspiciously. He was a quiet man and even seemed hostile at times after Emma and Aldric broke the news to them that he was a werewolf. Aldric stared to the side for a moment, getting swept away by the memory, and his wolf whimpered in his mind, his heart squeezing tightly and lungs collapsing, making it hard to breathe. It was a reminder that Emma was gone.

He didn’t need reminding. But the happiness he felt from being with his children, seeing them alive and well, did distract him. But that emptiness, that hollowness in his chest, that he was missing his mate, his Emma, would not go away. Only when memories surfaced in his mind, or he was lost in thought about her, did his heart ache and lungs burn.

Unlike how werewolves claimed each other by leaving a mark on their skin, Aldric didn’t have such a thing. His mate was human. But if she had been a werewolf, there was no doubt he would have noticed sooner.

His jaw clenched, and his hand fisted as his thoughts spiralled into misery. He was a terrible mate. Not only was he not there to protect his family, but he also didn’t notice when his mate was gone. He could blame it on the strange bond between a werewolf and a human instead of Emma being his own kind, but he couldn’t push past the guilt and accept that.

He should have known in his heart something was wrong.

Harry’s hand clamped down on Aldric’s shoulder again, bringing him back to the room. Aldric’s eyes slid back to Cathy, who was watching him in concern. Whatever rage she directed at him earlier had vanished, though there was still a spark; he knew it was aimed at the hunters now. With everything they’d learnt and the reasoning for his disappearance, Aldric decided to keep what he was a secret.

"When did she die?" He asked, fixing his gaze on Cathy.

"You’re.. mated. Shouldn’t that be something you’re aware of?" Mark asked, sending daggers into his chest and carving his heart out.

"Mark!" Cathy glared at him. "Go get some wine from the fridge."

Mark looked at Aldric unapologetically and went past them into the kitchen behind them. Aldric noticed out of the corner of his eyes that Harry was watching the man closely, his brows furrowed.

"It was last week," Cathy whispered.

Aldric forced inhalation of breath as he looked at his sister-in-law in disbelief. "Last week," he repeated before leaning his head into his hands, elbows on his knees. "I was a week too late. A week too fucking late!"

He kept his hands over his face. He tried to control his breathing, ignoring the slight pain of his claws cutting into his forehead. He also ignored Cathy’s sharp intake of breath.

They were aware of what he was, but they’d never seen him in his wolf form before, let alone his nails turning to claws and cutting into his flesh. But it didn’t matter. Everyone knew about supernatural creatures now, and besides, he was hurting.

He was really hurting. The pain in his chest was like none other he had ever felt before. Not when the hunters cut him open, not when he shifted for the first time into his new beastly form. Losing his mate was an entirely different kind of pain. The type to make him want to join her, but the only thing keeping him there, centred, were his children.

One week. If he’d shifted a week earlier. If he’d only shifted and gone straight home instead of returning to Aila’s pack.. No, no. He shook his head. It wasn’t Aila’s fault.

The hybrid had helped him so much, telling him such a simple reason why he couldn’t shift.

"One week," he muttered again, but his emotions were starting to calm as he thought about his children upstairs. His claws retracted, and he slid his hands down his face, eyes going straight to the bottle of wine. Mark grabbed it and removed it from his reach, eyes pointing at the glass in front of him.

Aldric wanted something stronger, but he knew he couldn’t go down that path. A glass of wine was nothing to him. As a large werewolf, it never hit the spot. As a lycan, it was probably nothing more than juice. Still, he grabbed the glass and shot it down.

Cathy’s eyes widened, but she didn’t comment on it. Her sister’s death was recent, so recent.

"What happened?" He asked, lowering his eyes to the coffee table.

"We don’t know," Cathy whispered. "Emma phoned before the fire, saying she felt like she’d been watched all day. I went to check on her in the evening and.."

Her gaze moved off like she was reliving it. "She was stuck in one of the rooms, the children.. I managed to get to the children." Mark rubbed Cathy’s shoulders comfortingly.

Aldric released a long trembling breath. If Cathy didn’t turn up, his children would have perished as well.

"How have they been?" Aldric asked, glancing at the stairs only to be still. There near the last step at the top of the stairs, he could see two feet.

Cathy hadn’t noticed yet and wasn’t concerned when Aldric stood up quietly. "As expected. Confused, scared, up and down, really. Now you’re back, it’s even more confusing," Cathy replied, watching him and then frowning when she realised one of the children was sitting on the stairs.

Aldric rounded the bottom of the stairs, and his shoulders dropped more when he saw Rex sitting there, sniffling with a tear-stained face. Aldric took a step towards him, hesitant. He wanted nothing more than to embrace him and tell him everything was going to be okay, but Rex had been giving him the silent treatment all day.

This time though, Rex stood and rushed towards him. Aldric hugged him, squeezing tightly. "D-dad.." he sobbed into his chest. "I-I’m sorry.."

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"Shh, shh. It’s okay. It’s okay," Aldric started to rock him back and forth. "I’m here now. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere."

"Promise?"

"I promise."