Eclipsed Hearts

Preparations

[Bailey]

I didn’t think it was a big deal to tell Ian my name and let him reject me. If he didn’t want me, then I wasn’t going to force him to keep me. I understood. He was a werewolf, and I was a hunter. It wasn’t possible for us to be together in either of our worlds.

Plus, my family killed his family. Though a werewolf killed my family, it wasn’t him or anyone related to him. Our pasts weren’t the same. When I learned that his ‘pack’ was only children, though, I realized the real reason he didn’t want me to stay with him was because he was afraid I’d hurt them.

He didn’t seem to realize that I wanted to save them. That was why I asked him not to turn them into werewolves. My uncle and great-grandfather always emphasized that being a werewolf was a curse, and the only way to save someone after they transformed was to kill them. They couldn’t change back into a full human after their first shift.

Now that I knew it was genetic, I was a little horrified. That was when I realized they had purposefully lied to me. They would not have let other members of the clan hurt children if they could still save them.

The children in his pack were all victims like him. All victims of my family, my clan, and their drive to rid the world of werewolves. I shut down when I realized for years I’d taken part in and assisted with a g******e. I’d supported people who were killing others just because of how they were born.

I went on hunts for werewolves who had actually hurt others, but then I started questioning whether they hurt them for the hell of it, or if someone had forced them into a corner and they hurt them to survive. Then they wouldn’t be so different from us.

I couldn’t shake the realization that my entire life had been a lie. The very foundation on which I had built my beliefs and values had crumbled beneath me. How many innocent lives had been taken because of the twisted ideals instilled in me by my own family? How many werewolves had suffered at our hands, labeled as monsters simply for existing in a way that we didn’t understand?

Innocent people suffered because of us. Because of me.

After years of training, I could slip into my hunter mask easily. It was what I used when things were upsetting, or I disagreed with someone who outranked me. It was my shield and kept me from being singled out or drawing attention where I didn’t want it.

But as I stood face to face with Ian, the mask felt heavy and suffocating. They were just kids trying to survive in a world that feared and hunted them. I couldn’t keep being a hunter after this.

Sure, I already planned to retire. I even saved up money in case my uncle said I needed to pay my way out again, but I was done. I couldn’t kill werewolves knowing this.

“So, what’s the plan?” I asked as I entered the room again.

Ian scanned over me and turned away. That hurt more than I thought it would. Maybe I’d opened up to the idea of being someone important to him. If what my cousin had with the werewolf she was with was a real live soulmate and not some infatuation that got away from her.

It wasn’t like we didn’t notice what werewolves looked like in their human form. They were active and strong. A lot were good-looking as well. It was a common bit of ‘locker room talk’ for both male and female hunters.

Ian and Keaton were just as handsome as most male werewolves were. I should have realized something was up, but I didn’t always notice minor details like that. I should have been better at catching things, but it felt like my brain didn’t want to make connections.

“Same plan as before,” Keaton replied. “We’re going to keep an eye out for you and since Ian says he can’t offer you to the werewolf you’re after, I’ll act as intermediary. I’ll tell him that the reason we’re protecting her is because a death here would cause issues. There are too many ways others can figure out we’re werewolves. I’ll let him know Ian plans to give you to him and that I will allow it after we’re off the island. If he wants to get his chance at the ‘one who got away’ then he will help protect you while we’re here.”

“Right. He was upset that he didn’t get a chance to kill me the way he killed my sister and parents. Ian, did he tell you anything about their deaths?” I asked.

“Nothing you want to hear,” he answered without looking at me, but I could see his jaw tense and his fist clench.

“You really couldn’t even pretend to give me to him… could you?”

The heat and rage in his eyes when he looked at me again startled me out of my mask and I stepped back. He was fine until I asked about what Gino did to my family. It was as bad as I suspected with how my uncle and great-grandfather talked in hushed whispers.

He may be ninety, but my great-grandfather was still very active in the running of our clan. He knew everything. I wondered why they would keep this a secret from me now. Why wouldn’t they tell me the truth?

“I know you hunters think we’re all monsters, but it’s monsters like Gino who created that image. I’m not letting him have you or the girl he asked for.”

“He asked for more than just a girl. I’ve already gotten intel back from my people. You’re only pointing her out. Is that because you think Mari won’t have sympathy for Jaden? That’s the name they picked up. And something about his sister both of whom you’ve been in a relationship with since they were in their early teens, if he is to be believed,” Keaton replied.

“She wouldn’t understand why I need to protect Jaden. She doesn’t know anything about werewolves and we’re endangering ourselves every time we explain something to her. That sick bastard only thinks with his d**k and his wallet. He thinks I’ve been having s*x with my Beta and Gamma when I go to bed with them. We sleep together but don’t do anything else. I love them like siblings or children, but not romantically. He’s telling other people that?” Ian growled.

“From what my people have said, he’s complaining a lot about how you decided to take something from him because you want to keep all those pups for your own personal harem and never share them with anyone else. It’s not helped with your reputation among the other werewolves here,” Keaton told him.

The pure disgust and anger on Ian’s face told me he wasn’t lying. He never had a relationship like that with the children he cared for. Ian never seemed like the sort, and I hated that someone was making up something like that about him. That could cause his death in any number of communities.

After catching a hunter in my clan touching children, my great-grandfather put him down as unemotionally as he had the cousin who slept with the werewolf. I wasn’t upset by that execution much. That hunter deserved to die.

“I believe you,” I said quietly.

Ian looked at me for a moment, as if he was trying to decide how to respond to what I said.

“You do?”

“We may have only known each other for a little while and you lied to me for most of that, but you aren’t the kind of person to take advantage of someone like that. You could have easily done that to me before I found out what you are. It’s not uncommon for hunters to have s*x. The job is stressful and that helps take some of the stress away. Even if you were angry about me being your soulmate or whatever, if you were that sort of person, you would have done it,” I explained.

He looked away and started working on the list of events again. Ian was so easy to read. I really liked that about him. Once I knew his secrets, I could finally understand him and his reactions.

Ian thought about having s*x with me before he killed me. Something might have made him change his mind, but I knew he wasn’t anymore. He was strong enough that I wouldn’t have been able to fight back. Ian seemed to be a fairly honest person with anything else. The fact that he cared so much about what others thought told me it was important to him.

“I’m sure Ian appreciates it. I don’t believe them. In my research on Ian and his pack, I’ve found nothing more than him acting as a good parent and Alpha to all of those children, especially the ones who need him most,” Keaton said.

“Let’s just get on with it,” Ian muttered.

I nodded. He was right. We had a job to do. We could figure everything else out later.