THREE | THE BEST HUNTER IN THE WORLD
2044 Words
Henry
Our two weeks of constant training had finally come to an end, and after a few hours working with Beta Thomas to realign the warrior classes, I was given a much-needed day off. I loved my job and pushing my body past its breaking point, but it seemed that I was getting old because every muscle and joint was screaming at me for relief. But first, I needed my Sunflower.
I walked into the kitchen and saw her on the phone, balancing Isaiah on her hip while Bella colored at the table. Our son was full of energy and loved to drive his mom crazy, so when I saw him grab a chunk of her long midnight blue hair, I decided to step in and save her.
“Gracias, Mi Amor. That little boy was three seconds from being put in a box and shipped off to his Abuela,” Aires joked, referring to her mother, who still lived in Barcelona.
“Is that who you’re talking to?”
“Sí. Making travel plans for the wedding. I’ll tell her hello for you; I’ll be done soon.”
Aires mother mainly spoke Spanish with a little English, and I just knew a handful of words I’d learned since my angel had come into my life, so we couldn’t communicate much. Aires had been teaching Bella and Isaiah since their birth, so I was probably the only person in my home who didn’t have a grasp of the language. But I knew when Sunflower was angry, or sad, or happy. It didn’t matter what words were coming out of her mouth; I always knew her emotions like the back of my hand.
“Hello, sweetheart. What are you drawing?” I sat next to Bella and asked.
“It’s mommy in her wedding dress. Isn’t she pretty?”
“She’s beautiful, just like you are. But how do you know what the dress looks like? Mommy doesn’t even know,” I asked.
Bella shrugged a tiny shoulder and continued to run the purple crayon over the page. “I just think she’d look pretty in this one. Can someone make it for her?”
Bella passed me the sheet of paper, and I had to hold in my chuckle. Three-year-olds weren’t the best artists, and I didn’t think Aires would approve of a custom-made lopsided gown that looked like a rainbow had exploded all over it. But I couldn’t tell my little princess that.
“Daddy will see what he can do, baby. Have you had your dinner yet?” I asked, smoothly changing the subject.
“Mommy is making nadas. I like those.”
She was referring to empanadas but hadn’t mastered the art of the four-syllable word yet. So, they were “nadas.”
“I like those too. I’ll go see if Mommy needs any help from me. Keep an eye on your little brother for me, okay? Can you do that for Daddy?”
“Yes, sir.”
I sat Isaiah on the floor and gave him a few monster trucks to keep him busy, then went back to the kitchen to find Aires leaning over the counter with her head down. She looked stressed, and I was instantly concerned.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Hola, handsome. I’m fine, don’t worry. I’ll have dinner together in thirty minutes. I’ve already stuffed all the empanadas,” she replied, pasting on a fake smile and moving towards the refrigerator. I stepped in her path before she could reach the handle and placed my hands on her hips.
“I didn’t ask if you were fine, Aires. I asked what was wrong. Now, could you answer my question? Please.”
She looked over to the kids playing on the floor, and I knew that she didn’t want them to know about it whatever was happening. So I decided that I’d let it go, for now.
“You’re going to tell me once they’re in bed. Okay?”
“Yes, Mi Amor. I promise.”
I pulled her against me and kissed her forehead; I could feel how tense she was, and I no longer cared about the pain radiating in my bones. I needed to make her feel better; that was my newest goal in life.
“It will be okay. Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out, and we’ll get through it.”
***
After dinner was over, the kids were in bed, and I’d cleaned the kitchen, I took Aires into our massage room and made her lie down on the table. Since we repeatedly battered our bodies, there was always a need for a deep healing massage in our home, and we were more than willing to give them to each other.
“So, will you tell me what’s got you so tense now? It’s just you and me, Sunflower; there isn’t anything we can’t figure out together,” I said while rubbing my well-oiled fingertips into her beautifully toned hamstrings.
“Did you ever wonder how I came to exist? A werebear and vampire hybrid? It’s not a very common mix,” she stated.
“No, you’re not common at all. You’re unique and special,” I replied.
“And the product of rape apparently.”
Rape? I couldn’t have heard that correctly. She had to have misspoken. I drew my hands away and took a step back, shocked. “What did you just say?”
“Dios, cómo se dice? Statues? Statuary?”
“Statutory?” I offered.
“Yes! Statutory rape. My mother was fifteen when she met my father. And even though she says that he didn’t force anything on her, he’s a f*****g vampire; he could compel anyone and anything, especially a beautiful young girl who just wants a better life for herself. He took advantage of her, and I’m the result of that.”
“You never knew? How haven’t you known all this time?”
“Mama would never tell me her age; she would always joke and tell me that she stopped counting at thirty. She let it slip tonight that she was about to turn forty-two, and I did the math. She was only fifteen when she had me. She was a child, Mi Amor.”
“But didn’t your parents raise you together? Wasn’t your mother happy with your father?”
“No. He left before my first birthday and never looked back. I don’t even know who he is or where he is. But I’m going to find him.”
There was a hint of danger in her voice that told me that I needed to proceed cautiously. I didn’t want her stressing herself any more than she already was, but I also didn’t want to keep her from finding her father if that was what she felt that she needed to do.
“If you don’t know who he is, how will you find him?” I asked.
“Oh, come on. I’m only the best vampire hunter in the world. And on top of that, his blood runs through my veins. He couldn’t hide from me even if he wanted to.”
“Okay. Do you want him at the wedding? I don’t know how your mother would feel about that. Seeing him after twenty-six years.”
“I’d never force Mama to look at him again. I’m going to find him, find out his side of the story, then kill him.”
***
Aires
It’s interesting how a call with your mother could go from airlines and legroom to predatory vampires and teenage motherhood. I was an adult with a large bank account and a partner who was well off on his own when I had Bella. We had friends who were family and tons of love and support, and it was still hard to raise her.
My mother did it on her own, with no money, no partner, and no family. Once it was discovered that she’d gotten pregnant before marriage and by a vampire, my grandparents disowned her and sent her to live on the streets. At first, she had my father to help out, but once he left, Mama had to struggle to find work, then a tiny dirty apartment that she was somehow able to make into a beautiful home for us.
And all the while, my father was off in the world, living his life without a single care. When Mama told me this, I saw red and instantly knew I was going to kill him. No woman deserved to be treated this way, especially not one as sweet as my mother, and my father would pay for his actions, or lack thereof, with his life.
“Aires, that’s not a good idea; just let it go. Your mom has moved on; she’s happy now. All this is going to do is bring you pain, and I don’t want you hurt, baby.”
“He can’t hurt me. Nothing that bastard can say or do could ever hurt me. Don’t you trust in how strong I am?” I asked.
“You don’t even have to ask. You’re the strongest person I know, but you don’t know how it’s going to feel to look into the eyes of the man who gave you life and then take his. It could destroy you emotionally. Are you prepared for that?” Henry replied.
“I don’t know, but I have to do this. I have to find my father. He needs to explain how he could leave Mama and me behind like we meant nothing. Maybe if he hadn’t spent an entire year with her and made her fall in love with him, I could let it go. But he did. Then he left. Could you leave now? Just disappear in the middle of the night and leave the kids and me alone?”
“What? How could you even ask me something like that? I’d die before I left you and our family. You three mean everything to me; I’m never leaving you,” Henry assured me.
“I know, Mi Amor; it was just an example. And you’re a much better man than my father ever was or could be.”
I sat up and fumbled around for my phone, then pulled up my calendar. “The wedding is five months away. I can make arrangements for Bella and Isaiah with the girls and leave next week to find him. I doubt it will be too difficult, so I could be back in two weeks, three at the most,” I thought aloud.
“You’re sure about this?”
I looked up and into the eyes of my best friend and biggest supporter. “I’m positive. I have to find him.”
“Alright. Then I’m coming with you. I figure I should meet my father-in-law before you turn him to ash, and I haven’t taken a vacation in eight years. The Alpha has been threatening to banish me for a month so I could take some time for myself, and this seems like the perfect opportunity.”
“What about training? The pack can’t go a month without training,” I replied. Xander would never allow something like that to happen, and I couldn’t even imagine what things would be like if the warriors weren’t being conditioned.
“Orin is my number two; he can handle things for me while we’re gone. And where he falls short, Tyson can pick up the slack. Things will be just fine here, but if you’re doing this, then so am I.”
When we first met, it would take an act of God to get Henry to take a day off, but now he was willing to go away for weeks just to support me. This hunt would be draining, emotionally and physically, and I expected more than a bit of danger, but he didn’t care. Because he loved me.
“You talk to Xander and Oso tomorrow, and I’ll talk to the girls. Once we’ve got the all-clear, we can set out. I love you so much, Mi Amor.”
“Not nearly as much as I love you.”
- Writer
