Hunter's Wolf

Chapter 015

Oscar.

I knew there was something weird about the cafe the instant we stepped in, but I didn't want to spook Karen. She felt at home in the place, and the workers seemed kind to her.

When we finished our meal, I asked Karen to wait for me in the car, so I could see the owner. The supernatural aura of the cafe baffled me.

The manager was quite hostile towards me, which indicated she knew what I was. I could deduce this simply because no human in her right mind would be hostile towards me. I was the richest man in the country. I owned all the big businesses in town. That town owed its survival and its commerce to my pack, and I was single. Every human woman, except for Karen, threw themselves at me. But this particular lady was very hostile.

When I got to the owner's office, I realised why. They were witches. Although the covens were eradicated by the Hunters, there were survivors, and all of them either skipped town or went into hiding. I had just walked into one of their hiding spots.

" How can I help you, wolf?" The lady asked me in a very distasteful manner. I could easily believe that she was older than she looked, knowing she was a witch.

" I was curious why anyone would try to help Karen in the manner which you have? I just wanted to thank the owners properly." I said, sitting without her offering me a seat.

" She is not a witch if that is what you think." She pointed out, and I shook my head.

" I know she is completely human," I responded.

" Why are you with her. What do you want with Karen?" she asked, almost sounding protective, and I became curious. Why would witches be protective towards a Hunter? Unless if she did not know who Karen was. Because the witches were the most affected by Giles and John's rampage.

" What do you want with her, wolf?" She asked again, sounding a bit impatient and condescending.

" If you were so curious, you shouldn't have waited for me to come here in the first place before asking," I stated, and she sighed impatiently.

" You know why we can't leave this vicinity. John is still after what is left of us, and we don't know what Giles is planing." She confessed.

" Why will the vampires be hunting witches?" I asked her, and she got short with me.

" You haven't answered my question, Alpha." She said. By addressing me in that capacity, I was compelled to answer her question. If she was going to go in that route, I intended to do the same to her.

" Karen is my mate," I confessed, and she began to shake her head with disbelief. I saw her emotions come through, and she leaned closer to me, almost in tears.

" Spare that child heartache and trouble. She has been through a lot. We know wolves only mate with their kind. You have to reject her and let her go." She said with a pleading tone. 

I knew I had to do that for obvious reasons, but I wanted to know why she would want me to do that.

" And why should I throw away my shot at happiness?" I asked her, and she looked at me long and hard.

" If you know who she is, you will let her go for both your sakes. The others won't be as kind as we have been to her." She confessed, and I knew right then that she knew who Karen was. But why would a witch help a Hunter? I decided to stop beating about the bush and ask.

" Why would witches help a Hunter?" and her eyes widened.

" So you knew?" She asked.

" I have had to protect her from McCain's pack. My pack won't attack because of me." I told her.

"Her father must not know she is still alive." She confessed. Her statement piqued my curiosity.

" What do you mean by still alive?" I asked, and the woman took a deep breath, resigned to tell me something she wouldn't have otherwise.

" Karen's mother was my sister." She confessed.

" You mean Karen is a half-witch?" I asked, and she shook her head.

" Would have been, but now she can only be human and nothing else," she replied.

" Why," I asked.

" When Isabel Hunter found out what her father-in-law was planning, she tried to warn us, but we didn't listen. We treated her as an outcast because she fell in love with John Hunter and married him. By then, the supernatural community had already begun to sense an issue with the Hunters. Other hunter families were uncomfortable with their modus operandi. Of course, the Hunters didn't know she was a witch. She kept her secret well. Anytime they devised a plan to get us, Isabel would alert me, and I would alert the others. It went on for about two years. I believe John began to suspect they had a mole in their mist." She paused to wipe a tear.

" I told my sister to stop, but we both knew it wasn't an option. If it weren't for her sacrifice, none of us would still be here. One day John found out that she was the mole. He didn't tell his father because she was pregnant. Instead, he locked her up so he could take the baby from her and then kill her. My coven went into hiding immediately after we stopped hearing from Isabel. I implored others to do the same but, they did not listen. During the mayhem, one of the workers at John's house helped Isabel escape. While they ran, she went into labour and gave birth to Karen. Isabel, being a seer, knew her daughter would be hated and hunted by supernatural beings. So she hexed Karen so she could never manifest Hunter's abilities to enable her to blend in as a human fully. Isabel believed that was the only way she could protect her child. If her child had no abilities, the supernatural world won't take interest in her and, Karen would have a normal life, but in doing so, it also meant she could never have her witch powers either, making her a complete human. Isabel died on the streets after she performed the ritual. Although Isabel was the one that gave Karen her name, the worker was the one that dumped Karen at the orphanage. The bastard was too stupid to change her last name." She confessed and leaned towards me.

" Karen was never meant to get adopted, find a job or be in the system. She wasn't supposed to exist. We were able to take care of her the best way we could. That was until you spoilt our effort by giving her a job and putting her in the system. Now they will all come. It is just a matter of time." She said, and I got pissed off.

" You claim you were helping her? Karen was walking on the streets desperate when she called out to me. She had nothing, and she was soon going to get kicked out of her apartment. How was that helping her? Maybe if you had given her a job in the first place, I wouldn't have met her." I pointed out, and she nodded.

" I am not rich. As you can see, we are barely getting by. Having to hide from vampires and hunters has worn us out. I could only do so much with so little. I couldn't let her work here simply because John has been watching us. He suspects I have his daughter. She would have been in danger." She held my hand a bit desperate, and I realised where Karen got certain behaviours from. The witch was throwing caution to the wind by holding a wolf's hand.

" You are her mate, reject her and set her up far away from all this. That is the only way she can survive." She pleaded, and I pulled my hands away from her and stood up.

" I will stay in touch," Was all I said and excused myself. Things had just gotten more complicated. If John has been watching them, then he would know that I have been here. The Hunter abilities made him a daywalker, being a daywalker and a former hunter made him the most dangerous vampire to cross.

I hopped into the car where Karen had been waiting patiently and asked the driver to drive. Things had just gotten more complicated.