Chapter 19: The Promise

~Hunter’s Point of View~

My mind was that of a warrior, first and foremost. I was always ready for a fight but tried to avoid it if possible. There was no way Gunner was doing this just to get his warrant dropped. It was a reason for him to leave his house, a reason for him to get out. A reason … to look for Ellie? Skyler was the impulsive one, he would just storm in there and try to kill everyone without a real plan.

River was pensive, he would mull over all the possibilities and drive himself mad weighing all the pros and cons, asking people a million questions.

My warrior mentality roamed all over the place in mere seconds, trying to think like Gunner.

Other than Ellie, what did Gunner want? She was really Tyson’s to find, and bring back, not his … right? Why the hell would he want her SO bad if he wasn’t planning to step down as Alpha?

What was he willing to go out for, and risk possible arrest? Did he not trust Tyson to become Alpha and follow the tradition of passing the torch?

I’d never been in a pack but I felt confident enough that I knew all I needed to. If Gunner was willing to throw tradition aside, and keep Tyson from being Alpha there had to be a hell of a reason. Either he didn’t trust Tyson or he didn’t think he was ready. No… There’s got to be more, what am I missing?

It was also now clear that if Tyson had his shift, something was certainly suppressing Ellie’s wolf. They were holding her wolf off to wait for his, that’s what Ellie believed. I’d never heard of such a thing and River and I read a lot of history books. We wanted to know anything that witches, fae or vamps could do to wolves.

You have to know your enemy, know their full capabilities. I needed to immerse myself in this, I had to try and think like Gunner.

It was going to devastate Ellie to find out her wolf has been held back likely for a whole year, that’s one of the cruelest things I can imagine. This from a guy who just spent two nights chained in silver, and was still recovering.

When I walked back to the game room, Katrina was standing over Ellie, levitating her a few inches off the pool table. My heart initially skipped a beat at the sight.

Skyler looked absolutely beside himself, he couldn’t stand not having control in any given situation and right now we couldn’t do a thing. It was also likely his wolf was having a fit about witches being near our mate.

Katrina started chanting, and humming and Angel joined in. My mom stood wide eyed, looking horrified that she had witches in her house. She looked like she wanted to draw the shades and make sure no one saw. We didn’t even have neighbors.

Witches were a very necessary evil and heavily looked down upon in the supernatural community, mostly because they just were not trustworthy.

“Mates, put your hands on her,” Katrina said.

I was grateful that Meadow had chosen to spend the night at a friend’s house. There was no way I could explain any of this to her, and certainly I didn’t want to.

When we touched Ellie, we all got a sharp shock, but we didn’t break our touch. After some more chanting and other weird ass noises, Katrina finally laid Ellie back on the table.

“There is a dark magic spell at work here, and there are only a few in the world who could have done this, they are not particularly ones I care to piss off,” Katrina said.

Ellie laid still, looking as if she was peacefully asleep and I held her hand, with Skyler taking the other. I could tell she was all right, her heartbeat was steady and so was her breathing.

“What will it take,” Skyler said.

“Typically only the one who ordered the spell cast could remove it, but her wolf is very anxious to come forward, she knows her mates are here,” she explained.

I let out a deep breath, happy to hear that. My wolf demanded to see his mate, to make her shift. I told him to calm down and he growled at me. Yeah, yeah, what else is new.

“I will need something from the person who ordered the spell, a lock of hair or some blood, that would be the easiest way, but my father may know another,” Katrina said.

“How the hell would we know who it was,” Skyler questioned.

“Easy, who benefits from the spell,” she replied.

“It’s either Gunner or Tyson, they both benefit,” I said.

“The Blood Claw don’t shift their leader until the new one has their mate and Luna, they believe an Alpha isn’t strong without his mate,” River explained.

“So, Gunner doesn’t want Tyson to take over, but why,” I said.

“Trouble in paradise,” Skyler said, with a serious face.

We all looked at each other. We needed to get more spies in Blood Claw right away.

“Is there any type of spell that might allow us to find Tyson’s real mate,” Skyler asked.

“Hmm, I don’t know about that, I can look into it. But you boys are running up quite a tab here,” Katrina, said smiling.

“What do you want,” I asked.

She was still standing on the pool table and I hated that she was towering over us.

“I want to marry your most eligible fae Shadow Warrior,” she said, with a grin.

“How the hell are we going to give you that, convince someone to love you,” River said, obviously.

“That part ... isn’t my problem,” she said, levitating herself off the pool table.

“But what is my problem is your guarantee. All of you, swear on your mate’s life that you will keep your promise to find me a suitable husband,” Katrina said.

My mom gasped and we all stared at Katrina, panicked.

There was a long silent pause, and Angel looked annoyed that we were making them wait. She seemed to think she was a fair deal.

“I don’t see what choice you all have,” Sunny, of all people, said.

My brothers and I all stared at each other, terrified. What if we can’t keep this promise? How can we promise something like this without Ellie’s consent?

“We promise,” Skyler said, when it was obvious we had to say something. Hunter and I reluctantly nodded, both thinking about the next full moon and how badly we needed Ellie’s wolf to surface.

“We’ll be in touch,” Angel said, just as both witches vanished.

I left out a long breath I didn’t realize I was holding and fell against the back of a chair.

“I think I need to go for a run after all this … excitement, mom?” Sunny turned to look at mom, indicating they should leave. Mom understood and they locked arms and went toward the front door.

“We have to get more spies in Blood Claw. We’re flying blind here. We have to know what the hell Gunner is doing. You think there’s any way we could get a demon to possess someone, I mean would anyone notice,” River asked.

“That’s a hell of an idea,” I said.

“Who’s friendly enough? Hey what about Felix, I mean he’s a cool dude, sort of. I mean, he has felt real bad about our situation, and he’s a real badass. If something went down and he was discovered, he could get himself out of a tricky spot,” Skyler said.

“Like Katrina just said, we’re running up quite a tab, what do you think he would want for helping us, I can’t even imagine,” I said.

Just then, Ellie sneezed, making us all jump. We were so involved in the conversation, nobody had even bothered to look at her for a few minutes.

“Hey guys, what’d I miss,” Ellie said, looking around.