Revelations (6 page)

Nora was impressed. Alexander had known Madison for nearly
six hundred
years, and despite everything that surely must have happened, they were still together. Together in spite of the suspicions apparently deeply rooted into each of them. She looked up ahead at Hunter, who was still talking to Madison. She wouldn’t mind, she realized dreamily, spending that much time with him.

If only the stupid man would stop being so distant.

Chapter Six

~Disagreements~

Once Alexander returned to walk with Madison and Hunter, Nora fell in all alone in the back. She had no idea what prompted Hunter’s sudden, inexplicable distance. But it all started last night, when they met Alexander and Madison.

Alexander seemed well-meaning enough, so she couldn’t pin the blame on him. He had taken the time to actually talk to her today, to tell her he trusted her. Unlike Madison. She glared daggers at the other woman’s back.

No, Madison was the problem. She was the one who disapproved of Nora. Or, worse yet, completely ignored her – and talked the others into doing so as well. A strange turn of events after the respect Nora had felt for her when they met less than twenty-four hours ago.

By the time night came, Nora was starting to despise Madison. She knew it was premature, and that she should at least
try
to remedy things between them, but at the same time, she didn’t like the way she was being treated. And to be honest, Nora
had
tried to get a word in with Madison while they journeyed that day, but none of it did any good. She wasn’t just a
child
, no matter what Madison thought, and she
could
control herself – she had proven as much with the hunter. She doubted Madison could have held on like that during
her
first feeding.

She sat down on the hard ground at the base of a tree. Gray was with her. Not far away, Hunter was talking to Madison, who had her back turned to Nora. Alexander had gone to get firewood for the night.

Nora was determined to speak to Hunter,
tonight
, to find out what was going on. Although it had only been a day, she hadn’t felt this alienated from him…ever.

He glanced at her over Madison’s shoulder, and their eyes met. Nora made a gesture showing she wanted to talk, and Hunter nodded in understanding. He excused himself from Madison’s company and walked over to her.

“What’s going on?” he asked lightly, as if everything was completely normal.

“What’s going on,” Nora started determinedly, “is that you’ve been spending entirely too much time with
her
.” She said the last word venomously.

“Madison?” Hunter asked innocently.

“Yes, Madison,” Nora repeated. “Ever since we met the pair of them, you’ve done nothing but whisper secrets in each other’s ears.”

“Secrets? I have nothing to hide.”

“Then why have you been so distant? We haven’t spoken once all day!”

“Really?” He sounded confused. He paused for a deliberate second. “…no, you’re wrong. We spoke this morning about Gray.”

Nora stared at him in disbelief. “Well, that hardly counts!”

Hunter rolled his eyes at her. “If you say one thing, and I prove you wrong, then you backtrack and say you didn’t mean it that way?” He shrugged. “I can hardly be expected to keep up with you.”

“What?”

“Maybe,” he said more slowly, and a bit more harshly, “you should try to be
more clear
in what you say.” He started to turn away. Was he
dismissing
her? Anger surged through her, boiling her insides.

“Wait!” Nora exclaimed. “Where are you going?”

“Back to where I was before you called me into this frivolous conversation.”
Frivolous
conversation? That’s all he had to say to her?

“With who,” Nora contended, “Madison?”

“Yes,
Madison
,” Hunter emphasized. “And I think if you know what’s good for you, you will apologize to her.”

Nora’s mouth fell open. She was completely flabbergasted. “Apologize to her? Apologize for
what
?”

“For the way you’ve been acting all day,” Hunter said harshly. “It’s not like her concern about you was a trivial one, and for her to agree this morning to come along…it takes character.
You’d
better start showing her that she made the right decision.”

Showing
Madison? Nora wasn’t some kind of subservient doll to be sucking up to the woman who so clearly despised her!

“What are you talking abo—” Nora began angrily, but Hunter cut her off.

“And while you’re at it, you should thank Alexander. It was nearly impossible to convince Madison to come along, but Alexander managed to do so after speaking on your behalf. I don’t know what gave him half the confidence to believe in you so much, but it’s only thanks to him that we are all journeying together. You need to show more respect. If we hadn’t met them, we’d still be wandering the woods with nowhere to go!”

“Are you blind and deaf?” Nora snapped. “I’ve done nothing wrong! It’s all been
her
, and she’s poisoning your mind with whatever she’s telling you.”

“No.” Hunter shook his head. “You don’t understand. She is one of only two others we can trust. If you were smart, you would put aside your differences and see that it is the only way.” He turned and walked back to Madison, who was now standing and looking out into the forest.

Nora had to blink a few times to get a hold on her emotions. Her eyes were watery, and she angrily wiped at them with the back of her hand. What had prompted Hunter to speak to her like that? He had been so…
harsh
. So uncompromising.

He hadn’t even tried to listen to what she had to say!

For the first time since they met, she was angry at him. After ignoring her all day, he had the nerve to tell her to start
kissing up
to Madison? That’s what he really meant by all that. Nora hadn’t done
anything
to deserve such treatment, from him
or
from Madison.

She started to get up, to go after him and demand an apology, but realized that Gray was growling beside her. He must have picked up on her mood.

She looked at him…and sat back down. If Hunter wanted to behave like a complete jerk, then let him. She didn’t have to fawn after him like a ditzy girl. If he wanted to push her away right now, so be it. She would
wait
for him to apologize to her. She knew he would come around to it eventually.

Pulling Gray close to her, she started stroking his back. The cub relaxed at her touch and lay down beside her. She would wait until Hunter realized he was wrong.

Chapter Seven

~Leave-takings~

Nora woke to the sound of hushed whispers. She opened her eyes groggily. Gray had fallen asleep in her arms, and she could feel the warmth radiating through his fur. She looked over to the source of the noise.

Alexander and Madison stood huddled together on the opposite end of the clearing. Nora squinted to make out their shapes against the still-burning fire. Their body language was stiff. Angry. Alexander was gesturing wildly with his hands, and Madison was saying something and stamping her feet. Nora wondered what the disagreement was about.

She started to get up, but paused when she caught Hunter’s shape beside them. He was standing between them, but a short distance away, looking at his feet.

In the silence, Nora realized she could make out the whispered voices. Strange, as she hadn’t been able to before. She listened carefully to the conversation she probably wasn’t meant to hear.

“…just go, then!” Alexander said angrily. “If that’s how you feel, you shouldn’t be here.”

“Go?” Madison laughed. “That was my plan all along. I just didn’t realize it would be without you.”

“You’ve made your choice, then,” he said gravely. “Him over me.” Nora’s heart dropped.
Him over me?
He couldn’t mean…
Hunter
, could he? She tried to swallow past the lump of fear.

“Or perhaps he has chosen me over the newborn,” she said triumphantly. “She is naïve and inexperienced, while I know what I am about. I’m not one to get in the way, like her.”

“Hah!” Alexander barked a crude laugh. “You have no idea what is good for you. And without me there…think! Over the years, how many times would you have fallen into a pit you could not climb out of were it not for me?”

“Perhaps without you,” she answered roughly, “I would not have fallen at all.”

He grunted in reply. “This is truly what you want, then?”

“Yes.”

“It is a foolish choice, but if you have made the decision… I will not interfere.” Some of the anger seemed to have dissipated, leaving him sounding sad…and resigned.

“Nor would I expect you to. But I will give you once chance to reconsider. Come with us, and leave the girl.”

“Leave the girl?” The anger returned. “She is alone and being chased by an army of our kind, and you suggest for me to just
leave her
?”

“Alone?” Again, Madison laughed. “She has that bear. A despicable habit, taking in strays like that.” She shrugged indifferently. “But that is who you choose to attach yourself to, were you to stay.”

He shook his head. “I will not leave her.”

“You’ve made your choice, then,” she spat. “Come, Hunter, let us go.” Wait.
Hunter
? Madison turned toward Hunter. He couldn’t be…
leaving with her
?

“Wait!” Nora yelled out. Instantly, all three heads whipped to her.

“She’s up,” Madison sneered derisively. “Fine. It’s good for her to see this.”

“You should not treat her so,” Alexander warned.

Hunter started toward her. He walked closer and squatted down beside her. “What did you hear?”

“I don’t know,” Nora said, her voice quivering. She had to be mistaken, right? He couldn’t just be…
leaving
her? “I heard noises, and I woke up, and I heard an argument—” she cut off mid-sentence as her voice cracked. She couldn’t understand what was going on. “Tell me I heard wrong,” she pleaded. “Tell me you’re not really leaving me!”

He regarded her through unreadable eyes. For a long moment, he just stared right at her. Nora felt all the emotions she had gone through with him at once; fear and uncertainty, remorse and sadness, delight and despair.

What was he hiding from her? What was he thinking behind those dark eyes?

He sighed, and she braced herself.

“It is time for me to leave, Nora.”

Nora felt like she’d been stabbed in the stomach. Her whole world crashed down around her, and her chest tightened. After everything they’d been through, after standing on the brink of death more than once, after finding happiness in each other’s arms…he was just leaving? Just like that?

A million questions beat at her, all begging to be answered, but she settled on just one: “Why?”

“Because it is the right time.” He spoke the words so calmly. Had she really meant so little to him? She couldn’t accept that.

Nora shook her head angrily. “No!” she said. “You can’t just…leave me! What about everything we’ve been through? What about
us
?”

“Us?” Hunter looked her up and down again, and his expression did not change. “I’m sorry if you got the wrong impression, Nora. But there is no ‘us’. There never was and never will be.”

“What?” Nora couldn’t believe her ears. “What about everything we’ve been through? Everything you’ve shown me?”

“I did not promise you anything, Nora, and I don’t owe you anything.” His voice was stern. “And I’m afraid your imagination got the better of you.”

He got up and turned around. That one brief conversation left Nora feeling completely annihilated. Like everything she had ever believed in had turned out to be built on a base of sand. Her eyes were wet, and she didn’t care.

“Wait!”

He stopped and turned slowly.

“I…” Nora swallowed. She was painfully aware of Madison’s eyes on her. “I want you to stay… Please!”

To her complete shock, Hunter barked a laugh. “You want me to stay?” he repeated mockingly. “You don’t know what you want, Nora.” Then his words became sharp.
Cutting
. “The only reason you think you want me to stay is because I transformed you.”
Devastating
. “It’s the only reason you think you feel something for me at all.” Each word cut deeper than the last, wounded her until she was completely maimed. “It is all in your imagination, Nora. You have made up a grand fairytale to fit your new life. I have fulfilled my obligation to you. I have saved your life, as I promised in the caves, and now it is time for us to part.”

Nora stared in complete shock, unable to utter a single word in protest.