Chapter 6
1469 Words
Hunter:
I can’t believe it.
Standing right in front of me, is Anika.
She’s stunning. More than I remembered.
Sophisticated.
Her long hair, once flowing down her back, is now cut short… and somehow, it makes her even more beautiful.
She’s different.
Changed in all the ways time can change a person. But even if I saw her in a crowd of strangers, I’d always know her.
Dr. Torres. That’s who she is now.
But to me, she’s still the woman who disappeared with a piece of my heart. The woman I spent months chasing shadows for, only to come up empty.
“Hunter…” she breathes. Her gaze flickers from me to Neo, passed out on the bed, before locking back on me.
Her lips part like she’s about to say something.
But I beat her to it.
“Anika… where have you been all this time? You just disappeared without a trace,” I say. “I looked for you. I swear I did, but it was like you disappeared into thin air.”
She doesn’t answer.
Instead, she just stares at me like I’m some kind of joke…and then throws her head back and laughs. Loud. Bitter.
I press my lips together, my chest tightening.
“I swear, Anika…you have no idea how happy I am to see you.”
“Oh, really?” she asks, her face darkening into something I’ve never seen before. “Considering you wanted me dead, I’d say this is hilarious. So go ahead, cut the crap and stop pretending like you actually wanted me here.”
“I do,” I say quickly, my voice cracking. “I’ve been miserable without y—”
“Bullshit, Hunter! Absolute f*****g bullshit!!”
Her voice is sharp. Her fists are clenched at her sides, and her eyes..God, her eyes are blazing.
I’ve never seen her like this before.
Anika has never yelled at me. Never cursed at me. Not once.
“You know…” she spits, shaking her head. “I figured something was off when your beta contacted me instead of you. I mean, why would the mighty Alpha of the pack hide behind someone else?”
“I can explain.”
“Oh wait. Let me guess. You even changed the name of the pack, didn’t you? Transformed everything in this pack just to make sure I don’t realize it was the same pack that once wanted me dead.”
“What? Dead? No.”
I honestly don’t know why she’s throwing out accusations like I wanted her dead, especially not three minutes into our first real conversation in years.
I mean, sure… I asked for a divorce. Suggested an open marriage. But if that equals a death sentence in her book, maybe she’s right to hate me.
Goddess, I was such an i***t. A damn fool.
And about transforming the pack? That had nothing to do with her. I didn’t even know she was Dr. Torres until she walked through that door.
After she vanished, Alpha Matteo called off the alliance. Said he wouldn’t tie his pack to an irresponsible Alpha like me.
A few things happened between us months later and before I knew it, we were enemies. Sworn ones.
Two rival packs.
And the most surprising part? That little business Anika and I started before she disappeared? It took off like wildfire. A year later, it was raking in millions.
So yeah, I changed the pack. Rebuilt it from the ground up. Became one of the strongest Alphas in the region…something Matteo couldn’t stand.
And now? That rivalry between us… it’s burned so long and so hot, I’m not sure there’s a man alive who could put it out.
“Well, I’ll take your silence as a yes,” Anika’s voice snaps me out of my daze.
I blink, just in time to see her taking slow steps toward me, her eyes unreadable.
“Anyway, I’m done here. I’d rather walk through fire than lift a finger to heal this damn pack. I don’t care who dies. Hell, I don’t give a s**t if you catch the virus and drop dead after. One less monster on this earth.”
My eyes go wide. “Anika… what?”
I know she’s mad. Furious, even. But wishing death on me? That’s… a whole other level.
She lets out a low hiss and starts striding toward me. For a second, I think she’s going to stop in front of me, maybe say something else.
She doesn’t.
She shoots me a glare sharp enough to cut bone and tries to walk past.
But I’m quicker.
I grab her wrist, gently but firm enough to stop her.
“Nika… please. Let’s talk. I know I asked for a divorce, but I still love—”
“Get your filthy hands off me,” she snaps, yanking her arm from my grip. “And don’t you dare call me Nika. It’s Dr. Torres to you now.”
Her voice is sharp. Final. Like a door slamming shut in my face.
“Let’s have a seat and resolve this.”
“There’s nothing to resolve, Hunter,” she spits. “The night you tried to kill me? That was the night every feeling I had for you died. You're a monster. A goddamn monster. And I hope you rot.”
“I’m not a monster, Anika.”
“Yes, you are!” she screams, her voice echoing through the room. “You are! You wanted me dead. Me, your fated mate! You wanted our son dead!”
My heart stops.
“I had to run for my life. I gave up everything. And guess what? I lost my son anyway.” Her voice breaks, pain leaking into every word. “So I hope you’re happy now. I hope you sleep at night knowing that. I f*****g hate you, Hunter Ford. I detest you!”
She shoves me hard in the chest, her eyes bloodshot and brimming with rage.
But all I can focus on is one word. One revelation.
Son?
My mind races.
We had a son?
Before I can speak and even begin to form the thousands of questions clawing at my throat,she takes three steps back and points at Neo.
“And as for him, I hope he dies too. I hope you feel every bit of the torment I went through. Calamity’s coming for you, Hunter. This virus? It’s only the beginning.”
Then, without another word, she storms out. Her footsteps slam against the floor like thunder.
My chest heaves.
My head spins.
Even though the room’s perfectly air-conditioned, I can feel heat crawling under my skin.
“Anika, wait!” I shout, breaking into a run—but before I even reach the door, Kyle steps out of the shadows.
I stop cold and narrow my eyes. “What the hell, Kyle? Have you been eavesdropping?”
“Uhm..no.”
“You have. Don’t even try to lie to me.”
“Okay, okay, yes. I eavesdropped. Just a little,” Kyle admits, rubbing the back of his neck. “I couldn’t help it. I kept hearing Dr. Torres yelling at you. What happened?”
“That’s none of your business,” I say, trying to slip past him, desperate to catch up with Anika before she’s gone for good.
But Kyle steps right in front of me, blocking my way.
“What the hell, Kyle? Move aside. I need to find Anika.”
“You mean Dr. Torres?”
“Move. Now.”
“Well…If I were you, I wouldn’t go after her.”
I narrow my brow. “And why the hell not?”
“You’re not stupid, Hunter. She doesn’t want anything to do with you.”
I can’t really blame him for saying that. Kyle barely knows much about Anika. He came two years after Anika left.
Kyle and I have gotten really close over the years. Yeah, he gets on my nerves more than I’d like, but he’s been a solid friend.. probably the best I’ve ever had.
I know this is going to piss him off..that I never told him Anika was my mate.
Or, well... my ex-mate.
“Oh my god...” Kyle gasps, and I narrow my eyes, wondering what the hell just crossed his mind.
“What is it, Kyle?”
“I was hearing ‘divorce’... and...”
“And?”
“Was she your ex-wife?”
I don’t answer.
“Wait..”
He hesitates, then his eyes go wide. He takes a step back like I just turned into some kind of monster.
“Goddess... did you really…”
A pause.
Then,
“Tell me the truth, Hunter. Did you try to.. kill her and her baby?”
- Writer
