Heart's Desire

Chapter 14 - Kit

"You're assuming they're alive," Jake Nash states.

The alpha's eyes briefly flash from amber to red.

"Yes, I'm assuming they're alive," he says, and turns to the ones called Freya and Martin. "Come on. Let's get out of here. There's nothing more to see, and I wanna visit the sheriff's office and see if they'll let me read the official report."

"They will," the blue-eyed man said, nodding. "Sheriff Page is a friend of mine. I'll call ahead and put in a good word for you. But like I said before, they're ready to write it off as a tragic accident. I don't reckon you'll find much useful. Besides," he adds cautiously, "I've gone over it myself, several times. For Sasha's sake, if for nothing else."

Dane nods. "Thanks, Nash, but I still want to see it for myself."

The other man nods. "I'd do the same, in your place."

The alpha relaxes, appeased, and turns to his sister and brother. "Freya, Martin—you two wanna come with?"

"Sure," Freya says. "Count me in."

"Martin?" Dane prompts again.

The other Hunter is absorbed with something on his phone, and doesn't look up until Freya elbows him in the ribs. Then he nearly drops the device in surprise.

"Sorry, what?" he asks, looking up and seeing that all eyes are on him.

"I asked if you wanted to come to the Sheriff's office," Dane repeats evenly. "Look over the reports. They know you there, right? From researching your books?"

"Oh! Yeah, they do. But no, I can't come," Martin says quickly. "It'd be a waste of time, anyway—they'd never let me see files for an open case. Besides, my editor wants my corrected manuscript by the end of the week, so I need to get some work done this afternoon. Oh, and Elena wants to meet everyone." He waves his phone to show what had his attention before. "So you're all invited for dinner—which, of course, I've got to cook. The glamorous life of a stay-at-home dad and crime novelist, you know." He laughs nervously.

Freya frowns at him. "Have you explained to your 'editor' that your parents' house burned down and that they're missing?" she asks, brows raised.

Martin fidgets and slips his phone in his back pocket. "I don't make the publishing schedule, Frey. I just stick to it so they don't drop my series. It's kind of my life."

She scoffs. "May I remind you, Martin Hunter, that you write about catching criminals. Some of us actually do that. That's my life, and I put it on hold to come here and deal with more important things."

"That's easy for you to say," Martin sneers. "You don't have a family, or a mate. You don't have kids to think about, and you never will, Freya, because you're not a real—"

"Martin. Enough."

The alpha's voice is a deep growl like distant thunder, and his eyes blaze red. Everyone falls silent at the sound, and no one moves; even the air seems to go still.

I hold my breath and stare. Alpha Obadiah doesn't have that kind of power in his voice; even Ferrault doesn't have it. Dane Hunter is a different kind of alpha, alright.

Martin stares at the ground, face flushed with shame and head bowed in submission—as I've seen none of the Hunters exhibit so far. Dane releases whatever hold he has on him, and then Martin takes a breath and turns to Freya first.

"Freya... I'm sorry. I don't know why I said that. You know me—you know I'd never... I'm just stressed out of my mind, I guess." He raises a shaking hand and brushes it over his short, densely curled hair. "I'm so sorry."