Hunter's Game (Book Two of the Hunter Chronicles)

Chapter Five

“I can hear you when you do that,” his aunt informed him with a sniff. “And yes, you know very well we need to talk about arrangements for your mating. You've been avoiding it long enough.”

“I've had a lot on,” he drawled. It wasn't a lie either. Between the Elders, the SIA and his commitment to helping his brothers, he'd barely been home since the night his father had announced to the world that he'd chosen his Asher's mate.

He watched with concealed amusement as his aunt battled between a strong urge to berate him for his frequent absences from Darkmoon, something he knew she heavily disapproved of, and her conflicting desire to continue with her lecture now that she finally had him pinned down.

“There really is nothing to discuss.” He made the decision for her. “I'm perfectly capable of choosing my own mate.”

“Your father disagrees.”

“In fact,” he continued, “I have done exactly that.” He enjoyed a brief moment of satisfaction as his aunt's mouth fell open, “and I asked her this very morning.”

“You did what?” The cold snap could have frozen half the gardens.

She seems surprised, Zephyr noted.

She does, doesn't she?

There wasn't much capable of surprising Sarah these days – she'd experienced far too much in life not to have learnt anticipate each and every possible scenario – But her current expression suggested he'd actually managed to blindside her.

Asher smiled. “As everyone is so keen to remind me, it is my duty to mate eventually and, despite popular belief, I have been considering the issue for some time.” Assuming a hundred and one ways to avoid the subject counted as considering.

His aunt frowned. “But the negotiations for your mating to Daisy have already begun.”

Daisy? Zephyr snorted. Her name is Daisy?

“What sort of negotiations?” Asher's voice was cool, but he was sure Sarah could detect Zephyr's growl behind his words.

What kind of a name is Daisy? Sounds like something you'd name livestock.

Asher made his way around the desk to stand in front of the fireplace, forcing his aunt to crane her head upwards. “You're not seriously telling me my father is arranging to auction me off like a piece of chattel to a girl I only learnt the name of thirty seconds ago?”

In fact, Zephyr continued to grumble. I'd take bets that we own a cow called Daisy.

Sarah wrinkled her nose, an extremely patient expression forming as she fixed steely eyes on her recalcitrant nephew. “No one is auctioning you off, don't be so dramatic. Your father is simply trying kill two birds with one stone. You need a mate and Alpha Edmund needs an alliance with a strong pack.”

D’you think she howls or hollers?

Shut up. “Daisy is Edmund's daughter?”

Sarah nodded. “Coldcrest is vulnerable...”

Of course, they're vulnerable, Zephyr mocked. They name their daughter’s things like Daisy...

“But they sit in such a strategic position we cannot risk them falling to our enemies. Darkmoon is the closest pack. You are the obvious choice.”

...names that practically scream ‘please, eat me!’

Asher suppressed the growl working its way up his throat with great difficulty, but whether it was directed at his aunt or his wolf, he couldn't decide.