Page 5 of Hunter

The tunnel had previously let out into a sitting room that the vampires had used to keep regular peons separated from their personal living spaces. However, now the couches and coffee table were gone, replaced with three long tables and benches for seating. Another large doorway had been knocked through one of the walls where a second big room was being converted into a massive cafeteria-style kitchen. Ember wanted a mess hall where all his wolves could congregate, and apparently the actual dining room and kitchen in the mansion weren’t situated in a way that would accommodate that. Kana heard the dining room was being turned into a weight room, but he hadn’t seen it yet.

Ember stood in the middle of the kitchen, supervising the installation of a range hood that spanned the entire back wall. He faced away from Kana, but Kana wasn’t about to complain about that. The fitted T-shirt Ember wore showed off every single perfectly defined muscle in his back and emphasized the breadth of Ember’s shoulders.

Yum, yum, Sora said, echoing Kana’s own thoughts.

Ember’s head tilted slightly upward as if he was scenting the air, and then he abruptly turned to face Kana.

The sight of Ember’s front was even better than his back. A trim waist and firm chest, made all the better because his T-shirt really hid nothing from Kana’s greedy eyes. His light-blond hair was shaved tight to the sides and longer on top in a very military style, and his beautiful deep-brown eyes were utterly captivating—especially when Ember focused his full attention solely on Kana like he was doing right now.

Kana swallowed and told himself to concentrate on acting like a normal person rather than a besotted fool. Ember patted the wolf he was talking to on the shoulder and then walked over to Kana.

“How’d it go?” he asked.

Kana sighed. “The library didn’t have the book I needed. But,” he continued quickly when Ember’s shoulders slumped a touch, “I think I was able to find the title of a book the library didn’t have that might have the answer.” He pulled the printout from his pocket and unfolded it before handing it to Ember. “Can I borrow some money to buy this book?” Kana asked, hoping he sounded bold and certain of himself, but afraid he sounded a touch ashamed that he had to beg.

The corners of Ember’s lips tilted upward as he took the page from Kana in the half smile Kana figured he used whenever he thought Kana was doing something adorable. Of course, Kana could very easily be reading into it too much or projecting his own hopes over whatever Ember was really feeling. That didn’t stop Kana from hoping though.

Ember crooked one finger over his shoulder, and the wolf he had just been talking to hurried over.

“Buy this,” Ember said. He handed the paper to the wolf, who nodded and trotted off.

Kana shut his mouth, futilely wishing Ember hadn’t noticed his jaw dropping. The increased tilt to Ember’s smile said otherwise.

“But it’s so expensive,” Kana breathed out.

Ember snorted. “Just one of the hundreds of ridiculous candelabras we sold was worth double what that book costs. The pack can afford to buy a book for you, especially since you need it for a spell intended to help us. Speaking of which, do you have some time? I want to show you something.”

Kana’s only plan aside from the visit to the library for his Saturday was to cook enough food to have dinners for the next week. Anyway, he certainly wasn’t going to say no to spending more time with Ember.

“Sure. Where to?”

“This way.” Ember walked through the new kitchen to a wide opening leading into a hallway. Kana followed, then stopped abruptly when he caught sight of the hall.

“Wow,” he said, looking both ways. The ridiculous and ostentatious decoration, which had included hand-painted wallpaper, ornately carved furniture, and tchotchkes dripping in gilt and glitter on every surface—including all the candelabras Ember had mentioned earlier—was completely gone. The walls were now a light cream and the floors dark hardwood—simple, understated, and elegant. A faint smell of paint and glue was in the air, but aside from that, Kana saw no signs the space had ever been designed differently.

“Thanks,” Ember said. His cheeks were faintly pink, and he scrubbed one palm on his hip.

Kana caught up to him and walked at Ember’s side as they continued through the halls.

“Did you design this?” Kana asked. “It’s beautiful.”

“It’s durable,” Ember replied, but his blush had returned. “It’s a lot easier to paint over scuffs in the walls or to sand down claw marks when the floor is like this.”

Kana laughed. “My apartment is still the durable, builder basic the agency put in. It doesn’t look anything like this!”

They stopped outside a closed door before Ember had the chance to respond. Rather than opening the door, Ember looked at Kana for a long moment, during which Kana tried not to fidget. Kana had zero idea what Ember wanted or what was going through his head, but it had to do with whatever was on the other side of the door.

“Werewolves have always been self-sufficient. We have our pack and our territory, and that is usually enough for us. Occasionally we work with another creature, most often vampires because of our history of having a symbiotic relationship, but I think my pack is done with that for now.”

Kana let out a giggle, then covered his mouth with one hand because it really wasn’t funny. After what the vampires had done to the pack, it was a shock that they had allowed the one vampire remaining in the city, a man named Shannon, to stay. But Ember was smiling, too, so Kana didn’t feel bad about laughing.

“We were thinking,” Ember continued. “I know you didn’t want to accept a reward for helping us against the vampires.”

“That was a favor,” Kana cut in as firmly now as he had when Ember had first made the offer a few weeks ago. “I didn’t help because I wanted praise or glory.”

Ember nodded. “We understand that, but the pack was wondering if we might be able to hire you on a case-by-case basis. We were wondering if you might be interested in doing spells like the one you’re trying to help my wolves sleep whenever we need you. So, we built this.”

Ember turned the handle and pushed open the door, then stepped back so Kana could see.

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