Page 14 of Cats and Dogs

Gwen never cried, but there were tears in her eyes then.

Hunter wasn’t having that shit.

“You have every right. And I’ll do it. I’ll protect your kid. No matter what.”

Three years, he’d kept that promise. He’d slowed down his father’s trackers, messed with their hacker’s system; once he’d worked out the pride had a seer among their kids, he’d even purposefully stepped outside of the Vergas’ territory, knowing that their wards prevented psychics, seers, and other sups from interfering with their affairs, in order to ensure that the child would pick up on the Vergas’ plans in time to get away.

Last year, when they’d finally faced the pride down, he’d been ready. He had cash and fake IDs in a car on the other side of the lake; he would have grabbed her and fled if it had come to that.

It had been three long years. During that period, Hunter Force — the guy who loved studying earthquakes with his professor, and whose future included a Ph.D., a house with a plot of land and a place in the research department of his university — had been gone. He barely remembered him now.

He’d done his best. But now, he had no choice; there was no place for him back home, and there was no way he could get anywhere near Lola here, with the Wyvern Pride around her.

The small pack had grown more powerful now. They had incredibly powerful allies, a mated pair for Alphas. Lola was probably fine.

He was going to find out, see it with his own eyes, and, if he was happy with what he saw, they were heading up to Canada. If Gwen was looking at him from the skies, she’d understand. She’d say he’d done enough. She’d tell him to take care of Mike. She’d tell him to take care of himself.

Knowing that, without a single doubt, didn’t alleviate his sense of guilt. It didn’t change the fact that for three years, he’d lived and breathed for taking care of that little girl, and, after tomorrow, he was going to abandon her to people who didn’t share a drop of blood with her.

They were her actual family. Those she knew and loved. He held on to that knowledge.

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