Page 15 of The Hunt

“Then you’ve got to answer that question.Are you ready to answer it?”he asked.

She pressed her lips together and it was like they still tingled from the kiss.

“Yeah and no,” Calliope said.“When I think of the boy I used to know, I can’t imagine being mated to anyone else.For a long time, I thought he was my soulmate.Then, one day, me and my parents got home from a mini vacation, and it was like you changed.You got mean.You no longer liked me, and you hated that I was a human.I don’t want to be mated to that guy.”

That was as open as she was willing to be at that very moment.It was scary laying her heart out because he could crush it.

“I want to be mated to you,” Jaxson said.“It’s why I didn’t go to the elders.It’s why I knew there was a risk we’d end up in here, and it would be a fight to the death, but I want to be mated to you.”

“What happened?”Calliope asked.

“You ...stopped being my friend.”

This made her frown.“That is not what happened,” Calliope said.“I was right there, the whole time.I left, and we made plans to camp and hang out.When I got back, you went and played with other guys, and you told me I was nothing.That I was useless.You hated me.”

She watched as he ran a hand down his face.

“You came back from your vacation, and you were wearing your hair down.You had on this yellow summer dress, and you wore makeup.”

She didn’t know the exact details of what she looked like when she got home, but her mother had awakened something inside her on that mini vacation.While her dad was at the beach, soaking up the sun, her mother had taken her to a beauty salon.They got their hair done, nails, makeup.They went shopping for clothes, and she loved spending time with her mom.She loved doing girly things.

It had been a fun mini vacation.Her mother had even told her she wanted some alone time with her daughter, which was why they hadn’t invited Jaxson.Most of the time, they went away together.She would go with Jaxson on his vacations, and he’d come on hers.That was how close they had gotten.

“You stopped being my friend—the girl I camped with—and you started to become Calliope Masters, the girl I wanted to date.The girl I imagined kissing.The girl I wanted to ...mate.”

This surprised her.

“And you pushed me away?”

“I didn’t know how to handle it,” Jaxson said.“You were so different and yet the same, and it was easier to just push you away than admit I didn’t know what I was doing.”

He looked down at the food.

“Why didn’t you say anything when the elder did that?”she asked.

“Because by that time, I had made so many mistakes.So many.I had been cruel to you and said things I didn’t mean.I don’t give a fuck if you’re human or not.You should have known that, Calliope.I loved hanging out with you and your folks.You guys were always fun.”

“I know my dad missed you,” she said.“He didn’t mind having me around, but I wasn’t as into cars as you were.”

Her father and Jaxson would spend hours fixing up cars, changing parts.She would listen, but she wasn’t as into it as him.

Her parents didn’t have any other children.From what she knew, there was a complication with her birth, which is what pulled them into the pack in the first place.Her mother nearly died, and if it hadn’t been for Jaxson’s father, and knowing some witches, they would both be dead.

“I missed your dad, but we still found a way to hang out.”

This made her laugh.“Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

“My dad never said anything.”

“I asked him not to.”

“What does this mean?”Calliope asked.

****

Jaxson served up theirfood and handed her the plate, which she took.Her father already knew how he felt about her.They had talked about it many times as they fixed cars.

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