Chapter Seven

Perseus was nervous. He suspected it was never a good thing when the leader of the village and the leader of the mutants wanted to talk to you. They’d left him and Orion alone after letting them move in with Teddy, but now they wanted to see them, and Perseus had no idea why.

He looked sideways at Orion as they walked down the sidewalk. Teddy had texted Perseus to tell him he’d see him there, so Perseus and Orion wouldn’t face this alone. That didn’t mean Perseus was any less worried. Knowing Teddy, if Perseus and Orion were about to be kicked out, he’d pitch a fit and leave with them.

Perseus would want him to, but that wasn’t what Teddy wanted. His family was here. The people he loved the most were here. This was Teddy’s home, and it wouldn’t be fair to expect him to leave just because Perseus wasn’t welcome here.

“You need to stop doing that,” Orion said.

“Doing what?”

“I don’t need to be able to read your mind to know what you’re thinking. We’re not going to get kicked out of the village. Why would we? We haven’t done anything wrong.”

Perseus sighed. “You’ve always known me too well.”

“So I was right? That’s what you were thinking?”

“Yeah. I guess it’s because it feels official. If it doesn’t have anything to do with us being hunters, why did they ask us to come to Moore’s office?”

“Probably to talk about Dad. That doesn’t mean they’re going to kick us out.”

Perseus wasn’t as sure as his brother, but he wanted to hope. He hadn’t done anything he shouldn’t have since he’d arrived, and he and Teddy were together. Perseus had promised to help fight the hunters and to do whatever Moore and Rikar expected of him. Orion was probably right.

Not knowing was driving Perseus nuts.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to worry for long. Nothing was far away in the village, so it took less than five minutes for Perseus and Orion to reach Moore’s house. When they knocked, a blond Nix opened the door. Perseus couldn’t remember seeing him before, but then he’d only started leaving the house recently.

The Nix smiled. “You must be Orion and Perseus. Come in. I’m Jolyn, Moore’s mate.”

Perseus wasn’t sure why, but he was surprised that Moore had a mate. He certainly hadn’t expected Moore’s mate to be as sweet and soft-looking as Jolyn.

He and Orion followed Jolyn to Moore’s office. From the voices coming from behind the door, it was clear Moore wasn’t alone.

“Would you like something to drink?” Jolyn asked.

“I’m fine,” Perseus told him. He was pretty sure that if he tried eating or drinking anything, he’d throw up.

“A glass of water would be perfect,” Orion said with a smile.

Jolyn left them to get the water, and they looked at each other. Orion shrugged one shoulder. “Might as well go in and see what they want.”

He wasn’t wrong, so Perseus quickly knocked and opened the door.

Moore was behind his desk, with Rikar and Teddy seated on the other side of it. Teddy smiled when he saw Perseus. Seeing him so relaxed helped Perseus do the same. Teddy wouldn’t look like this if something was wrong.

“Come in,” Moore said as he gestured at the two empty chairs next to Teddy and Rikar.

Orion flopped into the chair next to Rikar as if he didn’t have a care in the world, but Perseus sat more carefully and stayed on the edge of his chair. He knew it was ridiculous, but he wanted to be ready in case he had to run.

Moore seemed to be able to read Perseus’s expression because he grimaced. “You’re not in any trouble.”

“I told you that you should have gone to the house instead of having them come here,” Rikar said. “Of course they’re worried. They probably expect something to have happened.”

“We weren’t sure,” Orion said.

“Well, nothing’s happened, and you’re not in trouble,” Moore confirmed. “We just wanted to talk about the hunters and your father.”

Perseus felt a bit better but still not great. He’d known he’d have to give up his father. He shouldn’t care. The man was a monster who’d raised him and Orion to be killers. Who would want someone like that in their lives? Who would want someone like that to live?

But he was still Perseus’s father, and contrary to Orion, Perseus had memories of happier times. Before their mother died, they’d been fine. Then, everything had broken down, including Perseus and Orion’s father.

But the past didn’t matter. Only the present did, and the world would be a better place if Perseus’s father wasn’t in it. Perseus would never be able to kill him himself, but he could give Rikar and Moore the information they needed to take down the hunters.

“What do you need?” Orion asked.

“We’ve been thinking about attacking them. To do that, we need to know where it would be most efficient to attack and what we’ll find there. It would also be good to know when it would be best to attack so that we have as little trouble as possible.”

Perseus jerked when he felt something touch his hand, quickly settling down when he realized it was Teddy. Teddy linked their fingers together and squeezed, and Perseus squeezed back. He wasn’t sure he could go through this without his mate by his side, but thankfully, he wouldn’t have to find out. Teddy was there, and he wasn’t going anywhere. Perseus hadn’t realized how much he needed the support, but he was glad to have it.

He might hate the hunters and his father, but this wouldn’t be easy.

“I’d like to know if they tried contacting you,” Rikar said.

Perseus snorted. “Why would they?”

“Well, Orion was wounded, and you both vanished. Surely your father was worried.”

Perseus shook his head. “No, he wouldn’t have been. I’m sure he believes that since we didn’t contact him, we’re dead. That’s how things go. When a hunter’s wounded, they’re left behind, and the hunters wash their hands of them. They don’t care if the hunter lives or dies. My father warned me to leave Orion behind after he was punished for allowing the prisoners to escape. He thought Orion was too weak to be a good hunter. I couldn’t do it, and I didn’t want to.” Especially because he and Orion had actually let the prisoners go—together.

“I have a hard time wrapping my mind around that,” Rikar admitted.

“Our father doesn’t care about us beyond what we can do for him and the hunters. I knew when we left that we would probably never see him again, and I was fine with that. I still am. As long as I have Orion and we’re safe, I’m good. But the hunters won’t be worried about us, and neither will our father.”

“We have the locations of several small hunter groups,” Orion interjected. “We know where and how they hunt. We also have the locations of several labs. We don’t know everything, but we know enough that you could hurt the hunters pretty badly. I don’t know if you can get rid of them entirely because they’re all over the country, and we only know the local groups, but we’ll do what we can to help.”

Perseus and Orion looked at each other. This was what they’d promised when they’d been welcomed into the tribe, and they would keep that promise. Perseus didn’t have a problem with that. He wanted the hunters to pay for what they’d done to his brother and to the people they’d hunted, hurt, and killed. Orion and Perseus couldn’t do anything about it, but Moore and Rikar could.

Even knowing they were mutants and had abilities the hunters wouldn’t expect, Perseus was worried. His mate would be there, making hunters explode and putting himself in danger. Perseus wouldn’t be allowed to follow him, which meant he needed to do everything he could to ensure that Teddy would be safe. If that meant telling Rikar and Moore what the hunters ate for breakfast and how many times a day they used the bathroom, he’d do it.

Perseus had a second chance that not many people got, and he wouldn’t waste it. By telling Moore and Rikar everything he knew, he could take down the hunters and show everyone that he deserved a place in the village and in the tribe. He could show Teddy that he deserved his love.

He straightened his back and looked Moore in the eyes. “Orion and I will tell you everything we know.”