by Elisha Bugg
If he wasn't like the rest of them like he claimed, why hadn't he done something sooner to help them? Why hadn't he released her dad when he had the chance?
She couldn't afford to soften toward him. She needed to remain cautious until he proved to her that he could be trusted.
"I tried to run away several times, but each and every time Richard found me and punished me. I even released a prisoner once when I found her," Hugh admitted, taking another step toward her, despite Thane's growl. "I was disgusted that they had her locked away. I was only ten. So, I freed her. Richard found out and chained me in the same blood-soaked shackles that held her. Made me watch as he killed her before me."
Anya's heart skipped several beats.
She knew that Richard was cruel, but she never thought he would be so vile to someone who was supposed to be his own child.
But what if Hugh was lying? Just trying to make her feel sorry for him?
"Why would Richard trust you with the key to Lucas's cell if he knew you were a risk?" she asked, hoping to catch him in a trap.
"H-he wanted me to give it to you. To see what you'd do," he whispered, staring down at his feet, "I hesitated for as long as I could, but figured it may actually help when you began to panic. If you'd tried to let him out, I would have stopped you, begged you to listen, but I don't think you ever realised the key unlocked the cell as well as the door."
"You knew it was a trap and still you gave it to me?" she snarled, her canines growing in her mouth. The sensation still shocked her as they tingled and prodded the inside of her lip.
"I know that was wrong, but you don't understand what happens when you go against Richard's wishes," he pleaded.
"Then enlighten me, Hugh. What did Richard do?"
He looked up at her then, tears forming in the corners of his chocolate eyes. She couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt for forcing him to tell her all the humiliating things Richard did to him, but she needed to know. How else could she ever expect to trust him?
"After the party I tried to tell him he had to be wrong about you, but he got angry and threw me into one of the other cells whilst he went to see you," he turned away from her again, scratching a hand through his short hair.
"He soon learnt I had feelings for you and thought he could use them to his advantage. Then he told me to bring you to the hunters to see what you'd do. I refused again and he-" Hugh's voice shook, his hands tightening into fists that trembled by his sides.
She couldn't help it, she had to go to him and let him know that he wasn't alone. Crouching down in front of him, where he now sat on the floor holding his knees close to his chest, she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"It's OK, Hugh," she spoke softly, trying to soothe him.
"He branded me."
"What do you mean?"
Rather than trying to explain, Hugh spun around on the floor and removed his jacket, then lifted his shirt over his head.
On his back was a scarred symbol she thought she recognized, still discoloured and raised.
"The hunter's mark," Thane breathed behind her, coming to a stop just inches from her back as she stretched her hand out to touch it, to prove to herself it was real.
"He told me there was no escaping what I was and this was a reminder, but it didn't work, I still refused. So he just asked Keri to fetch you instead. I mean, why would you refuse to go with someone you believed was your friend?" Hugh sighed, pulling his shirt back over his scarred body.
From the look of his back, all the welts, cuts and scars, Hugh had been fighting against Richard for years.
"You were right, Anya. I was stupid to think he hadn't gotten to her, but I thought she was different. Her and Richard had never gotten along before."
"Keri hates my kind for another reason. She blames us for what happened to her, but so far as I could tell, Keri had feelings for Richard and tried to impress him. That's why she wanted to take me back to him.”
“A sacrifice to get in his good books,” Hugh contemplated, nodding his head in agreement, “I can't believe I didn't see that before.”
All this time Anya had despised Hugh for being a hunter, but the truth was, he didn't want to be there just as much as she didn't. She couldn't help but feel guilty for assuming the worst of him. In the end, she was just as bad as all those hunters and other humans Thane had mentioned, judging him for what he was instead of getting to know him.
“I'm sorry,” she muttered under her breath, feeling a fool.
She'd argued with Richard and Hugh all those months ago saying Lucas was innocent before she learnt who he was, claiming there was good and bad in everyone, but she'd forgotten her own advice, never believing there could be hunters that didn't want to be there. Maybe if she'd gotten the chance to read the journal Hugh had given her, she might have realised sooner.
“I shouldn't have judged you just because you were a hunter.”
“We all make mistakes. All we can do is learn from them. I can’t help being brought up by a hunter, just like you can’t change what you are.”
“I know,” she muttered, pushing to her feet and holding out her hand for him to take.
He looked up at her and gave a weak smile, taking hold of her hand and stepped toward her, pulling her in for a hug.
"Hold up, pretty boy," Thane growled, wrapping an arm around her waist from behind, moving her next to his side and holding her firm.
"Right. Sorry," Hugh sighed, taking a step back and dropping his arms back to his sides.
When Anya glanced up at Thane beside her, her breath caught in her throat. She was used to seeing his eyes change with his mood, but she'd never seen his eyes as dark as they were now.
Were all newly mated males this possessive and protective? Or was it the wolf being so close to the surface?
“Perhaps you should leave now,” Anya suggested, noticing that Thane’s fangs were now poking out from his mouth. The wolf winning the battle, and it wanted Hugh’s blood.
“I can forgive you for what you did, but it will take me awhile to trust you.”
“I understand,” he sighed, placing his hands in his pockets as he headed for the door, “but I’ll prove to you that you can trust me. Both of you."
Finally alone, Anya turned to Thane pulling at his collar to bring his lips to her own, a soft moan escaping his lips when she entwined her arms around his neck.
Before she realised it, she was in the air, her legs wrapped around his waist, Thane's hands cupping her buttocks as he deepened their kiss.
She couldn't help but smile against his mouth, wondering whether he'd always be this jealous of other males around her. Part of her knowing he always would.