Free A Beta's Haven by Carrie Ann Ryan Page B

prefer not to get my hair
wet.” He grinned at his last remark, but Hunter didn’t respond. Unspoken was
their need to talk about the undercurrents within the circle.
    Hunter had been back in the human realm for a full month, yet
change took time. After Ambrose, Jamie, and Balin—and of course the young
demon, Fawkes—had rescued him from the depths of hell, he’d returned to the
realm he’d grown up in.
    Unlike most supernaturals, wolf shifters and some other
types of shifters lived within the human realm but were hidden deep within the
forests. Their own magic kept the humans away and their secrets buried. Other
supernaturals lived in other realms that were accessible through only the human
realm. It was as if the humans themselves were the glue that held everyone
together.
    Fitting considering the humans weren’t really humans at all
but merely diluted down versions of supernaturals themselves. They didn’t know
the things that went bump in the night were real and had no idea that, within
themselves, they held the ability to change into another being…if something
were to alter their course, that is.
    Hunter had grown up with the humans around him and his Pack
at his side. They might be dark and depraved in the best of times, but he’d loved
them like his own.
    He’d thought he’d return to the Pack he’d known, but that
had not been the case.
    Four years was a long time to be gone.
    Everything had changed and not for the better. Though one
thing might offer the light on his horizon.
    He’d left her alone so he could find his place and be better
for her. Now it was time.
    He’d find her soon. His Becca.
    “You must be thinking about a woman,” Alec teased as they
made their way back to Liam’s home. “You’re smiling.”
    Hunter grunted then walked inside the place with Liam and
Alec following. He turned on the lights and stretched his arms over his head.
He was damned tired after that run even though he still felt a bit on edge
since he hadn’t hunted big game.
    “I don’t smile,” Hunter growled.
    Alec just shook his head and stole a beer from Liam’s
fridge. Liam scowled and slapped the back of Alec’s head.
    “You never ask to take my shit,” Liam snapped.
    Alec frowned. “I didn’t think I had to, Murray,” he drawled.
    Hunter blinked at the two of them, their tension different
than it had been before he’d been gone. While before the two had always
bickered and annoyed each other, this felt different. Before they’d always
smile and get over it, the tension dissipating after a few moments. Now,
though, there seemed to be an underlying current between the two that Hunter
couldn’t quite put his finger on.
    “Guys? It’s beer. Get over it.”
    The two men swiveled their heads at him and glared. They
might have looked nothing alike, Liam with his dark looks and blue eyes, Alec
with his brown hair and green eyes, but right then, they had the same
expression.
    Hunger, anger, and confusion all rolled into one.
    What the hell?
    Looking at Liam, Alec twisted off the beer cap then took a
long swig. Liam’s jaw clenched as he ground his teeth together, and then he
handed Hunter a bottle.
    Hunter looked between the two men but put his questions
aside. He had enough to deal with without delving into whatever drama they had.
    “Tell me about what I missed,” he said after a minute of
awkward silence.
    “Everything, Hunter,” Liam said.
    “No shit,” Hunter snapped. “Give me specifics.”
    “When you left—” Alec began then cut himself off. The other
man clenched his jaw then took a deep breath. “No, when you were taken ,
things went to shit. We still don’t know how you were taken to the demons,
Hunter. You have to believe that.”
    Hunter nodded and meant that. He knew the two men in this
room wouldn’t have sold him to the demons. That was all he knew though. He had
his ideas of what had happened, but no proof.
    Finding out how he’d been sold as a slave to the highest
demon