Hunter's Secret

Hunter’s POV

My parents, Jackson and Alice Levitt, are the current Alpha and Luna of our pack, Blue Flame. I am turning eighteen in a few months and will start taking over as Alpha. I am my parents’ only child and the entire pack was overjoyed when I was born because my parents had tried for many years to have children, but they never could. That makes me their brown-haired, green-eyed miracle baby.

Two years after I was born, my now best friend, Cameron, came into the world. Cameron’s father, Ryan Pierce, is my father’s Beta. His mother, Emery, is best friends with my mother. Cameron and I quickly became best friends, partly because we didn’t have any siblings, so we were the only children who lived in the pack house. Cameron has bright blue eyes and blonde ‘goldilocks’ hair, earning him the nickname, Locks, from me.

I was eight years old when I first felt my wolf. Normally, werewolves do not meet their wolf until they are eighteen and they can have their first shift. For some reason, I am different and that terrifies me a little.

***Ten Years Ago***

Cameron and I were wrestling in the training room, and I successfully had Cameron pinned again, which was not that surprising considering I was unnaturally strong for an eight-year-old. However, that didn’t stop Cameron from trying to wrestle me all the time.

While I was waiting for Cameron to tap out and admit defeat for that round, I was staring into his blue eyes and as soon as he tapped, he quickly backed up away from me.

“Cameron, what’s wrong? Are you mad you lost again?” I asked teasingly but Cameron didn’t even attempt a smile.

“N..n..n..no, H, your eyes, they turned yellow,” he said hurriedly.

“What? Quit messing with me, Locks,” I replied, rolling my eyes at him.

“I am serious, Hunter. They turned yellow. It was just for a second, but they definitely turned yellow!”

“Okay, fine. I will ask my dad about it later.”

After we had finished wrestling and had dinner, I went up to my parents’ room and asked my dad if I could come in and talk to him.

“Yes, come on in son,” he said, patience and tiredness in his voice, “What questions do you have today? I have had a long day, but I will do my best to answer your questions.”

“When Locks and I were wrestling earlier, I had him pinned *again*, but when he tapped, he backed away from me really fast and said it was because my eyes flashed yellow?”

“Ah I see. Let me call your mother. I think we need to have a conversation,” he said calmly. His eyes grayed over as he mind-linked mom.

His eyes returned to their normal brow color as my mom came into the bedroom and sat down on the bed next to him. He quickly gave her a kiss and invited me up onto the bed too.

“Son, have you learned in school about how we are gifted a wolf from the Moon Goddess?”

I nodded my head yes, “Everyone gets their wolf when they are eighteen and can shift for the first time. Why?”

“Well, that is true. Mostly. You see, Hunter, you are not normal. I mean you are.... different than everyone else,” His words earned him a glare from mom.

“What your father is clumsily trying to say is that you were granted your wolf when you were born. Until today, you have never been able to feel him. I know you are only eight and this probably sounds really scary, but your father and I will teach you how to manage him. We will be there to help you every step of the way.”

“Try asking him for his name,” dad suggested.

I tightly closed my eyes and tried to reach my wolf but after several minutes I let out a frustrated sigh and said, “I can’t do it. Are you sure I have my wolf already? I don’t feel any different than I did yesterday.”

“Yes, we are sure,” my mother replied patiently, “It will take time before you are able to truly connect with him. Just keep trying and let us know if anything changes. Now, run off to bed. You have school tomorrow.”

So, I went to bed feeling uncertain about what all of this meant. The next morning, when I was brushing my teeth, I looked into the mirror only to find a black wolf with yellow eyes staring back at me. Startled, I dropped his toothbrush and fell back into the door. When I got the courage to look in the mirror again, I only saw myself. Quickly running down the stairs, I ran to my mother and hugged her tightly. She looked down at me with concern written on her face, “Hunter, what is going on? Are you okay?” she asked.

“I saw him mom. He is black and has yellow eyes. He looked at me in the mirror. He scared me!” I replied with my bottom lip trembling.

She reached down and hugged me back, wiping the tears from my eyes. “It’s okay baby, he just wanted to say hi,” her hazel eyes grayed over as she mind-linked someone.

Later that day I had my first real training session with the rest of the eight-year-old pups. Beta Ryan was the head trainer and oversaw the beginner sessions as well as the top warrior sessions. Blowing his whistle, Ryan ordered everyone to line up in straight line. Dividing the class in half he paired each of the pups up with another pup of similar height and weight. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to train with Cameron, but I knew it was because he was only six. But regardless, I paid attention to each of the positions Ryan told us to get into and practiced changing positions with every blow of the whistle as Ryan walked up and down the rows, correcting us when necessary.

As soon as the training was finished, I ran to the playground to find Cameron.

“Cameron!” I called excitedly.

Waving to me, Cameron jumped off the swing, ready to hear all about the training session. I paused briefly to catch his breath before jumping into all the details, excitement lighting up my entire face.

“I think I am going to try to be a warrior someday,” I said with determination.

“I think I want to be a doctor. Or a teacher. Or a fish,” Cameron day-dreamingly said.

“You can’t be a fish! You are a terrible swimmer!” I said before tagging Cameron and running away.

Cameron jumped up, laughing, and ran after me. At some point our mothers wandered over to the playground, the sounds of our shrieking laughter filling their ears.

“Boys, it’s time for dinner! Time to go home and get cleaned up,” Alice and Emery called. Cameron and I, sweaty and grass covered, ran to our mothers, and hugged their legs.

I eventually forgot about my scary encounter with my wolf and went back to being a normal eight-year-old. I didn’t have any appearances from my wolf for a long time. I continued to train with the other pups, and quickly became top of my training class and even moved up several age groups. Eventually, Cameron was able to start training too and he also excelled in his training. I think I spent most of my childhood at the training grounds and I lost count of how many times I was told to just to play and be a kid.

School, however, was a different story. I hated school. I was smart but I got in trouble for “being disruptive” a lot. It wasn’t my fault that no one appreciated my desk drums or my fidgeting. Whenever I would “be disruptive,” my teachers would send me to the principal’s office where my punishment was to sit and think about what I had done, which did not help me at all. Sitting still for so long was torturous. I hated being made to sit and think. I just felt like I needed to move around all the time.

I know I was not always the best kid but I also knew I wouldn’t get in real trouble because I was the Alpha’s son after all. Plus, all the time spent out of my classes meant that I was barely passing. I somehow made it through elementary school but I was struggling in middle school a lot.

One day, when I was thirteen, I was sitting in math class, and my mind wandered to what was going to be for lunch and then to what I would get to do in training today. I only refocused when the teacher slapped her ruler on my desk and reprimanded me for day dreaming again. I rolled my eyes at her and tried to focus back on the board. But I could only focus when I was moving so I started bouncing his leg up and down and tapping my pencil against the edge of the desk.

“Hunter! Quit that! Actually, never mind, go sit in the hallway,” my teacher demanded, pinching the bridge of her nose and sighing in frustration. I used her closed eyes as an opportunity to wad up my paper and throw it at her before giving the class the peace sign and walking out to sit in the hallway.

‘School is so stupid. I hate sitting still for so long. I just have to fidget. Why can’t the teachers understand that it helps me think?’ I thought to myself as I leaned my chair back and forth in the hallway.

Pretty soon after I was sent out to the hallway, the teacher stuck her head out of the classroom and told me to go down to the principal’s office again.

I walked down the hallway, high fiving my friends and jumping to slap the door frames. I sauntered into the office with a smirk. However, my smirk immediately disappeared when I saw my father standing there, disappointment written all over his face. I glanced at Principal Dan who refused to meet my father’s eyes or mine. His whole face was red with embarrassment, so I assumed that he probably said something stupid about being “concerned” with my “ability” to “lead” to my father, again. I looked back at my father who was glaring at me, and I knew I was in trouble. He turned to leave, and I obediently followed him out. We walked back in silence to the training grounds.

As soon as we arrived, my dad scolded me saying, “What were you thinking Hunter!?! How dare you disrespect your teacher again? We have talked about this! And failing another test, what is going on with you these days?”

“It is just so boring, and I much prefer being here,” I flatly responded.

“Boring is not an acceptable reason to disrespect your teachers. Hunter, you are supposed to be the next Alpha of this pack. Do you understand that? Your mother and I believe you can be a great Alpha but you have to stop screwing around at school. You are thirteen now. You have to start acting like you care about your future.”

“Yeah yeah yeah. I hear you dad. School is just a waste of my time anyway, maybe I will just drop out.”

“ENOUGH!” he roared, using his Alpha voice.

Shocked by his Alpha voice, I averted my eyes from my father’s glare and lowered my head in respect, “I’m sorry dad.”

“Hunter, I am not just your father. I am your Alpha too. You know better than to act like that. You absolutely are not dropping out of school! What has gotten into you?” he asked, his voice returning to normal.

“I don’t know but I think it has something to do with my wolf. I can feel his restlessness. He paces all the time in my head. He has never said anything to me yet, but I can feel him. It makes it really hard to concentrate. I have five more years until I can shift. I don’t think I can do five more years of this,” I responded, telling someone for the first time about how I was feeling.

“Yes, you can. And you will. You have to because you don’t have a choice. You are my son and the future Alpha of this pack so you must learn how to deal with things now,” he replied curtly. Softening his voice, he asked, “Have you told anyone yet?”

“No,” I told him honestly.

A few minutes later, Ryan and Cameron arrived with silent questions on their faces.

“Beta, I need to have a word with your son. Alone,” my father said, forcefully.