The Hunting
Chapter 7

To say he was disappointed when Kia didn't show up to come see him, would be a grave understatement, he was devastated, and grumpy as hell.

"Would you like me to inform your pack of your whareabouts?" asked a soft voice behind him.

Tobias turned to the sound, looking the woman up and down. She felt familiar and yet he had no idea who she was.

"I don't mean to be rude, but who are you?" Tobias asked.

The woman laughed. "Where are my manners? I'm Eliana, the Beta female. My mate asked me to check up on you and find out if there's anyone we can contact for you." she smiled politely.

"You're Kia's mother?"

"Yes, I am." she replied.

He stood there for a moment, taking in her appearance. Kia definitely looked nothing like her mother, but she said Layana had looked like her. Seeing her, he could understand why that other wolf killed her mate to get to her.

"I'm very sorry for your loss." Tobias said.

Eliana looked at him for a moment, trying to decide his intentions before she smiled and gave him a soft nod.

"And as for the question you asked, no. There's no need to inform them of where I am. I got bombarded with questions through the mind link the moment I woke up. My family is not the patient type." he explained. "But if I might be so bold as to ask, why would you want to contact my pack? Trying to get rid of me already?" he joked.

"Not at all. Clay and I both very much understand that now that you've found Kia, you'd be unlikely to go anywhere without her." she paused and looked at me with sadness. "No, we just wanted to make sure that your loved ones knew where you were. Our family is very close, it never occurred to us that not everyone is like that."

"You can say that again." Tobias said laughing. "No, my father and brothers don't really care what becomes of me. They're all cold and unfeeling people, I often feel like an outsider, because I'm nothing like them."

"That's reassuring. We didn't exactly know how to feel about it when we found out that Kia's mate was from Blood Moon." Elaina said, shaking her head. "Comes to prove that you should never judge someone by where they're from."

There was an eerie quiet in the room for a while, causing Tobias to shift around uncomfortably.

"Thank you, Tobias." Elaina finally said.

"What for?" he asked.

"Keeping our baby girl safe." she said with a small smile.

"If only I had gotten there sooner, I could have kept them both safe." Tobias whispered to himself as he stared out the window.

"Don't..." she said and he looked over at her. "Don't do that... Blame yourself. Take it from someone that knows, no good can come from it."

Tobias gave her a curt nod, he knew they both had to be thinking about that all the time, not even to mention Kia. She must be dealing with some insane survivor's guilt right now. Especially since her father asked her to keep Layana safe.

"Come on. We've got a room ready for you at our house." Elaina said as she waved him along.

Tobias followed her to a cozy cottage. It looked small from the outside, but once he was inside her realized it wasn't small at all. There was a large open living room, with the kitchen off to the side. Down the hallway was four bedrooms, from the smells the two nearest ones weren't used. The last room smelled of Elaina and a musky earth scent that Tobias guessed must be Clayton, and then he could smell Kia's orange blossom scent in the room across from that. It was mixed with a dash of vanilla he wasn't accustomed to, he figured out it must've been Layana's scent. He could hear soft sniffing coming from inside her room and he wanted nothing more than to go in there and comfort her but Elaina stopped him.

"Best to leave her to it. She's a lot like her father, grieving comes differently to them. She won't grieve if there's an audience, makes them feel weak." she explained, shrugging.

He nod his head, he could understand that, he often felt like he couldn't show any emotion either. His family was so different from this one, here all he could see was love and understanding, he knew that all of them would do anything for each other. Here in front of him was a woman who understood her mate enough to know that he would grieve on his own terms, but she would never tell him she knew, same goes for Kia, crying her eyes out in her room, he didn't know how but just somehow he knew she wouldn't bring that up either. For a moment he couldn't help but wonder who was going to be there for her now, Kia told him that Layana was more like her mother, so now that Layana was gone, who did she have left. He was sure her mate would be there to comfort her and that Kia would be there to try and make her mother feel better, but neither of them will succeed because they're both emotionally disconnected people.

Without thinking about it twice, Tobias grabbed Elaina and hugged her to him tightly. He might not be Layana but he knew something about emotional comfort. Elaina was surprised at first, stiff in his arms, but soon she relaxed into it and hugged him back. He could feel small wet spots form on his shirt and he knew she'd started crying. He rubbed her back soothingly, just allowing her to let it all out so she could continue to put up a brave front for her family.

After what seemed like hours, Elaina finally pulled away. She rubbed the stray tears from her eyes and gave Tobias a tired smile. Her face was red and her eyes were puffy but she seemed more relaxed.

"Thank you for..." she started, but he cut her off with a shake of his head.

"No need to thank me. You needed that." he said, gracing her with a smile.

"You should do that more often." she said.

"What? Comfort people I hardly know?" he joked.

Elaina laughed. "No, I meant you should smile more. It makes you look a lot more carefree and relaxed."

"Noted." he said stiffly.

Elaina showed him to his room, which was next to Kia's room. He silently thanked her for that. He needed to be close to her right now, or as close as he can get. This way he could smell her and feel her presence and he knew she could do the same. It's enough to keep his wolf calm, for now.

-----

A few hours had gone by since Tobias came to Kia's house. Clayton came back from his pack duties and Tobias went out to greet him.

"Beta Clayton, it's an honor to meet you." he said, shaking his hand. Clayton was a large man and his green eyes were very hard and intimidating.

"Tobias." he said back in greeting.

Clayton walked into the kitchen, kissed his mate and took a few beers from the fridge. Back in the living room he gave one to Tobias and motioned for him to sit.

"So, you're my daughters mate?" he asked.

"Yes sir" Tobias answered, feeling somewhat nervous all of the sudden.

Why he couldn't say, he never got intimidated by other males, he had Alpha blood flowing through his veins, nothing scared him. Except this large, brooding man in front of him, apparently.

"Tell me, I already know you're from Blood Moon, and I know you're Alpha born, but what exactly is your position in the pack?" he asked taking a sip of his beer.

Tobias twiddled with his beer bottle, the coldness making his hands wet.

"We're three boys, so Thomas will become Alpha and Darion will take over as Beta, so that leaves me and I'm supposed to take over as Delta." he explained.

"Delta hmm? So you're good at fighting then?" he asked.

"No sir, not really. I'm effective enough, but I wouldn't say that I was good enough to be training others. My father never really spent much time teaching me anything. I was always the odd one out. He'd spend time with my brothers and I would get left behind with my mother. Not that I minded, but it hurt me in the long run. I got a late start to a lot of things, fighting being one of them. Our pack Delta never really gave me much attention in that division either, he just wrote me off as useless." Tobias said, looking at the floor.

"Well, we'll need to change that. Kia is an excellent warrior, as you well know already. And she'll be taking over from me as Beta, so she'll need someone capable by her side." Clayton said, eying Tobias.

"You're a large man, I'm sure with the right training you'll become a great warrior. You'll never be as good as my daughter, but you'll get close. " he joked with a wink that made Tobias relax a little.

"So tell me about your mother, because we clearly have her to thank for your decent mannerism." he said, turning serious again.

"That is true, yes. My mother had a great impact on who I am today, spending more time with her made me more compassionate and less cruel, which I'm grateful for. Sadly she's no longer here for me to thank, but I'm sure she's proud of me wherever she is." Tobias explained.

"I'm sorry to hear, what happened?" Clay asked.

"My mother was constantly abused by my father, she was a wreck most of the time. Somewhere along the way, her wolf just stopped healing her so she got worse and worse, until she didn't wake up one day." Tobias stared out the window, thinking about his mother.

"You must've been angry?" Clay asked.

"I was.. I still am. My father ruined the one good thing I had in my life. I'll never be able to forgive him. It's one of the main reasons why I was so excited to finally meet my mate, I was hoping to stay with her so I could leave my pack behind." Tobias said with a sad smile. "Kia made it clear she didn't want me as a mate, so I guess I'll have to head back eventually."

"Nonsense. Kia is stubborn but she'll come around. You can go ahead and let your father know that you'll be staying here. We'll arrange for a Welcoming Ceremony and we'll have you linked to the pack. Even if Kia never comes around, I'd have much use for someone of your size." he said with a chuckle. Tobias gave him half a laugh, but inside he was bursting with happiness. These people don't even know him, but they've welcomed him with open arms. He would forever be grateful.

The smell of orange blossoms hit his nose and he looked up, Kia was standing at the end of the hallway in a black crop top and some grey sweatpants. Her hair was up in a messy ponytail, her eyes still rimmed red from all her crying but her face showed no signs of grief right now.

"What's going on here?" she asked, walking over to her father.

"Hi sweetheart. Oh, nothing. We're just getting to know Tobias." he said as he pulled her down on his lap. Timber didn't like that and Tobias had to try real hard to keep his growls in.

Kia eyed Tobias from where she sat with her father. She was looking at him for the first time, like really looking at him. He was huge, strong arms, lightly tanned skin, covered in tattoos - which she really didn't mind at all. He had piercing, ice blue eyes and dark chocolate hair. She also noticed that he had a thin layer of freckles covering his nose. On his left side below his ear was a red mark on his skin, it looked like a birthmark but she would have to ask him about it someday. His hands were rough, with long fingers, she couldn't help her thoughts at what those fingers could do, but she composed herself before she could think about it too much. She already knew he had a six-pack and a very sexy v-line, but now she noticed that his legs were just as muscular. He was sitting on the couch in shorts, so she could also see that he had more tattoos on his legs as well.

Kia felt his eyes burning into her and she looked up at him, he gave her a smirk knowing she'd just checked him out. She didn't mind though, technically he was her mate so she could look all she wanted. She gave him a sweet smile.

"How are you feeling Tobias?" she asked.

"Better, thanks again for saving my life." he said, avoiding her eyes.

"Well, you did save mine first." she pointed out, making her father laugh.

He pat her leg and she jumped off his lap, he got up and strolled into the kitchen to join his mate.

"So, I hear you'll be staying?" she asked.

"Yeah, if that's okay with you?" Tobias said nervously. Dammit, what is with me today. He thought.

"Sure, I don't mind." she said, giving him a sly smile. "Up for some training?" she asked, getting up.

"Uhm, sure?" he said, unsure.

She laughed and grabbed his hand, the tingles shooting up through his arm made him weak in the knees. Kia however, ignored the feeling.

"We're gonna go train for a bit, see you later." Kia announced.

"Kia, train in the backyard would you? I'd like to see what I'm working with." her father said, pointing to Tobias. Kia nodded and led Tobias out the back door.

From the kitchen her father had a clear view of their backyard, so he'd be able to observe.

"You ready?" Kia asked as she stepped into a fighting stance.

Tobias took his shirt off and followed suit.

"I guess so. I'm not really sure what I'm doing though." he replied.

"Just block my attacks for now, we'll work on the rest later." she said as she lunged forward and slammed into him.

Tobias lost his balance for a few seconds and went crashing to the ground, he got up again and focused his attention on Kia. She came at him with combo punches that he barely managed to block.

" She's fast..." Timber noted, sarcastically.

"You don't say?" Tobias answered back, with equal sarcasm.

He was getting his ass handed to him by a girl half his size, his ego was not happy. Something hard slamming into the side of his face snapped him from his thoughts, Kia had kicked him, luckily he could take a hit so he kinda just stood there looking at her in a daze. She broke off laughing and stopped attacking him.

"You know, your defense sucks. But I've got to hand it to 'ya, you can take a hit." she said, patting him on the shoulder.

"Thanks?" Tobias said, rubbing his jaw. "That hurt by the way."

"Aww, does the little man-baby want me to kiss it better?" she asked, mocking him.

"That would be nice yes." he said, giving her puppy eyes.

Before she knew what she was doing she leaned up and gave him a light peck on his bruised jaw.

"Better?" she asked, slightly embarrassed.

"Tons." he said, smiling.

"Come on, let's go for a run." she said, walking to the tree line behind them.

"Hells yes, Timber has been dying to get out." he said.

"No, I meant as humans." she said, raising her eyebrow.

"Why, why would you torture me so?" he asked with mock hurt displayed on his face.

"You wanna train with my father?" she asked and he nodded. "Then I suggest you get in shape, or you'll really end up feeling tortured."

She took of running at a brisk pace. Tobias reluctantly followed, he really wanted this. He wanted to be better, to learn how to fight well, he wanted to be worthy of his mate.

I'll make you proud. He thought as he pushed himself harder to keep up with her.

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