Gallant Luna

18. The Luna's Return

Since the day Hunter had fought Vane and sent him out of his territory, his victory had made him realize he had gotten stronger than he had initially thought.

He could never test out the extent of his strength on his packmates because that would've killed them, which was why he had gone easy on them on the field that night.

But facing a serious threat like Vane, had required him to not hold back and he didn't even have to transform.

All his battles before his most recent encounter with Vane, had brought him greater strength.

Now that he was fully healed, he spent his time checking on what his packmates were up to and everywhere he went, some of them still whispered among themselves about what happened in the woods with Vane.

The word even spread to other packs and supernatural beings. He didn't even mind. He wanted them to know that he could still take Vane on and this time, in a stronger state.

"You're really enjoying this, aren't ya?" Nico said to him as they stood by the balcony.

"What's there not to enjoy about it?" Hunter scoffed. "I defended you all, alone."

"I can only imagine what you would've been like had Riley actually been here."

As soon as she was mentioned, Hunter licked his lips.

"She's coming back and I can't wait to see her."

"So you can break more chairs? You know what? These past two days have been great because you two weren't going at it like crazy!"

Hunter smirked.

"Deal with it."

"We are! Hey, will you tell her about what happened with Vane?"

"She needs to know just how dangerous the situation was. But right now, he's not much of a threat anymore."

"Are you forgetting about Troy and the others?"

"Why do you think our territory's heavily being patrolled again? It's because my girl's on her way back."

"Come to think of it, no one would dare attack when Marcellina's with her."

"Better safe than..."

Hunter trailed off, raising his eyebrows a little.

"What happened?"

"She's here."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I can feel her."

The more he sensed her presence, the more his heart raced, until he couldn't take it anymore and headed to the stairs, completely ignoring Nico, who followed behind him.

Then came her alluring scent as she got even closer and he waited at the top of the grand staircase.

Val and Dawn were in the lobby and close to the door, waiting for Riley as well.

As soon as the doors opened, it didn't matter if Marcellina's aura instantly made everyone stiff and they stepped aside to make way for her.

His eyes were on Riley, who was pulled to the side by Val and Dawn so they could talk.

Even as Marcellina approached the staircase, he couldn't stop staring at Riley, who stared right at him as she rubbed the back of her neck while talking to Val and Dawn.

Just when he was about to reach out to her, Marcellina's presence demanded attention and Nico walked down the stairs to join the others as they spoke to Riley.