Chapter 15

Hunter stayed until eight in the evening. He felt rundown about how the day went. Jacob didn't want to talk about them being mates or him being a werewolf after they left the bathroom. It was hard for the human, he needed more than a few hours to get used to the craziness of meeting an actual werewolf.

When Hunter arrived home, he couldn't bring himself to greet his parents who were sitting at the dining table. He could only walk past and enter his room, staring glumly at the floor and hoped they didn't notice.

Anthony looked at his wife who shared the same expression. They were so eager to find out what was going on with their son.

As Hunter laid back onto his bed, there was a knock on his door.

"Hey, do you want any food?"

He listened to his dad's voice but could only concentrate on his soulmate. He wanted to call Jacob and speak for hours. "No, go away." He turned over to face the wall.

Anthony knew there was definitely something wrong if he didn't want food. "I'm going to open your door, don't freak out, I won't actually enter."

Hunter didn't move when he heard the creak of the hinges. Margo shoved her head into the room and they both examined their son, sulking on his bed.

"Hunter honey, why are you feeling so down?" Margo's voice sounded like it was crafted by angels. It was soft and incredibly calming.

He really wanted to tell them. Why was he so scared? If they rejected him now, what would he do? He would lose his mind for sure and he had to be strong for his pack. But not telling them was making him struggle even more. "Shut my door and leave me alone please." Even his voice sounded sad.

Anthony now had enough. His son was keeping something from them and he needed to find out what it was. So he did what was forbidden among werewolves and took a step into his room.

Hunter quickly turned as Margo gasped and pulled on his arm. "Get out of his room, you can't-"

"What are you keeping from us? Are you in trouble? You have to tell me."

Hunter's grey eyes grew as dark as clouds from a powerful storm. He glared at his dad while a low growl escaped his throat. "How dare you," he whispered.

Margo kept pulling on Anthony's arm but he ignored her.

"How dare I? You're keeping secrets from your own family. Why have you lost your loyalty and respect?"

"Get- out." Hunter's hairs were standing on end. He couldn't cope. Someone was in his territory. It didn't matter if it was his dad, it was totally unacceptable.

"Not until you tell me what's going on with you."

Hunter clenched his fists and moved like a wolf, stalking its prey. He growled again, causing Margo to dig her nails into her husband's wrist.

"Get out of his room," she hissed. "I can't believe you're doing this to him."

Anthony knew that if his son stepped into their room like this, he would have slapped him and pushed him back out. Hunter wasn't going to let him stand there much longer. But being in his room was proving to cause more problems, so he rolled his eyes and stepped back.

Hunter immediately relaxed and took a breath. "Why the hell would you do that to me?" he yelled. "I was so close to losing my temper."

"I'm sorry, Hunter," His dad crossed his arms. "That wasn't my intentions but I just need to know what's going on with you. We'll find out sooner or later."

His son stormed up to the door and grabbed the handle. "I'll tell you when I'm ready, now leave me alone." He slammed the door in their faces.

"Wait, so there definitely is something going on?" Anthony yelled but was silenced by Margo who pulled him away. She was going to have a long talk with him about how appalled she was. He couldn't just enter Hunter's territory. It was completely out of order.

Hunter turned and collapsed back onto his bed. He was glad that he managed to keep back is aggressive streak.

"Will you stop being so angry, I'm trying to sleep."

His heart sped up when Jacob's sweet voice invaded his thoughts. When they spoke directly to one another, it was much louder.

"I'm sorry, I'll go to bed too so you can rest."

"It's fine, but you got really angry and it worried me. I don't like feeling that."

Hunter pulled off his t-shirt and his trousers. He threw them into the corner of his room and face planted his bed. "I just had an argument with my parents, I don't know if I can block out my feelings or not. I'll try."

Jacob was lying in bed with his t-shirt off and his pyjama bottoms on. He had his duvet pulled up to his chin. He could hear Hunter's thoughts and knew why he had an argument but he didn't understand. "Why is territory such a big issue?" If he was going to get to know him more, he might as well question things that confuse him.

"Well, you know how male cats and dogs pee on things and rub themselves off things to mark their scent or whatever?"

"Yes."

"It's like that for us too. a dog has a dog bed, we have our rooms."

Jacob turned on his side and thought with interest. "What else is your territory?"

Hunter liked that he was interested. "My pack, our land, my mate."

Jacob's heart thumped hard. "Seriously? I'm your territory?"

"Why is that a surprise to you?" Hunter smiled.

Jacob wasn't sure how he felt about that. Deep down, he thought he could feel a stir of excitement, but he wasn't sure why. "I don't know. It's a bit weird. Are you going to pee on me?"

"No," Hunter laughed out loud and just like that, his mood was lifted. "And it's not weird, you'll understand why when you know more about me. I'm very territorial about what's mine."

Jacob laid on his back and bit his bottom lip. "Of what's... yours?"

Hunter also laid on his back, smiling to himself. In his eyes, Jacob was his, nobody else's. But he didn't want to say that to him, not until he was ready to accept it. "It's a wolf thing."

Jacob very nearly smiled but stopped himself when he remembered his current situation. He shouldn't be enjoying talking to a voice in his head.

"So," Hunter thought and traced his own chest with his fingers. It did feel unusual to have someone else's aura sharing his own. "How're you coping? Are you hurting yet?"

They had only been apart for a few hours and Jacob was starting to get a headache and his chest felt heavy and clogged like he was on the verge of sickness. "No, I need to sleep before it does."

"Good idea, night Jacob. I'll see you tomorrow." Hunter didn't want to stop talking to him but at least he could see him in person in the morning.

Jacob rubbed his eyes and turned over to bury his head into his pillow. He didn't reply and tried to relax. It was definitely going to be a challenge to sleep.

* * * * *

When morning time came, the boys had slept better than usual. Especially Jacob. It was the first time in a while that his mum had to actually wake him up instead of him pretending to sleep.

"Jacob sweetie," she said softly and aggressively shook his shoulder. He had slept through William getting woken up who was stood with his dad, watching. "It's time to get up."

Jacob lightly groaned and rolled onto his stomach. He wasn't ready to be woken up. He was having a really nice dream about Hunter. Although, he was still half asleep and that thought wasn't as weird as what it should be.

"Come on, you'll be late for college."

This managed to pull him out of his dream and he peeled open his eyes. His mother was leaning close with a frown, hiding her annoyance from Scott and William.

"It's nice to see you sleeping in for once, but you're a pain to wake up," she chuckled. Her voice was soft but her eyes were sharp. "Get out of bed please, breakfast is almost ready."

The first thing Jacob felt was the unbearable aching in his chest. He sat up and frowned when his head throbbed as if he was repeatedly hitting it against the wall.

"Don't worry, I'll wait outside college for you. It should go as soon as we meet." The voice, for once, felt very comforting.

Scott watched his son with steady eyes. "Are you feeling okay today?" he asked.

Jacob stood up and took a deep breath. "Yes."

Scott studied him for a moment longer before following his wife downstairs.

* * * * *

When Scott pulled up outside of college, Jacob practically jumped out of the car. He couldn't wait to get rid of the aching in his chest. He didn't even wait for William, he just hurried off.

"I'm in the bathroom on the first floor. It's empty."

Jacob immediately headed there while William and Scott watched with a quizzical raise of the brow. Usually, Jacob slumped into college because he didn't want to be there.

"He's acting different today," Scott said, softly rubbing his chin and watched William open the door.

"It's because he's not feeling so depressed. He actually slept for once." William shut the door and headed for his group of friends.

Scott sat for a moment longer, tapping his cheek before checking the time and pulling out of the car park. Of course, he would try to call Jacob later to check up on him.

When Jacob reached the bathroom, he glanced around with caution. Just like Hunter said, it was empty. But when his eyes caught sight of him, his heart almost skipped a beat. Something about the colour of Hunter eyes gripped his entire attention. They were the colour of storms, and Jacob loved storms.

Hunter smiled and started walking towards him, but Jacob practically ran into him and flung his arms around his waist. Hunter was stunned, he really didn't expect him to be so eager.

Jacob clung to the back of his t-shirt and begged for the aching to go away.

Hunter took the opportunity to hug him back. They both needed it, and Hunter wasn't sure when Jacob would next let their skin touch, so he had to cherish their embrace like it would be their last.

"How has your morning been?" he asked when he felt back to normal. He had a very bad headache this morning too.

"Okay." Jacob took a deep breath. It felt nice not to be restricted by pain. Though, it dawned on him that he was hugging Hunter, or rather, squeezing him like his life depended on it. He quickly pulled away with wide eyes that watched him nervously.

"It's fine," Hunter smiled. "You can hug me any time you like or any time you need to."

Jacob's cheeks went a little pink as he pulled on his bag straps. "H-How was your morning?"

"It was okay too. I was just really desperate to see you. It's not easy waking up and feeling like that."

"I know, it hurt."

Hunter focused intently on his face. "Are you getting used to this?"

"Slowly, I think."

"That's good. Hopefully, by the end of the week, you'll feel much better." Hunter hoped it would be sooner. The last thing he wanted was to rush Jacob and cause a breakdown.

"Hopefully," he whispered and dared to look him in the eyes. The affection kicked Jacob in the chest. Hunter was so attractive and his spine shivered just from a simple glance.

The dream he had of him popped into his head. He dreamt that Hunter slept next to him all night. In his dream, his arms were around him and they were cuddling without a care in the world. He felt wanted, relaxed, and at ease with his life. And then he woke up and felt disappointed that he wasn't there.

"I had the same dream."

Jacob sighed and dropped his gaze. "Will you please stop reading my- did you?"

"Yes," Hunter smiled. "I was also disappointed when I woke up alone."

Jacob liked that they felt the same but it was weird that they had the same dream. "Is that normal?"

"To have the same dreams? Probably." Hunter really didn't know.

"Why do you not know much about this?" Jacob asked quietly. "You're the werewo-"

"Don't say it out loud." Hunter interrupted with a tone of urgency.

"Oh, sorry."

"It's fine," he smiled and stepped closer, "but I never asked my parents about it when I found you because they don't know my mate is male."

"Are you worried about telling them?"

"I am, yes."

"Me too."

"Do you think they'll accept you for being gay?"

"I really hope so," Jacob was getting nervous just thinking about it. "What about yours?"

"I honestly don't know."

They made eye contact and it felt nice to have someone to talk to about their troubles. They knew they would never be judged because they were both in the same position.

"Come on then," Hunter smiled and lightly nudged his shoulder. "We better not be late for our classes."