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She knew she couldn’t keep the secret for very long. At some point, she was going to start showing. Then there was the hunter to worry about. She wondered if it was still a good idea to stay and fight. She would be putting another life at risk if she stood her ground, and if she backed out, that would raise his suspicions again. She knew she was a terrible liar to him, so she never did. This was so different, a situation she had never dealt with before.
She felt so alone, couldn’t even tell her aunt or the girls. She had to keep this even from them, as much as they would promise. Adria knew that something would slip to Spencer, and she didn’t want him to find out from anyone but him. Besides, she knew the father should be the second person to know before the world did, it was his right as a father.
Unfortunately, it only took a day for her circle of friends to all find out that she and Spencer had slept together. She knewthat this would take less time, and he would be hurt and angry to find out secondhand. If it came to that, Adria decided to make sure he was the first to find out before anyone else. But when? When the hunter was gone? Would he ever be? They still had no idea when he was coming, it could be days, months, possibly years. There were a couple of reports that he was moving slowly toward them, but then he would disappear. He was very good at staying off the radar. It made their lives that much more stressful and harder.
That’s probably part of his game plan, she thought,he’s trying to keep us guessing, and, if we are constantly looking over our shoulders, it makes us more paranoid. She shook her head. She wished she knew exactly what he was thinking.Why was he doing this to them?She jumped when her phone rang in her hand. She was so lost in her thoughts, she didn’t realize it was still in her hand.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Hey, it’s Spencer. I was thinking that you and I need to blow off some steam. We need to take a step back, a deep breath, however you want to put it.” He laughed a little.
“Okay?” She smiled at how he seemed to be rambling. He only did that when he was nervous, which didn’t happen very often.
“Yeah, I was wondering if you wanted to go out for a drive or something like…?” He stopped short, and she could have sworn he was holding his breath.
“Are you asking me out on a date?” She couldn’t help herself and giggled a little.
“Well, not exactly. Kind of, more like hanging out. With a friend,” he rushed out.
“I think that would be a fabulous idea, when?.” She couldn’t believe he was asking her out on a kind of date. Sheloved the fact that he wanted to hang out just with her, just the two of them.
“Awesome, I’ll pick you up shortly.” He ended the call, and Adria smiled at her phone. Five minutes later, Spencer pulled back up in front of her aunt's house.
“This is nice,” she said, as she got into the car.
“I just thought we have been under so much stress lately. You with finding out about your family and me having my first real serious situation since becoming Alpha. We both needed a little downtime.” He smiled as he started to drive.
“I agree, being Alpha and having to deal with something so serious, literal life and death of the entire pack. And the fact that you have a target on your back, it's a lot to take. I couldn’t imagine the pressure you are under from the pack; people looking to you for guidance and reassurance.” She shook her head.
“Plus, there are people who aren’t even taking it too seriously. They still think that the oak tree is going to save us all. I mean, I know we haven't seen a hunter in our town in decades, but we can't put all our faith in that,” he told her. Adria was shocked that people still thought that way. But she guessed that some people still believed in blind faith.
She watched out the window as she saw people walking down the streets and wondered which ones were worried, who were the blind believers, and which ones would put their lives on the line in a heartbeat. Spencer turned down the next street and came to a stop in front of their old elementary school, which made Adria laugh.
“Why are we here?” she asked with a smile as she got out of the car. They walked over to the playground and sat on the swings. They were smaller than she remembered, but still fun to swing on, remembering a time that seemed so simple, so easy.
“I thought it would be nice to visit the place where we first met.” He smiled as he started swinging.
They spent the next hour talking about old memories. When Madox fell off the monkey bars and broke his arm. Thankfully, he wasn’t in a cast as long as a human would, but he still loved the fact that everyone signed it. When they were having races in the field, Tommy had thought it would be funny to barrel through her and the girls who were watching, but Spencer was faster. He was able to get to him first and hip-check him out of the way before she got hurt. He had saved her a couple more times like that through the years at that school. She smiled at the thought that he had always looked out for her.
“You always seemed to be there just at the right time for me. You never let me get hurt,” she mused, looking at him thoughtfully.
“You’re my best friend. I never wanted to see you hurt. I always felt a need to protect you.” He looked back at her just as thoughtfully, sending a shiver down her spine.
Adria reflected as she sat there and looked around. She thought about it but didn’t tell him when she first started having feelings for him when they were in their last year before junior high.
She remembered it vividly, he had just won the fifty-meter dash during track and field day. She was elated that she was the first person he went to. He gave her a big hug, picked her up, and twirled her around. Just like after their last graduation. When he put her down, the look in his eyes made her heart flutter. That was when she wondered if he felt even close to the same. She was too afraid to ask, afraid that the answer would have been no.
She liked keeping that memory to herself, where she could hold on to the happiness she felt.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her off the swing, guiding her toward the car. She laughed as he smiled at her. For the rest of the afternoon, they went to their favorite places around town and reminisced about happy times.
Adria loved the way he would get a far-off look in his eyes and smile, then look at her when he talked about his memories. She loved the way he looked at her. Even after everything, he could still give her butterflies. When they ended up back in the middle of town, they stopped by the oak tree and sat on the bench. Adria sighed as she looked at it. The memory of how he had rejected her still played on her mind, still gave her a pang of hurt even after all the time she spent away from him.
“I know this isn’t one of your favorite places, but I have a reason for bringing you here,” he said sheepishly.
“What could that be?” she said, trying to smile. Slowly, he leaned toward her and kissed her so sweetly, so softly, she felt herself tremble.
“I wanted you to have a happy memory here,” he said as he pulled away. Adria slowly opened her eyes.He can be so sweet, she thought to herself.
