The Four Beta Brothers
Chapter 66

JUNIPER

Ethan's eyebrows were raised as he looked between the two of us. "I see you're feeling better."

My neck and face felt completely flushed as I stared at Ethan and Axel. It felt like someone had taken most of the air out of the room, and I couldn't get enough to breathe.

Axel shrugged, acting like it wasn't a big deal that the two of them just walked in on us making out. It was just kissing, but I still hated knowing who saw us, especially when my eyes settled on Asher.

He was tight-lipped, and the vein on his forehead was practically bulging out of his forehead. His eyes were missing their usual sparkle as he glared at Axel, not even acknowledging my presence. My body tensed, preparing for Asher to say something along the lines of, "I was right."

Instead, he turned away and left the apartment without a word. He slammed the door behind him. Shock rang through my body at the way Asher left. Why did Asher of all people have to see that? I tried to tell myself that it didn't matter. Asher hurt me first. He didn't trust me, and his words stung like hot needles in my heart.

But that didn't mean I wanted to hurt him back. The last thing I wanted was to spread more pain around.

Axel grabbed my hand and gently tugged my arm, leading me out of the hallway. He squeezed my hand as if to reassure me, which was the only sign he showed of caring about us getting caught.

"Please don't tell me you were doing that in my bed," Ethan said, sounding completely exasperated. His eyes met mine for a brief moment, and I swore I saw a flash of pain and jealousy in them. However, the look was gone just as fast as it came, leaving me to wonder if I had only imagined his jealousy.

Axel put his hand on his chest. "We would never!" His tone was dramatic and over the top, making it sound like the exact opposite was true.

Ethan set his bags on the ground and raised his eyebrows. He just looked like an annoyed older brother. There was no jealousy on his face, confirming I had only imagined the look.

"We didn't," I assured. I let go of Axel's hand and pointed to the chair. "Sit. You need to rest."

"Especially since you've already passed out once from overexerting yourself," Ethan added.

"How did you know that?" Axel asked, looking at me as if I had told on him.

"Nathan told me," Ethan said. "I've been updating him about what has been going on, and he told me Juniper found you passed out in the kitchen. He also said that Juniper blamed herself, so if you're not going to take care of yourself for your own sake, do it for hers."

Even though I had basically said the same thing to Axel, there was something about hearing Ethan say I was worried that made me feel embarrassed. It was perfectly normal to worry about someone after they were injured, so I knew the emotions weren't logical. That didn't stop them from making my skin flush.

"Did you guys end up finding the hunter?" Axel asked, changing the subject. I was sure he liked his older brother telling him what to do even less.

"No." The answer was short, making it seem like he didn't want to talk about it further.

"Then why did you give up?" Axel asked.

"I didn't, but there wasn't any evidence left behind," Ethan said. "There were no trails to follow. The people in the town either didn't recognize the description of the man, or they lied to me. A few warriors were left behind at the lake in case the hunter comes back, but there's nothing more I can do."

"Is there any chance he followed us back to the school?" Axel asked.

I froze. I hadn't even thought of the possibility. We got away so fast, and we didn't see the hunter once on our way back. I just assumed he lost sight of us.

"I wouldn't rule that out," Ethan said. He and Axel shared a look. They didn't link each other from what I could tell, but there were still unspoken words shared between them.

"What if he comes after Axel again?" I asked, trying to stop the thought from paralyz ing me. If there was a chance the hunter was still around, and I was actually cursed, then I needed to move up my plans for leaving.

"We've given his description to campus security. We also let them know that if anyone comes onto campus that's lacking a scent, they are an immediate suspect. I don't think the hunter would go that far. Going onto a campus full of werewolves and attacking a student would be a suicide mission," Ethan explained. "I'm sure he just happened across you guys in the forest in an unfortunate accident."

I knew Ethan was trying to make me feel better, but it didn't work. It only made me wonder how many more unfortunate incidents I would have to face, putting those I loved at risk.

***

ETHAN

There was a heaviness to Juniper as she left my apartment. She said she didn't want to intrude on my space anymore, since I had been forced out of my bed for days. I told her I didn't mind her taking up my space, but I didn't push it when she insisted it was best for her to leave.

Part of me was relieved. As much as I wanted her close to me, I hated the idea of Axel and her sharing my bed. I knew she could never be mine, but that didn't mean I wanted to think about her with my brother in my bed of all places.

When the door shut behind me, I felt Axel's eyes digging into the back of my skull. I prepared myself for the conversation that was about to come. I knew he could tell more was going on than I had said. When we shared a look earlier, I felt him ready to say something, but he bit his tongue.

Not in front of Juniper.

It was an unspoken agreement. The blue underneath her eyes showed just how exhausted she was, even if she pretended like everything was okay in front of us.

"Why did you lie to her?" Axel asked, breaking the silence that stuffed the air.

I turned and studied him carefully. "Lie about what?"

"Do you honestly think that hunter is just going to back down?" he pushed.

I knew what he was trying to get me to say, but I wanted to test exactly how much he knew. "I hope the hunter decided to cut his losses and leave."

"But do you think he's going to?" Axel waited expectantly.

"Why are you pushing this? What haven't you told me?" I asked. It was like playing a game of Clue. We knew the other had information the other wasn't saying, but neither of us were willing to show our cards just yet.

He tapped his fingers on the table, and I saw the gears churning behind his eyes. "I think the hunter was targeting Juniper."

I sat down at the table, a heaviness filling my body. This incident was too similar to the one with James, and Axel's words only made me worry. "Why?"

"I noticed something was off after we transformed into our wolf form," Axel began. "I couldn't tell what it was exactly, but I had this strange sense of being followed."

"Whoever attacked you didn't leave any trails behind. What made you think you were being followed?"

"It was the lack of smells and sounds. It was a strange sensation, like I knew something should be there, but it wasn't. I let Juniper go ahead of me, because I needed to figure out what was going on. Then I saw the hunter." He paused, so the only sound in the room was the tapping of his fingers. "I noticed he was following Juniper, so I deliberately ran past him to get his attention. He ignored me and continued going after her."

"Why didn't you say this sooner?" I asked, unsure of how to process this information. Did this mean that the assassin from our childhood was back? Did he somehow discover that we told Juniper the truth about her past and decide to come after her just in case she started remembering something she shouldn't? Would he risk coming after her here at school? Was any of this even related?

"I didn't want to scare Juniper," Axel said. "I wanted to talk to you about it one on one, and this was the first chance that we were alone, and I was conscious."

"You could've linked me." Only through years of practice was I able to keep my voice calm, even though I felt anything but calm. Juniper being targeted only made my fears more likely.

"I've been healing from a silver bullet injury. My wolf abilities haven't exactly been strong. Look, I've told you now, and it's clear by your reaction that this wasn't just an unlucky incident that led to the hunter coming across us, so you had better spill what's going on."

I took a deep breath, preparing to go over the full story. First Asher, now Axel. Soon the secret I held close to me wouldn't be a secret anymore.