The Fugitive - Chapter 166

After pulling up to the parking bay on the side of the street, the pair walked down the familiar alleyway towards Freddie’s. Esme peered through the curtained window and relaxed further when she saw the place wasn’t too busy. She didn’t want it quiet either; Leo was a regular, and they needed some privacy.

Leo pushed open the door that jingled at their entrance, gesturing for Esme to go in first. She went straight to a corner table, her eyes habitually darting to the door and scoping out the area. Leo shook his head, smiling as he sat down. “You’re probably the most dangerous person here. What are you so worried about?” He asked, keeping his voice low.

“It’s better to be safe than sorry,” Esme murmured before picking up the menu in distraction. She was pretty hungry after their little fight and even more so after teasing Gabriel, but that hunger would not be satiated until late at night. She licked her lips in anticipation and hid her face behind the menu after feeling Leo’s gaze.

“That’s right,” Leo sighed. “I knew there was something, Es.. But I didn’t expect..” He trailed off, making Esme look up at him, lowering the menu to the table with a frown forming between her brows.

What was he mumbling about?

“I erm.. I overhead what that guy said yesterday.. The werewolf you saved me from,” He chuckled, his eyes twinkling in amusement. “It’s funny what twenty-four hours will do. Yesterday you were determined to save me, and today you tried to kill me.”

Esme smacked his shoulder, feeling a little nervous by what he said. So, he heard her discussion with Callum; her stomach knotted at the idea. She peeked up at him and saw his smiling eyes turn serious. “I can’t imagine the shit you’ve been through, Es. Just thinking about what you said makes me want to hunt the bastard down,” He growled, making Esme blink back in surprise. Leo was so charming and friendly, so seeing this side of him was new.

“The Alpha is your mate, right?” He asked in a calmer manner.

Esme gulped, her gaze flicking to the alley outside the window. “Yep,” She replied curtly. She didn’t mean to. Her usual walls were up, even though she wanted everything out in the open now between her and Leo. Looking back at Leo’s face, she added. “You can ask me anything, but let’s order first. I’m hungry, and I don’t want to lose my appetite over discussing such topics.”

Leo nodded, and they looked over the menu before calling a waiter to their table and ordering three sharing platters of nachos and chicken fajitas.

“Your crazy metabolism makes a lot of sense,” Leo commented as he smirked at the waiter, who looked at the pair like they were crazy for ordering so much.

“When did you workout I was a werewolf?” Esme asked as she sipped on the large glass of orange juice.

“Honestly, I kept jumping back and forth between my suspicion. There were signs you were one, like how much the vampires seemed to despise you, except for Niko and Gabriel. Then I gave you that wolfsbane, and it confused me. I wasn’t going to do anything, just confirm my suspicions or not. But then.. I saw your scar on your back, and the only thing I could think of was that you were a ridiculously good looking human who was probably brought up with werewolves or was mated to one..” Leo trailed off and took a sip from his beer bottle.

“Seems like he has too much time on his hands if he’s been thinking so hard about whether you’re a werewolf or not,” Isana remarked dryly. “Considering he’s meant to be a hunter in his spare time.. He can’t be that good.”

Esme internally rolled her eyes at the wolf, who simplified everything.

“But then I caught sight of your fight with Paul.. How he slammed you into the ground, and you didn’t so much as flinch.. It kind of confirmed it for me. Then, of course.. I saw you yesterday,” Leo explained further, his brows arched together as he looked lost in thought.

Esme leaned forwards then, drawn in by what he said. “That’s right.. Niko knows you’re a..” Even though Leo had already spoken so casually about her being a werewolf, she glanced around warily. “Vampire hunter,” She whispered, feeling a little giddy. They knew each other’s secrets and were still sitting across from each other without killing one another.

Leo nodded his head, and Esme tilted her head to the side, her eyes looking up at the ceiling in thought. “So.. Did he actually use compulsion on you?” She asked, realising she needed to be angry at Niko as well, although he did try to intervene when she almost stabbed Leo.

“He tries and fails each time,” Leo grinned as he rested back in his chair as the waiter returned with the multiple plates of food.

Esme’s stomach growled, but her eyes were still on Leo, waiting for their server to leave so she could enquire further. “How come he can’t use compulsion on you?” She asked while pinching a chip from his plate playfully, even though she had some on her own plate.

“How come the wolfsbane didn’t work on you?” Leo asked with a smirk as he stole a chip from her plate and dipped it into the tomato ketchup pot on the side, watching her while he munched on it.

Esme’s eyes lit up in amusement. “Hmmm.. Is there something you take?” She pushed further with her question. “Although I’m in a city full of them.. I am still getting used to the creatures.”

Leo’s brows rose at this. “I think I can speak for all your supernatural friends when I say.. I’m pretty certain you are used to vampires.. Unless your relationship with the King is only.. physical.”

Esme paused mid-chew on her fajita wrap, her dark brown eyes wide at her friend’s comment. Using a napkin to pat around her mouth while she finished eating, she took her time in answering. “It’s more than physical between us. Otherwise, I doubt a vamp and a werewolf would really jump into bed with one another,” She muttered, though she already had doubts at that comment. Gabriel was one hell of a sexy vampire, and even if they weren’t mates, she was still crazily attracted to him. But maybe she was biased now.

“How did that happen?” Leo chuckled though it seemed a bit forced, and his eyes weren’t smiling as he stared at her, eating some of the nachos.

Esme shrugged, deciding on nonchalance, and hoping to get off the topic. Einar’s words of warning sprang to her mind after seeing the way Leo reacted. “I’m not really sure.”

“How does it affect..” Leo trailed off, then shook his head. “No, never mind. You need to eat.”

Esme sipped on her drink, feeling a little awkward. She knew exactly what he wanted to ask, but she didn’t have an ounce of guilt. Gabriel was her second mate, and although she never agreed with the idea of cheating on anyone, her situation was a little different.

The pair ate in silence while they both mulled over their thoughts. Again, Leo shook his head at how much she could eat, and they waited until the plates were cleared from the table until they continued with their conversation. Esme leaned forwards, deciding to lead it first, her curiosity still not satiated. “You avoided my question earlier. How come Niko can’t use his compulsion on you? Is it just some vampires, or does this include Gabriel as well?” She searched Leo’s eyes, looking for any deception, but he didn’t show any signs of lying as expected of her friend.

“Verbena,” Leo replied with a twinkle to his hazel eyes. Esme frowned in confusion at his response, and so he continued. “It is a flower used to subdue vampires. When indigested or inhaled, the vampire becomes weak, almost human-like. It hurts like a bitch, so Gabriel told me.” He looked down while he spun the beer bottle. It was still a little strange hearing him speak like that, but then the last twenty-four hours had been strange anyway. So what else was new?

“It’s been used on Gabriel? And he.. was powerless?” Esme asked slowly as she tried to imagine Gabriel anything but the powerful being she knew him as.

Leo nodded. “The hunters held him captive for ten years. They’d been using the drug on him through the ventilation system, keeping him weak-”

“Okay, so verbena.. are many vampires aware of this? And do you.. eat it? Is that why..” Esme trailed off, waiting for his answers. If anyone told her she would be casually sitting with a hunter over dinner discussing a flower that weakens vampires two months ago, she’d call them insane.

Leo looked up, his lips twitching up. “Only a few are aware of verbena. Gabriel, Niko, Luther, Vinnie, probably a few others Gabriel deems trustworthy. I drink verbena after testing it out on myself. I’m not sure if other vampire hunters take it or not; they didn’t when I was in the association. That was some time ago. But I’d assume if they knew of its effects on humans, they’d try and put it in the water supply or something.”

Esme tapped her finger against the table in thought. “How do you know they haven’t already?” She wondered aloud.

“Because it tastes awful. I make mine into a lemon tea so I can stand it, but on its own, it’s extremely bitter, and people would notice the taste difference,” Leo replied instantly. Then he leaned forwards, his own eyes full of curiosity now. “How come the wolfsbane didn’t affect you?”

Esme smirked, leaning backwards as she gazed outside of the window. It was one thing to tell a werewolf of her secret, but a hunter?

“Yeah, but Gabriel TRUSTS him..” Isana murmured, again taking their mate’s side over this. “He is sitting with you unconcerned that you’re a werewolf. That’s all the proof you need. He won’t tell anyone.”

“Hmm,” Esme hummed aloud in agreement.

“What? You don’t want to trade secrets anymore?” Leo pouted as he gripped her chin playfully and let go, and although he appeared in jest, she could tell he seemed a little hurt by the idea.

Esme grinned, hoping to put him at ease. “It’s nothing like that. My wolf just distracted me for a moment-”

“Yeah.. blame the wolf that can’t speak out! I’m the one that defended him!” Isan exclaimed loudly in her mind, making Esme squeeze her eyes shut momentarily and rubbing temples.

“Okay, okay,” Esme said aloud again. “Leo, my wolf likes you and was defending you. There I said it, okay?” She was looking at the table while talking to her wolf.

“I can’t believe I am friends with a werewolf..” Leo spoke in wonder as he stared at her, his eyes wide. “I never knew you.. or how it worked.. the whole wolf thing. We were only taught that you get your wolf around the age of eighteen.”

Wrong, you could get it from a much earlier age, depending on the wolf and lineage. She got hers when she was sixteen, and so did Marcus, but they were both from Alpha bloodlines. She heard down the ‘grapevine’ that Alpha King Damon received his wolf when he was fourteen. It seems the hunters weren’t absolute experts on the creatures they hunted.

Esme cleared her throat. “The wolfsbane didn’t affect me because I take it daily,” Esme said casually, grabbing her glass and stopping when she saw Leo looking at her in even more awe. The she-wolf glanced at the window and back, feeling a little self-conscious. Then she rolled her eyes. “What?”

Leo shook his head. “I’ve seen what that shit does to wolves. So, you’ve been poisoning yourself daily so that if someone did try to drug you.. you won’t be weak, and it would tell you who your enemy is.. Es, that’s fricken nuts! And it didn’t work.. unless you were really won over by my charms when I did spike your milkshake.” He winked and laughed loudly when she hit his shoulder again, this time much harder and would probably leave a bruise.

“Bloody charm,” Esme muttered, trying to keep the smile from forming on her face, but Leo’s beaming smile and bright eyes made her look away with a smile. “Damned puppy dog,” She grumbled.

“You love this puppy dog. That’s why you saved me yesterday,” Leo grinned again before taking a swig of his beer and finding it empty. “Hold on, let me order another. Do you want anything else?” He asked, standing up and waiting for her response. Esme shook her head then leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes briefly while he was at the bar.

Gabriel had some serious grovelling when she returned. To think she nearly killed Leo. Even if he turned out to be the big bad hunter, it wasn’t something she would get over. Her trust was sparsely given, and somehow along the way, she’d unknowingly given it to Leo. Now that everything was out in the open, she knew with a roll of her eyes that the puppy dog wasn’t going to leave her alone, and they were indeed going to be friends for a long time.

Esme unknowingly smiled to herself, looking out of the window, her chest feeling warm and full. She had a mate who was in the ‘doghouse’ right now, but he adored her, she had friends and ones that she could be herself around and would do anything for, and out of all of it, she felt safe and loved.

“I feel like you’re jinxing something here, Es. We have tomorrow’s favour to deal with,” Isana murmured, snapping Esme out of her fluffy, fun-loving daydreaming.

“Hmm, thanks for the reminder, Is.”

“No problem, gal. I gotcha back,” Her wolf seemed to wink at her. “But seriously.. You better not have jinxed anything.. I’m quite happy right now.”