What did Raymond want? Frowning, Celeste read the text.
"Hey… Just want to say sorry. I didn't mean to invade your privacy. You have every right to be angry. I'm sorry. And I still hope we can be friends. So… Would you come out and meet me again? I know you're interested in werewolves. And didn't you want to know how I discovered the werewolves in the town? I'll tell you everything this time I promise."
Celeste had no clue why Raymond was so obsessed about the part of them being friends. That sounded like a crappy excuse to her. Was this just some front of his true motive? Was this a trap for her?
"What happened? You look concerned." Nora asked, knitting her brows.
"Raymond… I mean the hunter in town texts me again. He … asks me out, promising to tell me how he found out about us." Celeste answered in hesitation. She didn't know if it was a good idea to let her parents know.
"You're not going, are you? Smells like the hunter's trap to me." Nora commented.
Jeff nodded in agreement. "And you guys have only met not long ago! Why does he have to meet you again this soon?"
Celeste shook her head. "I don't know if I'm going."
"Tell me you are not considering it!" Nora seemed on the verge of freaking out.
"My guess is he has found out about something." Celeste folded her arms. "Or at least he is skeptical. But that doesn't make sense. He didn't seem to mind me touching his silver bullet."
Indeed, the silver bullet was the token of his identity as a werewolf hunter. It was so important that almost no hunter would tolerate it being touched by any strangers, let alone their werewolf nemesis. It was said that if they had their tokens touched by a werewolf, it only meant disgrace and humiliation.
"You what! You touched his silver bullet?" Nora shrieked, hand covering her chest. Now she did sound like she was freaking out.
Ops… Celeste had kept that part to herself when her parents interrogated her about the encounter with the hunter. She knew her parents would make a fuss about it, saying that it was too dangerous, or she would have killed herself by touching it blah blah blah… She had told Byron about the token, though, in case the information would be helpful for his investigation.
"It was just a token, Mom! Don't panic." Celeste threw her hands in the air in surrender.
"It's dangerous! You could have been injured or even killed!" The mother squealed in horror.
Despite the situation, Celest almost laughed in victory. Ha! What did she say about her mother's possible reactions? Exactly!
"Sorry! Sorry! I wouldn't do that next time."
"Don't even think about next time! You're not gonna meet that hunter again!" Jeff glared at his daughter.
"But how do I suppose to react to his text? And did Byron and the guys make any progress?" Celeste pouted.
Jeff huffed. "Byron has the guys out to look for it as soon as he got your report. But the last time I heard from him, they couldn't get too close to the hunter boy. Byron said the boy doesn't him as a hunter by the look, but he was as cunning and watchful as a fox. I suppose they haven't done anything to him."
Celeste nodded. Raymond was alert, which was tricky for them. If the wolves got too close to him, they could bring more suspicion. And Raymond should have prepared himself if he was starting to get suspicious about Celeste.
Celeste wondered if Raymond sent her the text just because he had his trap fixed eventually. And she needed to know how the hunter had discovered their existence. For the safety of the pack, she needed to figure out how much he knew about them.
The most important was that she needed to be sure if she was the one who gave their secrets away. After all, she had spent months working with Raymond.
And she was not certain if their meeting in the café was a test for her. What she was certain of, though, was that she had not been calm enough when she first faced his werewolf hunter side. She could have given away something during that meeting.
Once that possibility had taken root in her mind, it was basically impossible for her to get rid of it. If anything happened, she wouldn't be able to shoulder the responsibility and guilt. And now that Raymond had asked her out, she sensed a perfect chance for her to have all the questions answered.
"I would like to meet him again," said Celeste.
"No!" Nora and Jeff answered simultaneously.
"Do you have any idea how dangerous he is?" Nora added.
"He's a hunter, a werewolf hunter who kills werewolves as his job!" Jeff echoed. "Besides, you haven't even wolfed out. Otherwise, you might stand a slightly better chance."
Her father had a point. Without the power of her wolf, she was just a helpless, defenseless woman to the hunter. She had never been trained to fight or run. So when danger came, she wouldn't be able to protect herself.
"Your father has made it very clear. As your parents, we can't put you in danger, Cel." The mother sounded very serious. She wasn't backing down.
Celeste smiled. "Calm down, guys! I know you're worried about me, but I think this could be a perfect chance. Not having my wolf out might actually give me the edge to survive the hunter."