#huntercrossintro

Father to Alfie

Also father to two other boys who live with their mothers. (Axel, 6 and Nash 4). Jokes those are the ones he knows about.

Fourth kid on the way with Lia

Basically the same Hunter as always

Trying to be more present and practical due to Lia being pregnant

OCCUPATION & ROLE

Job Title: Construction worker / muscle / middleman

Place of Work / Business Name: Maddox Construction

Years in Town / at Job: Born and raised / On and off for years

Work Schedule / Routine: Early mornings, long shifts, late nights. Works construction weekdays, sometimes disappears weekends for side runs tied to crews from Florida.

How They Feel About Their Job: Hunter likes it because it's steady and he gets to keep busy and use his hands. But, he treats it like noise between "real work."

BACKGROUND

Hometown / Where They’re From: Center Hill, Atlanta

Family Background: The Cross family’s known everywhere in town — big, loud, rough. His father Jeff set the tone: drunk, violent, hard to please. Hunter took after him more than he’ll ever admit. His brothers are his core.

Education: Dropped out sophomore year of high school; learned more on the street than in a classroom.

Reason for Moving / Staying in Town: Center Hill’s home. It’s all he knows, and he’s too dug in to leave.

Important Life Events: Mother's overdose. Father being chased out of town. First crime was aggravated assault. Did time in and out of jail for fights and theft. Relationship with Kat Anderson produced two sons, Alfie and Jude. Keeps an ongoing loyalty to Kat out of respect and duty. Buried a cash stash in Center Hill years ago and still dips into it when he has to.

PERSONALITY

Personality Traits (5+): Confrontational, Intuitive, Loyal, Cold-tempered, Grudging, Suspicious, Blunt, Methodical, Stubborn, Unforgiving

Strengths: Sharp pattern recognition, Hunter picks up tells, routines, and lies fast. Extremely loyal to his family and protective. Reliable once he gives his word. Knows when something's off...or fucky. Straight shooter, people know where they stand with him.

Weaknesses: Short fuse and holds grudges forever. Rigid, he hates change or deviation from plan. Poor literacy, can’t handle paperwork or long reading. Distrustful, makes enemies easily. Brutal honesty that alienates people.

Hobbies / Interests: Card games — poker, blackjack. Watches the same old Westerns and war movies over and over. Gun cleaning and repair, meticulous about it. Drinks beer and plays cards with his brothers more than socializing anywhere else. Likes American military history and knows random battles. Keeps his truck spotless; works on it every Sunday like clockwork. Makes simple wood repairs around the park even if no one asks.

Fears / Secrets: Fears turning into his father completely. Fears losing his sons’ respect. Afraid his brothers already see Jeff in him. Fears being alone when he dies. Sold an unlicensed gun years ago that later turned up in a shooting and he’s never told a soul. Has a police badge he took from a busted cop — keeps it taped inside a drawer.

Habits / Quirks: Always eats at the same time every day. Keeps the TV on for background noise and it's stupidly loud. Chews a toothpick when he isn't smoking. Looks people up and down, like he's working them out. Checks for exits and ways out.

How They Treat Others: Hunter doesn’t do charm. He’s blunt, quick to challenge, and quicker to lose patience. With his brothers, he’s strict but loyal and the kind of man who’ll fight you for breathing wrong about them. With women, he’s short-spoken, direct, and territorial. He doesn’t forgive easily, but when he’s in your corner, he’s there until you wrong him. Most people think he’s mean but he’d say he’s honest.

APPEARANCE

Height: 6′1″

Build: Broad, muscular, heavy-handed Hair Color: Blond

Eye Color: Blue-grey

Style / Clothing Preferences: Denim, leather, heavy boots, plain tees and worn plaid shirts. Always in a chain, sometimes gloves. Looks like he works hard and fights harder.

Tattoos / Piercings / Scars: Old-school ink — flag, eagle, initials of his kids, a few crude designs done inside. Scars across knuckles and jaw.

General Vibe / First Impression: Intimidating, solid, the kind of guy people move out of the way for — but the ones who know him just shrug and call it “Hunter being Hunter.”

RELATIONSHIPS

Family: Ryan Cross (twin), Wolf Cross, Riley Pierce, Elliot Cross, Tyler Cross, Kat Anderson, Alfie & Jude.

Friends: Mostly family, Andersons.

Romantic Interests: Bianca Hart

Enemies / Rivals: Various local crews, a few names in Florida.

Pets: Sherman

EXTRAS

Superlative: Least likely to back down.

Quote / Motto: Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster. — Friedrich Nietzsche

Basically the same shit as always for Hunter

Family Legacy: The Cross family has never had a good reputation in Clearwater, and over the years Hunter has managed to create his own even worse one.

Favorite Spot in Town: He likes the lake, and likes fishing.

Hidden Talent or Hobby: Hunter is good at card games and card tricks. He's also strangely intuitive, people know to listen when he says "Something's fucky." Even if he can never say specifics, something fucky usually is afoot.

PERSONALITY

Core Traits: Determined, Instinctive, Aggressive, Difficult, Stubborn, Disagreeable, Loyal

Strengths: Despite Hunter's general way of just being, he's surprisingly capable and hard working. He doesn't shy away from hard work, or even unsavory work. If something needs to be done, then he'll make sure it gets done. Without even realizing or intending to be, he's reliable because of this and strangely trustworthy.

Weaknesses: His list of weaknesses are endless but his disgruntled and difficult nature make the top of it every time. He'll never apologize, he'll never admit he was wrong and he also won't listen to what's being said to him. And he also won't change.

What Keeps Them Up at Night, If Anything?: Hunter doesn't really have regrets. He knows the life he's had and doesn't see a point in having an issue with his actions over the years. When he does feel concerned, it's usually about his brothers in one way or another.

How Do They Handle Conflict?: Hunter thrives in conflict and never backs down from it. Sometimes, he's the first to throw a punch and usually without warning, too.

HISTORY

Backstory:

Everyone in Clearwater knows the Cross story. Jeffrey was a bastard, Brandy was a ghost and their house was more a prison than a home. It was cold in a way that had nothing to do with the seasons, the kind of place where silence was terrifying and doors were better left unopened. The Cross boys had no choice but to rely on each other, but even that wasn't enough to stop them from falling into the same cycle. It started with petty crimes at first, testing limits, getting away with what they could. Until they got older, until Jeffrey made them meaner and until violence became less of a consequence and more of a language.

Hunter never stood a chance. Maybe he wasn't wired for it in the beginning, but Jeffrey made sure he fit the mold. Broke him down, built him back up in his own image. The worst part was that it worked. There are days when Hunter catches himself in a mirror and swears he sees his father staring back. It makes him sick, but not sick enough to stop. He never left the life. Not when he ran collections for a Ridgeview crew, not when he handled debts with his fists, not even after the first, second, or third stint in prison. All that did was sharpen his edges, introduce him to more people like him, widen his reach.

The breaking point wasn't some revelation or near death experience. It was Jeffrey. I t was Brandy in the hospital with bruises and breaks she refused to explain. The Cross brothers handled things the only way they knew how, taking every lesson their father beat into them and turning it against him. Jeffrey left town with broken ribs and the clear message that if he came back, he wouldn't be leaving again. But it was too late. Brandy never clawed her way back from the wreckage. Later, she was found curled up on the couch, the bottle of pills on the table answering every question.

Hunter kept moving forward because that's all he knew how to do. Shoved it all down deep, let his knuckles do the talking. But then, one by one, his brothers started pulling away. Not from him, but from the life. Hunter didn't have some grand shift in perspective, no big moral turnaround, but he picked up a job at Hendrix & Sons over a year ago. It's steady work, decent money, and it's kept him from saying yes to the darker kind of jobs that always led to trouble. But, Hunter knows he's not a different man. He doesn't even pretend to be.

Current Situation: Right now, Hunter is mostly living an ordinary life, even if his reputation precedes him. His main work is with Hendrix & Sons, but he still gets calls from his contacts in Ridgeview. He never really declines them, but he knows he's walking a fine line.

How Do They Feel About the Changes in Clearwater?: Any chance Hunter has to hate something, he'll take it. So it goes without saying that he gripes and complains about the town's changes whenever he can.

CONNECTIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS

Reputation in Clearwater: Hunter has a terrible reputation, but he doesn't care. If anything, he prefers it if people avoid talking to him. For those who know him beyond his reputation, he's still difficult and a grump.

Important Relationships: Wolf, Ryan, Elliot, Joneses, Vaismans, Stones, Andersons

Relationship with The Saints: Hunter is an active member of The Saints and thinks he always will be. He joined young and is probably considered a seasoned member at this point. He takes on most of the violent work needed.

Core Traits: Capable, Determined, Instinctive, Protective, Disagreeable, Unpredictable, Violent

Strengths: Hunter would say his volatile nature is his biggest strength but he’d be wrong. His intuition is eerily accurate, and though he can never decipher the exact thing that feels off, when Hunter says something’s fucky, he’s right. He’s protective over those he cares about but this protectiveness also rears it’s head in unpredictable ways and in unlikely scenarios. Hunter can be helpful in ways he doesn’t even notice, or intend to be.

Weaknesses: Hunter’s temperament is his biggest downfall. He can see red and he rarely controls it. He’s got better over recent years, but it’s still there and always will be. He argues for the sake of it, he doesn’t outright help and he doesn’t care if he makes enemies.

Philosophy/Worldview: Hunter’s world view is tarnished from believing so strongly in his father’s teachings. He still views other supernaturals as weaker, and other wolves as potential threats. He has no interest in bigger pictures, he’s pragmatic and realistic and he only cares about the things right in front of him. Good, bad, evil, or any other philosophies on life are just words he ignores. Actions are just actions, things that happen are just things that happen.

HISTORY

Backstory:

The trailer park outside Atlanta wasn’t just run down. It was a blemish, and it was the kind of place that stuck to the soles of your boots no matter how hard you tried to scrape it off. The Cross wolves lived there, and everyone knew what that meant. Trouble, violence, blood. Jeffrey built his pack on the idea that strength and power weren’t just the same thing, they were everything. He ruled with fists and fear, his wife and children included, and he taught his wolves to see the world in black and white. Wolves on top, everyone else beneath. Witches, shifters, vampires, hunters were tools at best, obstacles at worst. Other packs were business arrangements, nothing more. Turned wolves and half born wolves were weak. And weakness wasn’t tolerated.

Hunter grew up steeped in it all. He learned the lessons, lived them, even believed them for a time. He hated Jeffrey, but hating him didn’t mean escaping him. There were days Hunter looked in the mirror and saw too much of his father staring back, felt it in his clenched fists, in the way his temper flared hot and uncontrollable. But what kept him from becoming another Jeffrey was Elliot and Ryan. His brothers grounded him, gave him a reason to aim that strength somewhere else, even if he didn’t always hit the mark.

Not that it mattered much in the end. They all carried scars, and Jeffrey left the deepest ones. The worst was their mother, timid, shrinking, a shell of a person who couldn’t or wouldn’t fight back. Hunter never figured out what made him angrier, Jeffrey’s fists or the way his mother flinched at the sight of them. It didn’t matter. The day they found her dead, Jeffrey’s work, no question, everything Hunter and his brothers buried boiled over. They turned Jeffrey’s lessons on him, every brutal thing he’d taught them, and they didn’t stop until he was gone.

After that, the pack fell apart. Most of them scattered. The few who stayed weren’t enough to hold anything together. So they turned to the Jones pack, other wolves in Georgia that had always been willing to take in the wolves Jeffrey threw away. The Jones had been allies, of a sort. Respect for territory, no bad blood. They welcomed the Cross brothers in, but for Hunter, it was like trying to wear someone else’s skin. The Jones were too trusting. To him, they looked more like sheep than wolves.

Still, there was something in it. Something about not having to fight for every inch of ground, not having to prove his worth with blood. It was strange, a kind of peace he hadn’t known could exist. Not that he’d call it peace. Hunter wasn’t a changed man, not even close, but he was learning how to coexist. Most days, anyway. But no matter what he does or even how far he goes, there’s always a flicker of Jeffrey in Hunter’s reflection.

Secrets and Mysteries: Hunter has a jagged scar across his ribs, one he doesn’t remember getting. His brothers don’t recall the incident either, and for years he chalked it up to some long forgotten fight. But recently, it’s begun to ache under the full moon. After Jeffrey’s death, Hunter discovered a hidden stash of documents and money buried on the edge of the trailer park. He’s never told anyone about it, keeping it as an emergency fund and resource. However, the documents include names and notes that suggest Jeffrey was tied to something larger than just pack politics and something Hunter is afraid to investigate.

Current Situation:

Hunter had been at Asphodel for a simple enough task, helping the Jones pack size up new wolves. Then the rift tore open, and the chaos followed. Hunter doesn’t care much for the veil or what it meant. Witchy problems, as far as he was concerned. Let the witches deal with it. But, Ethan wanted to stay and help the others because it’s apparently the right thing to do. Now Hunter’s stuck helping with security at Asphodel, standing guard while people with bigger brains and more patience than him try to figure out how to stitch the world back together.

CONNECTIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS

Allies: Hunter is more inclined to trust other wolves these days thanks to the Jones influence, but he doesn’t build allies easily. He could have connections from his time in the Cross pack, especially with hunters. I’d love to see an unlikely friendship with a vampire.

Rivals/Enemies: Probably a lot, and many people he has fought along the way. We could easily plot out that Hunter actively creates a rivalry while at Asphodel, even from something as simple as clashing personalities.

Important Relationships: Elliot, Ryan, Tammie, Nora, JJ, Connor, Asphodel connections.

Hunter was born and raised in Atlanta alongside his brothers, a life that was instantly ruled by their father's iron fist and their mother's defeated soul. Their upbringing was shrouded in violence and cold words and they only had one another to rely on.

Hunter became a carbon copy of his father, a survival tactic he learned young that helped him cope with the harsh realities of his childhood. Turning to crime was practically second nature to him and so was the violence he turned to the rest of the world.

Ten years ago, Brandy overdosed and their mother's death created a vacuum in the Cross household. It took some time but a year later, Jeffrey Cross went missing although nobody cared enough to file an official report. His sons certainly didn't, and his sons even knew where he was.

They fled the state of Georgia after getting rid of damning evidence and began traveling together, rarely settling in one place for long. Six years ago they reached Los Angeles and Ryan, being the dumb-ass he is, was arrested within weeks of the brothers getting to work there. It left Hunter and Elliot no choice but to hunker down in LA while their brother served his time, during which they began working closely within the criminal connections of South Los Angeles.

Hunter grew up on the gritty outskirts of Atlanta with his brothers and in the harsh world of the Cross pack. Their father Jeffrey, ruled with an iron fist and violence was their normality. Hunter found himself emulating his father's brutality, a role he loathed but couldn't escape.

As the years passed, Hunter's life became a cycle of trouble and turmoil, with visits to jail and constant run ins that always ended in violence. He watched as his mother's spirit gradually broke under Jeffrey's oppression but it wasn't until it was finally too much for her that Hunter and Elliot acted. They knew it was time to break free from their father's grip, doing what they needed to in order to see the Cross pack dismantled and Jeffrey becoming just a name that was never mentioned again. Hunter's only regret, to this day, is that they didn't do it sooner.

Hunter had hoped that being free would be all that was needed for Elliot to breathe a sigh of relief. But, it became evident that his younger brother continued to struggle. He continued to keep a close eye on Elliot, as always believing that as long as his brother is okay, then he would be too.