scrambled to his feet. Running away from him, she had a twenty-five-yard lead when she slipped into her wolf to bound toward his hideaway cabin deep within north Shadow Wolf Clan country.
It was impossible not to turn for a quick glimpse over her shoulder. His wolf was pure majesty… a midnight- black coat that nearly glistened blue. Graceful bounds over logs and bramble, his massive form moving like liquid night through the dense stand of trees-how could she not look? Then his shadow play became an intense aphrodisiac, slowing her retreat as she watched him go in and out of shadows, becoming a blur of motion strategically advancing on her, wearing only the large amulet dangling by thick silver.
She almost forgot she was supposed to be escaping to a shower, finding clothes in their cabin, and getting back on mission. Hunger tore at her insides, as did renewed desire.
Sasha hit the porch on all fours and then transformed, laughing. Bare human feet collided with smooth pine planks the moment her back hit the front door. A huge black wolf landed right in front of her on the top step, baring fangs, head lowered in mock attack readiness, stalking her until she laughed and turned away, pressing the front of her body to the door. A loud growl made her release a playful scream as she hid her face against her forearms. Immediately, hot human skin covered her back, pressing against her butt.
Two strong arms gathered around her as Hunter’s warm breath pelted her neck just before he nipped it.
“I need a shower and I need to eat, man, get off me,” she said, laughing harder as he nuzzled her and began moving against her exposed backside. “No!”
“So, let’s get in the shower and, yeah, I’d love to eat-”
“No,” she said, squirming in his hold. He was making her laugh, was making her hot, but they had to get back before it got dark. “If the moon rises-”
“It’s all over,” he said, losing some of the playfulness in his tone.
“I know,” she murmured, arching despite her protests. “But it’ll be dark and we’ll have allies vulnerable to Vampires while they’ve been weakened… we’ve gotta get back.”
Hunter dropped his forehead against her shoulder and let out a hard breath. “Must you always be so practical?”
“I wasn’t earlier.” She smiled as her voice remained easy.
He kissed the nape of her neck. “I am profoundly grateful for that.”
Slowly extricating herself from his fantastically warm embrace, she turned around so that his body could mold to hers. “I’m grateful that you forgave me,” she said quietly, staring up into his intense gaze. “That wasn’t me.”
“It is forgotten… We don’t have to discuss it,” he said, taking her mouth.
“We should,” she murmured when he broke their kiss. “Think about it for a moment, Hunter. We were all affected at what felt like ground zero-at Ethan’s place. But once you and I went through the shadow lands and came out on the other side, we were okay… we weren’t giving in to really bad wolf behavior.”
A sly smile crept onto one half of his face. “We weren’t altogether cured for a couple of hours, though.”
Sasha chuckled. “True… but for me to bait a dominance battle between you and Shogun… c’mon, Hunter. I think you know me better than that.”
He nodded and kissed her forehead, sobered by her admission. “And let me be honest,” Hunter added, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against hers before continuing. “I was ready to go to war… ready to kill blood, family. That didn’t make sense… and he was ready to challenge me outright. Mortal combat.”
“That’s what I’m saying,” Sasha murmured, placing a hand over Hunter’s heart. “Not after what all three of us have been through.”
“No,” Hunter said, shaking his head, now staring into her eyes. “Shogun is above a mate challenge; he has more honor than that. My brother is clearly not himself, nor am I… or you. We have to get to the bottom of this to avert a possible tragedy.”
“And I’m worried that as the moon rises and gets closer to full, the worse it will get for all of us.” She touched Hunter’s face, allowing her fingers to trace the strong line of his jaw, and he covered her hand with his own.
“It will get worse, Sasha. My brother transformed into his wolf before the moon was full. It was mid afternoon… and as a Werewolf, he’s not supposed to be able to do that.”
“What?” A horrified whisper came out on a quick exhale as though Hunter had punched her.
Hunter simply nodded. “Your transition spiked desire in him so out of control that his wolf came immediately. I heard it, the snapping of bones and the tearing of ligaments… it was a hard transition and probably the only thing that held my honor intact to not turn around and kill him where he stood. He was vulnerable for several moments, but I opted to find you in the shadows and deliver your clothes.”
“Oh, my God…” Sasha covered her mouth with her hand as Hunter’s hands found her hair and he pulled her into a slow hug.
“We must find the source and eradicate it, Sasha. Under the influence of the full moon, who knows what any of us will be capable of with dark magick as a catalyst? And we may not have the shadow lands as an option to protect us all.”
“Shogun can’t go into the shadows… he will never have a rest from this thing, no time to purge it or detox from whatever the hell this is.”
“Nor will our men,” Hunter said flatly, staring into her eyes. “My men are supernaturals, just like us. Your familiars are more human than not, but they still may be affected. Woods and Fisher cannot go through the shadow paths without injury to their bodies, just like my brother cannot.”
“But Bear and Crow…”
“Only with one of us, or they can lose their way and wind up behind a demon door.” Hunter closed his eyes. “Who knows what weakness within them this thing is preying on or using to make them break ranks, break alliances… If a lower-ranking male in our clan were to challenge me-an out of control alpha… I could murder my own man. And that’s what it would be, Sasha, murder-not a righteous kill-that would haunt me forever.”
“Or, I,” Sasha whispered, finally understanding the strategic horror of what they were up against, “could attack my human brass, could rip the face off a general, go after a fellow soldier or civilian, or, while in a false heat, draw clans into full-scale war.”
“We have to get back before it gets dark,” Hunter said, nodding. “You were right. I just wish we knew where to begin. Dealing with the unseen is such a dishonorable, cowardly act. That is never the way of the wolf!” He stepped away from her and slammed his fist against the cabin wall with a snarl. “We of the Wolf Clans challenge an enemy to their face, we speak of our discontent openly, and we battle outright… We do not slide around back alleys and cast innuendo and disappear into the mist. We do not leave booby traps for the unaware to stumble over and detonate. If you are our enemy, you are well aware of the fact and you well know why… And we do not put innocents in harm’s way.”
“We’ll find who’s at the bottom of this,” Sasha said, with a low growl in her throat. “We know we’ve got three factions truly pissed at us. Vampires, that goes without saying. Any leftover members from that double-crossing Louisiana Buchanan Broussard faction are also on my potential target list. Plus any Fae that thought they were gonna get paid by ol’ Dugan… Could be relatives that were in line for his estate, or any closet Fae traitors-who knows. But one thing for sure, they’re coming at everyone through their weak spots. Phoenixes flame when excited or frightened-and both of Ethan’s girls bought it. Wolves go primal when totally aroused… and will fight till the last wolf stands. Fae need their glamour to stay concealed, and when threatened will sling magick-”
“That could backfire if it’s booby-trapped,” Hunter said, stepping even further away from Sasha, finally grasping the urgency of going back.
“Yeah,” Sasha said, opening the door to the cabin. “You know… this isn’t something that local human covens would get involved with. I don’t care how much the Vampires paid a human sorcerer, all of the Seelie Fae as a united front, plus Wolf Clans, Whitelighters, and white witches, could mitigate the spell.” Sasha shook her head. “Sigils that had Ethan and Margaret ready to faint dead away-unhunh. That’s Unseelie kinda stuff.”
“We definitely need to get back,” Hunter said in a faraway tone, thinking.
Sasha nodded. “Gut hunch… How much you wanna bet this is a progressive thing that gets worse each day and night the closer we get to Sir Rodney’s big bash, where all of us who are left standing will be there to flip out on each other?”
