Hunting Ground

“Forgive me a little harmless flirtation,” he said in her ear. “It seemed a kindness I could give. I regret that your death will not be so kind. My employer failed me-and so I no longer have to follow his so-explicit instructions. My friends are sad, and a little play will make them feel so much better.”

She screamed, but the faint noise that escaped his hand wouldn’t travel far.

His free hand petted her face as he whispered, his breath smelling like peppermint, “I’ll see to it that your husband knows that you didn’t flirt with me. That you were faithful to him unto death. Will that soothe him, do you think?”

He was strong. He controlled her struggles effortlessly even though she worked out on a daily basis. Werewolf. He must be one of the werewolves.

“Come, my children,” he said, and she realized he wasn’t alone. She heard people move behind them, but the only one she could see was the woman who hopped onto the roof of her car. A beautiful woman with honey-colored hair caught up in a ponytail.

“We can play with our di

Not werewolf. Vampire.

“We’re going to see if she is his mate-or merely his wife, Ha

“That means yes.” The voice came from her left, but she couldn’t see the man who said it. But she felt him pull her arm straight and sink his fangs into the inside of her elbow.

It hurt.

THE Emerald City Pack’s hunting grounds were in a warehouse district that had seen better days. Those warehouses nearest the water were lit up and, if not hives of activity, still obviously ru

Following Charles’s directions, A

The whole property looked as though no one had done anything industrious there for fifty years-and none of the other warehouses in the immediate area looked any more occupied. Adding to the general disreputable air, the metal roof of one of the buildings was missing a sheet or ten of roofing material.

The people at the gate must have recognized the car because they had it opened for her to drive right on through. As she drove closer to the warehouses, the buildings looked bigger and bigger, and, as she passed between them, they shut out the night sky until it was a narrow ribbon with the Hunter’s Moon, just a sliver of silver, in the sky above them.

There were thirty or forty cars in a space big enough to park a hundred. Most of them were parked next to the larger of the two warehouses, so that was where A

“You’re quiet tonight,” said Charles.

She looked at her hands and flexed them on the steering wheel, easing her grip when the wheel creaked.

She’d meant to keep quiet about joining the hunt, but as the time approached, springing it on him in front of everyone seemed more and more stupid. “I have an idea-and you aren’t going to like it.”

He looked at her for a long time, long enough that she finally looked back.

“I am dominant,” he told her, as if she didn’t already know. “And that means I am driven to take care of those who are mine.”

She met his gaze, held it, and realized slowly that it pleased him that she could do so. It pleased her, too.

“You want to go into the hunt.”

“Yes.”

She expected him to forbid it outright-and realized that part of her had been counting on using that as an excuse to bow out.

Instead he simply asked, “Why?”

“Because Ric thinks that it might help with this…” She dropped her eyes and then raised them again and firmed her voice. “With the baseless fear that had me shivering in my seat yesterday when the auditorium filled up with Alphas-who were ready to kill each other to protect me. It made me feel stupid and weak. I was less frightened when Chastel came into Angus’s office-and I had a lot more reason then.”

His eyes flared gold, and he said, in a voice that was lower and rougher than his usual tone, “It’s because you fought Justin once, and your pack caught you and held you for him.”

A

“How does Ric think this will help?”

“Because I’ll be focused on the hunt. He thinks that my wolf will help, that she’ll keep me from panicking.”

“He is a psychologist?”

She couldn’t help but smile. “Almost, he says. But not to worry, his mentor thinks he’s a genius.”

“I ca

“Chastel.”

“Chastel is not the only enemy my father has here-and I have a few myself.”

“I actually thought about that possibility. Ric is hunting tonight. He says that he will keep an eye on me, and thinks his Alpha-someone named Isaac-will agree to do so also.”

Charles nodded and opened his door.

“Charles?”

He bent and looked back into the car.

“Can I join the hunt?”

His eyebrows went up. “That was never up to me. You’ve assessed the benefits and the possible problems. It is up to you.” He closed his door.

A

He propped a hip on the front of the car. “If it would benefit you, I would kill every wolf here. But there are things that you need to do-and interfering with that is not protecting, not in my book. The best way for me to protect you is to encourage you to be able to protect yourself.”

He gave her a sudden, rueful smile. “I admit it doesn’t make me happy. But with Dana and me on watch, and Ric and his Alpha on the floor, you are as safe as you are going to be in a hunt full of dominant wolves. You’ve killed a vampire and a witch-you are hardly helpless.”

She straightened her shoulders as his confidence lent her courage. So she walked to him and put her arms around him, burying her face in the sweet-smelling warmth of his chest. He wore one of his favorite fla

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and put his chin on the top of her head. “I know,” he confided lightly. “And often underappreciated by those who don’t know any better.”

She poked him with a finger and looked up at him. “And fu

“Some people don’t even notice,” he said in a mock-mournful voice.

THE main room in the bigger warehouse was more than twenty feet tall and large enough to swallow all the wolves who had chosen to hunt and leave room for twice as many more. The rest of the wolves-a strong majority-stood on a platform ten feet above them. Everyone was still in human form. One wall of the room was covered with flat-screen TVs, which were off.

Dana stood in the center of the raised platform and spoke. “The rule is no bloodletting-which rule I will enforce. The walls and floors of these buildings and the earth beneath will tell me if there is blood. You will start out human and change when the bell is rung. There are three leather bags, hidden several days ago, containing a handful of pig sausage each-and one of them also holds a two-carat star-ruby ring provided by the Marrok.”