Page 112 of Hunter

“Not necessarily. I’ve got this hellfire. And powers. There could be a challenge,” she guessed.

“Possibly, but honestly Willa; I haven’t seen you in your wolf many times, but I’ve seen you. You’re not going to take any shit from anyone. You’ve literally been to Hell and back. You just put a damn skin book into a demon’s claw. Nope. Girl, you’ve got this. Word gets around you’ve been to Hell, no one is going to look at you the wrong way. You’re good.”

“I’ve been in Guatemala for so long. I’m not sure what I’ll even do in America.” Willa nervously twisted a lock of her curly brown hair around her finger.

“We’ve got humans here who need health care. Lots of them, unfortunately. We could use another clinic.” Hunter knew far too many people who died from lack of proper medical care due to no health insurance. They weren’t his responsibility, but the Alpha believed in a karmic sense of justice and did what he could to help them.

“There’s need for another clinic?” Willa’s voice perked up at the possibility.

“Absolutely. We actually have a few doctors in the pack who work over at the city hospital so I can introduce you to some of your future colleagues.” Putting thoughts of death aside, Hunter smiled, knowing that Willa would be a great resource for the pack as well as the human community.

“You know, I’m really excited to…” Willa lost her words as her attention was drawn to the side mirror. “Hunter…do you…”

“Yeah, I see them.” The Alpha gunned the gas, stomping the pedal to the floor. The car lunged forward.

Hunter sensed the magick before he had a chance to warn her. A flicker of light against the silver spike strip ahead on the road was all the warning he had.

“Hold on!” he yelled as he slammed on the brakes.

A loud blast boomed as a tire exploded, the scent of burning rubber permeating the interior of the car. Hunter veered right, spinning out of control toward a herd of bison that meandered toward the edge of the road. He wrestled the steering wheel, attempting to regain control but the car flipped, skidding toward a row of lodgepole pine trees.

In the half second before the crash, Hunter glanced to Willa, her eyes locked on his. I love you. As the metal crumpled around them, a pinprick of light morphed into darkness and the Alpha succumbed. Willa.

Hunter! The word reverberated in his mind as he fought the confusion. Searing pain shot through the side of his head. He blinked away the hot trickle of blood that trailed from the gash on his temple.

Memories of the crash rippled through his mind as he attempted to process the situation. He glanced to the empty passenger seat. Willa. Panic ripped through the Alpha. He struggled to release the seat belt, tugging at it. With a snap, he tore it from its socket. White hot pain streaked up his back, his leg throbbed.

Hunter reached for the lip of the broken car window, the razor-sharp shards slicing his palms. With a grunt, he hoisted himself through the opening and rolled onto the grass, his face landing on the gravel at the road’s edge. He spat and brushed the grit from his eyes.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” Hunter grimaced at the sight of his femur protruding through his thigh. Although he’d hurt himself several times over his lifetime, it’d been a while since he’d broken a bone.

The Alpha shimmied his shirt over his head, readying to shift. Extending a talon, he sliced through his jeans, removing them. With a groan, he fell back into the grass, panting for breath, pain resonating through his entire body. Blood spurted from the massive wound in his leg. Specks of light danced in Hunter’s eyes, a tunnel closing in on him

“Ah fuck. Don’t pass out. Not fucking now.” Anger shot through him, igniting the magick of his wolf.

The spectacular beast howled, pissed as hell. Willa. He reached with his mind. Her terrifying scream registered in his head. No!!! A surge of rage tore through the Alpha and he took off running toward the pack house. His paws clutched the earth, hurling the powerful lithe wolf through the forest. They’re all gonna die.

Hunter crouched, hidden in the bushes. Through the branches he spied light coming from the back yard, smoke billowing up into the air. He sent tendrils of his energy to his pack, reaching for them. Their palpable fear slammed into him. It’s all right Teton. I’m here. This ends now . Instantly the energy shifted in anticipation of his kill.

As he rounded the building an eerie silence blanketed the night. His heart pounded, fury ripping through him as he caught sight of Willa, her bared body curled into a ball on the lawn. Remus, stood naked in his human form, looming above her while two other rogue wolves watched, brandishing guns. He recognized a few of his stronger male wolves, who were writhing in pain, cloaked in a silver net. Rafe lay whimpering, his gray beast bloodied, his feet twitching. The weapon, a blood-stained baseball bat, lay in the grass next to him.

“Shift, bitch,” Remus demanded.

“No,” Willa gritted out.

He cracked the horse whip onto her back. She released a blood-curdling scream but held tight into a ball.

Blind with rage, Hunter sprang from the shadows, and lunged onto Remus, tearing at his forearm. In a flash, white hot pain sliced through his shoulder and he rolled onto the ground, releasing the beta.

“Move again Alpha, and the next bullet goes into the bitch.”

Hunter growled, stilling as his magick threaded through his cells. The wound burned hot with silver poison, but the shot had gone clean through.

“Maybe she’ll change if we torture you.” Remus laughed and fired another round through his hind leg, forcing the Alpha to shift.

“No!!” Willa screamed, jolting upward. Nude and bloody, her hands were bound with barbed wire.

Although Hunter’s leg bled, the bullet had burned straight through his flesh. Hunter released a loud groan and rolled onto his side, feigning serious injury. Easy, princess .