Page 5 of Hunted

Everything solid that her life had been built on had somehow crumbled when he left. In a way, that was the worst part of what he’d done to her.

She hated that she’d somehow given him that power, without even knowing it.

She hated that she’d been stupid enough to give it to a liar, who’d never cared about her.

She hated that she hadn’t recognized the emptiness in his words, in his touch, in his soul. It made her mistrust all her instincts, everything she’d relied on.

It ate at her until all she could think about was finding him and ripping back the layers of what she’d thought he was, so she could see the reality.

Because she had to. She had to take back her trust in herself.

Michelangela was thisclose to going down there and chasing Harrelson out, when she saw movement near the back entrance to the cave.

He was good, she had to give him credit for that. Slinking down the ravine, staying in the shadows. He’d even rolled in the dirt so his fur matched the background.

He was good, but she was better. Go ahead, dirtbag. Sneak away, right into my trap.

He was at the bottom of the ravine now, heading up the trail. It was time for her to move.

Michelangela wrapped her hand around the gold amulet she wore on a chain. A gift from her dragon relatives, it allowed her clothes to be absorbed in the magic when she Changed to wolf, and manifest them again when she Changed back to human. Along with any small items she carried—including handguns.

No one expected a wolf to suddenly turn into a fully armed bounty hunter. Best. Present. Ever.

The Change came fast and hard, her wolf roaring to the surface, angry at waiting so long. Don’t kill, Mikey warned her, hoping she could keep control. We need his intel so we can go after our real prey.

It was Gunn she needed to hunt. This kidnapping scum and the bounty on his head were just a bonus.

Seizing control of her wolf with the last of her willpower, she drifted after Harrelson like a ghost in the growing dusk. Down into the ravine, across the stony ground, threading her way through the tumbled boulders, the thick trees at the top casting deep shadows.

His scent was strong with blood and exhaustion and determination. There were other wolf scents on the trail as well—old ones, faint and far away like the ones near the cave. Nothing to worry about here and now.

She picked up her pace. Her trap should be invisible in the fading light, especially for a wolf who was using all his strength to keep himself on his feet.

She was so close. She could taste the sweetness of the capture.

Kill him, her wolf murmured again.

No. Focus on the real mission. But she could feel the anger in her wolf, always there now—anger that needed the hunt.

The ground began to rise, the trail widening, the cliff rearing up on her right while the forest crowded in on her left. Harrelson was downwind of her; he should be able to scent her now. Michelangela quickened her pace even more. She needed him slightly panicked, focused on keeping ahead of her, moving fast enough that he wouldn’t notice her trap.

She was nearing the top of the trail when she heard the snap of her trap being sprung, and a sharp yelp. Got you, motherfucker. Michelangela burst into her kill zone—a flat clearing about twenty feet wide, between the forest and the cliffside, littered with huge boulders taller than a person.

Harrelson hung upside-down from a tree in human form, a rope around his ankle, spinning helplessly fifteen feet off the ground.

Elation surged through her and she bounded forward—and almost made a fatal mistake.

In a rush, she registered that the man in the trap was wearing clothes. A split second later, she saw Harrelson’s wolf in the shadow of one of the huge boulders at the side of the cliff, sides heaving, blood still seeping from his wound.

What the… Mikey skidded to a stop, claws digging into the dirt. Someone else had sprung the fucking trap, and now she had a fight on her hands.

Her wolf still howled for the kill, but she had to stay in control. We need him, she repeated desperately. Information.

Her wolf didn’t give fuck-all about information. She wanted blood.

Michelangela forced the Change back to human, nearly screaming with the pain as her wolf fought her. Her gun was in her hand almost before she’d finished the transformation.

The wolf’s eyes flickered in surprise, and she saw him take a step back. He hadn’t expected her to come out of the Change with weapons. He glanced behind him as if looking for a way out.