Taming the Hunted (6 page)

“Again,” he demanded.

She couldn’t, she was exhausted. His hand reached around her
and he plunged his fingers deep into her, and she was coming again.

“God, that’s tight,” he cried as she clenched around him. His
cry echoed around the room as he released. She could feel his cock jerk inside
her ass.

She turned and collapsed on top of him, her hair damp with
sweat. He lifted a curl of hair from her face and pulled her mouth to his, crushing
her lips to him.

“You are mine,” he told her.

“Yes,” she said as she nestled into him, her hair brushing
across his chest. “Yes, my wolf.” Her voice was no more than a whisper as she
let herself surrender to her exhaustion.

Marian looked at the boxes piled around her and shook her
head. There was no reason she should be sentimental about leaving. Gabriel offered to let her stay with him…well, commanded was a better way to put it. She didn’t
mind, not one bit, she thought with a smirk. This apartment acted as a place to
sleep and wash only. It was actually nice to be controlled for once, rather
than having to think about her own safety every second of the day. If she could
work out what the hell she was going to do about her job, everything would be
perfect. It was clear she couldn’t keep slaying wolves, not when they now
looked to her as an alpha female.

“Alpha fucking female,” she muttered to herself. It still
sounded stupid. But now that the shock had worn off, being a wolf was awesome.
She was faster, stronger, and more lethal than she was as a human.

“What was that?” Jake panted as he carried three boxes out
through her open door.

“Great, she’s a hunter and crazy too,” one of the men
grumbled as he moved outside.

There was a cry of pain as she threw a vase at his
retreating head and hit square with a shattering of porcelain. The other men
laughed. There were still those who didn’t respect her position. Hell, she
didn’t respect it.

She encountered men who didn’t think she was up to the job
as a hunter. If she didn’t assert herself from the start, they would never
accept her. Her phone vibrated in her pocket.

“Stop frowning, you’re too sexy to be angry.”

Gabriel wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her so
she could circle her legs around his hips. He looked at her leg, the vibration
of her phone pressing against him now.

“Are you going to answer that?” he asked, not meeting her
eyes.

They hadn’t addressed the issue of her hunting. It was a
dark topic which would put them both in a dark mood.

Her phone buzzed to let her know she had a message. Gabriel put her down and went to help carry her lounge.

She knew the message was from a fellow hunter. She’d dropped
off the radar in the last month and she couldn’t bring herself to tell them
why. They’d left a stream of messages since she’d disappeared, all asking for
her help killing this or tracking that.

“Shall I tell you a story to make you feel better?” Kennard
asked.

He wasn’t helping her move and Marian was still unsure why
he’d made the trip with them.

“Getting sentimental in your old age?” she taunted him.

“Hardly, I just thought you might like to know why I joined
the pack.”

Now Marian was actually listening. Kennard had spoken few
words to her since they’d met. Most were
Gabriel
wants you
or
I
wouldn’t do that if I were you
. She was learning the rules, but the going
was slow, and more than once she’d endangered the pack by her actions. She was
used to being the strong one, the leader. Now she felt like a newborn, a strong
newborn that could kill people.

Kennard stared at her, his eyes unblinking. His skin had the
rosy flush that meant he’d fed today. She shuddered inwardly at the thought.
Her fingers moved under the edge of her shirt and traced the tip of the scar
that marked her back and side. She found that it helped her think.

“Go ahead,” she told him.

“Gabriel killed me.”

“Excuse me!”

Several of the men turned to look at her. She smiled to
reassure them and made a mental note to speak softer, not that it would matter
because they’d still be able to hear her—stupid wolf hearing.

“Yes, he staked me when I ventured onto his land. I was
starving, my own kind drove me from the city and the scent of the pack was too
strong to pass. It was Nole who spoke for me and convinced him to remove the
stake and not behead me. She told him that she trusted me and that if I were to
live, she would vouch for my ability to control my thirst.”

“And he believed her?”

“You have met Nole, have you not?” he asked dryly.

She understood what he meant. It was hard to ignore anything
the girl said in her old woman voice. Gabriel took her every word on board and
never questioned her.

“Did she say anything to you about me?” she questioned, not
sure she would like the answer.

“That you would kill him when he asks it and not before.”

She sucked in a quick breath and searched the room for her
love, her heart thundering in her chest at the very idea she would harm him.

“Gabriel, why would you ask me to kill you?” she yelled
across the room. Every eye suddenly averted and there was a rush for the
doorway.

Gabriel glared at Kennard who stood as still as a statue and
stared right back.

“You didn’t have to tell her that.”

“Were you going to?” Kennard asked.

“No.”

“Why not?” Marian demanded.

“Ah…” Her towering alpha looked sheepish, an expression that
Marian never expected to see on his chiseled face. His large hand came up to
ruffle his dark hair as he thought. “Actually, I didn’t think it would matter.
I have no idea what she was talking about and I don’t ask.”

Marian thought about this. He moved toward her slowly, hands
held before him as if approaching an angry animal.

“Are you cross with me?” he asked with a gentleness he
reserved only for her.

“Did she say anything else? Don’t lie to me,” she added,
catching and meeting his gaze.

“No.”

“We established our own rules to live by. You could do the
same.” Kennard nodded and left them.

For the first time that day, Gabriel and Marian were alone together.

“Are you angry?” Gabriel nuzzled at her neck.

“That’s very distracting.” She sighed. “And no, I’m not
angry, I’m confused.”

“I don’t like that you want to keep hunting, you know that.”
He moved so that she could see into his yellow eyes as his hands sat heavily on
her hips. “I do know that Kennard is right. We learned to live with him, we can
do the same with you. Compromise on both sides, I think.”

He smiled at her and any trace of anger melted away. Her
phone vibrated again and she flinched at the interruption.

“Answer it,” he told her, reaching into her pocket and
retrieving the small phone.

She sighed and took it from him. “Yes?” she answered.

“Finally,” an angry voice said in her ear. “You up for a
hunt? I could use the back up.”

“What’s the job?” Marian asked and watched as Gabriel remained tense, his shoulders hitched slightly, but he didn’t move from his place
pressed against her.

“Vampire killed three families and is moving across country.
Meet me in Alabama if you’re coming.”

She felt Gabriel’s shoulders drop as he listened into her
conversation. It was a true rogue, murder was wrong no matter what species you
were.

“I’m in.” She snapped the phone shut and let out the breath
she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “That’s okay, right? As long as I make
sure I complete a background check for each case to ensure they are real cases
and not just pests?”

“Such a clever puppy.” Gabriel pressed his hot mouth to hers
and lifted her so that he didn’t have to bend to claim her lips.

“Don’t mind us,” Jake called from somewhere behind them.

“Oh, we won’t.” Gabriel strode with her to her old bedroom
and slammed the door behind them.

“Ew!” she heard someone call from the other room before she
shut out anything but her sexy, hot werewolf man as his hands cupped her ass.

Larisa lives in Canberra, Australia. By day she works as a librarian
and by night dreams up horrible things to happen to her poor heroines. She
started writing young adult novels at the age of fifteen and self-published her
first romance short story in 2012. Since then she has worked hard to get her
stories to her readers and hopes to continue doing so until she is old and gray.

Larisa’s Website:

www.larisaanderson.com

Reader eMail:

[email protected]

Book 1:
Taming the Hunted

Now Available

Book 2:
Flight of the Hunted

Coming Soon