The Hunter: A Sinful Supes Novel (Red Crescent Book 3) Read online

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Epilogue

  Special Offer

  Dedications

  Meet The Author

  I awoke to the searing agony of pure silver encircling my wrists and ankles. The skin beneath was charred and reeked of burnt flesh. I almost allowed my wolf to seize control, but I needed to concentrate on my predicament, not give in to base instincts. I didn’t know what the fuck was going on, but panicking wouldn’t help.

  I lifted my head and inhaled. Humans.

  None were in the room with me. Their scent would have given them away. That, or I’d hear them breathing.

  My jaw clenched. Dealing with humans was low on the list of things I enjoyed, though I never held outright hostility for them. Until today.

  They were my enemy now.

  I gritted my teeth and focused past the excruciating pain once more. I hung from silver chains in the middle of a metal box. A camera posted in each corner of the room. Night vision, most likely. A regular surveillance system would only pick up two golden eyes glowing in the dark.

  I flexed and snapped the Supe-grade cuffs around my wrists. I stared into one of the cameras.

  They clearly did not know who they were messing with if they thought a little silver would stop me. The whole of my pack’s power flowed through my veins. I kicked my legs free, and then knelt, making quick work of the silver anklets.

  The blackened flesh healed instantly, returning to healthy tan.

  My hands still stung from the silver residue so I rubbed them together to rid myself of the burning shrapnel. Normally I would’ve wiped the foul metal off on a pant-clad thigh, but it appeared that clothing was a privilege reserved only for non-prisoners.

  I narrowed my eyes. Humans tended to be uncomfortable with nudity. The fact that they hadn’t clothed me meant all of this was an intimidation tactic. Of course, stringing me up with silver wasn’t exactly subtle either.

  A soft growl trickled out of my throat; fur brushed against my insides. I walked toward the door and pressed my hand against the metal. I lifted it away when my palm sizzled. As I suspected, made of silver.

  Either this was a precaution they used with every feral captive, or they knew I wasn’t your typical dominant wolf. Although, I doubted they were aware that they’d caught the Alpha of the largest pack in North America.

  Otherwise they would have decapitated me while I was out cold from the tranquilizers.

  My fists clenched as a barrage of memories assaulted me: a glint of a sniper scope off the roof. Projectiles piercing my skin. My mate collapsing to the ground.

  CLAIRE!

  Fuck, he shot my mate! I growled and punched the door, leaving a sizable dent. I reared back and kicked, knocking the door down. It flew into the opposite wall and crashed to the ground with a violent smack.

  I rushed into the hall and was nearly blinded by the bright light. I did not wait for my eyes to adjust, but let my nose guide me instead. I picked up the scent of a male. One that had come into contact with Claire. The fucker had touched her. I growled deep in my throat, my canines elongating.

  “Oh shit!” someone screamed.

  I flew past them before they could force another scream up their windpipe. I couldn’t afford to be distracted by bloodshed. My mate was in trouble. I sent a wave of reassurance through our bond, I am coming.

  Flashes of handcuffs and crime scene photos filtered through the rope that connected me to Claire.

  I had traveled deep into the building when I heard the person I’d passed earlier whispering fervently, “He’s out and coming straight for you! Warn Vicks!”

  I snarled. This Vicks person had someone that belonged to me and my wolf and I had every intention of getting her back. If my wolf was small enough to fit in these corridors, I would have Shifted. That meant this facility must’ve been designed specifically to handicap people like me. I bared my teeth. I could smell that the paint on the walls was inlaid with silver dust.

  Who were these people? Certainly not Vampires. These humans didn’t appear to be glazed. Silver would be just as destructive to them, too. Plus, they wouldn’t have so many UV lights installed. They make the place headache-inducingly bright. This left only one logical option: U.S. Hunters.

  I was about to wage war on the government of the United States of America. What a fucking mess.

  I Shifted to half-man mode, and roared as I increased in mass. My bones elongated. Thick muscle corded and expanded until I was a raging mountain of monster. I became the stuff of nightmares. I charged through the hallways tracking Claire’s secondhand scent. Tracking this Vicks. Humans screamed and flew out of my path. An alarm blared.

  Bullets pelleted my skin, but I swatted them away like flies.

  Must. Find. Claire.

  “Die, you fucking dog!” A man armed with an assault rifle bellowed as he peppered me with silver shot. I rushed forward and ripped the gun from his hands. I bent the barrel in half, relishing the fear scent exploding off him like fireworks. I grabbed his tiny throat and hauled him upward against the wall. Letting his feet dangle.

  I roared in his face. Spittle flew from my fangs and landed on his cheek. His skin turned lily white. My wolf rushed forward and demanded that we rend him with our teeth. We wanted to bathe in his fucking blood.

  I could kill this human easily. All I had to do was squeeze the hand on his throat. He clawed at it desperately. His legs kicking my middle ineffectually. I tilted my head and watched his face turn purple.

  Claire.

  I didn’t have time for this shit. I brought my other hand up toward his face. With one taloned finger, I flicked the human on the forehead and he instantly lost consciousness. I released his throat and his limp body fell to the ground.

  My wolf snarled, wanting to finish the job, but the human part of me couldn’t allow us to get wrapped up in blood lust. I needed to think clearly.

  Claire’s fear rocked me to my very core, screaming at me through our mate bond. I pushed myself further down a white hall and rounded the corner. I’m coming, Claire. I’ll fucking burn this country to the ground for you.

  This corridor was different. It stretched the length of two football fields. At the end, stood a giant human wearing a leather jacket and a black cowboy hat.

  “You.” I snarled. I recognized that hat from the roof. This was the man who’d shot my Claire.

  “Your girl is mine now.” The cowboy said in a thick southern drawl. He didn’t bother raising his voice. Obviously, my adversary was familiar with ferals and our sensitive hearing.

  While his words rang in my ears, an all-consuming rage engulfed me and I charged.

  The cowboy pressed a button beside him and semi-transparent barriers slammed across the hall, sectioning it off. I smashed through the first set without slowing. As fast as the shards — of what I assumed to be double-paned, bullet proof glass — sliced me open, the cuts healed. I obliterated
another barrier, without thinking. I felt possessed, a determined juggernaut.

  The cowboy chuckled.

  I’d enjoy ripping the fucker’s throat out.

  “You better not have touched her!” I bellowed as I broke down another panel.

  Goodbye, Claire whispered in my head.

  I froze in place. Oh fuck, something was wrong, and I wasn’t there to protect her. Again.

  Suddenly, my fucking soul ripped in half. A massive weight smashed the bond between us. It felt like a brick wall was being layered across the deep connection, as if it was suddenly severed. I gasped and fell to my knees.

  My heart was ripping free from my chest.

  “Claire!” I yelled. “What are you doing?”

  Was she in trouble? Was she trying to cut off our connection so I wouldn’t feel her death? I sobbed violently.

  “CLAIRE!” I screamed. Not again. Never again. Don’t you fucking leave me! Not you too...

  I longed to claw at the wall she was building between us. I put every ounce of energy into breaking past it. But for every brick I tore down, ten more took its place. Fuck!

  A hissing sound filled the corridor and aerosolized silver surrounded me. Immediately, my lungs blistered. Fire burned every inch of my skin. I felt flayed inside and out, but even the pain was nothing in comparison to what Claire’s rejection of the bond was doing to me.

  I collapsed, not wanting to live. Easily, I could have healed my physical wounds, but even my power couldn’t mend the growing hole in my chest.

  “No…” I whispered as useless tears leaked out, clouding my vision. A blurry, dark figure approached. I should be afraid, should fight back, but now, I didn’t care.

  I made no move to defend myself as the cowboy lifted a wide-barreled tagger gun.

  Bang! Silver wrapped around my neck and threw me against the corridor. The locking mechanism sank into the wall, and left me immobilized. I didn’t try to pull away. Four more shots echoed, and fastened my limbs. Leaving me splayed open for an easy attack.

  I snarled weakly as the man bent down and ripped off his gas mask.

  A few errant flecks of silver fluttered to the ground, glinting in the light.

  The cowboy smirked, no doubt pleased to see my defeated form. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to kill myself.

  “Not so tough when a little silver’s involved, are ya?” His southern twang made me want to rip out his vocal cords. The scent of my mate on him was agony. It made me want to rip his fucking head off. This had to be Vicks.

  I bared my teeth and growled.

  Vicks’ scent did not change. Not even a hint of fear. If anything, he smelled eager, spoiling for a fight.

  “Your girl jumped at the chance to get away from ya. Ain’t that something?” he chuckled. “And here I thought you feral types had some sort of weird love connection in that bite of yours.”

  “Fuck you!” I snarled.

  His green eyes lit up with amusement. “Funny, Claire said the same thing. ‘N’ I intend on taking her up on that offer.”

  I lunged at him, only to be halted by the silver.

  “Ah, ah, ah,” Vicks tsked. He pressed a button on what looked like a car key fob. A slight clicking noise was my only warning before silver spikes popped out of my makeshift collar. They stabbed into my neck and the blood that came in contact to the burning protrusions stung as if it were acid. I gritted my teeth and focused on not Shifting on the spot.

  If I did, I’d be decapitated.

  “I admit,” Vicks said as he pulled out a combat knife and idly played with it. “On first glance, our little Claire-Bear ain’t much to look at, but,” he chuckled and met my eyes. “We both know the truth. That girl is pure catnip.”

  I snarled as rage clawed my insides. My wolf violently punched against my skin, trying to escape.

  Vicks laughed, “Wouldya look at that? I’m getting a little hard just thinking about her.”

  “I’ll kill you!” I growled.

  Vicks smile turned cold and hard. “I look forward to the challenge.”

  I did not flinch as he reached out and wrenched my ear. He smiled and touched the tip of his knife to the point where cartilage met skull. “In the meantime, I’ll be keeping this souvenir.”

  Vicks jerked the blade downward, slicing off my ear. Warm blood gushed down my neck before I recognized the white hot pain. It was another drop in the bucket, but it was enough to make my already frenzied wolf go absolutely ballistic.

  I contained my enraged roar. It would change nothing, and the fucker would just get off on it. I clenched my jaw and forced my Shift back, swallowing my wolf’s protests.

  My ear had regenerated by the time Vicks stood up and stuffed his Lucas Masters’ keepsake in his leather jacket.

  He patted the pocket and winked. “Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to take real good care of that mate of yours. In the meantime,” he drew a large handgun from his underarm holster and aimed it at my face. “You can go on a date with Cherry here.”

  I stared down Cherry’s barrel and lifted my chin in defiance.

  Vicks grinned. Then he fired point blank.

  I have this rule for when disaster strikes. I give myself five minutes to cope. To let myself feel all the rage and hurt. Then I move the hell on. That had been the plan when I built the great wall of China between me and the Alpha of the Red Crescent pack. I should be able to smile but my cheeks felt like lead bricks. I doubted I’d ever smile again now that a fundamental piece of me was gone.

  The flight out of the country was a blur. Hard to believe forty-eight hours had passed since I ripped my heart out and used the blood as ink to sign my life away to the U.S. Hunters.

  “We’re here,” a man said. He wore a black DEA raid mask. Obviously, I was not to be trusted, if the identification concealing was any judge. Then again, I was essentially a terrorist with a death count in the dozens. Freshly slain.

  I lifted my manacled hands.

  “Not yet,” he said. The man reached across me to open the door, then froze. His breath hitched. I didn’t meet his eyes. I knew they’d be filled with lust.

  “Be careful,” I warned. “My effect on people is killer.”

  The masked man pushed the car door open, “Out!” he barked.

  “Yes, sir,” I mocked. Though my heart wasn’t in it. I was done caring. I could say the most outrageous things and I wouldn’t bat an eyelash — I was pretty sure that I’d lost the ability when I tore out my fucking soul. As far as I was concerned, I’d already died. Now I was just Lucas’ life insurance. As long as I cooperated, they couldn’t touch him.

  I’d ruined his life. The least I could do was keep him safe during the aftermath of Hurricane Claire Sommers.

  Sucking in a deep, calming breath I slid out of the car. The same couldn’t be said for the masked man. He slammed the door shut behind us.

  “Walk to the door.” He pointed a gun at my head for emphasis. Somehow, I’d hit a nerve.

  Maybe someone he cared about died at Fort Lawrence. Maybe I was his personal villain, and despite his reservations, he found himself attracted to me. That would fuck with anyone’s head — especially knowing what a monster I was. The havoc I could create.

  Dismembered bodies. Piles of bloody pieces. The ruins of a bathroom door. Glassy, vacant stares.

  My stomach dropped. I couldn’t dwell on that shit or I’d just fall into a swirling pit of guilt and never climb out again. I needed to latch onto something that would keep me moving forward. I clenched my fist, my nails bit into the flesh of my palm. When the pain did nothing to distract me, I decided to concentrate on my surroundings instead.

  I stood outside a large mansion. A security team with eager eyes and shaky trigger fingers guarded a heavy-duty gate. I quirked my eyebrow. Call me crazy, but I assumed government training facilities wouldn’t look like multi-million dollar homes with a disgustingly exorbitant landscaping budget. I bet even the gardeners had assistants.

  My other eyebrow
rose when I noticed a peacock walking around with its flared tail feathers. There probably was a giraffe out back or a hedge maze. This was that kind of absurd, look how rich I am, type of house. It even had tall pillars on each side of the front door.

  I walked along the gray cobble stone driveway and stepped onto the reflective black marble steps that led to the door. That’s right, outside marble. Apparently, that’s a thing.

  When we reached the front door, my prison guard pressed the doorbell. The barrel of his gun still firmly pressed against my head. “Hands.”

  I lifted my shackled wrists and watched as he removed my heavy duty Supe handcuffs without lowering the barrel of the gun. It was kind of impressive, actually.

  “Try not to eat anyone, bitch,” he muttered before he fled back to the safety of the SUV.

  I sighed. I couldn’t even manage to get mad.

  The masked man popped the hatchback and threw a suitcase to the ground. I heard the front door open just as the government vehicle peeled out. Either they were really, really happy to get rid of me, or I should be more concerned about who owned this house.

  “Miss Sommers?” a male voice asked.

  I turned around, ready to face the music… what the fuck?

  Before me stood a young, fit man who wore a black bow-tie and nothing else. My gaze lowered to find he sported a raging boner. His genitals glistened with moisture. He stepped aside and smiled warmly, “Please come in, we’ve been expecting you.”

  I remained frozen. “Um…”

  “Please, we must not keep my Master waiting.”

  “Maybe I should grab my bag first?” I said, slowly backing away as I plotted an escape. The guards surveying the grounds and the protective fencing would be an issue. I was starting to wonder if the walls surrounding the property were meant to keep people out. Or keep them in.

  He grabbed my hand and pulled me inside. “No need, someone will fetch it later.”

  The door shut behind us. I heard the whirring of a dozen locking mechanisms click into place. Shit.

  Since I didn’t really have a choice in the matter, I followed the naked guy as he moved through the house. The interior decor could’ve been stolen from a lifestyle magazine. It was the type of place people fantasized about. I looked at my feet. My ratty red converse juxtaposed against the immaculate white marble flooring, which was laced with intricate black and gold veins.