The Fated Hunter Wolf (Shadow Moon Shifters #2)

Chapter 1

RHYS

When I caught her, I was going to kill her.

Or claim her.

I didn’t know which one.

Fucking wolf.

We were never at odds like this. We were a team.

Or at least, supposed to be. Instead, there I was trying to track this bitch who led Logan into Heraclid hell, while he swished his tail like we were playing tag with her.

What was his problem? He had to see who this woman was, the threat she posed simply by existing.

No chance in hell I was letting her waltz onto Orion lands without consequence.

The wind screamed past my ears, and every nerve in my body burned with the singular purpose of catching her.

Shit, this woman was fast.

The forest engulfed me as I tore through the trees in human form, the taste of her lingering in my senses, that smell spurring me on. I couldn’t stand it, but I had to find it. My wolf surged beneath my skin, claws scraping at the edges of my control, demanding release.

The woman who knew something about my missing brothers was running off before answering for the vision she’d thrust onto me.

Sable.

Her name burned itself into my mind as I sprinted after her, my boots pounding against the uneven ground.

But I couldn’t shift. And I didn’t know why.

Some unwritten rule in my blood was saying that as long as she was in human form, so was I.

Pine needles scattered underfoot, sharp and brittle.

Her scent was a tangled mix of rain and honey with rage and desperation, bitter.

A haunting electric charge that knocked me sideways.

The sensation wasn’t like anything I’d ever felt—something older, darker, like the forest itself had come alive to warn me off.

Too bad for her. I didn’t give a shit about warnings.

Images of my twin brothers flashed in my mind, their faces so vivid it hurt.

Nash, with his easy smile and sharp laugh.

Wyatt, quieter, his watchful eyes brimming with secrets he’d never had the chance to share.

I’d carried their loss like a chain around my neck for years, each link forged in guilt.

If it hadn’t been for me, they’d have been sitting around that bonfire, laughing and eating and celebrating with the rest of us.

Logan thought the blame sat with him, but I knew the truth.

I hid it from everyone and desperately tried to hide it from myself, transform the guilt into a driving dedication to Orion.

Now Sable, that riddle of a woman, dragged them out of my memories and threw them back in my face with a power I didn’t understand.

The faintest flicker of movement caught my eye. I pushed harder, the muscles in my legs screaming as I closed the distance between us. Her brown hair streamed behind her like a banner, her silhouette weaving through the trees with the precision of someone who knew the land.

Or maybe she was running on instinct, the same primal edge that sang in my blood, telling me I had to catch her—and fast.

My wolf snarled in mutual frustration. I should have had her by now.

She was still too fast. Too fast for a human. Too fast for a wolf.

She was a juiced-up version of a female wolf with a scent that made me want to end her on sight. The smell of Heraclid still clung to her, but even that didn’t belong. It felt like a mask designed to throw me off. And now I’d caught the truth beneath it, I couldn’t let her go.

She shifted in front of me, a seamless, almost mystic transformation into a silver-colored wolf, lean and agile.

As if bidden by a higher calling, my wolf thrust forward and I couldn’t hold him back.

The shift ripped through me, fire and fury replacing flesh in a rush so primal it left me shaking.

My paws hit the earth, claws tearing into the ground as I howled, the sound echoing through the trees like a war cry.

Her scent hit me again, dragging me forward like a hook buried in my chest. The firelight from the clearing was long gone, swallowed by the endless stretch of trees, but I didn’t need it. I had her. My wolf had her.

Almost.

She disappeared, and my wolf skidded to a halt. Our hunter heart was beyond frustration now—this cat-and-mouse chase could not continue, though I knew that the hastier I got, the more careless I’d become.

I had to calm myself. My wolf inhaled, letting the cold air sting to the deepest part of my lungs before pausing to sense the smells around us. Nostrils flaring, my wolf found what he was looking for.

Over there.

My pulse surged, muscles screaming as I pushed harder. I was gaining on her.

Her wolf vaulted over a fallen log, her movements fluid but frantic. My chest heaved as I closed in on her, the cool night air searing my lungs. I couldn’t slow down. She glanced back once, amber eyes flashing in the darkness, and the look in them hit me harder than any blow ever could.

I didn’t see a stitch of fear in her. It was all challenge.

I growled low in my throat, the sound ripped from the depths of my being. She didn’t get to challenge me. Not on my land. The predator in me rose up, answering her defiance with a non-stop command.

Control her. Claim her.

The chase took on a new light. I tore after her, my senses sharper, the world brighter.

Every scent, every sound, every heartbeat in the forest sang to me, but none louder than hers.

Her scent drove me mad, spurring me on harder.

She was fast. I was faster now. The distance between us shrank with every stride, her dark form weaving through the trees like a shadow given life.

Then she stopped.

Her wolf planted itself in the middle of the path, her head high and eyes blazing.

My wolf snarled and stopped. His chin lowered. Wait, was my wolf submitting to her?

No fucking way.

I’d call it hesitation, give my wolf the benefit of the doubt, even if I had no idea why.

Sable shifted into human form as easily as water pouring from a glass, her sandy hair spilling over her shoulders as she rose to face me.

She was naked and glowing under the moonlight. The sight of her stopped me dead.

My wolf retreated, sending me into an involuntary shift in front of her, and I was a man again.

Her body was a contradiction I couldn’t look away from—lean muscle carved into someone who’d fought for every inch of strength, yet the sight of her soft curves made my wolf ache with need.

She wasn’t just beautiful; she was breathtaking.

Her power was evident in every ripple of her frame, her femininity a weapon as sharp as any claw.

She glowed in the moonlight, breasts taut and nipples firm. The line of her waist to her succulent hips stole my soul and I nearly passed out.

A goddess forged by battle and shadow, untouchable yet standing close enough to destroy me.

“You should have stayed back,” she hissed.

“You should have stayed gone,” I shot back. “But now you’re going to answer for what you’ve done.”

Her lips curved, a humorless smile that only stoked the fire burning inside me. “You don’t know what you’re chasing, Rhys.”

“You don’t know who you’re running from.”

Her nostrils flared, but she didn’t move. That was her mistake.

I lunged, my hand closing around her wrist and bringing her toward me, skin on skin.

That same electric shock ripped through me again, slowing my pulse. All I could hear was my heartbeat at a dangerously low rate.

Let me go. The words reached me through an inexplicable bond.

I didn’t.

I pulled her closer.

You’re a fool, she said, which I took to mean I was getting closer to winning—without knowing what the prize was.

Take her, my wolf—my fucking wolf—demanded, rising up through my veins and finally increasing my heart rate while I stared into those dangerously wicked amber eyes.

If she sensed my wolf, she didn’t reply.

Instead, she wrapped her arm around the back of my head, the entirety of her naked body against me, and kissed me with a claiming rapture I didn’t know was possible on this earth.

Her mouth pressed into mine and I was helpless. The taste of her, like sweetened roses, was nothing like her acrid scent, and this clash of smell and taste froze me in place. I wanted her, I needed her, and I hated her all at once.

She tore herself off me, chest heaving with hot breaths that washed over me.

I was undone, a feral energy rising, and I was close—too close—to losing it all.

I grabbed her around the waist and tugged, our bodies crashing into each other. She pushed me away with a ferocity I’d never seen in a wolf, and my back slammed against a tree.

“You’re coming back with—” I started. In a flash, her arm shifted, claws at full length, and she swiped across my chest.

Her power unfurled, the air between us thickening. Blood seeped from the gashes she’d made and dripped down my torso. She looked up, and I did too. Her eyes commanded me into stillness without a single word.

I was transfixed.

Sable turned and ran, barely a blur as her figure vanished into the trees. My claws itched to break free, to tear through the distance between us. Despite my will, my wolf whined and stayed put.

Was it a submission spell? I didn’t know what Sable had done, but it smelled rotten as fuck.

Within moments, I’d lost her scent. No sign of her footsteps or her figure anywhere. I growled but had no choice. Tonight was a defeat, but the hunt wasn’t over.

Not by a long shot.