Untamed Shifter Love Page 13

  Kane jerked and growled her name with a tender devotion. His mouth remained pressed to her throat as her muscles gripped his cock, milking the last of his pleasure. Kane’s arms came up around her, and he held her close. She loved the way he kept her warm. She’d never experienced such a deep sense of security as she did at this moment.

  Closing her eyes, Joslyn breathed in his scent. Everything about her was different now, but not her heart, because it had always beat in time with his; she just hadn’t wanted to admit how much she was his. I love this man. She opened her eyes to look at him. He gazed back at her. Joslyn traced the lines in his face, and he seemed content to be touched as she memorized his features with her fingertips.

  “I’ve marked you with my scent. Every wolf will know you’re claimed.” He paused and gave her another intense look. “When we get back to town, we can start a life together, with you as my mate—my wife.”

  “Will we be safe? Is it really over?”

  “It’s as safe as it can be. No one threatens what’s mine and lives.” Kane spoke with deadly sincerity. “Tobias is still out there, and he’s angrier now, but I’ll protect you with my last breath.”

  “This...everything feels so right.” Joslyn pushed some of his overly long hair out of his eyes. “I just don’t understand why I’m still scared to tell everyone. I just want this to be between us and not become a rift between you and your father or town gossip.”

  Kane chuckled. “This thing between us is more powerful than love and better than lust. You’re my mate. There’s nothing a human has to compare it to. Your body—your soul—recognizes that you belong to me. It’s the most complicated piece of simplicity in the animal kingdom. If you need time before we make a more public announcement, you have it. The only thing that can get in the way of our life together is if you revoke my protection.”

  “I’d never do that!”

  “So I have nothing to worry about.” Kane kissed the tip of her nose.

  She lay naked in the arms of her hunky wolf-man and never wanted to leave.

  “The rain is stopping. It’s time to go back,” Kane said before he pulled her closer to kiss her temple.

  “Hold me for another moment.” She didn’t care that they’d forgotten to eat. Loving him nourished her soul.

  Kane’s arms tightened around her. “I will always hold you and keep you safe,” he promised.

  Joslyn closed her eyes and smiled against his shoulder as he held her close. I know.

  “I’ll never stop loving you, woman. Never.” Kane took her face between his hands and gazed intensely into her eyes. “I claim you until the day you die.”

  And her heart claimed him right back.

  About Ashlynn Monroe

  Ashlynn Monroe has been dreaming up stories all her life but didn’t share them with anyone until she was thirty. She’s a busy mom with a full-time job, great friends, and a unique sense of humor. She’s just a regular girl who’s in love with the idea of happily-ever-after. She’s honored to be multi-published by some of the best publishers in the industry. Ashlynn survives each day by dreaming up her next tale of romance.

  Ashlynn’s Website:

  www.ashlynnmonroe.com

  Reader eMail:

  Ashlynn.monroe@live.com

  More Beachwalk Press Titles by Ashlynn Monroe

  Slave to His Desires

  A Gift of the Darkest Magic

  Given

  Reality Hero

  Captivated

  Captivated: Return to Earth

  Beloved Darkness

  Spirit Bonded

  Sex, Love & Aliens, Volume 1

  Sex, Love & Aliens, Volume 2

  The Hunter

  by Olivia Starke

  In order to impress Mike Conner, her crush from the gym, city girl Trinity Gaines decides to head to a local conservation area to snap some wildlife pics. When she’s attacked by a large animal, she’s left wounded and helpless against whatever is stalking her through the trees.

  Hunter Mike Conner let a werewolf slip from his grasp. Then he finds Trinity stranded in the forest after being attacked by the monster, and he’s riddled with guilt. She’s been served a death sentence—one he’ll have to carry out himself in a few short weeks before she shifts.

  The chemistry between them is undeniable. While struggling to understand their growing feelings for one another, Trinity and Mike suddenly find themselves in a fight for their lives. Will they survive or will the werewolf within Trinity destroy them both?

  Dedication

  To my dad who protected me from all the monsters who lurked in my closet as a kid. I miss you.

  Chapter 1

  Maybe hiking alone hadn’t been her most brilliant plan. Judging by the sharp pains shooting from her ankle, Trinity Gaines knew she was in trouble. And the long, bleeding gashes down her right arm confirmed it.

  What happened? Her muddled mind dug up her last memory before she’d fallen. A low growl, the dark mass charging her, being knocked down, then… Nothing.

  She stared up the high embankment she’d tumbled down then did a quick scan, searching for the animal that had attacked her. Was it rabid? Did she have rabies now?

  She swallowed hard, regrouping her whirlwind thoughts on her most immediate task—how would she ever make it back up to the hiking trail? At the least she’d suffered a very bad sprain, and at worst a bad break. Her ankle was swollen and tender to the touch as she examined it. No, she wouldn’t entertain the idea she’d broken her foot.

  Nearby her $1500 digital camera looked like it’d taken the fall even more badly than she had. Her brand new camera that wasn’t built to take hard falls down rocky hillsides. She groaned and reached for it, hissing between her teeth as the pain in her ankle flared. By some miracle, and despite a good coating of mud, it started when she pressed the on button.

  “Thank God for small blessings,” she mumbled.

  She pulled her cellphone from her jacket pocket, but the screen was busted and it refused to power on. Not that she’d get a signal in the middle of the forest.

  “Damn it.” She shoved the useless thing back in her pocket, put the camera strap around her neck, then carefully got to her feet.

  Tears blurred her vision as she hobbled over to a long stick. Picking it up, she tried to use it as a makeshift crutch. Though awkward it was her best hope of making it back to her car. Night would fall soon, and she was a city girl. The last thing she needed was to be out in the woods in the middle of the night where bears and coyotes roamed, not to mention whatever animal had charged her. Surely it waited nearby, wanting to finish her off. A cold chill swept up her spine, and she felt eyes upon her. A prey instinct warning her of danger. She gripped her makeshift crutch tighter, ready to wield it as a weapon if needed.

  “I just had to be a nature photographer to impress Mr. Hotstuff at the gym,” she grumbled. “I just had to throw out something that stupid.”

  But Mr. Hotstuff, AKA Mike Conner, said he loved the outdoors, and had commented on how much he enjoyed this very conservation area. He was gorgeous—tall, with thick blond hair and intelligent, light blue eyes that pierced right into the heart of her the few times they’d spoken. It had seemed reasonable at the time to blurt out she freelanced as a nature photographer and was looking for a new area to scout for pics. In reality she earned her living taking portraits, and the wildest she got was hoofing it through the city park. She thought if she followed the map and stayed on the well-marked trails she wouldn’t have a problem. Ha! Murphy’s Law always worked against her.

  She started the slow, painful ascent up the hill. Hop. “Ouch!” Hop. “Ouch!”

  Sweat broke out on her brow and she stopped, taking deep breaths as nausea welled up. A flock of crows crowded overhead, cawing, and she stared up at the riotous flock. They flapped limb to limb through the treetops, watching her, and her skin prickled. Were crows normally this territorial? Was it her they were upset over? Or was her attacker lurking close by?
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  Trinity turned her attention back to the ground and hopped forward, bracing her weight as best she could on the stick. She glanced at the gashes down her arm that looked like claw marks and not scratches caused by her fall. The bleeding had stopped, but the idea of rabies again clouded her mind. The rustle of ground litter had her jerking her head around, searching through the trees.

  “Oh God,” she muttered, the feeling of being stalked sending out waves of panic. Fight-or-flight kicked in, and considering her ankle, her best option was fight.

  She held her breath, listening, and was soon rewarded by the snap of a branch. Footsteps. Definitely footsteps within a dense stand of pine trees off to her right, but whatever they belonged to stayed to the deepening, late afternoon shadows.

  At worst it’s a black bear. Black bears stay away from people. The inner pep talk did nothing to temper her rising fear, because she knew she was being stalked. She felt it down to her bones, she was little more than wounded prey.

  Trinity turned and started hopping as fast as she could up the slippery hillside, hot, desperate tears streaming down her cheeks. Adrenaline dulled the pain in her ankle, pushing her faster. She had to make it back to the trail.

  Then a rush of dizziness hit, and she tripped, slamming to the dirt. She gasped for breath and tried to push back up, but the ground spun in mad circles beneath her, making it impossible for her to balance on her only useful leg. She crumpled to the ground, digging her fingers into the dirt, feeling like she’d be flung off the earth at any moment. She gagged over motion sickness. What was happening?

  She looked up to see a tall figure approaching, but she couldn’t focus on its details.

  “No!” she choked out, grabbing for her makeshift crutch. “Get back!”

  Trinity sat up only to fall onto her back, helpless, staring as the figure closed in.

  * * * *

  Mike Conner knelt down next to the woman. It took only a moment for him to recognize her. “Trinity?”

  She had her eyes squeezed shut. “Get away from me.”

  She sounded weak and terrified. He looked her over, from the nasty wounds on her arm down to her swollen ankle protruding from beneath her pant leg.

  “My God, what happened to you?” But he already knew. Damn it. “Let’s get you out of here.”

  He scooped her into his arms, and she offered but whimpering protests as he carried her back toward his campsite. Guilt barreled through him, but he brushed it off. He needed to find out what had actually happened before he jumped to bad conclusions.

  She remained limp in his arms as he ducked into his tent and laid her on his sleeping bag. He grabbed his backpack and dug out his first-aid kit.

  “Trinity, can you hear me? I’m going to treat your wounds.”

  Of course, if his suspicions were correct, her wounds would heal on their own within a few hours. He frowned and took out an alcohol pad and gently swiped it over the cuts on her arm. She flinched but said nothing. Once he had the wounds cleaned up, he examined them more closely. No doubt about it, they were claw marks. He’d royally screwed up this hunt, and now this innocent woman would have to pay for it.

  Mike sat back on his heels, sick to his stomach, feeling the weight of the .454 Casull tucked into the shoulder holster beneath his jacket. The tent seemed too small to hold the enormity of the situation.

  Mike had thought Trinity was cute when he’d met her at the gym. Curvy, brown-haired, blue-eyed, with the ability to blush at the drop of a hat, he’d entertained the idea of asking her out on a date. But dating wasn’t really in the cards for him. He spent too much of his time roaming state to state, only settling down long enough to hunt out pockets of werewolves. She never came across as a woman who’d go for a fling. Not that he’d blame her. Now that he’d hit his thirties hot one-nighters didn’t hold the appeal they once had.

  He stroked her silky hair, regret a heavy burden as he wrestled with what he needed to do next. She didn’t deserve anything less than a full, happy life. Now two options lay ahead for her: take a bullet to the head from his .454 or live out her life trapped within the existence of a werewolf. The first was the most merciful, but the most bitter to swallow. His hand shook as he pulled out his .454, but he shoved it back in the holster.

  Tonight was a full moon, hence the heightened activity of the pocket of werewolves he’d found living in the wildlife conservation area. Not to mention the unusual amount of werewolves he’d run across lately. He wasn’t sure what had caused it, but their numbers were growing.

  It was too soon for Trinity to change; it’d take a full month for the disease to settle within her body. She still had a whole month to live her life before the next full moon. He’d keep an eye on her and deal with what had to be done once her month ended.

  The wounds on her arms had already started to close as he gave her a shot of morphine, enough to knock her out for several hours. He still had a hunt to deal with and monsters to slay before he took Trinity back to civilization.

  * * * *

  Snarling monsters surrounded her, gnashing their bloody, dagger teeth. But that wasn’t the terrifying part—she was one of the monsters too. And she recognized the quarry they’d cornered and wounded. Mr. Hotstuff from the gym crouched, ready to tackle the first of them to lunge. Glee rippled from the circling hoard, and even Trinity felt the thrill of a coming kill.

  Somewhere in the back of her mind a voice screamed for her to stop the attack. That they couldn’t take down this man, he was more dangerous than he appeared. Perhaps they had walked into his trap. But the circle closed tighter, and just when the first of them charged, Trinity’s eyes popped open.

  She screamed as strong hands grabbed her shoulders, holding her down. She thrashed, the binds of her nightmare clinging to her senses. The smell of blood, of forest and dirt, and the rank odor of the monsters filled her head, and she snapped her teeth at the hands.

  “Trinity! Wake up!”

  The man sounded far away and familiar over the snarls and howls of the fight. She saw nothing but blackness as she fought against the weight pinning her down. She reached up, grabbing a handful of t-shirt, and shoved. The hands released her and she heard an oomph.

  Freed, Trinity bared her teeth in blind fury and lunged. A sharp, stinging slap landed across her cheek, and she sucked in shocked, gasping breaths. Her vision cleared and she found herself staring into a pair of light blue eyes. She blinked in disbelief.

  “Mr. Hotstuff?”

  His quick smile didn’t reach his eyes. “You were having a bad dream. You’re safe.”

  He helped her sit up then placed a glass of water against her lips. She sucked down several gulps, letting it soothe her parched throat.

  “What happened?” she asked after clearing her throat.

  “I found you in the conservation area,” Mike said. “I brought you back to my apartment. You have some scrapes and bumps, but nothing life threatening. And I’m sorry for the slap, I think the morphine shot I gave you from my first-aid kit made you hallucinate.”

  She absently rubbed her cheek and looked around. The only furniture in the room other than the bed she lay on was a dresser. No photographs or anything else personal decorated the room. Her camera and jacket sat on the dresser.

  “Why did you give me a morphine shot?” she asked, trying to recall the details of her rescue. She’d seen a tall figure coming toward her, which must have been Mike. Then she’d succumbed to what she assumed was a panic attack.

  “Your ankle looked pretty bad. I thought it was broken, but the swelling is gone now. I was hoping to spare you further pain while I got you out of there.”

  His smile still hadn’t reached his eyes, and Trinity felt like he was withholding information. Like who has morphine in their first-aid kit? The one in her glove box had a packet of outdated aspirin. She tested her ankle beneath the blanket, moving her foot in a circle. Outside of a mild ache the pain was gone. She looked down at her arm, finding it covered with a bandage.<
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  “I guess I should thank you for rescuing me.” She managed a weak smile as reality set in. There she was, lying in Mr. Hotstuff’s bed, exactly the thing she’d been fantasizing about for weeks. Still shots from the fantasies flooded her brain and she felt heat rise in her cheeks.

  “Don’t mention it,” Mike replied, his voice taking on a low, throaty pitch that sent her heartrate up. “Come daylight I’ll take you back to your car. We still have a few hours, you should get some more sleep.”

  She fidgeted. “I-I guess you’d like your bed back.” What time was it anyway? The orange glow of streetlights peeked around the closed blinds.

  This time the smile he shot her reached his eyes, which twinkled in the lamplight. He lifted his shoulder. “I don’t know, I kind of like seeing you right where you are.”

  Trinity squirmed, not quite sure how to handle Mike’s flirtation. She’d never been great at the whole flirting thing.

  “I should tell you,” she began, “that I don’t know the first thing about wildlife photography. I’m a portrait photographer. I do families, kids, that sort of thing. Mostly around the city or at the park.”

  Mike chuckled, a rich, masculine sound that left her even squirmier as she stared into his smiling face. He sat on the edge of the mattress. “Next time be sure to hike with a friend. How long have you done photography?”

  “Since college. I was an art major. I’m hoping by next year I can take on a partner and expand.”

  His smile faded and he looked down at his hands clasped on his lap. “Well, I’ll let you get some more sleep. I’ll be on the couch if you need me.” He rose and left her alone, closing the bedroom door softly behind him.

  Trinity burrowed beneath the blanket, inhaling the clean, masculine scent Mike had left behind on his pillow. She grinned despite the nagging feeling that something wasn’t quite right. Like why Mike hadn’t taken her to the ER instead of his place. Maybe he’s a paramedic or nurse, she reasoned. After all, it seemed he’d known what he was doing judging by her ankle and the bandage on her arm.