Hunted Read Online Free PDF Page B

looking over-stuffed chair. As I dropped to all fours, I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. More than that, I could feel my jaguar protesting this show of submission. I shushed her, reminding her that we were trespassers and that, until I was stronger, we needed the clan’s protection. If that meant playing this role, I would do it--for a little while at least.
    I crawled forward, head down. I stopped and waited, my heart pounding. This was the first test. If Matt accepted my act of submission, there was at least hope he’d keep his word to protect me. It was a very big “if”.
    Before I could speak, he reached down. I swallowed hard and put my hand in his. When he drew me to my feet, I glanced down, making sure my robe was properly closed. Then I looked up at him, wondering what would happen next.
    “Meg Finley is welcome in our clan and has my protection. You each are witnesses to this.” He paused, his eyes sweeping the room until the others nodded. “I know her reasons for not reporting her presence to me, or to any of the rest of our kind, and I approve. Between what she’s told me and what Stefan had to say after examining her, she had more than enough reason to want to remain hidden.”
    “Thank you.” My voice was barely more than a whisper. Now it was my turn. “Clan leader, I thank you for your welcome and for your understanding. I apologize for being the reason others have trespassed on your territory. I owe you penalty for that and for not announcing my presence when I first arrived. I offer myself up to you for judgment.” Having said it, I sank to my knees. I could feel the others watching, all but holding their breaths as they waited for what would happen next.
    Once again, Matt Kincade surprised me. He dropped to one knee before me. His hand reached out and cupped my chin, tilting my head up so we looked into one another’s eyes. As we did, my jaguar stirred. She was so close to the surface. I could almost feel my skin rippling even as I saw her pacing back and forth in my mind.
    “Finn, I need you to trust me now,” he said softly. I nodded. I trusted him more after only knowing him for a few hours than I did most of those in my home clan. I certainly trusted him more than I did my former clan leader. “Shift. Show us what your animal is.”
    I knew better than to hesitate. Instead, I slipped out of the robe and dropped once more to hands and knees. The moment I eased my control, the jaguar was there. Pain, so different from what I’d suffered at the hands of the trackers, flowed over me. Muscles twisted and contracted, stretched and reformed. Bones altered. I threw my head back and a strangled cry filled the room. It was never a painless process to shift but forcing a shift is never fun. Doing so after being through what I’d suffered that afternoon only made it worse.
    “Very good, my lady,” Matt said, admiration clear in his voice as he reached out to stroke my head. “You can shift back.”
    God, he didn’t ask for much, did he?
    The shift back to human hurt worse than the shift to jaguar. Part of the reason was because I was so tired. Part of it was because the jaguar, free for the first time in much too long, simply did not want to give up control. I really did need to have a good hunt soon. I’d feel better for it and that part of me that wasn’t fully human would quit pressing for release.
    Matt draped the robe about my shoulders and helped me to my feet. When he seated me in the chair he’d occupied when I entered the room, I smiled in appreciation. Just then, I wasn’t sure how much longer I could stay on my feet. I felt like I’d run three marathons back to back, without food or rest. All I wanted was to curl up and sleep for about a week. But that had to wait a bit longer.
    “Thank you, Finn.” Matt smiled at me in approval and then pulled a chair up next to mine. “Stefan was telling us what he found when he treated you.”
    “And?”
    And did I really want to