Mating Hunt Read Online Free PDF Page A

been clever enough to leave a clue stamped with his stronger, more distinctive scent. Tucking the scrap into her pocket, she kept hiking.
    She wasn’t running away. Not escaping the inevitable fate Aiden would choose for her. Mate or die.
    Nice choices. Neither one interested her. Think I’ll choose to live.
    Every month intensified her body’s natural urges. Frustrated and edgy, she’d finally swallowed her pride and asked the pack leader for help.
    Darius volunteered to be her first lover. With his shoulder-length ebony curls and dreamy blue eyes, the charismatic beta was nicknamed the pack’s stud king, servicing unmated females who needed sexual relief. She’d fought the surge of panic, managed to stay calm even when Darius’ light kisses became deeper. And then he’d touched her breasts... and her claws came out.
    Fortunately, he had fast reflexes. The vicious scratches on his throat healed, but every male now regarded her with caution. Except when her mating heat made them growl with hunger and their own need.
    Now if she didn’t mate, Tristan would fry her big ass. But damn, if she was going down in a blaze of silver fire, she wanted to find the young first, make something of her life and return them to parents who loved them.
    Ponderosa pine, fir, spruce and juniper trees flanked her as she ascended the narrow pathway. A thick fog shrouded the serpentine trail snaking up the mountain past brilliant vermillion and yellow bushes.
    Half a mile later, she lost the scent trail, sensing only small game mingled with thick pine and decaying vegetation.
    For a moment she wrestled with the sinking feeling of defeat. She remembered these same woods as she’d crashed through bushes, trying to escape the bad man who’d wanted to do such awful things to her...
    Don’t give up. You have to keep searching.
    Shifting into wolf would sharpen her senses. The Change happened swiftly as bones lengthened and fur rippled along her spine.
    Nose to the ground, she searched the surrounding area, scenting a sharp stench of sweat and unwashed bodies. Skins. Recognizing the scents, she growled. The human hunters she’d seen at the bar were hiding something.
    Her wolf growled deeper as she picked up the scent of icy cold vanilla and old blood.
    Arianna searched the ground, controlling the frantic human emotions roiling through her. A scrap of cloth trapped on a thorn brush caught her eye. She shifted back, clothed herself by magick, and examined the square of navy fabric stained with rusty droplets. The eldest of the three missing young, a male, had been wearing a blue baseball jersey.
    Good boy. He’d probably torn the shirt and left the clue.
    Arianna picked up her backpack and kept climbing. After two miles, she left the path and collapsed on a flat rock. Sweat plastered the shirt to her back, and her heart pounded hard. Retrieving her water bottle, she took a long pull and stiffened.
    In the distant valley, a wolf gave a mournful howl, the eerie sound a clear signal to the pack. The hunt for her had begun.
    She could only hope to find the young before Kyle found her. Never had she imagined being hunted by the guardian who’d vowed to protect her.
    The thought of mating released a fresh wave of old terror. But far scarier was the knowledge her beloved guardian was not immune. The way Kyle’s eyes had glowed in the truck...
    A shiver wracked her spine. With every ounce of strength, she climbed, hoping to outrace the powerful hunter before he reached her and dragged her back to mate against her will.
    Or handed her over to the Silver Wizard to die.

Chapter 4
    “ S HE LEFT US .”
    Disbelief colored the deep voice of the Mitchell pack alpha. Sitting on the fence, Kyle kept his thoughts guarded as Aiden paced in the cow pasture. In the ten years Kyle had been with this pack, he’d never seen the leader so agitated.
    In jeans, faded shirts and cowboy hats, ten of the most skilled hunters hovered near the fence, watching their