Free River Cast: Part Two in the Tale of Lunarmorte by Samantha Young

sighed, unlocking the door, and wrinkling her nose as
she stepped inside the rank room. “I can’t believe you made me
sleep here.”
    Stepping further in, a
slight coppery smell tickled her nostrils and she stopped
abruptly.
    “ Oof.” Ryder
banged into the back of her, sending her stumbling
forward.
    She whirled to face him,
her eyes narrowed in concentration. “Do you smell that?”
    He puckered his brow,
shrugging and twirling his keys impatiently. “Don’t smell a thing
except urine, beer and sex. Can we please go?”
    She shook her head
unconvinced, her eyes searching the room. “I smell... I dunno...
something familiar.”
    “ What’s not
familiar about urine, beer and-”
    She smirked at him as he
flushed. “And?” She prompted, enjoying his discomfort.
    “ Just get
your bag,” Ryder muttered, turning away from her.
    Jaeden laughed softly, and
turned toward her things, only to stop again. “Hey!”
    “ What, what?”
Suddenly he was right at her back in defence mode.
    Her t-shirt and jeans lay
strewn across the ancient chair in the corner of the room, crumpled
beside her now open backpack.
    “ I could have
sworn I packed this before we went for breakfast.”
    “ Is that
all,” he whined, “Goddess, Jae, I thought there was an actual problem... not
some hormonal imbalance causing female memory loss.”
    “ Hey!” She
snapped around at him, glaring at him all the while she stuffed her
things back into her bag. “I know you’re more of a gentleman than
that to talk chauvinistic crap to a lady, so stop trying to
irritate the life out of me, Ryder, before I go crazy and end
yours!”
    Abruptly he grinned, his
golden brown eyes glittering with humour. “Why would I stop when
it’s this much fun. Truly...” He placed a hand on his heart. “You
bring such joy to my life.”
    She was not going to laugh
at him.
    Or think about how
light-hearted he made her feel.
    How good.
    No. Down that road there be
complications .
    Instead she threw her back
pack at him and strode past his laughing face. “You’re funny,” she
said sarcastically. “The fact that you’ve been designated the pack
golden retriever really doesn’t seem to have dampened your spirits
at all.”
    “ Uh, hello,”
he called to her back, and she heard his pounding steps catching up
to her as she neared the truck, “Retrieving you, and saving you
from imprisonment, was a very important job.”
    She turned back to him,
smiling sweetly. “But hardly the job of a Rogue Hunter.”
    “ I’m not a
golden retriever.”
    “ No? Well,
what’s that bell around your neck?” She pointed innocently to his
throat.
    He grimaced glancing down,
which sent her into hysterics.
    “ You looked!
You actually looked... I can’t believe that-”
    “ Get in the
truck,” he growled at her immaturity and stomped around to the
driver’s side.
    She sighed happily,
jumping into the cab, and twisting around to face him as she
buckled herself up. “What’s the matter Ryder? Can’t take a little
teasing?”
    He snorted and glanced up
at her from under his enviously long lashes. “Oh baby, I can take a
little teasing. But you just made this war.”
    Well, she
chuckled, this was going to be a looong drive home.
    But at least he would be
too distracted to ask any uncomfortable questions along the
way.
     
    ***
     
    Well, well, well, Marcus
thought, watching as the lykan climbed into the truck with her
mate. This was turning out better than he had thought. Marcus had
tailed the tall female wolf from the city; following the scent he
had found at his dead girlfriend’s body before the sun destroyed
any evidence of Cora’s existence.
    He had thought to capture
the lykan, torture her - perhaps even show her how a man of his
species showed a female a good time.
    But this was
better.
    Much better.
    The lykan took his
female...
    Well, before Marcus killed
her, he’d just have to kill her mate and make her watch while he
did it.
    And there was no doubt in
his