Free Sadie Hart by Cry Sanctuary

clearly wishing for another round despite the hard
rise and fall of his chest. The dog loved to hunt. Just like him.
Anticipation curled in his gut. He could wait awhile yet, but to
see the fear that one little duck could bring. Well now, that was
just too good to pass up. He’d be careful though, make sure she
didn’t see this one coming. Be a shame to let the Hound think she
really had a leg up on him.
    He patted his thigh and headed for the truck,
tossing the dead birds in the bin in the truck bed. Dean didn’t
bother to towel the dog off. Bos could air dry with his head
hanging out the window. Besides, with the ratty old truck he didn’t
give a flying bird’s ass if it stunk like wet dog. It already did.
Instead he opened the door and patted the seat.
    “Wanna go for a ride?”
    The golden’s ears pricked forward and the dog
joyfully leapt inside, dashing for his spot on the passenger’s
side. Tongue lolling out of one side of his mouth, Bosley stuck his
head out the window, obviously eager to have the wind flapping his
ears and whipping through his fur. Dean chuckled softly as he slid
in next to the dog. Looked like both of them were going to enjoy
this little jaunt.
    Dean turned the engine over and backed the
truck down the winding dirt path, turning around and heading back
for the road, all the while his mind on the gift in the back of his
truck. It’d be a nice little reminder. A lesson for the good little
dog to learn.
    Soon she’d be wishing she hadn’t bluffed,
that she really did know him.
    Soon. But it’d be too late for her.
     

 
     
    Chapter Seven
    “Caine?” Trey
called from the front door, leaning halfway inside. “Got something
you should see.”
    “Can it wait till after I speak to the
Rawsons?” Then he turned and caught a good look at Trey’s face. The
man was pale, stress lines crinkling the area around his eyes.
Damn. What was it now? Couldn’t he have a half hour to compose
himself before he had to go tell someone, Hey, I’m sorry but you
lost your daughter today. I failed.
    “What is it?” He shoved on his boots and
followed Trey out the door, troubled by the tension strung through
his second in command. The locked shoulders, the stiff jaw. The
wolf inside Caine picked up on it all. “Trey,” he said softly and
the other wolf winced, waving him towards the driveway.
    Shit. Caine headed down the gravel drive.
He’d made it half way when the scent of fresh blood caught his
attention. Not human, though. Avian. With a frown, Caine stalked
towards the scent. His nostrils flared, inhaling the scent of fresh
pine trees around him. Some wolf had gone hunting today.
    His stomach twisted at that. He’d banned solo
hunts for now, at least until the Hunter was found. The fact that
someone had disobeyed him, could have ended up just like Claire
Rawson, had panic and fury roaring through him. “The pack was under
orders to follow the buddy system.”
    The words came out a rough growl, and Trey
turned, confusion flashing across his face a moment before he
realized his alpha was still scenting the wind. Trey shook his
head.
    “Caine,” Trey started, just as the scent
fully sank in. Male, musky, no one he recognized. Caine turned to
meet his second’s eye. “It’s not one of ours.”
    He recognized the wolf now. The Hunter. Heart
pounding, Caine turned back to the scent, dragging it down in
gulps. The scent of dog hit him then. Not Holly Lawrence, though.
It wasn’t even a dog-shifter. Just a run of the mill, everyday
canine. So the Hunter had waltzed up here with his dog, and no one
had seen him?
    At his front door, less than two hundred feet
from his house, and he hadn’t even known.
    A snarl ripped out of him, and suddenly he
was striding past Trey, long legs eating up the ground as he headed
down the drive, his speed barely short of a run. He could feel the
wolf under his skin, pacing. The pack. The fucking bastard had
waltzed right up within range of the pack and no one had had