Free Hunter's Need by Shiloh Walker

that’s the problem, though.”
    Hell, yeah. She definitely knew. Flushing, he focused on his feet. Ana —
    A problem—damn straight. Ana was a fucking problem.
    Kelsey kicked her legs up, rested her booted feet on the desk. “Ana’s the problem,” she said quietly, echoing his thoughts with eerie precision.
    “I think you can handle it, but if you have doubts . . . ” She let her voice trail off and pursed her lips thoughtfully. “There are other shifters, I suppose. Or I could talk to the witches, see who is free and see if any of them have experience that far north. Some of the witches can function there, it just takes time, practice, some experience is nice. Hmmmm.”
    A sly smile curved her mouth. “I think Grady could handle it. He was born in northern Michigan. Yes, I think Grady could handle things just fine.”
    Grady—
    A mental image of the witch flashed through his mind. The black man was a nice guy and under normal circumstances, Duke would definitely agree that Grady could handle a few weeks in a place where his gift might become unpredictable. Especially if he’d grown up in a similar environment—he would be used to dealing with the poles.
    Fine, send him . The words burned on his tongue.
    “The hell he will,” he snarled.
    Kelsey gave him an innocent look. “Oh, I don’t know, Duke. He’s on friendly terms with Ana, too—”
    Duke growled.
    Kelsey laughed. “Well, unless you want me to send Grady, then you’d better get packing. You wasted enough time fighting this already, my friend.”
     
     
    W ELL, there goes yet another day of complete and total failure , Ana thought. Dismally, she trudged up the steps that led to the private entrance of her room. The owners of the bed-and-breakfast were rarely about. She’d met them upon checking in, run into the husband briefly the past morning over a simple breakfast buffet of cereal, doughnuts and pastries.
    Other than that, she hadn’t seen them and she had to admit, she was glad. There was no way she could manage any kind of polite small talk just then. Not that small talk was her favorite way to spend time, anyway.
    So, what did you do today, Ms. Morell ?
    Well, I went hiking on a few trails, tried to figure out just what in the hell is going on here. Tell me, have you noticed anything unusual going on? Like . . . oh, say . . . something downright evil, like murder, rape and torture ?
    Smirking, she said, “Yeah, that’s certain to open some doors for you. Doors to the nearest mental institution.” She sighed and dug the key out of her pocket.
    She wanted a long, hot bath in the claw-footed bathtub. It was getting close to sunset and the bathtub was situated under a window that faced the west. Ana could sit and soak and watch the sun set, but it was a luxury she wasn’t going to take. She was running out of time. She’d spent the past two and a half days prowling around the Mat-Su Valley, looking for God only knows what, for God only knows who.
    Wasting her time.
    She didn’t have that much time left to waste, either. Tomorrow was Sunday and she had to check out of the B and B and head back to Anchorage. Monday, she had to be back at work. So instead of sinking into a tub of water to relax, she took a quick shower, brushed her teeth and then collapsed onto the bed.
    She fell asleep on the bed, too tired to even crawl under the covers.
    And she awoke cowering on the floor by the wall, holding herself and rocking.
    The coppery taste of fear lay heavy on her tongue and she swallowed back the bile boiling up in her throat.
    A girl’s face lingered in her mind, her lifeless, dark eyes staring upward, frozen in death. Her body had been naked, bruised by brutal hands, bite marks peppered over her breasts and thighs. Blood and semen stained her thighs.
    She was dead.
    But it wasn’t Marie.
     
     
    D UKE didn’t like flying.
    He hated it.
    It didn’t help that Kelsey and Cori hadn’t been able to find a nonstop flight from Virginia to