Free Christmas Moon by Sadie Hart

want
to talk.”
    Stupid move, an inner voice chanted at
her. She wasn’t sure this would work, but damn, she didn’t think
she could come up with anything better. And the moment he spotted
Hunter in that rifle’s crosshairs he’d have another hostage. She
had to work with what she could. Right now.
    “Don’t shoot. I’m going to put down my
weapon.” She edged out from behind the tree, every prayer she could
think of running through her mind on replay as she stood out in the
open, both arms raised. “I’m just going to set it down.”
    Her voice carried easily through the quiet of
the forest. Bree slowly bent over and set her gun on the snow and
then kicked it away. She glanced in the direction of the
still-hiding rogue.
    “Come on. I want to know what I did for you
to make this personal.” She took another step towards the clearing.
Her legs felt like rubber, unsteady and uncertain with every step
she took. Damn. But he hadn’t shot her yet. “You have to talk to me
though. Why the phone calls? Why kidnap Rylie here? I don’t even
know her.”
    Amazingly enough her voice was steady,
without the edge of fear running wild through her veins. Her magick
floated through the trees, stretching out, searching. She felt him
then. Roughly a hundred yards ahead of. She couldn’t see him, he
was well hidden, but she kept every ounce of strength and energy
she had focused on him. Her inner canine strained forward,
listening for any and every sound. Her magick wrapped around him,
waiting for that barest twinge of muscle before he’d pull the
trigger.
    It was the only warning system she’d
have.
    Her one shot to get out of the way if the
rogue decided he wanted her dead.
    “Come on,” she called out again, taking
another shaky step in the direction of Rylie. If she could put
herself between the woman and him, maybe Hunter could have a shot
at getting his wolf to safety. “I don’t even know you.”
    “You should!” His voice came like a whip out
of the forest, harsh and lashing. She flinched against the sound.
It was so filled with hate and anger it practically burned. “But
then again you always want to claim innocence. Always pretend you
didn’t know! Does it help you sleep at night?”
    She took another step towards Rylie and then
another, doing her best to get between the rogue and the woman
lying prone in the snow. She tried to let his words roll over her,
but something in them stung. Pretend she didn’t know? There was
nothing about this man that rang a bell. She started to shake her
head when he moved. She felt the pulse through her magick a second
before she could hear him crashing through the forest. He shoved
into view, his gun leveled at her chest.
    His eyes were wild and rimmed with red. Sweat
clung to his skin and clothes. He jabbed the gun in her direction,
his hand shaky, but she had no doubt when he pulled that trigger he
could hit her. “You’re such a lying bitch,” he ground out, spittle
covering his lips. “Don’t even look at me like that. You were
married to that bastard. You should have known!”
    And there his words hit like a slap. She
jerked. He took another step towards her but Bree couldn’t move.
Her heart lodged in her throat as all the past guilt swarmed her.
This was about Caesar, what her husband had done.
    Not her. And yet she couldn’t stop the
barrage of guilt that beat at her.
    She should have known. She’d told
herself that a thousand times, but damn it, she’d finally come to
accept the fact that no one could have known what Caesar was going
to do—not even his wife.
    It didn’t change the fact that she was sorry,
that she wished she’d seen the signs, that she could have stopped
him. But she hadn’t known.
    “I’m sorry.” She didn’t move as she stared at
him. “Whatever Caesar did—”
    “Don’t even do that!” He took another step
towards her, his lips curled back as he ground the words out
between his teeth. She could feel the fury emanating from