Free Christmas Moon by Sadie Hart Page A

him. He
shook with it. But as he kept walking towards her he walked right
past Rylie, leaving the woman out of the picture.
    The closer he came to her, the more danger
Bree was in, but all that mattered right now was that Hunter could
get Rylie off this damned mountain without either of them getting
hurt. He had a shot now, with the rogue’s sole focus on Bree. But
to get Rylie to safety Hunter would have to leave Bree to fend for
herself. He’d have to do what he’d promised. Bree just hoped he
trusted her enough to know she could take care of herself.
    She turned her focus back on the advancing
rogue, trying to ignore the fact that gun was getting closer and
closer. Her chances at getting out of range before he pulled that
trigger were dwindling with every second.
    She turned the conversation back to him.
“Don’t do what?” Bree said, keeping her voice as soothing as
possible. She took a step back and he snarled.
    The gun jabbed at her and her heart stopped
for a split second as she waited for the shot to fire. Instead he
just screamed, a half-roar, a half sob. It was a desperate sound
that seemed to tear through him. His breath came ragged as the
scream faded and his words were hoarse when they came, almost soft.
“Stop pretending like you didn’t know he was going to kill my
brother.”
    She opened her mouth to tell him that she
didn’t even know who his brother was when she saw Hunter at the
edge of the clearing. His wolf stared out at her from behind a
bush. She forced her gaze back on the man in front of her. She
couldn’t risk giving Hunter away, though damn she hoped he’d shift
and get Rylie out of here.
    Bree blew out a steadying breath. She had to
trust him to keep his word. She let all of her focus shift back to
the rogue closing in on her. She took another step back, giving
Hunter more space to work and hoping like hell the rogue was so
focused on her he wouldn’t even notice when Hunter came for
Rylie.
    “Who was your brother?”
    “Hale. Tristan Hale. Do you really need me to
refresh your memory?” The gun waved as he spoke, each word filled
with venom and hate. He wanted her dead, there was no question
there, but there was something else he wanted from her. Fear. An
apology. To admit she’d known.
    None of that was something she’d give
him.
    But he bulldozed on, as if convinced that if
he reminded her of her sins that she’d suddenly apologize. “Your husband , your partner , one of your own damn Hounds in
your little pack, slaughtered my brother and his wife. Do you
remember now?”
    Oh, she remembered. Tristan and Carolyn Hale
had been her husband’s first victims. He’d slaughtered Tristan Hale
outside of his bar, and then Carolyn inside her own home.
    She saw Hunter as a blur out of the corner of
her eye, human this time, and moving in a fast jog towards Rylie’s
still body. Bree took another step backwards, hoping to keep the
rogue focused on her, and started to shake her head.
    She had to draw this out, had to keep him
looking at her and not on the woman behind him.
    “You lying bitch.”
    “I remember them from the news. Vaguely, but
I had no idea—” He lunged at her, severing the words mid-sentence,
and Bree just reacted. Muscle memory and instinct took over. She
caught his wrist and forced his gun upwards just as his finger
tightened over the trigger. She registered the gun shot even as she
shoved against him.
    He lashed out, a heavy fist raining down
against her back but years of training and practice still left her
memory sharp. Some things just never left a person. Bree slammed
her foot down against the side of his knee as she twisted the wrist
with his gun. Another shot fired and then he staggered and his grip
loosened.
    Yes . Bree poured her magick through
her muscles, giving herself that extra ounce of strength as she
twisted her grip and pried the gun free. He slammed into her from
behind, knocking the breath right out of her lungs. Bree staggered
and spun, but he