Free Christmas Moon by Sadie Hart Page B

was gone. A blur of silver fur fading into the
brush.
    Immediately, Bree turned back to Rylie but
both she and Hunter were gone. Nothing but the blood splattered
snow and footprints left behind. Shit . The rogue had run
straight for them. Her heart pounding so hard in her chest Bree
could barely breathe, she bolted after them, praying it wouldn’t be
too late.
    Please don’t have let me have gotten them
killed.

Chapter Eleven

    Hunter cradled Rylie in his arms as he headed
down the hill. He flinched at the sound of a gun going off, not a
hundred yards behind him. His whole body jerked as he fought the
urge to turn around, the wolf in him snarling under the surface,
wanting out . Bree was theirs to protect, just like the woman
in his arms. She might not agree, but he’d be damned if he could
leave someone behind to face down a madman—whether she thought she
could or not.
    And yet, against the screaming wolf inside
him, Hunter kept hurrying down the trail. She’s done this
before, he told himself. As a Hound she had to have faced off
with more than her share of armed shifters. She knew what she was
doing.
    It didn’t make heading down the mountainside
any easier. Especially not when the second gunshot rang out. Please don’t let her be hurt.
    He wouldn’t forgive himself for leaving her
there if she got herself killed. If he got her killed by
leaving. Hunter picked up his pace; cradling Rylie’s head to his
chest, he damn near ran down the snow-slick trail. His footsteps
were light, swift, and the snow kicked up behind him in plumes as
he slid into one step and then the next. Only sheer will kept him
upright and moving.
    Rylie stirred in his arms, a soft moan
sounding from her and Hunter held her tighter. “Don’t,” he ground
out, panic making his voice rougher than he’d intended. “You’re
safe now.”
    It was a lie, they weren’t safe yet, but it
was better than the truth.
    “Hunter?” Her voice was gravelly, hoarse, and
his name sounded half broken on her tongue.
    “I got you,” he murmured, slipping down
another embankment.
    Her fingers curled in his jacket. “Thank
God.”
    The sigh of relief in her words made his
heart clench. She should have never been taken. She should have
been safe all along. And if Bree didn’t make that bastard pay for
taking a member of his pack, Hunter would.
    Another stride and his foot caught over a
rock under the snow and he staggered. Hunter managed to catch
himself, holding Rylie tight in his arms, but glanced up at the
slope just as a wolf barreled into his side. Rylie went spinning
out across the hillside as teeth snared in his coat, ripping
through the fabric. Hunter let out a growl. He slammed a fist into
the wolf’s side and the animal let him go, rolling across the
ground.
    Hunter lunged for the sleek gray animal, but
the wolf snapped at his hands and tore off into the woods.
Instinctually, Hunter felt his wolf rise under his skin, desperate
to break free, to give chase. To hunt down the rogue like the prey
he was.
    But Rylie’s soft cry behind him stopped him
in his tracks.
    Hunter glanced back up the trail. Bree .
    “Shit Bree, be okay,” he said to the wind
swirling around him as he moved toward Rylie sprawled out in the
snow bank. He scooped the woman up. Her eyes had drifted closed
once more, but her breathing was still steady. He wanted nothing
more than to head back up the trail and find Bree. Just to make
sure she was okay.
    His jaw tightened and he took a step back the
way he’d come. Then, just beyond a tree he saw the flash of her
coat, bright yellow against the crystal white snow. His heart
slammed in his chest and his breath froze, baited, as he waited.
She slid down a small hill on the trail, snow skimming her boots as
she ran, only to jerk to a halt as she saw him.
    Relief flashed across her face and Hunter had
no doubt he had the same expression on his.
    Thank God.
    “I thought—” The words died in his throat as
he looked at her, the gun