Free An Unauthorized Field Guide to the Hunt by Kari Gregg

bones.
    He screamed in that wounded rasp until the sedative finally knocked him out.

Chapter Four
    “Life. Fear. Sex. In the arena, everything is confusing and surreal. Whatever you think you know is wrong.”
    ~ Shane West
    Day 3
    The canopy
    The cats had been using the arenas and the Hunt for generations. Several had carved hollows from trunks in the upper canopy to use as mating dens, and a steady stream of cats had widened and improved dens to increase comfort since. Lore’s was wide enough for the two of them to spoon together in a curl of twined bodies, the hollow lined with fresh leaves under furs to provide a cozy nest. A tangle of vines thick with blue flowers as big as Shane’s missing flatscreen curtained the opening to the outside world, so he knew they must be very high in the treetops. Only small blooms that thrived in shade blossomed in the forest gloom below.
    Tucked against his chest by the cat’s arms around him, Shane’s wrists ached.
    Lore lapped at the bite in Shane’s shoulder, and Shane shivered at the sting. Then stiffened and sighed as the cat prodded his slick cock in Shane’s crack and smoothly slid into Shane’s ass. Astonishingly, with the cat’s dick filling his body, Shane could think more clearly—a first since the cat knocked him to the forest floor and mounted him what felt like eons ago.
    His name was Shane West. He’d fled Narone after his brothers’ attempts to kill him had grown perilously close to succeeding. His grandmother had helped sneak him to Mariket, hoping to hide Shane in the Hunt. If he competed well, he would become a representative to the cats for his home world and too valuable to waste on the family business. One of Shane’s brothers would be named heir instead. Shane would never see Narone again, but he’d survive. Homeless. Alone. But safe.
    Except he’d fouled it all up—by becoming Lore’s victor. Which was impossible.
    Just like rogue beasts prowling the arenas was impossible.
    And attacks on mated competitors by other cats.
    Impossible.
    But it didn’t feel that way. Shane felt as though, if he’d awoken without his cat cuddled against his back, without Lore slipping into his body, he would have lost his mind.
    The gaping maw of his destroyed life stretched before him. The loss of who he’d been, coupled with the confusion of who he was now, was more bewildering and painful than the injuries that tormented him. He didn’t want to—couldn’t—think anymore, and for now, for this moment, he didn’t have to. “Fuck me,” he said, voice still scratchy from his screams.
    There wasn’t room in the den for anything save the gentle rocking of his cat’s hips joining them together, but that was all right. Shane ached too much for the raucous sex of the first night’s chase. His hole stung. The tender stab of the cat’s cock inside him made him forget the soreness, though. Moaning, Shane squirmed to meet each thrust, the wicked tingle in his ass building, building, obliterating everything else. He arched his spine, a cry working from his throat when Lore bit into the shoulder wound, but the pain didn’t deflate Shane’s cock. He hardened as Lore’s teeth clamped like a vise. Blood trickled down Shane’s pec, too fast to be licked and sucked into the cat’s voracious mouth.
    Their sex was beautiful, consuming. And cruel.
    Lore hugged Shane’s wrists to his chest once in silent warning and then dropped a hand to Shane’s hip. He didn’t mark Shane there again. Pristine white bandages—odd in the untamed forest of the arena—covered the punctures the other cat had inflicted and were as impenetrable as Mariket’s defense shields. Lore wouldn’t risk scars on Shane that hadn’t come from him. Instead Lore swept his claws across Shane’s unprotected stomach just above Shane’s bobbing dick. He carved five grooves into Shane’s belly, then five more.
    “Oh gods,” Shane moaned, pushing his ass back to welcome the dick filling him.
    The