Free Mating Hunt by Bonnie Vanak Page A

corner of her mind. But the young needed her to remember.
    I can’t do this , she thought, hugging herself. It hurts too much.
    The front door banged open. Arianna stiffened as Kyle joined her.
    “Come inside. The fire’s roaring, and I’ll confiscate Darius’ stash of Malbec. It’ll piss him off, knowing someone drank his favorite wine.”
    “I need to be alone.”
    “And I won’t let you.” In the moonlight, his eyes became two hardened emeralds. “You’re mine, Ari, even though we have yet to bond in the flesh. What I hold, I keep, and keep safe. I’m not going to leave you alone until I know you won’t faint again. Until I know you’re ready to deal with what happened to you.”
    “I don’t need to remember.”
    “You must. If you don’t, you’ll always be stuck in the past.”
    “And you’re such an expert,” she mocked. “You know what it’s like to have a rough childhood.” But Arianna knew he had. How many times had she seen it reflected in his eyes when someone mentioned happy times, growing up in a pack?
    Moonlight shadowed his expression. “I do. But this isn’t about me.”
    He rubbed a hand over the bristles on his lean jaw. “It’s about a scared, young girl I found on the mountain who was only twelve, who spoke a few words and then didn’t speak again for another three months. A girl so terrified she never slept, only screamed out in nightmares that would make an adult shiver.”
    “Stop it,” she whispered.
    “You were terrified of what some sick bastard wanted to do to you. Some sick bastard who wanted you for the same purpose he wanted Jessie and his sisters.”
    Throat closing, she felt bile rise from her stomach. Don’t fall apart. Keep it together, keep it together.
    “I can’t remember.”
    “All the searching we did for your parents, it was useless because they were dead. Right?”
    And then the memories burst forth like a breaking dam. Grief flooded her as she remembered blood streaking pure white fur, bright blue eyes clouded over as they died in wolf form, her father lying atop her mother as if to protect her.
    “Yes. They’re dead. Damnit, you have your answer, now leave me the hell alone!”
    Blood trickled into her mouth as she bit her lip.
    Kyle said nothing, but squeezed her shoulder, as if in silent understanding as she struggled to regain her lost composure. She’d learned long ago pretending to be strong was better than showing any weakness.
    After a few minutes, they returned to the cabin. Legs opened, arms braced on his muscled thighs, Kyle sat on the top step. Arianna joined him. Ice filled her veins, her breath, the space behind her eyeballs.
    “Did they love you?” he asked quietly.
    Somehow she managed to speak past the lump clogging her throat. “Very much. What I do remember is how happy we were. I was special to them, their only offspring.”
    Kyle’s gaze grew luminous in the moonlight. He ran a calloused thumb across her quivering cheek. “You are special, Ari. You have a tender heart, hidden behind a tough hunter’s façade.”
    Gone was his fierce sexuality, the intensity that took her breath away. This was her guardian, who protected and cared for her. Tension eased, the ice in her heart melting in little trickles. But his next words left her cold once more.
    “Such a tender heart, which is why you know you must help me protect those little ones. You’re the only one who can help us find the man who wanted to breed them. What happened to you all those years ago, Ari?”

Chapter 9
    T HE LAKE LOOKED cold and ghostly in the moonlight, as unforgiving and stern as the past that refused to relinquish its memories. Arianna chafed her cold hands to try to keep warm. Cold, oh, so cold.
    “Do you remember anything?” he asked quietly.
    “I remember ice, my breath coming in ribbons of steam. A cavern and chains.”
    She’d thought she’d never experience warmth again.
    “Were your parents there?”
    “No.” Arianna frowned, flashes