Free HuntressUnleashed by Clare Murray Page A

them.”
    “Ye never felt any effects from your own wolf blood?”
    “Mm-mm.” Cait shook her head, chewing, swallowing. She’d
never been so hungry in her life. “Nor did my mother. I think she probably
repressed any werewolf instincts.”
    “What about during a full moon?”
    Caitrin finished the last bite of toast and took a long
drink of water. “Mother never ventured far from the croft,” she finally said.
It was difficult to remember if her mother had ever evinced any signs of a
werewolf. As far as Cait had been concerned, she’d just been a normal human,
albeit married to a Hunter.
    Now that she was finished eating, that strange energy
propelled her to her feet. She paced the kitchen, half lost in memories. “Why
are you asking me these questions?” she flung at Eagan.
    “Wanted to see how much ye ken about werewolves,” he
replied. He continued to watch her every movement. “There is a full moon
tonight, lass.”
    Caitrin sucked in a hasty breath as realization dawned upon
her. “Tonight?”
    “Aye.” Was that compassion in his eyes?
    “Your mark…” She paused to finger it. It was still tender
although the punctures were closed. “I feel so strange, Eagan.”
    “I know. The first Change is always the worst, especially if
it’s a bite that Turns ye.”
    “I want to run.”
    He went to her immediately, enfolding her in his strong
embrace. “Ye can no’ leave the cottage, Caitrin. Ride this through inside, safe
here with me.”
    “But I want to see the moon,” she protested.
    “Through the window only,” he warned. “Delaney is still out
there.”
    She pulled out of his embrace, restlessly pacing. “We have
to deal with Delaney at some point!”
    “Aye, but not on the night of your first Change.”
    “I do not even feel—” She stopped, doubling over at an
abrupt cramp in her stomach. The pain was followed quickly by an odd
stretching. She cried out, stumbling—and Eagan was there, holding her up as the
pain racked every fiber of her body.
    She twisted away, batting at his restraining hands. Pain
became white-hot agony for an instant, the world tilted, changing colors.
    Caitrin stifled a sob in an oddly shaped throat, closing her
eyes. The stone floor beneath her felt blessedly cool. For a long while, she
lay still as the hurt drained from her body. Eagan was half draped around her
again, having held her steady as she’d thrashed her way across the kitchen.
    Very carefully she flexed one arm. It shouldn’t have been a
surprise but she was shocked all the same to see a paw— her paw—moving at
her command. She scrambled to her feet, swaying a little as she accustomed
herself to an entirely new perspective.
    Her mate was beside her in human form. Why was he not
shifting? She struggled to remember.
    Inside. They had to stay inside. Away from the moon. How
vexing.
    Rearing up, Cait placed her paws on the windowsill. She
could just make out the glow of the full moon against the darkening sky. The
wind, blowing from the east, brought with it the smell of desolate moor. She
knew instinctively that it would frost tonight.
    Energy welled up inside, spurring her into action. Dropping
to all fours, she paced the room, aware that the not-quite-dogs were watching
her alertly. Her mate followed, his eyes watchful as she neared the door.
Muscles straining to break into a run, she clung to that tiny speck of human deep inside, forcing herself to calm.
    Cait paused, sensing something…off. Something that had been
nearby recently. What was it? She inhaled deeply.
    PREY.
    Oh, this was a fine time for her Huntress skills to
come to fruition. Cait struggled to hold on to any kind of rational thought.
The combination of raw physical power and this terrible needling energy made
that nigh impossible. She felt the other werewolf’s presence in her territory
like a throbbing toothache.
    Da said he’d been half overwhelmed when he first felt the
overriding call to Hunt. She had never understood what he