Free HuntressUnleashed by Clare Murray Page B

meant, never grasped
the enormity of the intense need to follow the—
    PREY.
    The call was irresistible. She burst into a frenzied sprint,
clawing the door open and charging outside into darkness. Her mate was behind
her, snarling dominance that she ignored. She was fury on four feet, furred
Huntress. She would outrun him. And the PREY’s trail was easy to follow.

Chapter Six
     
    Eagan had been elated when she’d responded to his dominance,
obeying him involuntarily. Watching the lass accustom herself to wolf form
filled him with a sense of pride and worry.
    First-time Changes were always the toughest. There was
always the slight chance that a new werewolf would go rogue, staying
permanently inside the wolf until none of their humanity remained.
    His Caitrin was handling the experience well, up until she
ran for the front door, knocking it half off its hinges as she disappeared into
the night.
    Eagan took the time to Change, begrudging every second of the
process. The Guardians had already followed her, uncertain yet soulbound to
protect. He followed their trail, snarling as he recognized Delaney’s scent.
    What was the lass doing?
    He reached for her with his mind, hoping against hope that
their fledgling telepathic connection would strengthen. In an instant he felt her drive to hunt the Other who had invaded her territory. Both werewolf and
Huntress instincts were affecting Caitrin, driving her forward into danger.
Lacking his centuries of experience, she was helpless in the face of those
combined urges.
    Eagan searched for signs of the dark wizard but he discerned
no wards, no sizzling magic that tainted the air. His greater size, speed and
stamina allowed him to gain on Caitrin. Soon he saw her in the moor ahead, a
light-gray wolf bounding eagerly forward, lit up like a beacon by the full
moon.
    The wind was beginning to carry the scent of witch. Even as
he ran, he recognized the scent as the witch who had cast the wards around
Caitrin’s croft.
    Delaney’s trail led in the witch’s direction. He seemed to
be alone but Eagan knew the twisted werewolf was dangerous even without his
wizard companion.
    Eagan caught up with Caitrin just as she reached a small
rise. Putting on a burst of speed, he blocked her path, snarling a warning.
Just ahead was a small cottage, presumably the witch’s. Eagan had eyes only for
his mate.
    She faced him warily, her thoughts racing in circles as he
listened with his mind. Seeing him calmed her Huntress prey drive somewhat, but
she was only an instant away from attempting to sidestep him and continue her
pursuit. Seizing her gaze with his own, Eagan projected a calm dominance.
Slowly her eyes lost their fierce inhumanness, her paws ceasing to shuffle in
agitation.
    Just when he thought she was returning to him, Delaney
roared a challenge from the cottage.
     
    Caitrin growled, the sound rippling through her chest and
throat. Her Prey stood in full sight with Iris lying on the ground behind him.
    She forced herself to concentrate, watching for any movement
from her beloved friend. Finally she spotted the slight rise and fall of her
chest. Relief steadied her.
    Her mate was continuing to block her path. Conflicting
signals were beginning to drive her mad—Prey nearby, yet her Alpha was denying
her the right to chase.
    “I know ye hear me, Eagan MacCulloch!” Delaney swaggered
forward, arrogance in every line of his body. “Hand over the lass and ye can
slink off unharmed.”
    Never.
    The word, heard directly with her mind, was as sharp as
knives. Werewolves could do that? Caitrin struggled to comprehend that fact in
the midst of everything else. There was a lot her mate wasn’t telling her.
    Although the potion must long since have worn off, she
studied Delaney intently, seeing him in the entirety of his evilness, the black
ink of the wizard tattoos barely keeping him together, alive. With her
wolf-aided sense of smell, the reek of his foul body was almost overpowering.
He was