The Hunter's Mate

by Christina Benjamin

  Etti’s heart hammered faster. “He’s the hunt’s true Alpha? And now our baby . . .” She couldn’t get the words out.

  But Cali said them for her. “Etti’s child inherited Grey’s Alpha gene and with it, the hunt’s curse.”

  “Now you’re getting it.” Derik laughed. “So I came to snuff her out before she gains enough power to unseat me.”

  “Power? She’s a baby!” Cali yelled. “How does she pose a threat to you?”

  Derik laughed again. “It’s quite unbelievable how uninformed you are. With this child’s ancestors being protected by magic, she will inherit the power to break the curse of the hunter’s moon.”

  Etti paled. “Magic?”

  “How do you think your father escaped the hunt?”

  “But, I thought there was no way to end the hunter’s blood oath?”

  “I told you she was a miracle,” Derik sneered.

  Cali interrupted. “Why are you telling us this?”

  “I find loss is sweeter when you truly know what you’re losing. Etti is losing not only a daughter, but the key to freeing her mate and father from the curse that has plagued their lives.”

  “You have to know killing her child won’t stop her from having another.”

  Derik shrugged. “I thought of that, and that’s why I’ve decided to kill two wolves with one stone.” He pulled a silver blade from its sheath on his hip and caressed it from Etti’s swollen belly to her breasts, angling it right over her heart.

  “Even if you kill me,” Etti said trying to keep the fear from her voice. “You won’t get away with it.”

  “How’s that?” Derik asked, his voice hot against her ear.

  “The shifters in Blue Creek have already been alerted about you,” Cali retorted. “If you take the life of a shifter and her child in their territory, when there’s no hunter’s moon in sight, you’ll be on the run for the rest of your life.”

  “I’ll take my chances,” Derik growled.

  “Why?” Cali continued. “If what you say is true, and Etti and Grey’s daughter can break the curse, it won’t be until she comes of age, right?”

  “So?” Derik shot back.

  “So, why not enjoy the next eighteen years of reign without a squad of shifter enforcers from Blue Creek chasing you,” Cali replied. “And believe me, they will. You’re in the Wolfes’ territory. There’s no way they let a crime like this go unpunished.”

  Etti caught Cali’s tactic. She was stalling, trying to keep Derik talking until Grey returned, which would be any moment. Etti just needed to stay calm.

  “She’s right,” Etti continued. “And even when she’s of age. I won’t let her contest you as Alpha.”

  Derik snorted and Etti felt the blade press harder against her breast. “It won’t be up to you. The Alpha urge is not something you can suppress from your wolf.”

  “Grey did it,” she shot back.

  “He didn’t have the potential to break the curse like your child will.”

  “Then I won’t let her shift!” Etti yelled. And in that sudden, horrible moment, she understood why her mother had kept her shifter gene suppressed all those years. A mother would do anything to protect her child—anything.

  “That’s not possible,” Derik scoffed.

  “It is,” Cali said. “Etti’s mother fed her a tonic since birth to suppress the gene. She didn’t even know she could shift until Grey’s mating bond forced it. And even then we weren’t sure she’d survive it.”

  “And I’m supposed to believe you would drug your own child? Keep the power and reign from her?”

  “Yes,” Etti begged, almost unable to believe the turn of events that had made her into her own mother. “I’ll do anything to keep my daughter safe.”

  “And so will I,” rumbled a deep voice behind Etti.

  In a split second everything changed. Derik was struck hard from behind and Etti was thrown free of his grasp. She scrambled toward Cali. “Shoot!” Etti screamed. “Shoot him, Cali.”

  But Cali stood as still as a stone, her eyes wide with fear. Etti didn’t waste time following Cali’s terrified gaze. Instead she tore the gun from her friend’s shaking hands. Etti whirled, ready to take aim at the Alpha fighting her mate, but it wasn’t her mate in his grasp at all . . . it was Wes!

  “Shoot him!” Wes snarled, trying to keep Derik pinned to the ground.

  But the Alpha had his claws in Wes as they grappled around the floor. Etti couldn’t get a clear shot and she couldn’t risk hitting her best friend. He was human, and wouldn’t recover so easily from a gunshot wound.

  “I’m trying,” Etti growled back.

  The element of surprise was lost and the Alpha was quickly overpowering Wes. Derik’s claws ripped into Wes, shredding flesh as he flipped Wes onto his back. Etti finally had a clear shot at Derik and didn’t hesitate. She fired and hit her target, but not before Wes let out a blood curdling scream as Derik ripped into his chest.

  “No!” Cali screeched, and tried to run to Wes, but Etti blocked her path and shot again, still trying to take Derik down.

  Just then, Grey burst through the front door, his eyes wild with fear. Derik took one look at Grey and shifted into his wolf, bolting out the back door like the coward he was. He knew he couldn’t win against three shifters, especially with Grey thinking his mate and child were in danger.

  Grey was at Etti’s side in an instant, touching her all over. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, I’m fine.”

  “Good. Stay here, I’m going after that asshole and ending this once and for all,” Grey snarled, about to shift and tear after Derik.

  There was nothing Etti wanted more, but Cali stopped them with her plea. “Wait. I need your help. We need to get Wes to the clinic.”

  “I’m fine,” Wes grumbled, but as Etti assessed him she quickly realized he wasn’t.

  Chapter 25

  Etti

  Etti was on her knees beside her best friend as Cali examined him. Grey had helped a stunned Marc to his feet and they were all huddled around Wes. There was so much blood and Etti found herself praying that most of it was Derik’s, but from Wes’s ashen color and rattling breath, she knew she wasn’t that lucky.

  “Wes, what are you doing here?” Etti asked, taking her friend’s clammy hand while Cali tried to dress the gurgling wounds in his chest and abdomen.

  He winced as Cali tied a tourniquet. “I came to apologize. I couldn’t let you get married without me.”

  Tears pooled in Etti’s eyes. “Well, you certainly picked a good time to apologize. A moment or two later and I wouldn’t be around to get married.”

  “Ah, you could’ve taken that mutt,” Wes joked, but his hand gripped Etti’s tighter as he coughed blood.

  “Wes?” Etti uttered his name like a prayer. “You’re okay, Wes. You’re going to be just fine.”

  “I know,” he choked out, trying to smile.

  “Wes, you need to stop talking,” Cali ordered.

  “How bad is he?” Grey asked over Etti’s shoulder.

  “He has internal bleeding and a punctured lung.”

  “Shit!” Etti gasped. She looked at Cali. “But you can fix him, right?”

  “If he was a shifter, yes, but short of changing him, I don’t think . . . I don’t think he’s going to make it.” Cali barely got the words out as tears streaked her face. She knelt on Wes’s other side and took his free hand. “I’m so sorry, Wes.”

  “What? No! That’s not good enough,” Etti cried. “You have to fix him, Cali!”

  “He’s not a shifter, Etti. I can’t.”

  “Then change him!” Etti growled.

  Wes shook his head. “No,” he muttered.

  Etti turned her attention back to her best friend and pulled his head into her lap. “Why not? You can do it right, Cali?”

  “Only if he wants me too,” she said, pulling a syringe out of her ever-present medical bag.

  “Wes! Turn,” Etti begged.

&n
bsp; “I don’t want . . . to be . . . a mutt,” he hissed between gasps.

  “Well do you want to die? Because it’s looking like that’s the only other option and I will not let you die, Wes!”

  Sadness streaked down Wes’s cheeks in tears. “Etti . . .”

  “Wesley Ellis Cole, don’t you dare die on me!” Etti yelled. “I need you! Do you hear me? I need you, Wes.”

  Wes wheezed in Etti’s lap, blood soaking through her dress. “Etti . . .”

  “Please . . . Wes.”

  “I love you, Etti,” he whispered.

  “No! You do not get to say goodbye, Wes. You’re not going anywhere. It’s not time yet! Just let Cali change you.” Tears fell from Etti onto Wes and he lifted a hand to her face and she caught it.

  “It’s time,” he whispered, looking at her with those dark eyes—the twins to her own.

  “No. Please, Wes.”

  Wes took a deep breath gathering the strength he had left. “If this is it, Etti. If this is all I get . . . I’ve had a lot. I’ve had you . . .” he shivered and Etti clutched him tighter. “My friend, my family . . . my heart.”

  Wes coughed and the dangerous gurgling sounds followed. He coughed again and sprayed blood. His skin paled further. Etti had never seen Wes’s bronze complexion so ashen. His lips were white—like snow, like sorrow, like death. It was then that Etti realized it was because the life was draining from him. Wes was dying! And there was no way Etti was going to let that happen. His eyes fluttered closed and he slipped from consciousness, propelling Etti into action.

  “Do it, Cali!” Etti screamed. “Change him now! Make him a shifter.”

  “Etti, that’s not what he wants,” she whimpered, despair coloring her pale cheeks.

  “I don’t care! I will not let him die. I’ll do it myself if I have to,” Etti yelled grabbing for the needle in Cali’s hand.

  “No!” Cali yelled viciously, yanking it away. “If we’re doing this, we do it right.” She motioned to Grey and Marc to back up. “I need room to work.” Cali raised her eyes to Etti as she pulled Wes from her arms. “This might not work, you know?”

  “I know,” Etti said firmly. “But we have to try.”

  Chapter 26

  Etti

  Etti raged. “How could you just let him die?”

  “Do you think I didn’t want to save him?” Cali cried. “I’d rather take his place than let this happen to him.”

  “He was your mate, wasn’t he?” Etti accused. “He was your mate and you let him die.”

  Hurt flared in Cali’s eyes and Etti knew she was right. She’d scented their connection months ago but never said anything. And now she was glad she hadn’t. What kind of mate let their other half die?

  “I tried everything I could to save him,” Cali whispered.

  “You should’ve tried harder!” Etti screamed. “You should have given him the injection sooner!”

  “He didn’t want to be a shifter, Etti.”

  “Wes never knew what he wanted!” Etti shot back.

  “And you did?” Cali accused.

  “Yes! I’m his best friend!”

  “Well if you knew him so well you should’ve known he was in love with you and you were killing him. If both of you weren’t so fucking stubborn maybe he would still be here!”

  “This is not my fault!” Etti screamed lunging for Cali.

  “Whoa.” Grey cut between the snarling females and pulled Etti into a crushing hug. “Both of you are hurting right now. Let’s not lash out and make it worse.”

  Hot tears still streaked Etti’s cheeks as she pressed her face into Grey’s chest, drinking in his scent. “He can’t be gone,” she whispered. “I never got to tell him how much I loved him.”

  “He knew,” Grey murmured.

  Etti’s legs started to shake. She knew they’d give out at any moment and Grey seemed to sense it, guiding her swiftly to the couch, where Marc sat stunned. He hadn’t uttered a word since he came to. He was probably still in shock.

  Cali was kneeling on the floor, stroking Wes’s black hair away from his face. Etti’s heart cracked in her chest. Wes looked like he was peacefully sleeping. He couldn’t be gone. Not Wes. He’d been her other half for nearly twenty years. She’d known him longer than she hadn’t. She didn’t know how to exist in a world where he didn’t. She’d be forever turning to talk to him only to face a shadow—a massive void where her heart should be.

  She’d always loved Wes. Not the way she loved Grey, but she still loved him. And it didn’t mean she felt his loss any less.

  “This can’t be happening,” Etti sobbed. “I need him. I love him.”

  Grey knelt in front of her and squeezed her knees as his face twisted with sorrow.

  Etti drew a shaky breath. “I’m sorry, Grey. I didn’t mean—”

  “Etti, I know. And you don’t ever have to apologize to me. You’re my mate. What we have is one of a kind. But it doesn’t mean you can’t still have love for others. I want you to fill your life with as much love as you can. For your family, your friends, our daughter . . .”

  A new wave of sorrow crashed over Etti. “Izzi will never get to meet him.”

  Marc took Etti’s hand and spoke for the first time since Derik’s attack. His voice was surprisingly steady. “We will make sure Izzi knows him. We’ll tell her about him every day. About how strong and brave he was. And how he is the reason she’s still alive.”

  Etti squeezed Marc’s hand and nodded, fighting to stay strong for Izzi, the baby Wes had given his life to protect. Etti closed her eyes. She was so focused on calming her frayed nerves for Izzi’s sake that she didn’t notice when it happened. But Cali’s gasp didn’t go unnoticed. Etti opened her eyes and her heart stopped. She glanced at Cali who trembled with uncontrolled sobs as she stared into the dark eyes Etti would know anywhere. Except now those eyes glowed with golden rings illuminating his irises—Wes was alive!

  Chapter 27

  Wes

  Wes gazed up at the pale blue eyes that greeted him and he knew in an instant that he was changed in more ways than one. As his new elevated senses clicked into place, he knew he was staring at Cali, but more than that, she was his mate.

  He heard voices and commotion all around him, but it faded into the background as he focused on the rapid beat of Cali’s heart. He had a desperate need to quiet her fear. Wes reached up to put a hand on her tear-stained cheek and she practically leapt on top of him. Her scent overwhelmed him—wildflowers and citrus—it was heaven, it was home.

  Wes pulled Cali’s quivering lips to his and kissed her with abandon. Kissing her with his new senses was like nothing he’d ever experienced before. He could feel and taste every part of his mate and he wanted more. But Cali pulled away, still reeling at the sight of him.

  She examined his chest, watching it rise and fall like it was some sort of magic trick. “You’re alive,” she murmured with awe as his wounds began to heel.

  “Of course I’m alive.” I’d like to show you just how alive, Wes thought greedily as he watched Cali bite her plump lips.

  But suddenly he sensed another strong female by his side. Wes looked over to see Etti’s dark features floating above him. Her eyes mimicked Cali’s—wide with astonishment, like she was looking at a ghost.

  “But you were. . . you were dead, Wes,” Etti whispered, touching his shoulder like she didn’t believe he was really there. “You-Derik stabbed you. I watched you die.”

  Wes struggled to sit up, both Cali and Etti helping him. He looked around the Painted Wolf, taking in the blood stained floor and overturned furniture. As he did, memories came flooding back. He remembered it all—his old life flashed before him until it drained away, replaced by something stronger.

  “I’m a shifter now, aren’t I?” Wes asked after a long moment.

  “Wes, I’m sorry—” Cali began.

  “Sorry? Why would you be sorry? I’ve never felt better. It’s like I’m more alive than ever,” he said
looking at her again like he was seeing her perfection for the first time.

  “You said you didn’t want to be turned,” Etti cut in.

  “I did?” Wes asked, confused.

  “Wes, what do you remember?” Cali asked.

  He thought about it a moment and then the memory snapped forward, like his mind was finally waking up. He remembered everything—the fight with Derik, what led to it and the reason he was ready to die. Wes had thought he was supposed to be with Etti. And if he couldn’t have her, he didn’t have a reason to live. But relief flooded him as he looked at Cali, realizing how wrong he’d been. He’d never been more sure of anything in his life. Cali was the one he was meant for all along. Etti . . . well, she was Etti—his other half, his best friend, his family. She was the reason he’d come to the Painted Wolf tonight.

  He turned to Etti, grabbing her hand. “I came back here because I had to-I had to tell you.”

  “Tell me what?” Etti asked.

  “I know how to stop the hunt. But you’re not going to like it.”

  “Why?” Etti asked, tensing.

  “It involves your parents.”

  “My parents?” Etti shivered. “What do they have to do with it?”

  “They know someone who can protect you until your baby is old enough to break the curse.”

  “Who?” Etti asked.

  “Her name is Esme. She’s a friend of your family,” Wes said.

  “I’ve never heard of her,” Etti protested.

  “You wouldn’t have. She’s a witch and she’s very secretive.”

  “What?”

  Wes scratched his matted hair. “It’s a long story. But it’s how your father kept your family hidden from the hunt all these years.”

  “And he thinks this witch will do the same for us?” Grey asked.

  “Why?” Etti demanded before Wes could respond.

  “I don’t know. Your father didn’t say,” Wes replied.

  “Well, let’s go find her and see if she’ll help,” Etti said finally seeming to jump on board with Wes’s revelation.