by Suzy Shearer
The Hunters 3
A Hunter’s Challenge
Anthanasius (Anthan) Vaduva has been alive too long. After more than four and half millennia, he had given up any hope of meeting his One and is tempted to walk into the sun.
Reluctantly agreeing to partner with Martin, another hunter, Anthan comes face to face with his pain and envy when Martin meets his One.
After helping Martin recover his One’s sister Erica who has been taken by a strigoi, Anthan decides he’d had enough.
Will he finally end it all or will he wait and hope to finally meet the One destined for him all those thousands of years ago?
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Shape-shifter, Vampires/Werewolves
Length: 87,510 words
A HUNTER’S CHALLENGE
The Hunters 3
Suzy Shearer
EROTIC ROMANCE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance
A HUNTER’S CHALLENGE
Copyright © 2015 by Suzy Shearer
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63259-141-8
First E-book Publication: March 2015
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2015 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
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Letter to Readers
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DEDICATION
For Ramona who put me in contact with Traci and to Traci who found a wonderful Cree interpreter, Gordon Dumas from Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.
I am deeply indebted to the three of them for their help, but especially Gordon, who put up with my many emails and a few crazy Cree phrase requests that had him scratching his head.
Once again I have to send a big thank-you to Lindi Jarman. She is my beta reader, my inspiration, my sounding board, my go-to gal when I need help and best of all, my soul-sister.
Couldn’t do it without you—thanks.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Epilogue
About the Author
A HUNTER’S CHALLENGE
The Hunters 3
SUZY SHEARER
Copyright © 2015
Prologue
For 4,482 years he has hunted, he has slept—that’s it. His first hunt was when he was eleven years old. Now he is 4,493.
Too old.
Too long.
Too lonely.
That has been his life.
Early on, he used to dream, he used to hope but that hope has long gone. The temptation to walk into the sun is with him constantly.
“Do you know?” he spoke to the air about him. “I stay out longer and longer each day. The pain from the sun on my body is all that reminds me that I am still alive. Each time I rise I wonder if it will be the day I finally take one risk too many.”
So he fights against those risks.
To stay that extra minute too long in the sun.
To drop his guard intentionally when he fights the strigoi.
At the moment he still constantly wages war with the strigoi but at the same time he also constantly wages it within himself. No one should have to live this long alone. He is afraid that if he were ever to meet his One, he could never return the love given. All his emotions are lost so deeply within that he doubts they even exist anymore. In fact, he has reached a point where he doesn’t think it would be fair to her or him—to love someone who could not love in return.
So now he thinks maybe it’s better to end it all now.
What chance does he have?
None.
Yet once again he rises.
Once again he hunts.
Once again he battles within his heart and soul. Each day passes, each one the same—as the millennia flow past him.
And each time he wakes he wonders who will win this day, this month, this year, this century?
He wonders aloud, “How much longer can I do this?”
Chapter One
Martin walked in and kissed Avril’s cheeks.
“Live şi lupta cu onoarea, Avril.”
“Live şi lupta cu onoarea, Martin.”
“Come sit.
It’s good to see you.”
“You look even more beautiful, Avril, a Hunter’s life suits you.”
“Thank you. It’s good to see you again, Martin.”
She led him to a comfortable chair on the balcony overlooking the distant mountains. She and Viorel were living in their house in Piteşti, Romania. Viorel walked in. Martin stood and greeted him.
“Live şi lupta cu onoarea, Viorel.”
“Live şi lupta cu onoarea, Martin.”
Martin sat back down on the chair. Viorel sat nearby, pulling a smiling Avril onto his lap and kissing her cheek.
“How were your parents?”
“They’re both good.” Martin shook his head wryly. “My mother is talking about having another child and my Dad thinks she is crazy but in the end she’ll win.”
“Knowing your mother I’d have to agree. Did you visit your relations as well?”
“Yeah I spent a week with my great uncle, at least that’s what I call him.”
Martin grinned to himself when he thought about the old man. He was a descendant of Martin’s father’s brother. He was in his late eighties and complained he was getting older. He would call Martin by his true name, Omasekew, which meant “a fighter” in Cree. The old man would make Martin do things for him, telling the others that Martin had young feet while his were so ancient. Martin loved it.
The old man knew the truth and the pair laughed together when they were alone. To Martin “Uncle” was a baby. Only a few members of the tribe knew what Martin really was. Many thought he was a piyêsiw, a “thunderbird,” sent to watch over them. It made sense as he would often arrive as a bird and had destroyed a strigoi that had been preying on the people using a lightning bolt. They believed his father had married a piyêsiw-iskwêw, “thunderbird woman,” and that was how Martin came to be.
“The old man looks so frail. The tribe look up to him, I know it will be hard for them when he leaves. It will be hard for me and Dad.”
It saddened him to leave knowing the old one would not live for many more years.
“That’s the worst part of being a Hunter, losing so many friends and relations over the eons,” Viorel said sadly. “And it just doesn’t get any easier with the passing years either.”
The two men sat thoughtfully, both lost in thoughts of family and friends long gone. Avril wondered how she would cope when her mother passed. She didn’t have any other family alive and her mother meant the world to her.
They were all silent for a while, relaxing in the early evening twilight. The sun had set over the distant Ciucaş Mountains. Viorel broke their reverie.
“That strigoi in Smokey Hills was rather active wasn’t it?”
“I’ll say. At first, I thought there were two of them. It was only after I destroyed it and waited a week to see if there were any more deaths that I realised there was only the one.”
Avril got up to make tea leaving the two men to talk together.
“I think it was a young strigoi, its actions seemed to fit. There’s a lot of younger ones around.”
Viorel nodded his head in agreement.
“Have you heard from Tomas?”
“I called in on the way here. Tomas is driving Julie insane. He’s treating her like she’s a piece of fragile porcelain and she hates it. She even told me she wishes there was a strigoi outbreak just to get him out of her hair for a while.”
Viorel laughed. “I can imagine, he’s so intense but then I guess we all are once we’ve mated. How much longer until the baby comes?”
“Actually it should be any day now. A council midwife is on hand, she’s been there a week or so. The couple you chose are perfect. Julie and Andrea have bonded very well. Andrea’s little girl loves both Julie and Tomas, she can’t wait for them to wake each evening to play.”
“I thought she and Stefan would be great. Stefan jumped at the opportunity to live with Tomas and Julie. He knew Tomas from when he was working in Romania a few years back. How does the house look now?”
“Really good. Stuart Day did a great job. He managed to keep the character of the old house. In fact you’d hardly know it had been renovated and extended, he had stain glass windows made that look like the old ones and the rest of the extensions blend in perfectly.”
“I think he will be in demand with a lot of Hunters. It makes it much easier to design a house when the builder knows what you are.”
“Yes, that’s true. I have a feeling he will be travelling the world, keeping Hunters happy. Anyway, the house is perfect. Plenty of room for visitors, too.”
“Julie and I are going back to see her mother in a month, so we’ll be able to spend time with them all.”
“Avril will be able to have plenty of ‘baby’ time then.”
“Anyway, back to business.” Viorel studied Martin. “I have something to ask. I think you are the perfect person for what I need.”
Martin looked intrigued.
“You may not like it and if you want, you can refuse.”
Martin nodded his head but didn’t say anything.
“You’ve met Anthanasius Vaduva, our king.”
“Yes, I’ve actually worked with him a few times. I consider him a friend. I like him a lot.”
“I’m worried about him. And it isn’t only me. My father is and a couple of other older Hunters.”
“Worried? In what way? I haven’t seen him for a long while, except briefly at your wedding.”
“He’s withdrawing more and more. You know as our leader, we let him go wherever he chooses and listen whenever he speaks?”
Martin nodded again.
“Anyway. Dad keeps in touch with him regularly and he said lately he seems to be depressed. He saw him at our wedding. He felt even though he seemed happy, he was hiding his true feelings. He thought he looked haunted. He was speaking about the sun and how it feels when it burns. We’re all worried he is giving up.”
Martin looked at his friend sadly.
“Who could blame him, Viorel? Let’s face it, the man has been alone for longer than any of us. I honestly can’t imagine how he copes. Surely you of all people understand.”
“Don’t get me wrong Martin, I do understand. You’re right in that I probably understand better than most. But we can’t afford to lose him. He has so much wisdom.
“Just his tactical knowledge alone is invaluable. The books he’s written on strigoi are phenomenal. As you know, we make all our children read them when they are in their twenties. It gives them understanding about what they will be up against if they choose to become a Hunter. His books allow them to make informed decisions that affect them forever.
“He was the original leader before the gods made Hunters and to all of us he is still our leader. Along with the other surviving members of the twenty, he is royalty. More importantly he’s our figurehead, the one Hunter we all look up to, who gives us hope and courage. We all look to him as our king.”
“What can I do?” Martin was puzzled and it showed. “I mean, what do you think I can?”
“We want someone to spend some time with him. See if he really is in danger of walking into the sun—not that we can stop him if that’s the choice he makes. But maybe, somehow, we can give him the support he needs to stay with us. Somehow we have to give him a reason to live.”
“Okay, I can understand that. It’s a tall order. I have no idea how to give him a reason to stay with us. But anyway, how are you going to get us together? Let’s face it, he rarely works with another. I don’t think he’s had a partner for over a hundred years or even just fought with another Hunter for one incident.”
Viorel squirmed a little on his chair and looked embarrassed.
“Well, that’s it. I kind of said you needed help.”
Martin roared with laughter. He knew he had a reputation as one of the most successful no-nonsense Hunters.
“Ah what happens when I turn up? Let’s face it, we do know each other fairly well. We’ve met a great many times and I’ve
hunted with him before when there was that large outbreak in 1691 and again in 1765.”
“Well, I guess you’ll just have to think fast. I value your judgment, you and I have hunted together a lot. I’m sorry, Martin, I couldn’t think of any other way to get him to agree to have another Hunter with him. I trust you.”
Martin just shook his head and continued laughing.
“I have a feeling you’ll get unstuck.”
Viorel agreed ruefully. “Yes, I wouldn’t be surprised but as long as you and he are together for even a few days, it might help us to know his state of mind.”
“So when do I leave and where is it?”
“Anthan contacted me a few days back. There’s some suspicious activity in Australia, in New South Wales. Actually having a partner would be an advantage, there’s a very large area to cover, some of it is mountains and bush. It runs from Sydney down the coast to what is known as the Illawarra region, touches into the Budawangs ranges and then across into the lower area of the Blue Mountains.
“We aren’t sure if it’s one strigoi being smart and covering a large area to avoid detection, or if there are a few.”
“Wow, that’s a large area! So has he agreed?”
“I asked him if he would take on a partner, said it was a big area for one person to cover as well. Suggested it would be easier and quicker with two people. After much talking on my part he finally agreed.”
Martin gave a snort, “I bet he thinks you’re crazy. Anyway, where am I staying?”
“Works out well. Anthan suggested you stay at his house. He bought an old place back in the mid-1800s. I remember he arranged with the council to have someone in to renovate and put in solar electricity and water a few years back. Anyway, there is enough room for you to stay there, it’s a large sprawling place right on the coast.”
