Hunter, Hunted: Claimed by the Enemy (Werewolf Erotic Romance) (6 page)

“What is your home like?”

He shrugged and smiled. “We are nomadic, more or less, moving around within our territory. Though some of the pack prefer to live off by themselves, in caves, and only join the others for big hunts and pack gatherings.”

“Are there... other humans there?” Adrianna asked hesitantly.

“There are two women in our pack who were human-born. One is blooded now.”

Something suddenly occurred to her. In panic, she clutched his elbow, stopping him in his tracks. He turned to look at her, concerned.

“Am I going to change?” She asked, the fear making her voice break. “After what we’ve done... and you scratched me –“ She pulled her clothes aside and showed him some of the marks.

His gaze softened. He came close and took her hands in his own, holding them tightly. “No. It takes more than a tiny scratch to make the change.”

She let out the breath she’d been holding. “Alright. But...” She bit her lip, looking into his yellow eyes.

“What is it?”

“What happens now? Am I to live with you?”

The shadow of a smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. “Of course you'll live with me. We are bonded now. I will keep you safe. You’ll be happy, I promise.” She could see he was sincere. She could almost believe him. But worry still tugged at her.

“And will you... turn me?”

Lucas let out a short laugh. He pulled her near and embraced her, and she willingly rested her head against his chest, taking comfort in his closeness. “Only if you want me to.” He said. “We consider it a gift, you know.”

They walked on, and she was silent for a long while, pondering. When he had first captured her, she had thought of nothing but escape and getting safely home.

But what did she really have to return to? A violent, possessive brother and being forced into marrying someone she despised. A lifetime of fear and near-servitude, and never being allowed to leave the village of her birth.

She had been brought up to believe being turned by a werewolf was the absolute worst thing that could happen to anyone. People were taught it was best to kill themselves if bitten by a wolf, before the change took them. As far as she knew, most did. And the werewolves called it a
gift
.

Would she ever see her people again?

Forgetting about her old life was one thing, but she couldn't help but think of the innocent people who lived on the edges of the wild places. Her village, and others, warring with the beasts and creatures of the forest.

It had always been “us and them”. She thought of Esther, and her children, who would probably grow up to be hunters, and would probably die before they had a chance to grow old. What kind of future did any of them have?

How much of the killing was really due to the werewolves preying on humans – and how much was the humans pushing back – invading the wolves’ territories, seeking vengeance? Were both sides caught in a never-ending cycle of retribution?

How much of what she had been taught was really true?

A heavy misery descended on her as they moved through the forest. Adrianna felt utterly alone. The truth was, she had no one. Not since her parents had died, along with any tiny measure of real love in their family.

Eli went through the motions along with the rest of her town, but really he was dead inside. They all were. They just waited for monsters, famine, or sickness to finally finish them off.

Such dark thoughts were not like her, and she didn’t know how to shake them.

They passed a Drowner’s pool, and a living tree. The tree’s roots shifted under the dirt as it tried to trip her, the branches bent and creaked as they strained to grab hold of Addy. Both eldritch creatures ignored the werewolf completely and he was able to steer her away from the hazards.

Most creatures he could smell from far away, making them easy to avoid. Adrianna wondered what it would be like to be like Lucas, able to go anywhere you wanted in relative safety. Monsters didn’t seem to consider him a target.
That’s probably because he’s one of them
, she reminded herself.

She watched the werewolf as he walked ahead of her, moving branches aside so she could pass, pausing to raise his chin and sniff the air. He didn’t look act a monster, or look like one really. Increasingly, when she looked at him she felt... warm. A sense of safety and belonging.

Then there was the way he made her feel when he touched her. Addy’s face heated at the mere thought of the night they had just spent together.

What would her life be like if she stayed with him? Did she really have a choice? Had she been dragged from one trapped life into another?

A
drianna had never really thought about how werewolves lived. After all, who wondered how a monster spent its days? If she’d been surprised at what Lucas was really like, she was amazed when she saw his home.

They had been out of the densest forest for a while, and now trudged through knee-high grass. The trees here were far between, smaller and leaner. This was where Lucas’ people, the Bitter Coast pack, made their current camp.

Lucas led Adrianna by the hand. She half-hid behind him, nervous. There were sentries crouched in some of the trees, silently watching them as they walked by.

They approached a sprawling group of small hide tents. They were pitched wide apart, as though the occupants valued privacy. A fire pit sat roughly in the center, its ashes cold. Primitive cooking utensils, pots and kettles, were hung over the fire or lay scattered around. There was a rack of fish, perhaps for smoking.

Several frames held hides, stretched and curing in the sun. Makeshift benches and tables, made from logs, were set up here and there. Wooden torches, and even a couple of lanterns of a type Addy had never seen before, hung on poles.

It looked more primitive than Adrianna’s village – but only barely.

The pack knew they were coming. A small group of them stood waiting to meet them. In the forefront stood a tall, intimidating male in hide trousers. A gorgeous fair-haired female held his arm. She wore nothing but the barest slip of thin linen.

“The Alpha male and his mate.” Lucas told her.

Behind the couple were a serious-looking group of people, all watching with wary yellow eyes. Some held knives or spears. A handful of curious teenaged youths stood nearby, chatting amongst themselves, oblivious to the tense situation.

“Finally you return,” called the large male, as soon as they were close enough to hear. Lucas led Adrianna by the hand and they approached the pack. He had coached her – she was supposed to show no fear. She swallowed hard and hoped her trembling wasn’t visible.

“We thought to see you last moon.”

Lucas smiled. He let go of Addy’s hand. The two men embraced, but she thought she sensed some tension between them.

“You were successful then.” The female spoke. Her voice was soft and melodic. When Adrianna dared a glance at her, the woman smiled warmly. “Your mate?”

Lucas bowed his head in a gesture of respect, then propelled Addy forward. The woman put a hand under Adrianna’s chin and tilted it up so she could look at her. She turned her face this way and that. Adrianna might have been annoyed at being inspected like livestock, if she wasn’t so nervous.

As the males talked together, the woman continued to look closely at Addy. “I saw you last night.” She said. Adrianna blinked, unsure of her meaning. Then she remembered the white wolf, running with the moon alongside her and Lucas.

The woman lifted a strand of Adrianna’s hair in her fingers. Adrianna flinched as she bent forward to sniff it. Her eyes were like liquid gold. She smiled. Her teeth were sharp, but she exuded friendliness. “You are pretty.” She said, as if passing her judgement. Then she turned to Lucas. “But why a human, brother?”

Adrianna thought at first that this woman was his sister. But she quickly learned that she was not truly related to him. The whole pack addressed each other as “brothers” and “sisters”.

Illura was her name, and she was welcoming, if aloof. Nothing about her was human, either – she had the preternatural senses and graceful, animal way of moving that Lucas possessed.

Her mate Max, the Alpha, seemed to be the complete opposite. He was older, greying around the temples, perhaps passing his prime. Max was cold and measuring, and Adrianna could never tell what he was thinking.

She suspected he resented her for some reason. Perhaps he just didn’t like humans. Or maybe it was just whatever he and Lucas had between them. Regardless, he barely acknowledged her.

Adrianna was introduced to everyone and shown around. The eyes of every werewolf were fixed on her. They stared at her, watching her every movement.

Some of the male werewolves looked at her with undisguised lust. Adrianna stuck close to Lucas. Sensing her nervousness, he put a protective arm around her. “You are bonded to me,” he told her. “They will respect that.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“They know that if they don’t, I will kill them.” He answered simply.

Most of the others seemed merely curious. Some of the little ones bordered on afraid; those who'd had little contact with humans. She spent some time among them. She smiled a lot and tried to be calm and friendly.

She liked the earnest way they talked to her, asking her question after question. A little blonde girl climbed on her lap, looked closely at her eyes and felt and smelled her hair.

The humans in the pack – or those who had been human once - were Martha and Catelynn. Both women were mothers of small children. The pack didn’t turn human males, only females taken as mates.

The two women immediately took Adrianna under their wings. They found her clothes, shared their food with her – for the wolves most often ate raw meat – and advocated for her needs.

“They are not bad people, the werewolves,” Catelynn told her. “They just have their own ways, and sometimes don’t understand ours.” Catelynn had been with the pack for just over a year. She was blooded now, but she looked and acted human. The only outward sign of the change was her eye color.

“If you respect the Alphas, and obey your mate, you will be fine.” Smiled Martha, bouncing her baby son on her lap. Martha was unblooded, but her son looked like a wolf. The boy chewed on his fist with sharp little teeth and looked around with yellow eyes.

Both women seemed serene and content. Martha in particular, spoke of her mate with a look of love in her eyes.

Addy stayed with the women during the evening. By the time the sun set, she was exhausted. She fell asleep in Martha’s tent, laying down on the soft furs that covered her floor.

Lucas came back later, and carried her to the tent he had claimed for them. She barely awoke as he laid her down and covered her with a protective arm. Sleeping curled against him already felt familiar and
right
.

There was a strict hierarchy among the pack, with the Alpha male and female the final authority on anything. Anyone was free to challenge the alpha male, and they often did.

Because of this, life in the pack was sometimes violent. But the human women were generally exempted from the squabbles. They didn’t really have a place in the hierarchy, but ostensibly shared their mate’s position and were under his protection.

Lucas proved a good protector. He defended his choice to take a human as mate, so fiercely that the pack quickly stopped mentioning it to him. Everyone except for the Alpha.

In the afternoon of her second day with the pack, Adrianna heard raised voices. When the wolves had a grievance against one another they usually aired it right out in the open. Max and Lucas were arguing loudly. Her blood chilled when she realized the topic was
her
.

She caught the end of the sentence. “...Human bitch.”

Adrianna stood up from where she was sitting in Martha’s tent with the other women, making a basket. She parted the tent opening and peeked out.

The two men were facing off, looking every bit like wolves about to get into a bloody fight. Max’s teeth were bared, and Lucas, his back to her, had his hands clenched into clawed fists.

“She is strong. She hunts.” Lucas’ retort.

Max scoffed. “Our bloodlines need to be strengthened, not watered down. Were you too cowardly to take a blooded female?”

“You know as well as I do that we need human women.” Lucas spoke between gritted teeth. The hair was rising on the back of his neck. “There aren’t enough female wolves, and many of them aren’t fertile. Besides, none of that matters. She and I are fated.”

“Rot.”

Lucas slammed into him. The two wrestled for a moment, teeth bared and growling. They were changing, fur sprouting as they broke apart, circled each other, then came back together in a flurry of claws and teeth.

Martha pulled Adrianna firmly away from the opening. “Let them sort it out.” She said.

Adrianna sat trembling, trying to weave her basket with shaking hands as she listened to the sound of the short but vicious battle.

When she saw Lucas later, he had a nasty bite wound on his upper arm and a few punctures in his skin, teeth-marks clearly imprinted. Addy insisted on cleaning the worst for him, even though he said there was no need. Wolves had a superior healing ability – Lucas had few scars. But he let her do it, because it made her feel better. He had gotten into the fight for her sake.

“Who won?” She asked him as she wrapped fresh linen around his arm, trying not to betray how shaken she was.

He sighed. “It’s not as clear cut as that. I proved my point. But that won’t stop him from challenging me again, on this or something else.”

“Why?”

“He’s threatened by me. I have fought him on too many things.”

Adrianna frowned. She looked at him, noticing his distant expression. “I don’t understand.”

He glanced at her and smiled. “It’s just the way things are. I am the strongest, next to Max, and his time is passing. He is defensive because he knows it. Sooner or later, I will challenge him for leadership. It usually means a fight to the death.”

The thought of it made her stomach clench in anxiety. What if Lucas were seriously injured or killed – where would she be then?