Page 37 of Hunted

Pulling away from Luke, she passed a hand over her forehead.

“Tired?” he asked, and she nodded, but he gave her a searching glance.

Laying a hand on hers and taking a deep breath, he plunged into his next statement. “I don’t want to push you, okay?” His eyes flicked to her to gauge her reaction. “You’ve been through so much and I know we can’t just pretend it never happened. We won’t go back to seeing each other right away. We’ll just… take it slow, I guess.”

Abigail knitted her eyebrows together. “Are you sure?”

He nodded swiftly. “Yeah. It’s better this way. I mean, I don’t want to force you back into a pack that ran you off. Even if it was a misunderstanding, all the feelings are real.”

She scoffed. “It’s so unfair.”

He chuckled. “Completely. Look, I talked to Dominic and he’s going to let me stay as long as I need, so I’ll be around to sort this out. We can take it as slow as you need.”

Abigail squeezed his hand. “Thank you. I know this is hard for you, but I need it.”

Luke rose to leave. “Of course. Just… let me know if you need me.”

As he walked away, Abigail thought about both packs and how much they meant to her. She began the short trip home.Home,she thought, trying to make the word feel appropriate. It didn’t—not for either place.

Another wave of anger washed over her.I didn’t ask for this.She felt guilty for acknowledging it, but part of her wished she had never met the Moonstone pack.

Chapter 17

Dominic

Dominicwasn’tsurewhathe had been expecting. All he knew was that he hadn’t expected Luke to still be in the Moonstone pack territory. He also hadn’t expected Abigail to be there either. But somehow, both of them were still there. And Dominic wasn’t sure how he felt about the situation.

Dominic had thought after the two of them had talked that Abigail would elect to go back with her mate to her old pack. And while the thought of Abigail leaving had been torturous, he had tried to make some kind of peace with the truth.

But she hadn’t left.

And neither had Luke.

Dominic had found himself, in the days after Abigail and Luke spoke, avoiding Abigail. He had thrown himself into his work and had immersed himself in his duties as alpha. And it wasn’t as though he had nothing to do. The Moonstone pack had grown greatly in the past decade, and it was clear to Dominic that it would continue to do so.

That meant he had to arrange more construction within the territory. It meant they had to become more self-sufficient as a pack, and more training classes had to be held. There was a lot to do, and for the first time in a while, Dominic was grateful he had all these things around to keep him busy.

Early on the day of the full moon, Dominic found himself alone with Luke while the shifters of the Moonstone pack prepared for the ritualistic night that lay ahead. Full moon nights were always special, always frenzied, always filled with the brimming emotions of every wolf, old and young, in the pack.

It was a time of celebration that they had made it through another month. And it was a time of preparation for the month that lay ahead until the next full moon.

“It’s quiet around here.” Luke walked up to Dominic in the entryway to the pack house.

“Yeah.” Dominic laughed. “I think everyone is getting ready for tonight.”

“Ah, the full moon.” Luke nodded reflectively. “I think things must be going pretty much the same in my own pack.”

“Do you miss them?” Dominic wasn’t sure where the question had come from, except that it had fallen from his lips unbidden.

Luke took his time answering, and Dominic looked out of the front door.

The air was hot and almost uncomfortably dry. There was no wind to cool the air and no clouds blocked out the sun, which hung high and harsh in the sky.

Dominic thought, with a slight shudder, that the night of the full moon might be more frenzied than usual.

The heat would infect the wolves like a virus, and he could almost see the sparks that would bounce off skin that became fur, could almost see the violent glinting of every eye that belonged to the Moonstone pack.

I better make sure no one loses their mind,he thought.

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