Page 55 of Hunted

“You’ve got it.” Dominic considered the request further for a second. He made a decision. “Anyone who can fight, fights. Menandwomen—there’s a reason we’ve been training the female wolves all this time.” Some of the betas chuckled, but Dominic looked at them sternly. “Don’t underestimate your female counterparts. Remember, you turned to Abigail when we were missing.”

This made them go quiet immediately.

Luke thought about the misogyny in his own pack. If he ever got his pack back, he’d need to make some changes.

Their plans fell into place quickly.

By midday, there were lines of shifters all over the Moonstone pack compound, training to fight.

“Are you sure I can do this?” Abigail asked them anxiously as they prepared her for her own training session.

Dominic, Luke, and a wolf shifter named Dmitri, who was one of Dominic’s best betas, all nodded. Dmitri was assigned to stay by Abigail’s side at all times, unless she was with either Luke or Dominic.

“You’ll be fine, darling.” Luke slid his arm around her waist. “You’re strong and brave. And you need to do this. We’ll try to be there to protect you at all times, but we can’t predict everything.”

She nodded, and Luke felt his insides twist painfully as his own anxiety for his mate enveloped him.

Nic gave Abigail the same encouragement, and after they had both brushed soft kisses onto her forehead, she began sparring with Dmitri.

They did it first in human form before they shifted to their wolves.

“We need to ensure she shifts as soon as Christian arrives,” Luke told Dominic, who nodded.

“Yeah, she’s faster and stronger in her wolf form,” Dominic replied.

“I think she’s faster and stronger than even she thinks.” Luke watched his mate fight.

Her pitch-black fur shimmered in the sunlight, as though each individual strand had been brushed with liquid silver. Abigail turned to them for less than a second, and her bright, sharp eyes seemed to glint with understanding. Then she danced backward gracefully as Dmitri growled and leaped at her. She evaded his attack easily, before she rolled underneath him and closed her jaw around his neck.

When she shifted back to her human form, Luke was waiting with a towel and covered her naked shape quickly.

The rest of the day continued on swiftly, and Luke fell into the duties assigned to him by Dominic.

First, he walked around the perimeter of the compound and ensured there were no gaps in the security. He couldn’t help but notice, as he walked, that a new sort of tension hung in the air.

It was the tension of waiting and wondering, each shifter considering how many of their own they would lose in the fight.

Each shifter promised themselves they’d take as many enemy wolves as possible with them if they were fatally injured.

The tension was an elastic band that was stretched to its limit. When it snapped, it would unravel everything in its path, leaving chaos in its wake.

Luke shuddered with anticipated pain as he thought about what he would endure to protect Abigail.

His second duty assigned by Dominic was ensuring that anyone not fighting—like the children, disabled, and elderly—were safe.

Dominic had put Esme and Bert in charge of this, and now Luke headed to their little cabin. Bert just nodded as he walked up to them, but Esme immediately fluttered around him, offering him sweet tea and cookies.

“I’m good. I’m just checking to see if you need anything?”

“No, we’re all squared away. We’re going to use the woods behind the cabin for protection.” Esme laughed, as though they weren’t about to run into a war.

“We know we can’t fight, but Bert’s got a couple of shotguns for those of us willing to use them. We need to protect ourselves somehow.” Esme’s voice was so innocuous compared to her words that Luke felt dumbstruck.

“Buckshot,” Bert deigned to add.

“Yes,” Esme said peacefully and pointed to a table nearby where the weapons were being cleaned. “You know,” she said conspiratorially. “Buckshot is the best for hunting.”

“It’ll blow them to pieces,” Bert said with a cheerful grunt at the thought, his wrinkled lips twitching.

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