Page 63 of Hunted

Christian clearly had no intention of coming quietly because just then, they heard the unearthly howls of a group of wolves headed directly toward them.

Dominic listened more closely and allowed his wolf to take the forefront in his mind. He heard it then.

The pounding of claws against the forest ground.

Two, maybe three dozen.

But two dozen if we’re lucky.

“How many?” he asked the wolf who had come to alert them.

“They say three dozen,” the other shifter said breathlessly, and Dominic’s heart sank.

They were just about outnumbered.

Luke was clearly thinking the same thing.

“Bert does have those shotguns,” he offered, and when Dominic looked down, he saw that Luke’s hands had shifted into claws.

“Not enough,” Dominic said, shaking his head. “Not enough.”

“There’s enough of us,” Luke insisted.

“Listen,” the other alpha continued, and Dominic forced himself to focus on Luke’s words. “We’ve prepared for this, and I can guarantee you that Christian hasn’t. He’s feral, remember? He wouldn’t have thought his plan through.”

Dominic allowed himself to be comforted by Luke’s words, but knew they had very little time.

Eight minutes. Maybe six minutes.

He turned back to the shifter as he began the shift.

“You know what to do.” The words came out in a growl as Dominic’s mouth and nose became a muzzle.

The shifter nodded obediently.

His spine curved and arched, lengthening, as the howls and shrieks of enemy wolves filled the air.

In that moment, all Dominic could hope for was that Abigail had remembered his instructions and they had trained her well enough.

Bert had doused the bonfire and turned off all the lights in the compound.

It wouldn’t do to give their enemies the advantage of being able to see clearly, because even with their enhanced vision, they didn’t know the Moonstone compound the way the Moonstone wolves did.

Dominic listened as the pounding of claws on the ground became heavier when they got nearer.

The Moonstone pack territory had gone silent as they waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Chapter 28

Abigail

“It’sfine.It’llallbe fine,” Abigail whispered to one of the smaller pups and lifted the little girl into her arms. “Come with me,” she whispered to the children, and they followed her quickly, obediently, as she headed toward the cabins on the outskirts of the compound.

Esme was hurrying ahead of her while Bert remained behind to douse the fire.

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