Page 36 of Wolf Hunter

I live for death. I live for the release of the beast inside me and the war I’ve chosen to wage against the evil of this world. Evil on men like Reid, who control other people’s lives with a sense of superiority. Of entitlement.

I’ve given up the last five years of my life in pursuit of their demise.

And yet here we stand together. I glance down at our joined hands and wonder how long it will take me to snap out of these feelings.

I also refuse to move until he does.

Knowing Reid, he’s probably waiting for me to make a snarky comment or three about how he’s pressing his advantage. Which he totally is.

My throat tightens, and the response never comes.

A dark smile plays across his lips. “I hope you’re ready for this, sweetheart. I’m about to get possessive.”

“Yeah, sure. Do your worst.” I stuff down a groan and know I’ll be counting down the second until this charade ends. Still, if he helps me get answers about Carmen…

Reid blocks my view of the door, kissing my cheek once and laughing before pushing open the closet and stepping out into the light.

I automatically move away from him, but he reaches back to hold my hand once again.

Anger trickles through me, and I purse my lips together. I’ve just agreed to this bullshit charade. I’ve shaken on it.I look back up at the face of the man who I thought had caused me so many problems.

Guess we’re stuck together for the time being. We both have questions and maybe,maybe, we’ll find our answers in each other.

If no one catches on to us.

Reid brings me through the house with a thumb sweeping possessively over mine. My heart lurches with each swipe, and I wonder if I’ll always react to him that way or if this is some kind of lagging fear response.

Wishful thinking.

I stay a step behind him and fight to plaster the same kind of uncaring smile on my face that he wears. Hopefully looking like a woman who’s been thoroughly pleasured in a linen closet instead of one who’s gotten caught on her road to escape.

Whoops. It feels as though I have a lot of work ahead of me.

I refuse to give in to the shame of my failure and all that it means. If I have a clear road toward finding my sister, I’ll take it and then some. Lord knows I’ve paid for this chance in blood a thousand times over.

Reid’s death will come at my hands eventually, just not today, and I have to find a way to be okay with that. Not failure.Patience.

The mark of a good assassin.

Except I’ve never been too good at waiting.

We walk through the house, and I notice the telltale pinprick of eyes from the rest of the pack falling on me from the shadows, labeling me as the one thing I’ve never wanted to be: someone else’s property.

It’s just a part I play.

We stop outside the door to the room where I’ve been staying, and Reid’s heated gaze burns into the side of my cheek. I turn my head to face him with my jaw set.

“Try to look happy, love,” he purrs. “This is a chance of a lifetime. I don’t take lovers often.”

Sure, lie to my face.

No one who looks like him is celibate for long.

“Neither do I,babe,” I say in loud defiance, working hard to feel like I’m staring into the face of the man of my dreams instead of marching into battle.

Reid shows me through the house on a quick tour an hour later, while most of the others are out getting supplies for the incoming snowstorm, or so he assures me. There are only ten wolves in living in the house. The rest have chosen to take up residence outside in their own houses, but when he shows me the lodges through a window, even I notice that most sit empty. Are their numbers dwindling over the years with no new blood being introduced?

He offers no explanation as to why, but I wonder if it has anything to do with his late father’s reputation.

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