Page 46 of Operation Wolf: Hunter
CHAPTER 23
Kia
I WOKE UP ONthe couch to see Hunter’s face hovering over me. It took my mind a few minutes to catch up with what I’d seen before I passed out, and when it did, horror engulfed me, driving all rational thought out of my mind.
“Get the fuck away from me!” I shrieked, backing up to the other end of the couch. I held my hands out, as if I could ward Hunter off. “You’re a monster!”
Hurt flashed across Hunter’s features, but he didn’t refute my claim. “I’m sorry you had to see that,” he said quietly, “and we can discuss it later, but for now, there’s something else we need to focus on.”
“No, there isn’t.” I was hyperventilating now, and I fanned my face, trying to take in deep breaths. All I could see was Hunter’s face as he’d transformed into that half-man, half-beast thing and jumped out the window . . . just like my mother’s killer. “The only thing you need to do is get the hell out of this house and never come back.”
“Oh, yeah?” Hunter challenged, taking a step forward. “And just what do you want to do about that guy?” He jabbed a finger out to his left.
I slowly followed his gaze and then let out a gasp at the sight of a man trussed up in one of the kitchen chairs with a length of rope. He was naked but for a pair of boxers that I recognized as some of Hunter’s, and his expression was resigned as his dark eyes glanced between Hunter and me.
“I’m guessing you never told her about what you were?” the stranger said dryly.
“Oh my fucking God.” The puzzle pieces finally clicked into place, and I thought I was going to be sick. “You’re the wolf who attacked the horse . . . who killed Twilight.” My head spun for a moment, and I dug my nails into my palms, willing myself to toughen up and stay in the moment. “Is he like the one who attacked my mother?” I asked Hunter.
Hunter shook his head. “Our friend over there is a pure-blooded shifter,” he explained. “A human who can shift into the form of a specific animal . . . or in some rare cases, an animal who can shift into the form of a human.” He sneered at the man, who curled his lip at Hunter in return. “The one who attacked your mother and killed her was likely a hybrid shifter. A human who can change into a man-beast shape. From your description, he was probably a hybrid wolf-shifter.”
“And what are you?” I asked faintly, not sure if I really wanted to hear the answer. The monster Hunter had turned into seemed like a combination of man-beast, so that had to mean . . .
“Yeah, I’m a hybrid wolf-shifter as well, but I’m in control of my animal,” Hunter replied carefully, confirming my fear. “I’m half wolf, half human, and, no, I wasn’t born that way,” he said with an exasperated look. I opened my mouth to ask another question, but he cut me off, “Look, you can grill me all you want later, but right now, there are more important things to worry about.” He glared at the man in the chair. “Tell her what you told me.”
“My name is Jason Stanley,” the man said in a dull tone, as though he were reciting a particularly boring essay or poem. “I’m a pure-blooded wolf-shifter, and I was hired by Samuel Bradley to terrorize and kill off some of your horses so you would sell.”
I sat up straight, the fog in my mind suddenly evaporating. “What?” I whispered, unable to believe I’d heard right.
“Samuel Bradley hired me to kill your horses so you’d be forced to sell the ranch,” Jason repeated.
“That fucker,” I muttered. I dropped my head into my hands. “I can’t believe this shit is happening.”
“Well, you can believe it, darling,” Hunter said, his voice hard.
I raised my head to see that he was staring at me intently.
“I want to make sure you understand that the man who offered you a hundred thousand dollars in order to turn your uncle’s ranch into a housing development hired a dangerous shifter to attack in order to force you to do his bidding.”
“Yeah . . . I understand,” I said slowly. I rose from the couch and began moving toward the staircase in a dreamlike state. “I understand perfectly.”
Hunter caught me by the arm and spun me around. “Where do you think you’re going? Don’t you have anything to say about this? Don’t you think we should decide what to do with him?”
“No,” I said. To my ears, my voice sounded like it was coming from a thousand miles away. “You can decide what to do about him. I just need to get away.”
Turning around, I headed up the stairs and wished with all my might that, when I came back down the stairs, everything would be normal again, back to the way it had been before I found out that my lover was a damn monster.
