Page 17 of Claimed By the Hunter

It took several minutes before his feet hit the ground, and he was able to lift her off the tree. He had her in his arms and closed his eyes.

God, he’d been so close to losing her. If that had happened, he would have gone mad, and the pain would eventually kill him, too.

“I love you so much,” he said in her ear.

“I love you, too.”

He tilted her chin and lowered his to press his lips against hers. Although his body craved more of her, he had to deal with the situation.

“I’m going to have Blake take you back to the truck.”

“I can’t walk. The chain wrapped around my ankle has taken off a bit of skin, and I can feel it swell.”

“I wasn’t going to allow you to walk. He’s going to carry you.”

“Can he touch me?” she asked.

“Yes, in dire situations, it won’t hurt you.”

“All right.”

He turned to face Blake. He took hold of Tamara’s arm. He thought she’d look defeated or regret what she had done, but all he saw was jealousy, fury, and something close to savage hatred as the woman stared at Nicole. He didn’t want to do it, but when a wolf went this far, they had to be put down before they hurt anyone else.

Nicole stared at him. “But, I want you.”

“I know, baby. I’ll be right there. Now let Blake take you back.”

Hunter nodded at Blake.

His friend picked his mate up and adjusted her so the chain was over his shoulder and not on her. He waited until they were several yards away before he faced Tamara.

“What were you thinking?” he asked.

She growled and tried to jerk away from him. “You’ve always been mine.”

“I was never yours. I’m unsure what turned you into this, but I can’t allow you to live. For one thing, you kidnapped and hurt my mate. I will never forgive that. Another thing is we both know you’re never going to get over this obsession you have with me.”

“I can’t believe you’d want that whore over me,” Tamara said.

He squeezed her arm hard enough to get her to flinch. “Don’t ever call her whore. She’s the love of my life, and I could have never loved you.”

With a scream of fury, Tamara wrenched away from him and turned into her wolf. He turned when she came at him. If he had been in his human form, he would have had a problem holding her off. His wolf was three times as strong as her wolf, so she would be easy to take down.

He grabbed her by the back of the neck and flung her to the side. She landed on her back but came right back at him.

She fought for her life, but it didn’t faze him. When he got his shot, he bit down on her throat and tore it apart. She tried to howl, but then she collapsed to the ground. Hunter stood back and watched until she took her last breath.

He turned back to his human and stared down at her. He’d known she’d been losing it for a while, but he had hoped she’d come out of it. He thought he should feel bad, but all he could feel was relief that she was gone. He looked around for a piece of his shredded shirt and wiped the blood off his face and chest. The last thing Nicole needed was to see blood all over him.

He walked back to the truck, and with every step toward her, his body hardened, and his need for her grew in a way he’d never experienced before. He thought some of it could be because he’d almost lost her, but he didn’t care. She was alive, and he was going to take care of her.

He approached the truck to see Blake standing at the side with clothing for him.

“Here. I thought you’d need this.”

“Thanks, man.” He pulled on the sweatpants and t-shirt. Each wolf always carried extra clothing in their vehicles for times like this when they had to turn into their wolf but knew they’d be seen as a naked man when they turned back. Many still didn’t understand it, and shifters didn’t broadcast it. There were still people that would always hate them because they were different.

“Where do you want me to take you?” Blake asked.

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