Page 17 of Forsaken By Night

Heart pounding, he leaped off the mattress and wheeled toward the door, keeping Tehya behind him even as she struggled to shove past him. His chest shrieked in agony, and he had to catch himself on the crumbling countertop or he’d have gone down. He must have lost his weapons in the river—not that they’d do him much good at this point. But it would have been nice to have a blade when Hunter tore open the door.

And tear open the door he did—right off its brittle hinges.

“Lobo,” Hunter growled, his body filling the doorway. He smiled, but it wasn’t a smile of amusement. It was one of victory, the smile of a predator that had cornered its prey.

If Tehya hadn’t been there, Lobo would have let rage and unspent lust fuel the first punch. He’d have gone down cursing and fighting. But fighting now would only piss off Hunter more, and there was no way Lobo was going to take risks with Tehya.

So all he said was, “Don’t hurt her,” and when Hunter’s meaty fist came at him, he stood his ground and welcomed the darkness.

8

Whatever you do, don’t tell them anything.

Lobo’s words kept echoing through Tehya’s mind as she was escorted—forcibly—to MoonBound’s headquarters. She supposed she was lucky, though; her wrists were bound, but at least Hunter hadn’t knocked her out for the journey the way he had done to Lobo. No, she just had to walk through the woods wearing nothing but a flannel shirt with three missing buttons.

She glanced over at Lobo, draped over the shoulder of a dark-haired, leather-clad warrior called Baddon, whose gaze turned smoky every time he got a glimpse of her gaping neckline. She’d have been flattered if it weren’t for the fact that he was carrying the man she loved like a slab of meat.

Lobo moaned, and she tensed.Stay still, Lobo. Don’t move. The last time he’d stirred, he’d gotten another blow of silence from the blond asshole she now knew as Aiden.

Tehya had lost her temper in a big way over that, and Aiden wouldn’t soon forget that she could bite. Even now, he rubbed his forearm and slid her silent glares.

The weird thing was that even after she’d attacked him, there had been no retaliation. She’d expected to be beaten, but the dark-skinned female named Katina had merely pulled Tehya off Aiden, and they’d continued on their way.

Unfortunately, her outburst had triggered a volley of questions that had been nonstop for miles.

“Who are you?”

“How do you know Lobo?”

“How did you get into our headquarters?”

“What clan do you belong to?”

“Are you a skinwalker?”

The only thing she’d told them was her name. The one Lobo had given her when he’d found her, starving and weak, in a snowbank.

“Tehya,” Hunter mused from a few feet ahead. “I’ve heard that word before. Is it Sioux? Zuni?” He eyed her over his shoulder, the leather thong around his head holding his hair away from his face. He had a cruel mouth and hard eyes, but his deep voice was deceptively soothing. When she said nothing, he sighed. “We’ll learn the truth about you, you know.”

Anxiety spiked. “With torture?”

Aiden raised his bitten arm. “I vote yes.”

“Jackass,” Katina muttered.

“We’re here,” Hunter announced, and Tehya was actually relieved that they’d arrived at MoonBound—until she realized that he’d never answered the torture question.

As they traversed the maze of hallways, the earthen walls began to close in on her. People stared, maybe because she looked like a half-wild, half-naked waif with leaves and twigs in her hair, or maybe because she was the enemy. Either way, she felt trapped, and a cage was probably in her very near future.

Her heart pounded against her ribs as if typing out a warning. If it could just type out instructions on how to escape, that would be great.

As they entered a four-way intersection, a blond male came from the brightly lit hall to the right, and her stomach bottomed out. It was the guy she’d slammed into in the hall after she’d run out of the lab. She casually inched sideways, hoping to conceal herself behind Baddon.

“Hunt, did you get him—” He broke off, his gaze skipping over Lobo and landing on her. His silver eyes flashed.“You.”

Hunter and Katina moved like vipers, putting themselves between Tehya and the crazy-eyed guy. Still, she bared her teeth and crouched, prepared to defend herself the way she had against countless wolves, cougars, and bobcats over the years. Didn’t matter that her hands were tied—she had strong legs and sharp teeth, and she knew where all the soft spots were.

“Easy, Riker,” Hunter said, slamming his palm into the male’s chest. “She’s not a threat.”

---