Eternal Hunter

by Cynthia Eden

  Mate. “I’m not your mate.”

  The judge blinked at that, looking vaguely surprised. “Well, of course, you are. I recognized you the first moment you stepped into my courtroom.” His smile had faded completely. “I divorced my third wife for you.”

  Divorced my third wife. Erin guessed she was lucky he hadn’t killed the woman. “There’s no way you could have known from one look that I was your mate.” Keep him talking. Backup would arrive soon. Had to. Just how many bullets would the guy be able to take and keep standing? Because when Antonio arrived, she knew he’d unload on the asshole.

  “I knew the second I caught your scent that you were mine.”

  Bullshit. She hoped. Her eyes narrowed. “So what? You decided to make my life hell because you liked the way I smelled?”

  He jumped toward her. Harper closed the distance in less than a second. Stronger than me. Faster than me.

  Dammit!

  His fingers wrapped around her arms, and she felt the sting of his claws. His breath—freaking minted breath—blew in her face. “I gave you everything you wanted. I punished the fools who hurt you or got in your way. I made sure your life was perfect.”

  Insane. There was a reason for the whispers about wolves being psychotic. Some of them really were. “You killed. You murdered Donald Trent!”

  The claws dug deeper. “Because you wanted him stopped.” His teeth snapped together and a frown pulled his brows low, as if he truly didn’t understand. “If I’d found him guilty in court, he would have been out in what? Two, three years?” He grunted. “Not good enough for you. You wanted more—so I gave you more! I stopped him, permanently.”

  “You buried him in the woods behind his kids’ house!”

  The right side of his mouth lifted. “Thought it was fitting.”

  No, it was insane.

  “I just had to go and watch the cops dig him up. So fucking perfect.”

  Erin could only stare at him. Why hadn’t she seen the madness before? Why hadn’t the cops? All the other lawyers?

  The insanity had hid so well behind his black robes.

  His gaze swept over her face. “When you walked in that first day, I thought you were the most perfect thing I’d ever seen. Just like her, that same fire burning inside.” He jerked Erin closer. “I knew when I saw you then, I knew why fate had put that bastard in Theresa’s path so many years before.”

  What? Her heart iced. “H-how do you know my mother’s name?” The mother who lay dying just a few feet away. She’d risked her life to save Erin from this bastard.

  He blinked and, for an instant, almost seemed confused. “I thought she was mine.” The words came, slow and stilted. “For years, I thought she was the one for me.”

  A choked moan rumbled from behind Erin. Her mother’s pain-filled cry.

  Erin stared into Harper’s eyes and knew.

  Theresa’s voice drifted through her mind. “Such dark, dark eyes that saw into me so well…”

  Hell.

  Her mother’s lover.

  Erin jerked against him, hard, horror giving her strength as she stumbled back from his hold.

  His lip curled with disgust as he grated, “When she went with that human, I couldn’t pretend about her any more. She wasn’t mine.”

  Erin sucked in oxygen as hard and as fast as she could. Not. Happening.

  “I left the pack.” His teeth snapped together. “I went on my own, and then you came to me.”

  No, no, she hadn’t come to him. She’d just been in court, doing her job!

  “The instant I saw you, I finally understood what fate had planned for me. I knew you were my reward, the mate I’d always wanted.” A laugh then, rough and wild. “You look so much like her,” he said, “but you’re better, stronger, mine.”

  “No, I’m not yours.” Never would be.

  “You know what it’s like to be different from the others. Not human. Not wolf. More powerful than both.” He lifted his hand toward her, long and deadly claws out. “We were made for each other. Perfect halves.”

  She stared at that hand and remembered the sight of Bobby Burrows’s bloody body. “We are nothing alike.” She held her body perfectly still. Now wasn’t the time for an attack. Not yet.

  He closed the space between them. His right hand lifted and his fingers trailed down her cheek. “I had to bide my time and make sure there were no obstacles between us.”

  Yeah, he’d tried to kill all the obstacles. Erin barely breathed as she stood before him.

  One sharp claw pressed against the side of her face. “Purebloods always thought they were so fucking superior. I had to show the animals how wrong they were. Every day, I had to fight and claw my way through the pack.”

  Alpha. Her mother had said her lover was the alpha of the pack. Alphas were the most bloodthirsty of the wolves. The most dangerous.

  Shit.

  “They never understood what we are!” he snarled. “Fucking idiots!”

  She swallowed. “And what are we?”

  The claw dug into her skin, broke the flesh. “The next evolution. We can be strong in our human flesh. We don’t have to wait for the wolf. We can kill and we can conquer as we are. Hell, we can rule the world. We don’t have to wait for the shift. We have the power every minute of every day.”

  Her chin lifted and she knew the liquid sliding down her face wasn’t tears, it was blood. “I can’t shift.”

  His gaze burned her. “I know—that’s why you’re so perfect.”

  Great, of all the people in the world, he thought she was perfect.

  Harper licked his thin lips. “Our children won’t need to shift. They’ll be born with power. Always have it.”

  Their children? “Got news for you,” she managed. There’d been no sound from Dee—or from her mother—for several moments. Be alive. “I’m not planning on having any kids with you.” That would be the last thing she’d ever do.

  Whack job for a father? Hell, no. She and her mother had very different taste in men.

  His breath rushed out. More mint. “It’s that fucking tiger. I’ve been watching you. Always watching.”

  She knew that. She’d felt his eyes too many times.

  “I’m good at hiding. I was close enough to touch you so many times and you never knew.”

  Goosebumps rose on her flesh.

  “I changed my hair, used contacts, held the shift so that my face was different—” He broke off, giving a muffled laugh. “You never even knew!”

  He’d held the shift? How was that even possible? The next evolution.

  “I love to watch you,” he whispered. “Love to see your face.” His jaw clenched as his eyes turned arctic. “And I’ve seen your face when you look at that bastard!” Spittle flew at her. “You’ve been screwing him. Fucking around on me just like your whore of a mother!”

  Her claws were out. Ready. His wounds were close. Keep talking. Hold his attention. Stir his fury.

  Fury could make him weak.

  Erin smiled. A slow, wide grin. “Yeah, I have.”

  “You, bit—”

  She shoved her hands up between them. Don’t forget how strong I can be, asshole.

  His mistake—he’d stayed in human form. She could take the jerk in human form. Because she was as strong as he was that way, maybe even stronger. Maybe.

  Time to find out.

  She drove her claws into his bloody wounds and wrenched up as hard as she could.

  His head slammed into hers and black spots danced before her eyes.

  She stumbled back. He raised his claws above her—

  Erin caught his right wrist, then the left, and she held him as tight as she could. Bones snapped beneath her grip.

  “Perfect,” he whispered and he crushed his mouth against hers.

  She bit him, savaging his lips with her teeth and his blood flowed.

  But the bastard just laughed.

  Furious, scared as hell, she threw him back.

  Harper di
dn’t stumble or stagger. He landed on his feet. The bastard balanced perfectly and then swiped the back of his hand over his bleeding mouth. “I like the way you taste.” His stare dropped to her body. “When you’re with him…do you think of me?”

  What? “No!”

  More laughter. “I bet I’m in your head. Late at night, when you close your eyes, you think of me, don’t you?”

  She had, for so long. But not because she wanted him. Because…“You attacked me! Almost murdered Ben! You’ve terrorized me, so, hell, yes, I’ve thought about you!” Her teeth ached as they extended even more. Longer, sharper than they’d ever been. “I thought about how I’d like to kill you.”

  “You’ve got the blood thirst, just like me.”

  A broken groan broke the air.

  Erin’s gaze flew to the left. Not her mother this time, Dee. The hunter was trying to push herself up.

  “Why do you care about them?” His stare followed hers. “They aren’t even worth your notice.”

  No, he wasn’t worth her notice.

  He held out his hand to her once more, claws stained red. “Come with me, Erin, and I’ll let your human live, for now.”

  For now. Code for later, he’d be back to slice her to ribbons.

  “Why do you do it?” she whispered. “Why all the killings? Bobby Burrows—”

  His hand waited in the air, but he answered her. Harper had always loved to hear himself talk. That was one of the many reasons why his court had always been torture for her. “Burrows made you look like a fool. He escaped on your watch.”

  Well, the cops’ watch.

  “And he was worthless trash, eating away at the world. He needed to be put down.”

  “That’s not your call to make! You can’t decide who lives or dies! You can’t—”

  His hand fell. “I’ve spent fifteen years of my life deciding who lives and dies. I damn well know what I’m doing.”

  Executing his own brand of justice and claiming to kill for her. “You’re crazy,” she whispered. Probably not the smartest thing to say to a killer, but what the hell?

  “Wolves in packs don’t become psychotic.” His voice had chilled.

  He hadn’t been in a pack for almost thirty years.

  “Mated wolves out of the pack retain their sanity.”

  He wasn’t mated. Did the guy even see where this was headed?

  “You’re my mate. Since finding you, everything in my life has become crystal clear.” His lips firmed and he took a step forward—

  And he stumbled.

  The blood loss. It was finally hitting him.

  She’d hoped if she kept him talking, kept him focused—yes!

  Harper slipped in his own blood and went down, hard.

  “Erin…”

  She shook her head. “I’m not your mate, asshole, and even if I was, I wouldn’t spend a day of my life with you.”

  “The tiger…” His head fell down. His body shuddered. “Should have…killed him…beginning…”

  No. “Jude isn’t exactly easy to kill.” One of his best traits.

  His claws scraped over the pavement. “Saw the way…you…l-looked at him…Has to…die…”

  “No, he doesn’t. You’re not going to hurt Jude.”

  He threw his head back then, and she saw his face. A wild combination of man and beast. “You’re mine!” A barely human howl of fury.

  The transformation ripped through his body and he jerked, almost convulsing on the ground.

  Not a shift. No. He should have been too weak to transform. Should have been…

  Bones snapped. Fur burst from his skin.

  “No!” Erin flew at him, attacking, hoping to stop the shift before it was too late. Before he was too strong. Because if he shifted, he could heal—and he could kill her.

  But his shift was fast. Faster than Jude’s. Faster than any shifter she’d ever seen in her life. When her body fell against his, she sank her claws as deeply as she could into his side—not the side of a man, but the body of a wolf. She thrust her claws past the thick fur and right into the muscle.

  The wolf howled, and his head—long, thick muzzle, too-dark eyes—turned toward her.

  This was so not good. Erin stumbled back, sweat coating her body.

  The wolf rose to his feet. His muscles vibrated and his fangs dripped saliva.

  Too strong. The beast showed no signs of weakness.

  Hybrid. The rules didn’t apply to him. Or maybe they did. He could obviously heal as fast as she could. When he shifted anyway. She could heal almost that fast without a shift.

  The next evolution? Had he been right?

  The wolf snarled, and she stopped thinking about old Darwin—and focused on the killing machine before her.

  Backup! Where was Antonio?

  She took a deep breath and attacked with all of her might, ripping, shredding muscle as—

  He rolled and his hind legs came up, catching her in the stomach. The wolf kicked her into the air.

  Erin landed on her ass but jumped back up as fast as she could. Dee was inching ever closer to her gun. A fighter. She could be a fighter, too. “Come on, judge. You want me so bad, huh? Then come and get me.” She had to keep him away from Dee and her mother.

  Erin held up her claws and bared her teeth.

  And knew that he was about to kick her ass.

  Can’t take him while he’s in wolf form. She just wasn’t strong enough.

  But she could give him one hell of a fight. And maybe, maybe Dee could get her gun and blast the jerk with more bullets.

  Maybe.

  She just had to hold him off long enough to—

  The wolf lunged at her. His teeth sank into her forearm, gouging deep holes into her flesh and biting all the way to the bone. “Sonofabitch!”

  His claws raked across her stomach and his teeth—they wouldn’t let go!

  Fire ate at her belly, but she took that pain and used it to feed the beast inside who could never get out.

  “Not a good way to treat your mate.” She grabbed his jaw and had to pry the thing loose with hands that shook.

  His eyes rolled. She caught the faintest sight of white in that darkness, and he twisted suddenly, shoving Erin and kicking into her legs.

  What? Why was he—

  The hum of a motor rumbled in the distance. The wolf must have heard it before she had.

  Backup. Antonio.

  The wolf’s ears shot straight into the air. His head snapped in the direction of the approaching car, then he looked back at her.

  His muscles bunched.

  And damn if it didn’t look like the beast smiled.

  Smiled—with her mother lying there, dying. With Dee bleeding out.

  When the wolf leapt forward, Erin launched herself at him. They hit, hard, and the wolf knocked her into the dirt near the side of the road, and then he locked his teeth on her shoulder, in her shoulder.

  Bad idea. So fucking bad. Her claws flew up and gouged at his eyes.

  The wolf leapt away.

  Yeah, asshole. My dad taught me that move, before he realized I could break the hands of any touchy-feely punks who crossed the line.

  “Go for the eyes, girl. Don’t be afraid to hurt him.”

  She sure wasn’t afraid to hurt the wolf.

  “Erin…” Dee’s weak voice.

  She glanced to the left. Dee was on her knees, weaving a bit. Her white T-shirt was soaked red.

  The wolf snarled, and she knew he’d seen Dee. His teeth snapped together.

  Prey. Weak and ready.

  The thought was hers, a sick instinct she’d always ignored, but it was Harper’s, too. She knew it.

  So when he ran for Dee, she lunged after him. Her claws sank into his hind legs, and he twisted back. His paws hit her, taking her down with one hard blow, and she fell with the heavy weight of his body smothering her.

  “Run!” Her cry this time, not her mother’s. “Run, Dee!”

  Because the wolf wa
s too strong for her. Too strong for Dee.

  Maybe even too strong for the backup coming.

  Two bullets hadn’t slowed him. She hadn’t slowed him.

  Saliva dripped onto her face. That breath wasn’t so minty fresh anymore.

  Erin looked up and found his open mouth poised right over her.

  This was it.

  No dreams this time. No visions. Her death.

  Hadn’t seen this one coming.

  Sorry, Jude.

  She’d found him too late. A man who accepted her, wanted her, maybe even could love her—too late.

  So sorry.

  She wouldn’t be healing from this.

  With a snarl, those fangs went for her throat.

  The roar came as she felt the first puncture. A roar that filled her ears and seemed to shake the street.

  Then the wolf was knocked right off her. His teeth scraped over her neck, slicing the skin.

  She rolled away, lifting a hand to her throat and touching the wet warmth of her blood.

  Jude.

  The tiger was there, quivering with fury. Fighting with claws and teeth. Driving his fangs into the wolf’s body. Picking up the smaller beast and tossing him into the air.

  A match for a wolf.

  Wolves were strong, no doubt about it, but a tiger shifter was no one’s bitch.

  She managed to rise to her feet. The blood flow was already starting to ease up. The slice hadn’t gone too deep, thanks to Jude. All of her wounds throbbed, but they were healing fast.

  Growls and snarls filled the air. The tiger and the wolf attacked, rolled, roared, and howled.

  Blood soaked their fur. Bones crunched.

  The wolf sank his teeth into the tiger’s back. Jude jerked away, swiping with his front paws.

  Have to help. Can’t just stand here and watch!

  “Erin…” Dee’s voice.

  The gun.

  Erin ran to her side and grabbed the gun. It slipped in her blood-soaked fingers.

  “No, wait, you need—”

  No more waiting. The wolf had just cut open Jude’s side.

  The tiger seemed to move in a fast blur, launching at the wolf, his giant mouth open.

  She lifted the gun, aimed. Move, Jude, move—just a bit. Give me a shot. A chance to end the nightmare.

  His mouth locked on the wolf’s throat. Jude jerked the wolf up with his hold, and Erin had a perfect view of the beast’s back.