Page 114 of Hunter

Silence blanketed the night as the light poured through the rogue, its body bloating with her powerful energy. With a loud growl, Willa snapped her head toward her Alpha, her eyes meeting his. As she tore a large section of flesh from the wolf’s neck, the beast exploded. Like a flesh balloon being popped, strands of organs and blood spewed into the air.

“You don’t see that every day,” Viktor commented with a bloody smile.

“I…” Lost for words, Hunter’s chest squeezed, amazed by his incredible mate.

As she shifted to her human form, Willa stood onto her feet, slowly straightening her spine, her gaze meeting his.

“Jesus, you’re beautiful.” Stunned, the Alpha watched as she stepped toward him unscathed.

“Rafe,” she managed, her words soft but strong.

“It’s like she just swatted a fly. More like crushed it until its guts exploded all over the dining room table.”

“Enough, Vik.” Hunter ran to Willa and brought her into his arms “How did you…?”

“The pack,” she responded, gently pulling out of his embrace.

His majestic mate demonstrated her dynamic energy by dominating the demonic wolf. Hunter stood proud as she walked toward several wolves who cowered whining under the silver nets and began to remove them one by one.

The Alpha rushed to Rafe’s side and reached for him. Hunter peeled away the metal, revealing the devastating damage. The deep wounds oozed with silver pus, poisonous shards lodged deep within his skin. They’d tortured him.

“You’ve got to shift, brother.” Hunter’s stomach clenched in anger.

“I…” Rafe coughed up blood, his body riddled with boils. He struggled to turn his head toward his Alpha. “I’m sorry.”

“Nah man. You’re gonna be fine. The horses. They need you.” Hunter lifted his shoulders off the floor, cradling the injured wolf. “Come on, bro.”

“I…I…” Rafe sucked a hard breath and coughed, blood dribbling out of his mouth. “Tell my ma…”

“Fucking tell her yourself. Jesus, Rafe.”

“Too much silver. Can’t shift,” he whispered, his breathing labored.

“You’ve got to fucking shift. You will shift.” Hunter closed his eyes, blasting his Alpha energy into his friend. Tears streamed down his cheeks as his spirit slipped away.

“This is the end of the road, Alpha.” Rafe clasped his hand onto Hunter’s forearm. “Good friends? Yeah?”

“You can’t leave us.” Guilt slammed into Hunter, his chest tightening. Emotion overwhelmed him at the sound of Rafe’s failing heartbeat.

“Alpha, if I may.” Viktor flashed to his side, kneeling beside him.

“This is shit. This is all my fault,” Hunter said.

“Whatever they did to him…these wolves aren’t ordinary wolves.” Viktor held up the pistol that Remus had used to fire the bullets.

“Silver is silver. I can’t get him to shift.”

“Perhaps I can see about a favor. No promises.”

“What?” Hunter sucked a breath, shaking his head.

“A favor.”

“Vampire, I don’t have time for this. Just let my wolves come and say goodbye in peace.”

“I can do that, but Hunter,” Viktor set his hand on the Alpha’s shoulder, “if you let me, I might be able to save him. I don’t know how long it’ll take. I can’t promise you it’ll work.”

“What are you talking about?” Grief swam with confusion as Hunter considered the offer.