Page 17 of Hunted Ink by Trisha Linde

Apollo let out a short laugh. “This is crazy!” He swooped in and took my face between his hands, kissing me soundly. When he pulled back, his eyes were full of a desperate kind of panic. “I need you to know I don’t want to leave, but if I don’t go back, they’ll come looking for me, and I would never forgive myself for leading them back here to you.”

“Will they punish you?” Dread hit me like a stone sinking in the ocean.

He shrugged, trying to be casual. “Don’t worry about me. I’m tougher than I look.” It wasn’t a direct answer, but I understood all the same.

Before I could argue that there had to be another way, that I could gather the pack and go in with fangs out to liberate the pack of brainwashed hunters who would absolutely fight back, Apollo rested his forehead on mine, far calmer than I was right now. “I don’t understand how being mates works or why… but this is not goodbye. I will be back.”

“I know,” I whispered, eyes stinging with emotion. I tangled my fingers in the front of that hideous shirt. “Where we first met in the woods… meet me there on the next full moon. Promise me.”

He stared into my eyes, no sign of a lie as he said, “I promise.” Then he gave me one last sweet kiss, over too quickly, before he turned and walked away from me.

Before he disappeared through the stairwell door, though, he paused, his entire body rigid, and he turned, sniffing. “What is that smell?”

“What smell?” I asked, drawing in a breath to pick up on what he’d noticed.

Apollo’s attention zeroed in on the aconite growing among the herbs. With three large strides, he stormed over for a closer look. “This… What is this?” he asked, indicating the delicate purple blooms.

“It’s aconite. You know, wolfsbane?” I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. “It, uh… it’s toxic to shifters, but we, um… smoke it.”

He gave a sharp humorless laugh. “Of course. I recognize the scent all too well. Does it suppress a shifter’s animal?”

“It dulls them a little, but it would take a lot to fully suppress them.”

“Yes, it would…” he said darkly, turning to look back at me, his implication clear. The Order was using wolfsbane on their hunters. “I have to go.” As he left, there was a hard set to his jaw, and I wondered what he was going to do with this new information.

My wolf howled for me to go with him, to chase him down and make him stay, but I forced myself to remain on the roof, watching the street below. Apollo appeared a minute later, jogging down the sidewalk in the direction of the garage where he'd left his truck. I stared after him until he reached the end of the block, and he turned just once, checking if I was still here. Even from here, I could see the way he wavered on his feet, tempted to come back to me. He lifted his hand once to wave, and then he was gone.

I hoped like hell this wasn’t the last time I would see him.

Chapter 12

Apollo

I hadn’t gotten back to the compound until almost midnight, and when I pulled in, the entire yard was lit up by the floodlights, several elders standing out front, fully dressed in their hunting gear. It was clear they were waiting on me, and my blood went cold thinking of what would’ve happened to Kedi if they’d decided to track me down.

I’d jumped out of the truck, full of desperate apologies for being late, ready to offer a flimsy excuse about having car trouble. Heck, I was lucky I hadn’t crashed the truck into a tree, the way my wolf was demanding I turn around. If he knew how to drive, I had no doubt he would’ve torn his way out of me and taken the wheel.

The elders went silent as they waited for Pater’s judgment. I could almost feel the bite of the whip across my back, even though it had been years since I’d stepped over any line worthy of punishment. In the end, Pater nodded, looking over at my vehicle thoughtfully. “Maybe it’s time to consider a new truck for you,” he said, playing the magnanimous leader, though he couldn’t quite hide the suspicious glare he gave me.

I’d thanked him thoroughly, as was expected of me, then went straight to bed.

There was something about bowing to Pater that grated on me more than usual. It took everything I had to duck my head, when every instinct had me wanting to bare my teeth. It was a good thing he couldn’t smell Kedi on me, our dried cum still stuck to my skin, but the others sure could. I caught more than a few winks and snickers on my way to my room as heads peeked out into the hall.

It made sense, knowing they were likely shifters, their heightened senses picking it up. I paid attention to who gave me a knowing look, wondering which one was the bear, the cat, the wolf…

Almost three weeks had passed since I last saw Kedi, and I could feel the full moon’s pull more than I ever had. I knew my first shift was coming whether I wanted it to or not, I could feel it. Twice, I’d had to keep my eyes averted from the others in case my wolf was shining through like I’d seen Kedi’s do. The only thing that kept me from losing it completely was the promise of seeing my mate tonight. I worked extra hard to stay under the radar, acting the perfectly obedient hunter so I could go meet Kedi without raising any red flags.

I stood in the field halfway to the trees, observing the younger trainees lined up down the new archery range as they struggled to pull the string back far enough. None of them had gotten anywhere close to hitting the target yet. These were muscles they’d never used before, and even with the smaller bows, it took practice. Most of the arrows had landed in the grass halfway to the hay bales. For all their grunting and groaning, never once did they complain or suggest giving up. They were a good bunch of kids. Despite the misguided beliefs being fed to them, I was proud of them, and I made sure to tell them that as I went down the line, offering corrections. Whenever I left this place for good, I knew I would be taking them with me.

Setting a hand on Alastor’s elbow to straighten his stance, I wondered if he was a shifter too. “Chin up,” I told him as I took a discreet breath, trying to pick up on the scents that Kedi had so easily plucked from my clothes. What did an animal smell like?

Fur, my wolf offered, and I had to fight to roll my eyes.

Gee, thanks for that. I could feel him preen at my reply, because apparently sarcasm went over his head.

The connection between me and my wolf had been getting stronger, but I didn’t know what was causing it. Was it because I’d met my mate? But I’d started hearing the voice in my head way before I met Kedi, so maybe it was something deeper inside me that had triggered it. Either way, I knew there was no going back, even if I’d wanted to, which I very much did not. As it was, I felt sick for how long I’d blindly followed their orders. It took everything I had to smile and nod, to go along with everything Pater and the other elders said, knowing what I did.

Sometimes I wished I could forget. Standing here with the sun warm on my face, I would close my eyes and breathe the pine and earth and far-reaching wind, brush my fingertips over the long grass, and I could tell myself I was free. But reality couldn’t be held back for long.