Read Online Huntbound (Moonfate Serial Book 2) by Sylvia Frost - Free Book Online Page B

A deep breath will always dredge that up. I was trying to use something divorced from me, something I didn’t understand, the gun, instead of the talents I had. That was my mistake.
    Just like how I thought I could end the dream by only focusing on the physical, but in the end had only returned to reality by finding out the hidden truth of Orion’s past.
    My lower back muscles and generous stomach expand as I fill with air. Then I open my mouth. “Let me go.”
    My words seem to resonate through the back of my head. Even before she drops the knife I know that it’s worked.
    Unfortunately, that’s where my luck ends. In the split second I spend reveling in my victory, the woman is already recovering from her defeat. She grabs the hilt of the knife from its precarious position balancing on her fingertips and brings it back to my throat.
    “Well, aren’t you special? A werecall that works on another weremate. Interesting.” Her other hand snakes around my generous middle and presses me into her bony body, not letting me escape this time. “Don’t speak.” Then she does something even creepier; she presses her long nose into my shoulder blade and inhales. Deeply.
    I shudder at the oiliness of her skin touching mine. I know that different werebeasts have different talents. Wolves have particularly strong werecalls, whereas werecoyotes are known for their superb sense of smell. Even stronger than Orion’s. If I have the ability to control people with my voice, it only makes sense that the werecoyote’s mate would have a similar carryover of her mate’s power.
    I try to cringe, but in trying to lean away I end up leaning into the knife so I’m forced to move back toward her.
    “Oooh, look at that! Now, that’s fun.”
    “What—”
    “Shut up. Speak again and I’ll slit your throat.” She rotates the hilt of the knife so that the blade nicks my neck. It doesn’t hurt, no more than the broken glass embedded in my knees and palms, but the message is clear. “And stay still.”
    Out of plans, I don’t move when she opens the van door with her foot, while still keeping me tightly held. At this point I’m past fear. All I can sense is nausea in my gut.
    I’m going to die. People do not get out of these kinds of situations. In the movies, maybe. But not in real life. I learned that with my parents.
    Once the door is open, the woman nudges me with the back of her knee. “Get going.”
    I look down. In my mad scramble to get into the van the first time I didn’t notice the big step between the van and the ground. But now that there’s a knife pressed to my throat and sudden movements seem suicidal I notice it very much.
    “Do it,” she yips.
    Careful not to take too deep a breath in case the woman thinks I’m trying to use my werecall again, I step down from the platform onto the ground. It squelches on contact.
    “Artemis.”
    Without thinking I look up. Unfortunately, my sudden movement sends the blade digging into my flesh once again. Worse, the knife rests on the same cut it made before. But I don’t even wince, because of the sight before me.
    Orion stands in human form, over the very still body of a coyote. For a second I think it’s dead, but then I notice that its chest is just barely moving up and down.
    Orion’s eyes meet mine and they are a pure, icy blue. For an instant I’m more afraid of him than I am of the knife at my throat. He’s going to kill me for leaving the car. And he can kill, I realize now. It’s as easy for him as breathing.
    “Wolf,” the woman behind me spits. “Step away from my mate.”
    Orion grins. It’s a terrifying expression, all teeth, malice and power. He ignores her request and looks down at the unconscious body of the animal in front of him. “You do the same.”
    The woman snorts. “I’m no idiot. You first. I don’t have a death wish.”
    “You’re going to die here. The only choice you have is when,” Orion says with incredible calm.
    My eyes widen.