Read Online Hunter's Heart: Wolf Shifter Romance (Wild Lake Wolves Book 5) by Kimber White - Free Book Online

Michigan town called Oodena. My
people, the Odawa, founded it long ago. When I turned eighteen, a pack of
wolves kidnapped me and brought me down to Kentucky. It’s an old family legend,
but I was sacrificed. They claimed me against my will. Now, I don’t care to
tell you all of it. It happened so long ago, and I don’t like to remember. Truth
is, I don’t remember a lot of it. Pain does that. Trauma does that. But,
those wolves were brutal. They did things to me. Hurt me. Badly. I almost
didn’t survive. They thought my Odawa blood gave me special powers that would
turn me into a she-were. There aren’t many of them left, you see. But my
powers? Nonsense. Superstition. This mark was made by the Alpha of the Kentucky
Chief Pack at the time. Kentucky wolves are different. There’s only one Alpha
and he rules as a ruthless tyrant over all the wolves. But, in Michigan, it’s
different. Now, anyway.”
    “Different how?”
    “In the Wild Lake lands, there are many packs. Many
Alphas. They cooperate with each other. Or so I’ve heard.”
    I slid my arm around her shoulder. In my
imagination, I saw Grammy as a young girl. Just two years younger than me. God.
Ripped away from everything she knew and loved. She had to be so scared and so
strong.
    “How? How did you get away from them?”
    A genuine smile lit her face. “Your grandfather was
a brave, brave man. Sexy as hell, too. He worked for a rescue organization
based right here in Banchory. I wasn’t the only young girl who disappeared.
Anyway, the wolves left me for dead when they figured out I wasn’t any use to
them. Grandpa found me and brought me here. I couldn’t go back home by then. It
was too dangerous. The Kentucky pack could retaliate against my family if they
ever found out I’d gone back to them. I couldn’t take that chance. And by then,
I’d been gone for two years. I was dead to them anyway. Plus, your grandpa was
a good enough reason to stay in Banchory. I was safe here. The Kentucky wolves
weren’t allowed to cross the border. Back then, they honored that pact. And any
time one or two of them did try and break the boundary, we were ready
for them. That’s how the Lyles got into the shifter bounty hunting business,
Jessa.”
    I hugged her. I’d always known Grammy was strong.
Now, I knew she was an honest to God warrior.
    “I knew Derek was an Alpha because of my mark. When
the Alpha who did it to me made it, it connected me to him. I could feel his
pulse. Hear his heartbeat. He used it as a way to keep me from running away
because he’d always know where I was. It tethered me to him until the day that
bastard finally died. Tormented me every waking hour and through most of my
dreams for an entire year after I escaped.”
    “Did Grandpa kill him then?”
    Grammy shook her head. “Oh, he wanted to. Tried
plenty. But no. My escape weakened him in the eyes of the pack and someone rose
to take his place. That’s how an Alpha becomes an Alpha. He has to kill an
Alpha and make the rest of the pack submit to him. I’ve heard they can break
off and start their own packs too. But the Kentucky packs don’t allow that.
It’s one Alpha and one Alpha only.”
    “What about Derek? Why did you say I was his mate,
Grammy?”
    “What do you mean why, sugar? Haven’t you already
figured that out?”
    I rose off the couch and started pacing in front of
her. “He hasn’t touched me. I mean, he didn’t bite me like you’re saying.”
    “Jessa.”
    “No!” I started pacing faster. As I did, my pulse
raced. But beneath it, like a second rhythm, I felt another pulse. Derek’s. He
was in me somehow. Almost like I could feel his hot breath against the
back of my neck. It raised the tiny hairs there and took the air from my lungs.
Thunder inside my head. Inside my heart. I felt drawn to him, as if affected by
a gravitational pull. But, he hadn’t bitten me. He’d barely touched me. But oh,
when he did. When his fingers brushed against mine. The heat