Chapter One

The vamps had a new toy. Unfortunately, the bloodsuckers didn’t exactly know how to play nicely with anything, and if Harrison Key didn’t step in and teach them some proper manners, they’d rip that new toy apart.

“Don’t even think of touching me!”

His eyes narrowed at that fierce shout. A woman’s voice had burst from the middle of the vamps—they’d closed in on their prey, forming a tight, hungry circle around the new toy.

The toy…the woman. Their latest snack.

The vampires growled. Inched ever closer—

“Touching you isn’t the only thing they have planned,” Harrison called out, stepping from the darkness that surrounded him so perfectly. “Drinking your blood, draining you dry—that’s more on their to-do list for the night.”

The vamps whipped toward him. Four vamps. One terrified woman in their midst. The vamps had their fangs out and their claws were at the ready.

Harrison smiled. “Sorry to interrupt dinner time, boys, but she’s off the menu.”

One vamp charged at him. Roared and ran right for Harrison. Taking his time about it, Harrison brought up the wooden stake he gripped in his right hand, and he slammed the stake into the vamp’s heart.

The vamp fell to the ground, body instantly turning hard as stone.

The movies and TV shows had it all wrong. Vamps didn’t explode when they were staked. They just dropped like stones. End of story. End of vamp.

He yanked the stake out of victim number one. Harrison smiled at the three vamps who remained. “Who wants to be next?”

Instead of charging at him, a tall, dark-haired vamp grabbed the woman. Harrison hadn’t paid much attention to her until that point. Sure, he’d known she was a victim. He had to save her. Blah, blah. He’d heard the story before. A million times. Just another night’s work for a hunter. But when the vamp wrenched her against him, when the guy wrapped his fingers around her throat and put his fangs far too close to her, Harrison actually looked at the toy.

Then he couldn’t look anywhere else.

Like vamps, he could see perfectly in the dark. One of his enhancements. So he saw her dark and gorgeous eyes. The darkest and deepest eyes he’d ever seen in his life. Her heart-shaped face was absolutely perfect with smooth, creamy skin. Her lips were full, red, and slick. Her blonde hair was a wild and gorgeous tangle around her face. And her body…his gaze drifted down. Damn. Talk about a temptation. The dress she wore fit her like a second skin, revealing every single curve and dip in her body—

“Excuse me.” Her voice was even sexy. Husky and warm and it wrapped right around him. “Are you going to stare at me all night, or are you going to save my ass?”

His lips twitched. She wasn’t exactly some terrified damsel and that made her even sexier to him. “I’m going to save your ass.” Her very hot ass.

The vamp holding her snarled. He yanked back her head, exposing her throat more. But the woman’s gaze never left Harrison’s. “Then do it, please,” she gasped out. “Because I don’t want to get bit!”

A vamp’s fangs going into her delectable flesh? Not on his watch. Harrison tossed the stake in the air, catching it easily as he stood there and considered his options.

The other two vamps hadn’t moved. He figured they were either waiting for the right moment to attack or looking for the perfect moment to flee.

“This doesn’t concern you,” the vamp holding the woman snapped. “Get out of here!”

Harrison took a step forward and tossed the stake in the air again. A slow-as-you-please toss that sent the stake going end over end before Harrison caught it in his hand. “I’m a hunter. You’re a vampire. Killing you is kinda my job so…” A shrug. “Call me concerned.”

The vamp closest to Harrison surged forward.

Harrison threw the stake at him. It sank into the vamp’s chest, and the vamp hit the ground.

Two down. Two to go.

Except…

Vamp number three turned and fled. Ah, so he had been looking for the perfect moment to run. Harrison watched him go with a shake of his head. “There is always one,” he murmured as he retrieved his stake. “One who gets scared and runs.”

The woman’s breath heaved out.

Harrison advanced so that the weak light from a nearby building would fall on him. He wanted her to see that he was human. Well, mostly. He winked at her. “Consider yourself rescued.”

“I will snap her neck,” the vampire holding her bellowed.

Good thing they were alone in the alley. The guy’s voice was sure loud. What had happened to the nights when vamps tried to keep a low profile? Dumbasses like this one made it hard to keep the supernatural world secret.

“If you snap her neck, you lose a meal,” Harrison pointed out. “Vamps can’t drink from corpses. Bad for the digestion. You need your food fresh.” He stalked forward.

The vamp’s claws pricked her throat. Drops of blood slid over her skin.

The vamp gave a sharp inhale. “What…? That scent…”

Harrison saw the savage hunger flare on the vamp’s face. The vamp’s fangs barreled for the woman’s throat even as she let loose a high and terrified scream.

Harrison grabbed her. Wrenched her away from the vamp. Staked him and spun so that by the time the vamp fell to the ground, Harrison had the woman cradled in his arms. Everything happened in mere seconds. Boom.

And that is how you get shit done.

“You can stop screaming,” he told her casually. “Don’t worry, I won’t bite.”

Her screams stopped. Her long lashes lifted, and she stared at him with terror plain to see in her eyes.

Okay, fine, maybe he shouldn’t have made the bite joke.

And she was bleeding. He eased her away. Tipped up her chin so that he could take a better look. Two drops of blood slid down her elegant throat. “Nothing too bad. You’ll live.” Which was more than he could say for the vamps on the ground.

Once more, Harrison retrieved his stake. One vamp had gotten away, but he’d be catching the guy soon. Time to get hunting. “Stay out of dark alleys. Consider carrying a wooden stake in your purse. And have a nice night.” He took a step toward the mouth of the alley—

She jumped into his path. “You can’t leave me.”

He lifted a brow.

“I need you, Harrison. I need—”

Whoa. Hold up. His shoulders stiffened. “How do you know my name?”

She licked her lips. Looked even sexier. She was about a head shorter than he was, even with those high and tempting heels that she wore. There were a few nightclubs on the street. He figured she must have been in one earlier that night. Before she’d wound up in an alley, surrounded by vamps.

“I know a lot about you,” she whispered.

Since most folks didn’t know about the supernatural world, her response was surprising. Because if you weren’t dealing with supernaturals, there was no need to know about him. But then again, he realized she hadn’t seemed particularly shocked to find vamps surrounding her. She’d been scared, yes, but not shocked.

He was still cradling his stake. He shoved it into the holster on his ankle and rose to tower over her once more. “Who are you?”

“My name is Elise Aine.”

The name meant nothing to him, but it was pretty. Kinda musical.

“I came to Savannah in order to find you,” Elise continued in her husky, sexy voice.

If he’d had more time, he could have really appreciated that voice. And her. But work waited. “You’re still bleeding.” His gaze was on her neck. “You need to go and get those two scrapes cleaned up.” He brushed around her.

“I need a hunter.” Her hand flew out and clamped around his arm.

Heat licked through his body. A surge of awareness that he’d actually felt when he’d first grabbed her moments before. He’d shoved that awareness away, though, because he knew it sure as hell wasn’t the time or the place for that kind of reaction.

He glanced down at her hand. Blood-red fingernails. Delicate fingers. “And just how do you know about hunters?”

“I know because I’ve had to learn. This isn’t the first time I’ve been targeted. Monsters are coming after me, one right after the other. They won’t stop. It’s like—like they’re drawn to me. No matter where I go or what I do, they find me.”

That was new. He turned toward her, cocking his head, as curiosity stirred within him.

“I went to see a voodoo priestess in New Orleans.” Her words came faster as her hold tightened on him. “She told me that I needed a protector. A hunter. Someone who was born to fight the monsters.”

Yeah, that was him all right. Born to kill. And raise some hell along the way.

Hunters weren’t just your Average Joes who woke up, realized that paranormals were real, and started staking things. Hunters—real hunters—were born to the life. Born with enhancements that made them into perfect predators. After all, if you were going to hunt vampires, werewolves, and demons, you had to be on an equal playing field.

Hunters had enhanced strength and speed. Their senses were far more powerful than those of normal humans. And when it came to tracking prey, no one was better.

Hunters were nature’s way of balancing the scales of justice. Monsters had to be stopped. Hunters were given the job. End of story.

“The priestess said I needed you.”

Great. He had a sinking suspicion he knew exactly which priestess she was talking about. You save one old lady from a loup garou, and she tells the world about you because you stopped a big, bad wanna-be wolf. Someone needed to stop oversharing. “Listen, hate to shatter your plans, but I’m not for hire. Consider tonight’s save a pro bono effort on my part, and, like I told you before, keep that hot ass out of alleys.”

Her gorgeous eyes narrowed. “You are not what I thought.”

“I know, I’m even better.”

Her lips parted, then after a shocked moment, her mouth snapped closed. She seemed to struggle for words before blurting, “I am in trouble! I need help!”

“Then go to the cops. They help people for a living. Or so I’ve heard.” He glanced pointedly at her hand. Still on his arm. “Now, I have a vamp to hunt so…”

“Humans can’t help me. They’ll just get killed.” She brought her body closer to his. Her scent teased him. She smelled delicious. Hell, no wonder the vamps had wanted to take a bite. She was like a mix of strawberries and vanilla. Lush and sweet.

Her gaze held his. That dark gaze…chocolate eyes with hints of gold around her pupils. Eyes that seemed to be looking right through him.

“I will pay you any price,” Elise promised him softly. “If you don’t help me, I’m dead. It’s as simple as that.”

He couldn’t look away. When a beautiful woman brushed her body against his, when she offered to pay anything, was he really going to be dumb enough to tell her to move so he could walk away?

He…didn’t want to walk away. In fact, Harrison found himself leaning toward her. Toward those red lips and her sexy, sinful body so that he—

He locked his arms around her shoulders and pushed her back, moving in a quick lunge so that her shoulders hit the brick wall of the alley and the front of her body pressed to his. “Who are you, lady?”

“I-I told you, my name is Elise—”

“Maybe I should say…what are you? Because a normal woman wouldn’t just carry on a sweet-as-you-please conversation while three vamps were dead at her feet.”

Her gaze darted away from his, then back. “How…would a normal woman react?” She seemed to be puzzling this out. He noticed she hadn’t denied not being human.

“There would be more screaming,” he assured her bluntly. “A lot of it.”

“I did scream earlier. Didn’t you hear me? I-I thought you even told me to stop screaming.”

“Normal humans would have been running. Not stopping for a chit-chat in the dark. A normal human woman would be hauling ass away from the dead as fast as she could.”

“But I can’t run. Have you seen these heels?” She blinked, all innocence.

No one was innocent.

“Maybe a normal human would have fainted,” he mused. “That’s a typical response. I’ve seen it from men and women. They just pass right on out and hit the ground.”

Elise gave a quick, negative shake of her head. “The alley is filthy. No way do I want to faint and fall on this ground. That just screams unsanitary.”

Damn, but she was surprising. Reluctantly, his lips quirked. “I’d catch you if you fell.”

Her eyes flared. “Promise?” She reached for him.

He caught her hands and pinned them against the bricks. “You didn’t tell me what you are.”

“Yes, I did.” Her voice stroked over him. “I’m a woman in trouble. The paranormals are hunting me. They want to take me out. If you leave me in this alley, I might be dead by dawn.”

His hold tightened. Her wrists seemed far too breakable as his fingers encircled them.

“I’m lucky to still be alive. My luck got me to Savannah. The priestess said to look for you in the dark, so I started—”

“Wandering into any dark alleys you could find?”

She nodded.

Shit. Was she serious?

Elise sighed. “The vamps found me before you did.”

Yeah, he’d noticed.

“But then you appeared just in time. You saved me.”

His nostrils flared. Her delectable scent was making him almost drunk. But…this wasn’t just about inhaling her scent.

Another hunter bonus—he could smell lies.

So far, she’d been telling him the truth. That was why he hadn’t left her. He wasn’t heartless enough to leave a woman to die.

“I told you, I’ll pay any price,” Elise assured him in her breathy voice. The voice that stroked over his skin. “I need your protection. Please. I will do anything.”

Oh, the images that came to mind right then. Apparently, he was pretty heartless. And horny.

But he wasn’t a total dick. Yet.

“All right. I have a survival game plan for you. You ready for it?”

She nodded eagerly.

“Great. How about you stop lurking in dark alleys and offering yourself up as vamp bait? That’s a good step one,” he told her. “Step two would be to get your ass back home—wherever home is—and maybe pick up some nice, safe hobbies. You know, the kind that don’t involve you being vamp bait.”

Her delicate jaw hardened. “First, you obviously have an obsession with my ass. Nice to know.”

His lips twitched. She was so…unexpected.

“Two, I don’t have a home, at least, not one right now. I’m on my own for the foreseeable future. If I don’t get a protector, I’m dead. How many times and in how many ways do I have to tell you this?”

She wasn’t lying. Her scent hadn’t altered at all. Hell. Harrison didn’t know what to do with her. “I think you have me confused with someone else.”

“You’re a hunter.” A pause. “You hunt monsters, don’t you?” She waited, all expectant-like. Even biting her lower lip.

“Yeah, I’m a hunter.”

Her eyelids flickered. He thought she started to smile.

But she seemed to catch herself.

“And you’re right. I do hunt monsters. That’s my job. I don’t offer myself as a bodyguard to humans. Not part of my gig. So…while it’s been fun…” Actually, talking with her had been fun. How screwed up was he? “I have places to go and monsters to kill. You know the drill.”

“I-I—”

He thought about kissing her. Her lips were parted, and he wanted to taste her so badly in that moment. So badly that he could feel his careful control cracking. That crack sent alarm splintering through him.

Back away, now! An internal roar.

He backed away.

Leave her.

Yeah, that would be his survival instinct talking. The little voice that popped into his head whenever shit was about to get bad.

Sure, the sexy woman before him didn’t look bad. She looked gorgeous. Tempting. A straight-up fantasy in those heels and that curve-hugging dress. But…

He shouldn’t want her so much. Shouldn’t be aching so desperately for someone he just met. He never responded that way to anyone. “You’re still bleeding. Get that checked out.” He whirled away. Headed for the alley’s mouth once more.

“You are leaving me?” Her angry shriek.

He kept walking.

“You are such an asshole! I’m going to die, and you don’t care?”

One foot in front of the other. Keep walking.

“You’re leaving me with dead vampires? How can you do this? I thought you were going to save me!”

“I did.” He tossed a wave over his shoulder. “You’re welcome.”

“Ugh! You can’t just—”

He put on a burst of speed and shot out of the alley. He could move just as fast as vampires, and he knew that—to the woman in the alley—it might even look as if he’d simply vanished. He kept up his fast speed until he reached the corner and stopped near his waiting motorcycle. His breath heaved in and out. He could still smell her scent. His fingers lifted. They were shaking, just a little.

What in the hell?

Since when had he ever wanted a woman so badly that he started to shake from need?

***

Elise Aine put her hands on her hips and glared at the now empty mouth of the alley.

“That went well,” a male voice announced from behind her.

“Fuck off,” Elise snapped without looking back. There was no point in looking back. No one was there—just a brick wall. A wall and lots of shadows.

“You found the hunter, my lady,” the voice continued. “That’s a win.”

“He left me in the alley.” She stepped forward and nearly tripped on a vamp. Furious, she kicked him. Then nearly broke her toe because staked vamps were hard as stone. “Ow!”

The disembodied voice immediately wanted to know, “What’s wrong?”

“I am alone in a stinking alley, talking to a dumbass who isn’t here, and I am miserably, weakly human!” She was so angry that she wanted to scream. Instead, she started leaking. Tears. Elise swiped an angry hand over her cheek. She had never cried, not until a week ago. That was when her banishment had started. She’d never cried, never been weak. Never needed anyone else’s help or protection. Until I was banished. In fact, the very idea that someone would need to protect her—her!—would have been insulting.

“Go after him.”

Elise rolled her eyes. “Of course, I’m going after him. It’s not like I have a choice.” At least she knew Harrison was in the city. That was a starting point.

“Good. Excellent. He will see the error of his ways and fall at your feet.”

She glanced down at her heels. Her filthy, now broken heels. Her nose scrunched. “I’m thinking that’s going to be a no.”

“My lady?”

“Stop spying on me. I’ve got this.” Such a lie. Elise was lost and desperate, and she hated for anyone to see her crying.

“I’m not spying!” Now he was all offended. “I’m tied to you, you know that. I’m your loyal—”

“Go get laid or something okay? I’ve got this. Stop peeking at me through mirrors and shadows.” She stomped forward, moving on her broken heels and then just giving up on them and tossing them away.

At the mouth of the alley, Elise paused and glanced back. So…were the dead vamps just going to be left there? Or was there some sort of hunter clean-up crew that would arrive?

Yet even as she looked back, Elise felt the wind blow against her. Thunder rumbled in the distance. The wind picked up, and it…it hit the vamps. Only the stone seemed to fade, no, to thin. To become…ash? Or something very like ash as the stone faded away and the would-be ash blew in the wind. It blew and blew, until nothing was left.

Well, how about that? She’d never actually seen what became of a vamp’s remains. Sure, she’d tangled with plenty of vamps in her time, but when it came to body disposal, Elise didn’t tend to get her hands dirty. She had people for that.

She turned around, stepped forward—

And tripped on her dress. She fell face-first onto the dirty, stinking ground, and her left hand slammed into some sort of goo—the sort that she didn’t want to think about too much.

For a moment, she just remained there, all prone and fucked up, but…

Then she rose. Straightened her spine. Lifted her chin. Her hand swiped over the side of the dress as she wiped away that wretched goo. One deep breath, and she headed down the street.

A catcall followed her as she ambled along the pavement.

She ignored the call. Harrison Key was her agenda, but, unfortunately, the hunter had left her. But…was he still in the area? Had he gone after the vamp who’d gotten away? If so, then perhaps Harrison would be close enough to come to her aid again.

Another cat call.

This one was closer.

She knew why, of course. Elise was being hunted. She hadn’t lied about that unfortunate situation to Harrison. She hadn’t lied about anything. She couldn’t lie.

Monsters were coming for her. Monsters were drawn to her right now. If they caught her scent, they’d be pulled to her. Moths to the flame. She was burning bright.

Elise saw a club up ahead. She hoped the fact that she didn’t have shoes wouldn’t stop her from gaining entrance. She pasted a bright smile on her face even though Elise knew she probably looked like warm hell.

The bouncer’s nose twitched—

Oh, no, he’s going to stop me—

The bouncer waved her past. “Go on in, lady. Bet you’ll find a real good time waiting.”

Well, that was nice. After her day—and night—Elise could certainly use a good time. She headed into the club. Lights were flashing. Bodies were gyrating. Music pounded. Oh, it seemed like everyone there was having a good time. Her body began to sway. Her bare toes curled against the cold floor.

And a hard hand grabbed her wrist. She was jerked around and pulled up against the body of—

Werewolf. He’s a freaking werewolf. His eyes are a dead giveaway. Golden, feral eyes stared back at her.

“Hey, sweet thing.” He grinned at her, flashing teeth that were a little too sharp. “Thanks for walking straight into my den.”

Shit. She’d walked into a werewolf den? No wonder the bouncer had been all eager to let her inside. But he’d been wrong…being werewolf prey did not make for a good time.

The werewolf ran his fingers—tipped with claws—down her arm. “I am going to have so much fun with you.” He leaned closer. Put his mouth to her ear. “I know what you are,” he whispered.

Oh, really? Elise lifted her left hand. Slid it over his chest. “I know what you are, too.”

He backed up a little and smiled down at her. Such a wolfish grin. He thought he was the big, bad predator.

He thought wrong.

Her right hand drove a knife into his stomach.

He howled.

“Silver, asshole,” Elise spit out. “Bet that stings like a mother, huh?” Smoke rose from the wound.

Everyone turned to gape at them as the guy howled and howled in pain. Crap. Elise spun and ran. The crowd was made of mostly humans, but if the place was really a werewolf den, the pack would be there, too. When she caught a few growls and angry snarls, Elise glanced over her shoulder.

Oh, damn. They were charging for her. Three werewolves with glowing, golden eyes. They were moving fast, too. Way too fast and she only had the one knife and—

Oof!

All of the breath was knocked from her as she slammed into a brick wall.

She staggered back and would have fallen—

Not a brick wall. Just felt like one.

Harrison smirked at her. A stupid, oddly sexy smirk. “I can’t even leave you alone for five minutes before you find trouble?”

“Trouble…” Heaving breath. “Found me.” That was part of her curse at the moment. It was also why—she suspected—he was back. “Help?” Another heaving breath.

He lifted one dark brow. His handsome face—truly, she hadn’t expected him to be so good-looking—didn’t show a hint of concern. That face of his was all hand-crafted perfection. A square and strong jaw. Killer cheekbones. High forehead. Straight blade of a nose. His hair was thick but short, and shoved back as if by careless fingers. And his eyes—those bright, bright blue eyes of his glittered with…

Amusement?

What an ass. Did he want her to beg? It was completely alien to her, so very foreign, but she gritted her teeth and managed, “Please?”

Fast as a blink, he’d yanked her behind him. Since he was very muscled—awesomely so—and very tall—had to be about six-foot-two or three—she appreciated him being between her and danger. He shielded her with his body as she stood on her toes and craned to see around him.

The charging werewolves halted.

“Hunter,” one rasped.

“It’s great to be recognized by fans,” Harrison replied. “Thanks.”

“Get…out!”

Uh, oh. That bellow had come from the werewolf she’d stabbed. He was lumbering toward them, holding his hand over his bleeding gut, and sending her a look that could totally kill.

“Glad to leave,” Harrison inclined his head. “We’ll just—”

“She stays.”

The music wasn’t playing any longer. No gyrating bodies. The humans were gaping, and Elise was afraid the werewolves were about ten seconds away from full-on shifting.

“I don’t…um, I choose not to stay,” Elise called out, voice too sharp. “I’m leaving with him. He’s with me. I’m with him. We’re totally together.”

Harrison swung his head toward her.

She smiled at him. “We are together.” It would help her out so much if he would just say those three little words back.

“Is this true?” The wounded werewolf’s disbelief was clear. “You’re with her?”

Elise held her breath. All she needed Harrison to say in order to seal the deal, so to speak, was—

“No, I’m not with her.”

Sonofabitch. Was he just trying to make things extra hard for her?

Elise caught the werewolf’s grin. “If she’s not yours, then she doesn’t leave. She stepped into my den. She stays.” He lunged forward.

Harrison caught him and wrapped one hand around the werewolf’s throat. “You have a crowd of humans watching you. Have you lost your mind?”

The werewolf’s eyes glowed ever brighter. “Give…her—”

“You’re not getting her. You’re not touching her.”

Elise held her breath. Come on, Harrison. Say it. Just say—

“We’re together,” Harrison fired out. “As far as you and any other monster is concerned, she’s off-limits, got it? So keep your paws, your claws, and everything else away from her.”

The wolves backed up.

“Damn straight,” Elise heard herself crow. She couldn’t help it. She’d just scored a major win. “You back up when a hunter is in town.”

Harrison looked over and frowned at her. “Are you…quite sane?”

Some might debate the issue, but she just went with… “Yes.”

He nodded. Then he glanced at the werewolves. Voice low, he growled, “I’m not killing you because there are humans around. Consider yourself very lucky, Gustave.”

Gustave? That name was vaguely familiar. It nagged at her mind.

The bleeding werewolf narrowed his eyes. “You’re a fucking fool, hunter. You picked the wrong side.”

“Yeah, well, any side you aren’t on feels right to me.”

Oh, damn. The name clicked for her. Gustave Etienne. He was an ancient werewolf. One of the strongest out there. And, goody, it appeared he was her new sworn enemy. No wonder he’d known what she was the minute she walked up to him. He’d met others like her before.

She needed the wolf to shut the hell up before he said too much. Elise slithered closer to Harrison and wrapped an arm around him.

He immediately stiffened and his blue eyes swung back to her. “What are you doing?”

“Hugging you?” It felt like that was what she was doing. “We need to leave. Now.”

Harrison grunted. Grunted—at her. Had she picked a winner or what?

She tugged on him.

He wrapped an arm around her. His arm was strong and warm and when he touched her, a little tremor shook her body. Oh, hello, unexpected treat. She’d felt a similar tremor when they’d been back in the alley. Her response to the hunter was unexpected, but not unwelcome.

Especially since…

We’re together.

She had to stop herself from actually bouncing with glee, but a little happy hum did escape her.

“Are you humming?” Harrison asked with a foreboding frown.

Shit. She hummed when she was happy. “Um…let’s go. They look hungry.”

Mostly…Gustave looked hungry, and his hungry gaze centered on her.

“I would have taken the job,” Gustave announced.

The job?

“We could have been on the same side,” he told her. “Now you’ve made us enemies.”

Elise winced. “Was it the silver knife to the stomach? Because, in my defense, I could’ve aimed for your heart. I was being nice.”

He blinked.

“You’re welcome.” Once more, she tugged on Harrison’s arm. “Let’s go.” He didn’t move. The guy was like a giant stone statue.

His bright glare was on the werewolves. His body was tense and battle-ready as he snarled, “Follow us, and you’re dead.”

Oh, she liked that warning. “Yeah.” Elise gave a hard nod. “Stone-cold dead.”

Gustave laughed. “You’re outnumbered, hunter. Have you looked around?”

“Sure have. Saw all the humans. That’s why I haven’t already put silver bullets into all of your werewolf hearts. Because I could. I could fire them before you even shift.”

Sweat appeared on Gustave’s brow.

“I didn’t come to kill you tonight. Word in hunting circles was that you were being peaceful. That you kept your hands off humans.” Harrison shook his head. “Then I find you going after her.”

Gustave’s slightly thin and beast-like face purpled with fury. “She attacked me. I haven’t done anything to her.”

Okay. He was being truthful. “He’s a werewolf,” Elise whispered in what she hoped was the tiniest, most terrified voice in the world. “I thought he was going to eat me.”

Gustave made a choking noise.

But Harrison—he stiffened. “Come near her again, and you’re dead.”

“I’ve done nothing to—”

“You’ve been warned.” He turned away. Kept a tight hold on Elise.

She hurried to keep up with him. She stumbled. Dammit. This whole walking thing was hard. Especially since she’d only started walking around fairly recently. Until then, she’d used a whole other method of transport. Her feet were hurting and bruised and—

She tripped. Over nothing.

She would have gone smacking down face-first again, but Harrison caught her. He lifted her into his arms and frowned at her. The guy seemed to frown a whole lot.

“What is your deal?” Harrison demanded.

Her lips parted.

Before she could reply, his gaze dropped to her feet. Her bare feet. He stared at her wiggling toes an oddly long time as he held her and they just kind of stood in the werewolf den.

“Ahem.” Elise cleared her throat, and his gaze flew back up to hers. “We were making our getaway.”

“Where in the hell are your shoes?”

“Back in the alley?” She considered this. “Probably covered with vampire ash.”

He cursed, but started walking again, so she considered that movement as a win. Right before they slipped out of the door, Elise looked over Harrison’s ever-so-broad shoulder and gave a little wave to the werewolves who were glaring after her.

Very clearly, she saw Gustave mouth, “You’re dead.”

Not yet, she wasn’t. In fact, not only was she not dead…

But, because she’d gotten her big, bad hunter to say the most precious words in the whole world…

We’re together.

Well, she was now married. As per the customs of her people. With that sweet, sweet bonding, the odds of her continued survival had improved dramatically.

Unfortunately, though, her hunter didn’t realize he was her husband. She’d be sure to tell him…eventually.

But first, there was the little matter of…staying alive.