Page 5 (1/2)

Chapter One

So

Cai paused No stars in the sky tonight, no ht of a stor within it He hoped it was a violent one, with thunder that vibrated through the ground, as lightning split the sky and rain lashed the earth The forest creatures would take shelter while he would stand in its fury, defy heaven or hell to show their fucking selves and bring the fight to him There was no stillness or peace in pain Only the din of violence drowned out everything else

Yeah, I'm in a bitch of a mood Which only happened on days that ended in y He frowned What the hell day was it? Wednesday? What did it ht, winter or summer

It wasn't like he had a dinner date or a dentist appoints for me Come close, let me hear that bass druht buer

About tiain Last time, he'd sed his distaste for e in the nearest town, about twenty-five o Within the past several weeks, no hiker or hunter had unwisely yet conveniently chosen to be out this deep alone when he needed blood Another meal was due

He drew in a deep breath, taking in the heat In thein on fall, but su The day's wars off In a couple of ways

He turned, his brow creasing It wasreally was off Wrong So it thru on his list of personality traits, but curiosity was another ht opportunity

Following instinct, he cut off the deer path andonto aout deer and other ga to his heels, Cai cocked his head, his senses open and sharp He worried the rough sides and steel point of his one prosthetic fang with his tongue, an unconscious habit

Then he scented hu on the other side of his thened

One, alone His lips curved in a grim smile Dinner had delivered itself

He rose andwould escape his notice, from the shift of a squirrel in her nest twenty feet above his head, to the rasp of a snake lided into creek water, splitting the water currents with its twisting body

It didn't take long With his speed, he closed in on his prey fast He nors He had no interest in playing that game But as he perched in the crotch of a tree and studied his meal, he realized the hunter, his rifle at the ready and with night vision goggles in place, was following so

A blood trail It came to Cai with the wind shift and explai

ned why the hunter was still out after dark It was illegal for hiotten away and he illing to bend the law to ensure he hadn't left soot ready to kill this guy, he'd give him the same consideration

That didn't say anything about his own respectability He made all his kills fast While he knew va with their prey, because they claiuessed he had a blander palate He had nohis prey than a human would his Domino's pizza

To stay within the bounds of hunting regs, the hunter had to have et had led hiood chase It wasn't like Cai needed to be up on West Virginia hunting regulations, but the last time he'd taken a hunter, the man had had a copy of theIt would have been nicer if the guy had had a thriller or mystery tucked in the et out here And he'd been carrying some Skittles, which had been a tasty dessert

The hunter Cai was following stopped He raised the rifle, not to shoot, but to look through the scope Abandoning stealth, he whistled and straightened "Fucking hell You're not a bear Holy shit" His deep voice was tinged with exciteinia Look at the size of you, you beautiful son of a bitch"

The wind picked up, and Cai stiffened That wrongness, a wall of it, i to hit a ho wasn't human Nor vampire Wolf smell for certain But he'd s else to it

So he couldn't identify, whichthe human hunter would consider myth, and Cai had never encountered

Cai eased forward until he could see the sed, and what had caused his anticipation He was no more than five feet from the man, but the human's attention was riveted on his prey Cai didn't blaaze went there, too

The dark forrown black bear, which explained why the hunter had h, the creature's head was arched back, so the triangular shape of the ears and the long nose were visible, as well as the bushy tail, li the bu of silver and brown strands around his face and ruff He was a piece of the night himself

But Cai could see in darkness as well as he could in light Better, in souishable to him The animal throbbed with aprojected fear, pain Adrenaline Sonation

What he felt from this creature was different There was pain, yes, but no fear Only rage The hunter thought the as dead because he wasn'tbecause the as taking measured, shallow breaths, to fool his tracker

The hunter was about to become the hunted, and he didn't even know it

Cai settled back into the foliage to watch Who passed up dinner and a show for the same price?