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  I steer her outside, into the fresh air, away from everyone, waiting for her to calm. I sit on a bench and haul her into my lap. “You did great, Cass. It was beautiful.”

  She sniffles. “Thanks. I went a little off road, didn’t I? Probably made a fool of myself.”

  “Just a little detour. But I thought that was the best part. And since when do you care what others think of you?”

  “I don’t.” A tepid breeze ruffles her golden locks.

  I smooth back her fringe. “You wanna go?”

  She thinks for a moment, her brow wrinkling. “I don’t think I can bear hearing ‘earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust’ after what I just said about Eve living on.”

  “Lunch?” I press a kiss to her cheek.

  She’s quiet again. “Somewhere away from here—but close enough for us to return for your mom in time.” Her lips skim over mine. “Let’s just drive.”

  She sits on the third bench from the entrance, clutching her bag in her lap, eyes darting over every person who passes. I recognize her because she has Seb’s nose and his oval face. Her eyes are kind, and her hair is down to her waist. She is everything I pictured his mother to be.

  When she sees him, her face brightens, a grin spreading across her features. She runs to him. “My boy, my son!” She slams into him, curling her arms around his shoulders.

  He releases my hand to steady her. “Mom.” He tucks her head under his chin as he does to me sometimes.

  I watch the reunited mother and son, pleased that it finally happened. Because there are some children that cannot be reunited with their parent. Me, for example. I have Dad and that is perfectly fine, but sometimes, sometimes, I just need a mother.

  She turns to me, remembering I’m there.

  “Mom, this is Cassie,” Seb says. “Díí shich’áayaa íí’áhí át’é!”

  Meaning—this is my girlfriend.

  Her irises burn with sorrow for a moment, for missing out on things she’s entitled to as a mother, but then shift back to joy. “Honored to meet you.”

  “Nice to finally meet you, too,” I say. “I heard a lot about you.”

  She smiles and hugs me.

  “This’s the one I risked everything for.” Seb’s fingers brush over my palm, knotting in mine.

  “Sit?” She reaches for my other hand and leads us over to the bench. “How are you both? Good?”

  For once, I don’t know what to say.

  But Seb does. “Cassie’s best friend was killed—the one that was on the news.”

  “Oh.” She throws an arm over my shoulders. “Poor dear.”

  “And I’m living with Cass’ godparents.”

  I manage a light giggle.

  He pokes my side. “She thinks it’s funny because I had no idea that they were before I moved in.”

  “Coincidental,” I say. “But they’re really good people. They look after him well.” I roll my eyes. “And feed him.”

  She laughs.

  He shuffles his feet. “What? I like eating.”

  “For breakfast the other morning, he made my dad and me the pancakes and syrup you taught him.”

  Her eyes widen, and then she looks away from us. “I missed him very much.” She turns to me. “Thank you for looking after him, making him happy. Your momma must be proud of you.”

  “Mom.” Seb shakes his head, a warning.

  “Hm?” Her gaze swerves between us. “What did I say?”

  I stare at my fingers twisted with his. “My mom passed away a long time ago. Cancer.” Why should I have to keep bearing this cross? I swallow hard and break away from them, wanting a moment of solace. When I turn back, they’re both waiting, patient, concerned. “Sorry.”

  “She’s been through a lot today,” he says.

  She nods, as if she bears my pain too. God, they are so alike! I smile and wedge myself between them again. I love them both.

  Something flashes across his features, and a moment later, it’s gone. “Alyssa said the pack’s been hanging around?”

  She bobs her head once. “Trying to scare your father and me, I think. The elders are on our back, too, pressuring your father to get you back.”

  We stay until the sun begins to set, agreeing to meet again soon, and then Seb takes me home. Dad’s permitted him to stay over again, even allows him to set up a camping mattress beside my bed. I figure he feels sorry for me having to endure not only a funeral, but also that of my best friend’s. I think Seb and I deserve a little leeway, to be trusted. It’s not as if we’re going any further with things while Dad is in the other room. He should know that, at least.

  Uncle Scott slaps me on the back. “You’ll be alright, Cass,” he says. “Things will get better.” He’s staying the night, too. Some company for Dad.

  After a shower, I curl up next to Seb. He strokes my damp hair. Words are not needed, and I’m glad. I’ve expended today’s quota. I just want to try to sleep, to dream, to forget. Our lips meet and I drag myself closer, wanting not an inch between us. His hand dips under my shirt, tasting the skin on my lower back, stroking light arcs across it. My fingers weave into his hair. I breathe in his earthy scent, of spearmint and sage, as his lips trail over my cheek and down my neck. Lower, lower.

  Tap tap tap.

  The raven.

  I untangle myself from Seb, annoyed, and glare at the window. Kat waves at us.

  Seb groans and plods over, hefting up the window. “What?”

  “I swear,” Kat says. “Didn’t see nothin’.”

  I cross the room, narrowing my eyes at him. “The fact that you felt you had to say something means you did.”

  “Pervert.” Seb punches his arm. “Whatcha want?”

  “I wanna hunt. Want you to come with.”

  “Now? Can’t it wait?”

  I crawl back into bed. “Go.”

  “You sure?” he says.

  I nod. “Go on.”

  His lips skim across my forehead.

  “Hurry back,” I say, stifling a yawn.

  Seb smirks and slips onto my balcony.

  I should get up and lock the window—he would want me to—but slumber weighs heavy on me. After two minutes, I’m nearly dragged under. Then I see a figure drop onto the redwood.

  Seb’s back! I sit up, waiting for him to come in. Another thirty seconds pass before he slithers in.

  Not Seb. Ash.

  Do I run? Scream? Maybe Seb’s still outside and he’ll hear me. Or Dad and Scott will.

  But no, there isn’t an escape when Ash has his eyes set on you.

  “Hello again,” he says, lips curled into a sullen smile.

  “Seb’ll be back in a minute.”

  He shakes his head. “No, he won’t.”

  Ambush! Ambush! the little voice inside screams again.

  I should’ve locked the damn window.

  “Cassie.” He sits on the edge of the mattress, too close for comfort. “You’ve been a very naughty girl, haven’t you?” He doesn’t wait for an answer. “You corrupted our dear Sebby.” He picks up my arm, examining the four almost invisible scars from his nails.

  “And now I must pay?” I joke, trying to twist my arm free.

  His eyes float to mine. Nails pierce my skin. Blood bubbles up immediately. I whimper and bite down on my lip to squelch further cries.

  “Hush. We don’t want to alert dear daddy now, do we?”

  I shake my head, eyes never leaving his.

  “Good girl.” He drags his nails over the scars, creating fresh wounds. Over my wrists.

  They’ll think I committed suicide. But Seb will know the truth. And he’ll rip Ash to shreds. Still, this comforts me little. He lifts a finger to his mouth, tasting my blood.

  My stomach churns. “You’re disgusting,” I spit.

  He laughs and releases my arm. “Bad girls deserve to be punished.” His fingers turn to claws—akin to a bear’s.

  Seb, where’re you? I kick out, trying to get away—it’s n
o use.

  Ash strikes, talon shredding my pajama top, slicing my flesh. I open my mouth to scream, a reflex, and he clamps a hand over my mouth.

  He touches a finger to his lips. “Shh.” The claw rakes over my thigh. “Wanna see what I did to the other girl, your friend?” He peels a slice of my skin off and drops it into his mouth.

  I tremble with terror, my wounds stinging, crimson leaking onto my butterfly sheets like a crime scene. There’s a heat creeping through my body, fixing me in place. And there’s not a thing I can do. I’m paralyzed. I’m going to die. Like Eve.

  He peels off more skin. I’m his after-dinner snack. Or maybe the appetizer. More, more.

  Tears crash down my cheeks—I can’t stop them. “Please,” I whisper through his hand.

  “Hush, Cass.” He smiles again. “No need to fear.” His hand drops from my mouth, brushing my hair back.

  I turn my head away from his touch, and his smile blooms.

  “Why are you doing this to me?” He seems to love hearing the sound of his voice, maybe I can get him talking, get him to slip up. He’s arrogant enough to think he can get away with this.

  “I’ve been doing a little research.” Another strip of my skin. “You see, we are born like this. We have no choice. It’s our nature to kill, taunt. But humans can also be turned. I only have to bite you.”

  “Turned?” It sinks in. “You’re not going to kill me.” I snicker. “You’re a dumbass. You really shouldn’t have said that.” I suck in a deep breath, and I scream. I scream because my human life depends on it.

  He realizes, a beat too late, that I outsmarted him. His movements are quick, precise—he snatches my arm, sinking his teeth into my wrist.

  I scream again, this time from the pain as it radiates past my elbow. A crackling white heat. It bubbles up my arm and roars in my ears.

  My bedroom door cracks against the adjacent wall. Uncle Scott bursts in, yielding the silver knife. If only he were on duty, he could’ve shot the bastard.

  My grip on this world is slipping, my vision blurring, ears humming. I can just make out Uncle Scott. Ash slipping out of the window. And the angels singing the hymns of Heaven.

  My lips are dry, and the heat, the venom, is slithering up my neck. Soon, I won’t be able to move my lips. I try to swallow. “Seb.”

  Uncle Scott drops to his knees beside me. “Oh God, Cass.” He rips the top sheet from the bed and tears it into strips, tourniquets.

  “Seb.” My voice is barely a whisper now.

  “Where is he?”

  “They took him. He…” My vision blackens, and the pain disappears. Seb. Wherever he is, I hope he knows I love him.

  The dark engulfs me.

  Two days after that night, I’m visiting her at the hospital when she says, “Seb, take me outside?”

  And because I’m wracked with guilt, I’ll do anything for her. I acquire a wheelchair and roll her out into the little courtyard. She winces as we go over a bump in the bricks.

  “Sorry,” I say, flinching with her.

  “Stop it,” she growls. “There’s nothing you could’ve done.”

  Positioning her next to a table, I sit in the chair adjacent. I can think of a hundred things I could’ve done to save her from this.

  She grabs my chin. “I know what you’re thinking. Please, don’t. Don’t torture yourself.”

  Kat had no choice; he had no idea Ash was coming for Cassie. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have lured me out. He was lied to; it wasn’t his fault. His father was the one who suggested he go hunting, and Kat played right into their hands by inviting me along.

  Cass lowers her hand and groans. “Dad’s on the rampage.”

  I am, too. And I will not stop until the red-eyed fiend is dead. “Can I get you a drink?”

  A flight of sparrows catches her eye. She smiles as she watches them fly, dive, and weave about each other. “No, thanks.”

  “Eat?”

  “I have been having an unshakeable craving for something sugary.”

  I should’ve known. She’d blow through my stash whenever she visited the Adler’s.

  “But just sit with me for a minute.”

  “Okay.” I wait. I wait for her to ask the question that has been on my mind the last two days. It must be on hers, too.

  “Did you tell Miles that I need another book?”

  But that’s not it. “Yes, she’s dropping by this afternoon with a stack of best sellers.”

  “Cool.” She smiles again, and then looks at me. “Guess what?”

  “The aliens are coming to suck out your clever brain?”

  “Nope. Two more guesses.”

  “Teddy bears across the nation are forming an army?”

  She giggles, clutching her stomach. “Ow. No.”

  “Hm.” I lean closer, whisper in her ear, “I love you?”

  Her face drops. She shakes her head. “Jess is bringing cupcakes. Sorry.”

  I don’t believe her.

  It only takes a second for her acting to fizzle out. “Fine. I love you, okay?”

  I grin, take her face into my hands, and kiss her. Gentle, because she’s even more breakable at the moment. Then I press my lips to her forehead and nose—I know that makes her giggle. “For the record, I knew the second I saw you that I was in love with you. And that will never change.”

  She holds a hand over mine. “The wolf and the damaged little girl. What a couple we make.”

  “Good title for a book.”

  “Mm.” She brings my hand down to her lap, thoughtful.

  I can tell she’s about to ask the question that I’ve feared—that’s been haunting me. And I won’t hold back, because she needs to hear the answer and so do I.

  “Seb, can I ask you something?”

  “Anything.”

  She turns over my hand, her eyes tracing the days-old scars. “What happens when a human is bitten?”

  “They become a monster.”

  THE END

  I’d firstly like to thank the girls who, while only having known me a mere few months, have put up with my craziness and affinity for caffeine and cupcakes. Sarah, Kristy and Stormy—you three rock, and I owe you a lifetime of cupcakes!

  Secondly, thanks to one of my BFFs, Troy, for giving me the push I needed to start publishing and to send this book out to the world. You may not think your simple words of “then go for it” meant much at the time, but it gave me the courage I needed. Sometimes I just need a little push to get me going, and you’re always there to nudge me along.

  An endless amount of gratitude to Mum—for reading the raw, very first version of The Hunted and telling me, “It’s good”; and to my other BFF, Kiera—for you unwavering 16 years of support.

  A special thanks to Stormy (again) for fangirling over Sebby and making me feel like a rock star. Watch out Seb-lovers, she’s already staked her claim! ;-)

  To all at Clean Teen Publishing: thank you for believing in my story! I’m truly grateful I stumbled upon your company through another of your author’s books, and am excited to be a part of your team. Thanks to Rebecca Gober, Marya Heiman, Courtney Nuckels, Dyan Brown for all that you’ve done.

  And finally, I should probably thank my uncle Scott and aunt Robyn for graciously lending me their names to be used in this story. (They aren’t actually Hunters, I don’t think …)

  C.J. Hart is a full-time writer who lives in Sydney, Australia, with a crazy pooch named Abbey and a boisterous, somersaulting rescue budgie (parakeet) named Kaleb. Her days are spent living in her fictional worlds and consuming way too much caffeine. She has an (unhealthy?) obsession with all things cupcake- and coffee-related plus Kerouac and YA dystopia/fantasy books. C.J. can often be found surrounded by books, marathoning crime shows and munching on vegan goodies, on Twitter, Pinterest, or dancing in a rainstorm.

  C.J hopes to one day visit Rio and is currently learning Brazilian Portuguese.

  C.J Hart is the pen name of Renée Shearer, who also wri
tes adult fiction as Renée Swann.

  Social media links:

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  Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/CJHart

  Instagram: www.instagram.com/reneeshearer

  Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/reneeshearer87

  Website: www.cj-hart.com

  Stay tuned to hear about the upcoming release of book #2 in The Abandoned Series!

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  If you enjoyed The Hunted, check out another shifter series— Never Forgotten by Kelly Risser. The first book is free! Read the first chapter here. 

  10 years earlier

  Meara, where are you?

  I started to fall asleep when I heard Daddy’s voice. At least, he told me he was my daddy. I’d never met him.

  “Daddy?” I called in the dark. My throat felt funny, like when Mommy made me gargle with salt water when I had a cold. I held back a sneeze; a strange smell tickled my nose.

  Meara, honey. I’m looking for you. Where are you?

  He sounded far away. Why was Daddy sad? My stomach tightened, and my eyes welled with tears. “Where are you, Daddy?”

  Silence. The pain vanished, quick as it came. He was gone. I jumped out of bed and ran to my mom’s room.