Hunting the Hunter (Second in Lone Wolf series)

Chapter Nine

Ella followed Brendon out into the dark alley, wondering why he chose to leave through this door instead of out the front.

It didn’t matter. They were completely alone out here in the dark, with only the half moon and the stars for light. Ella would use the life mate bond to her advantage to help her lure this man close to her.

He would be drawn to her, attracted to her, and since he was a mortal man he would not understand the strength of his feelings and he would be unable to resist them. That was probably why he had been showing up everywhere she was for the last couple of days.

“Brendon…” she called out, breathing in and catching the scent of sandalwood. He turned slowly and stared at her face, though Ella knew he couldn’t see it because of the hood covering her head. Ella slid off her cloak and let it fall to the alley floor.

She did not have her powers of mind control to use on him and so she would simply have to use her powers as a woman. Though it sickened her to do so and the thought of being touched, even by this man, her life mate, filled her heart with dread…

It was then that it dawned on her. The emotions she’d been feeling so much more strongly the past couple of days… ever since first running into Brendon.

Fear, anger, irritation, annoyance…. She hadn’t felt those things in a long time. So long she couldn’t remember. She had been dead and numb for as long as she could recall and now suddenly she was feeling things. Bad things, but things nonetheless.

It must have something to do with the life mate bond. What would it be like to feel again? To feel good things again? Trust? Faith? Love? Happiness? Joy? What did those things even feel like?

Ella just took a deep breath to force her mind to clear. There was no point in thinking such thoughts. While this man could possibly give her those things back in a perfect world, the world they lived in was not perfect. Brendon was going to die. If not by her hand then by Warren’s and Warren would not be nearly as merciful or fast as Ella planned on being.

“Ella, what exactly are you doing at a place like this at this time of night?” Brendon asked, an easy smile spreading across his handsome face. Ella was again shocked by his rugged handsomeness. The way his cheeks crinkled and his eyes shone, as if the man was always happy, always thinking of some kind of inside joke.

What was he like, she wondered. What was his story? Where was he from? She would never know.

“Looking for you.” she replied breathlessly, knowing that men seemed to enjoy hearing women speak that way. She was certain she saw something flicker in his eyes.

Unease?

Uncertainty?

She scented the air in an attempt to read what he was feeling and sure enough, the man was on edge. Though he appeared to be the picture of calm, a war was raging beneath the skin judging by the scents coming off him.

“And why would you be looking for me?” Brendon asked, that grin still in place as he took several steps back. Ella matched his steps, realizing that he was leading them deeper into the shadows, closer to the river and farther from the saloon which was the only building close by.

“Why would any woman look for a man?” Ella asked coyly, circling around him as they neared a large oak beside the river.

“I don’t have any more chocolate if that’s what you’re after.” Brendon replied teasingly, though the look in his eyes didn’t match his words. He looked hungry. Predatory. He slipped the rifle sling from his back and leaned the big gun against a boulder beside him.