#Chapter 83 – The Hunt

Victor and the members of the hunt prowl through the streets of the city, searing for their prey. They sniff the air and follow their instincts, seeking their other halves, the partners with whom they will consummate their hunt. For those amongst his parties who are mated pairs, this means their partners, who will be attending Amelia’s simultaneous bachelorette.

For those who are unmated and unmarried, it means finding the someone who will slake their desires that evening, an as-yet unidentified quarry.

It was an old wolf ceremony, started hundreds of years ago, nobody remembers by whom. But for grooms and brides long ago, it was a chance to try out the relationship before committing to it for a lifetime. One night of passion to see if the match were compatible, fertile.

The Alphas hundreds of years ago who invented the ceremony believed that the hunt was magic, that it spurred mating bonds to connect. They thought that drugs mixed with the ceremony to create something ethereal that allowed Alphas to smell and pursue those who would best satisfy their needs, be their body’s match as well as their soul’s.

Children conceived on this night were considered particularly lucky.

Of course, Victor knows it’s all nonsense – just an excuse for men to let loose and let their wolves run free.

Some of the men of Victor’s party found their pairs already in the forms of the willing handmaidens who began the ceremony. Rafe had been one of theses. Uninterested in exerting himself more than necessary, he had waved Victor goodbye while pulling a gold-painted woman into his lap, scattering her flowers all over the floor.

Victor, however, was unwilling to take the first willing woman who crossed his path. He had rarer tastes than that.

As Victor prowls through the streets, the whiskey and the hallucinogens combine further in his bloodstream, blacking out his earlier worries and allowing him to concentrate on the pursuit of his mate, to give himself over to the chase.

He sniffs the air, eyes closed, seeking any sign of her on the wind. Nothing, yet – but the anticipation only makes it sweeter.

The men prowl forward in their pack, heading, presumably, for the party where the women wait for them. No matter how long it takes, they will find them.

Victor allows the pack to surge forward around him, falling to the back so that he can get a better sense of the night air. He trusts his friends to lead him true, but he wants to give his own instincts a chance to kick in. He wants to feel the wolf in him rise to the surface, to taste the wind, to smell her on it.

There.

head snaps to the left. There.

the group as they surge down the street, having picked up their own mates’ tracks. His own must be playing a wily trick on him tonight, going

indulge in his animal instincts. The worries of his life have been put aside, just for a moment, and he finds himself wolf

weeks, not since that night

back to himself, just a moment – his sons, his two

the woods, briefly recognizing that he has left the city behind. He doesn’t notice the time passing,

Where is she?

his focus to them. Briefly, some part of his mind notes the presence of Betas at

one calls, “are you all

ignores it,

transponders click

“He’s here –“

course, let him pass

“He doesn’t seem…himself…”

It’s his house, who

with her scent those lights ahead of him. A small house develops out of the haze. He slinks

the back porch and grasps the

of her kitchen. Her eyes are wide, surprised, shocked, at the

her, pulling her close to his body with an arm around her waist, his other hand moving up her back, her neck, to tangle in her

he growls, his eyes focusing on her. “You are

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