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Hunter and the Hawk Gale Stanley
Chapter Eight
Hunter's bruises, even the fang marks, had
disappeared. If Rafe had scheduled his meeting with Grace
a day later, she wouldn't have seen a thing. But what
difference did it make? She didn't care about the past, only
their future, and he intended to be a faithful husband.
Age didn't matter. Lycans had a long life span. He
and Grace had many years of marriage ahead of them. The
thought didn't thrill him, but he'd make it work. Few
couples had any choice when they mated. He should be
happy he had a woman who actually wanted him and
wanted to take care of him.
The fading light was easy on his eyes. Hoping this
inflammation or injury would just go away, he'd put off a
visit to the doc. But the light sensitivity remained, and
keeping to the house during the day made him crazy. He
promised himself he'd get his eyes checked tomorrow. And
ask Doc about his weight loss. He'd weighed the same for
years, but now all of sudden he'd lost five pounds. Why?
He still ate the same amount of food. Lycans rarely had
health issues. It was probably nothing. Right now he just
wanted a little fresh air.
* * * *
He spread a blanket on the roof, stretched out on his
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back with his hands behind his head, and looked up at the
moon. In this small house he'd shared with Tena, one of
their favorite things had been to sleep under the stars on
warm nights.
The vastness of the sky fascinated him. Knowing
how far away those stars really were made him feel small
and insignificant, but amazed and grateful for their beauty
as well. Here, with the breeze ruffling through his hair and
sound of crickets in his ears, he felt totally at peace with
himself and the world. Only one thing was lacking,
someone to share it with.
His thoughts turned to Aidan. What was he doing
right now? Dancing at the Parrish or fucking a new lover?
He shook it off. It wasn't his concern.
A rustle of feathers caught his attention. Aidan! He
bolted upright. At first he thought it really was Aidan
perched on the guardrail, and his heart lurched. But the
hawk transformed in front of his eyes and a female version
of the vampire sat there. Her womanly body and small,
perfect breasts didn't entice him, but she had Aidan's long
black hair and dark eyes rimmed in green. His chest
tightened and he drew a breath to calm his racing heart. For
a few minutes neither spoke.
"I can see why my brother loves you." Her sharp
eyes raked his naked body. "You're attractive, in a hairy
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beast kind of way." Her gaze settled below the waist. She
raised her head and an eyebrow. "He neglected to mention
all your assets."
His chest fluttered as if the hawk was trapped
inside, beating its wings against his ribcage. He hardly
heard anything after loves you. He never considered the
vampire might have feelings for him. If it were true
"Can you talk? Or do you just growl and bark?"
He couldn't hide the stupid grin on his face. "You
must be Abbi."
She rolled her eyes. "How can you tell?"
"Aidan told me you were feisty." He didn't have any
false modesty, none of the Lycans did, but he wished she
would stop looking at his dick. Her intense gaze reminded
him too much of Aidan and his cock filled automatically.
"Is he okay? Why didn't he come himself?"
"No. He's not okay." Her light tone turned serious.
Tight bands of fear constricted his chest and left
him speechless.
"I'm not sure he could even fly this far." She sighed
heavily. "He doesn't know I'm here." Her back straightened
and her voice took on a challenging tone. "I thought it best
not to get his hopes up in case you weren't willing to help
him."
Worry turned to anger. "Of course I'm willing. Tell
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me what's going on."
"I ran tests, mixing your blood with ours. The cells
mutated. Then I took some blood from Aidan and saw the
same changes taking place. The transformation of his cells
have begun to affect his body. It started with small things.
Things he never told me about, even though I stressed the
importance of logging everything and anything that
happened. He has trouble sleeping, a continuous hunger,
and a desire for the hunt. Two nights ago he fed from a
human without permission and almost killed him. His body
is growing weaker. No matter how much human blood he
drinks, it doesn't sate him. Even vampire blood doesn't
satisfy the hunger."
He forced out the question he really didn't want to
ask. "Is he dying?" He couldn't be dying. Vampires didn't
die.
"I don't know." Her voice broke. "It's all my fault. I
convinced him to help me with the research."
"No. It's my fault as much as yours. If he hadn't fed
from me& "
"I don't know that it's because of your blood. Right
now, I'm not sure of anything. Do you have any
symptoms?"
"I didn't take any blood."
"But you shared saliva and semen. Inadvertently,
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maybe even blood. Are you sure you haven't noticed
anything different?"
"No." He stopped short. "Maybe. I've lost five
pounds. My eyes are sensitive to light& "
Her jaw dropped.
"What?"
"I need you to come back with me. Now."
"Of course, if you think I can help. Just tell me
what's going on."
"I'm not even sure myself, but I think you may be in
danger, too. I need to run more tests. Can you follow me? I
know an overgrown back road no one uses anymore."
"I'll meet you at the side of the house."
* * * *
Hunter jumped over the old chain link fence. Abbi
had already shifted and unlocked the back door of a two-
story brick building. He followed on four feet and padded
into a room lined with white tiles. It smelled faintly
antiseptic.
An image of his human form took shape in his mind
and his body followed it like a blueprint. His human eyes
scanned his surroundings. Every inch of space was filled
with counters, microscopes, weird looking devices, and
vials containing fluids of various colors. It made him
uncomfortable. He turned to Abbi. "I want to see Aidan."
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"I think that's a good idea. I live upstairs. He's
staying with me."
Hunter followed her up a narrow flight of steps into
a small living room, dining room combination. A hallway
led to a bedroom and bath.
Stopping in front of the closed door, she motioned
him inside. "Go ahead." She looked him up and down. "I'll
try to find you something to wear. You're bigger than both
of us put together."
He laughed at her exaggeration and opened the door
without knocking. Aidan's black hair fanned out against the
pillows. His chest was bare and a thin sheet was pulled over
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