Alle Kapitel von The Mate Hunt: Kapitel 1 – Kapitel 10

MaeveMy father’s pack had never been the largest or strongest, but we had been respected. Our healers were skilled, our lands fertile, and our warriors known for tracking prey across impossible distances.Then Mara disappeared.Rumors followed. Some said she had betrayed our pack. Others claimed she had become Ronan Caine’s lover and helped him murder his family.The ugliest stories said she had begged him to choose her as his Luna, then slaughtered his arranged bride when he refused.None of them knew Mara as I did. They had not grown up beneath the same roof.They had not slept beside her during thunderstorms when we were children or followed her through the woods while she taught me how to cover my scent.Mara had protected me from everything. When our father’s temper rose, she redirected it toward herself. When older pack girls mocked me for shifting late, Mara made certain they regretted it.When I cut my palm badly while helping her prepare herbs, she held my hand, cleaned the

Maeve Ronan Caine was taller than I expected.That was my first thought, and I hated myself for noticing.He stood at least a head above me, with shoulders broad enough to block my view of the entrance doors behind him. His black coat hung open over a charcoal shirt with the top buttons undone.Nothing about his clothing was ceremonial.Nothing about him suggested he cared that dozens of people were watching.His dark hair was slightly too long, falling across his forehead in uneven waves. A scar cut through his left eyebrow and disappeared into his hairline. Another, thinner mark ran from beneath his ear toward the edge of his jaw.Mara had written about that scar. She said he received it the night he killed his brother.My gaze traveled to his eyes.Gold.Not brown touched by amber. Not hazel. Gold. The color of flames reflected against a blade.They were fixed entirely on me.He knew. The realization struck with such certainty that my breath caught. He knew who I was before he rea

RonanI made it halfway down the western corridor before my claws broke through my fingertips.Pain split through my hands.I curled them into fists and kept walking.No one tried to stop me.Servants flattened themselves against the walls as I passed. Warriors bowed their heads without meeting my eyes. Even the visiting Alphas lingering near the ballroom doors moved aside when they saw me coming.They could smell it.The loss of control.It poured from me with every breath, thickening the air until the weaker wolves struggled to remain standing beneath the pressure of my power.I should have stayed away from her.I had known that before entering the entrance hall.For three years, Elowen had warned me that Maeve’s blood had become tangled in the broken binding. Her scent might calm the Sovereign Hunger. Her presence might strengthen it. Touching her before we understood the connection could trigger anything from temporary relief to a complete loss of control.I had listened.For thre

RonanA growl rolled through my chest. The room seemed to darken around us.Cassian lifted both hands slowly. “That is precisely the problem.”No other Alpha would touch her. The thought was immediate. Absolute.The Blood Hunt permitted every registered Alpha to pursue any participating woman until she was captured or reached sanctuary.Maeve’s name would be announced with the others. Every unmated Alpha in Blackthorne Mansion would hear it.They would scent her. Track her. Want her.My claws extended farther.Cassian watched them. “There are seventeen registered hunters,” he reminded me. “Three have already asked about her.”“Names.”“Ronan.”“Give me their names.”“Alpha Darius Blackthorn was standing near the staircase when you confronted her. Alpha Lucan Vale asked one of the registrars which room she had been assigned. And Alpha Theron Voss has apparently taken an interest in the Cross bloodline.”A feral sound tore from my throat. The bedframe cracked when my hand closed around

Maeve“You’re confident you’ll make it.”“I’m confident I have better odds than most.” Her gaze traveled toward the windows. “There are forty-two of us and only seventeen hunters. Once an Alpha captures a woman and declares her, he’s finished. He cannot release her and choose someone else.”“Which leaves twenty-five women uncaptured.”“Assuming every hunter succeeds.”“And assuming they all follow the rules.”Sable’s eyes moved toward the armed guards standing near the ballroom doors.“They’ll follow them tonight.”“You trust the Huntmaster that much?”“No.” Her smile disappeared. “I trust the number of witnesses.”Before I could answer, another woman joined us. She did not introduce herself immediately.She simply stepped into our conversation as though there had always been a place reserved for her.She was beautiful in the deliberate, polished way that required time and servants. Her pale gold gown clung to her waist before spilling toward the floor in layers of translucent fabric.