A Hunter's Choice [The Hunters 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) Read online

  The Hunters 2

  A Hunter’s Choice

  Tomas Lupei sets out to find the strigoi terrorising a large city. Little does he know that his life is about to change in a marvellous way.

  Severely wounded after fighting strigoi, Tomas stumbles on a tent in the middle of nowhere. He falls unconscious only to wake to see his One staring down at him.

  The beautiful Julie Smith is terrified by the feelings of love meeting Tomas has generated, not to mention the strigoi that tried to take her—oh and Tomas sinking his fangs into her wrist and drinking his blood. She did what any sensible woman would do—she ran!

  Join Tomas, Michael, and Louisa as they search for Julie only to uncover more strigoi in one area than any Hunter thought possible!

  Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Shape-shifter, Vampires/Werewolves

  Length: 66,749 words

  A HUNTER’S CHOICE

  The Hunters 2

  Suzy Shearer

  EROTIC ROMANCE

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Erotic Romance

  A HUNTER’S CHOICE

  Copyright © 2014 by Suzy Shearer

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-63258-420-5

  First E-book Publication: October 2014

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  A HUNTER’S CHOICE

  The Hunters 2

  SUZY SHEARER

  Copyright © 2014

  Chapter One

  Tomas was tired. The festivities from Matei and Charlotte’s wedding had continued on long after the bride and groom had left. Tomas made the mistake of getting into a drinking match with Radu and Grant, and came off worst. The sun had just risen and he was suffering from the effects of it and far too much alcohol.

  Thank goodness, he only had to crawl across the sand and up the stairs to find a bed. His parents were in the master bedroom, while Michael and Louisa had claimed one of the other large bedrooms. His discovered brother and Eliza had another, while Tatiana and Roberto had staked their claim on yet another. He stumbled into one with an open door. It had a large double bed and a single, both empty. Where Ştefania, Richard, and Grant were, he had no idea, but this one was empty now so that was it, it was his.

  He fell onto the single bed and promptly passed out.

  He woke to the sounds of laughter. The sun had long set and the shutters had lifted. Dragging himself out of bed, he used the bathroom, then wandered into the kitchen. Grant and Ştefania were watching Roberto cook. His brother and their parents were curled up on the lounges. Magnus was telling everyone stories of Radu and Tomas as children when he walked in the room. Radu looked over at him and laughed, saying, “Get enough beauty sleep, little brother?”

  Tomas ignore him and went to kiss his mother’s cheek, “Where’s Tatiana and Eliza?”

  “Out on the front verandah. When Roberto volunteered to cook, they went out to relax.”

  He walked over and pecked Ştefania’s cheek, then walked out to greet the other two women.

  “Where’s Richard, Michael, and Louisa?”

  “Richard’s gone for a run, he should be back soon. Michael and Louisa have gone to the local supermarket to stock up.”

  “Did Stuart and Katie take Harley?”

  Eliza grinned. “Yes, Nerida has it all planned. She told Charlotte she was going to teach Harley new tricks so they’d be surprised when they came home. Katie shudders to think what she has in mind.”

  Tomas was still feeling seedy, so he walked down the stairs to the water’s edge, removed his clothes, and dove into the cold water. The shock to the system made him feel much better and he vowed never to drink with Grant and Radu again. After swimming back and forth a dozen times, he climbed out of the water, shook himself dry, and redressed. Walking back to the house, he found Richard had finished his run and was sitting eating, along with everyone else.

  “Did anyone leave anything for me?”

  Radu grinned up at him. “Didn’t think you would feel like eating after all you drank.”

  Tomas pulled a face at him and walked inside.

  Ştefania called out, “Look in the oven, Tomas.”

  When
he did, he saw there was plenty of food left. Grabbing a plate, he filled it with poached eggs, mushrooms, and roasted tomatoes, added a few slices of toast then walked back outside to sit with his brother.

  “Are you going back to Europe, Tomas?” Radu asked.

  “I thought I was but Viorel told me last night that they want me here, apparently there have been a number of deaths that look like the work of a strigoi. Michael and Matei were going to investigate, so I’m filling in for Matei until he returns.”

  “That makes sense, little brother, who knows, you may even find your One.”

  “I wish! Where are you off to?”

  Radu shrugged his shoulders, “I have to report back to the Council. I think we’ll probably be back where we’ve been for the last thirty years, especially with Eliza being pregnant, although they may decide to move us back to Europe for that very reason.”

  Ştefania looked over to Eliza. “Isn’t that what happened last time you were pregnant?”

  “Yes, it is easier. If we’re in Romania, we can go to the right hospital, plus have all the many relations to help with the baby raising. Although I wouldn’t mind staying where we are and just have an aunty and uncle live with us. You know how much all the aunties and uncles love having babies around.” She grinned at Ştefania.

  “Don’t remind me. Even now they pinch my cheeks when I go to visit.”

  “Who pinches your cheeks?”

  Michael strode onto the deck, hand in hand with Louisa.

  “The aunties and uncles.”

  Michael grimaced. “Don’t remind me. Last time Matei and I went there, they fussed over us non-stop. Made us feel like we were little kids.”

  Grant spoke up, “We haven’t been yet, or rather I haven’t. When Richard went last, I was in the middle of a conference and so he went alone.”

  “Man, were you lucky!” Ştefania grinned at him, “Just wait till they get you.”

  “Surely it can’t be that bad!”

  He looked over at his mate, Richard, who shook his head. “Be thankful you didn’t have to come, hon. I can’t believe that a group of elderly people, who are not immortal, can have so much power over Hunters. But every time I go there, I feel like some naughty school kid who has been caught writing dirty words on the blackboard.”

  The others laughed and agreed.

  Ricardo insisted, “I’m sure they must keep a record book that gets handed down from one generation to the next which tells everything we have ever done wrong.”

  Aurelia spoke up, “I don’t think you’re far off the mark, Ricardo, but in all honesty I don’t know what we’d do without them. They lavish so much love on our children, protect them, teach them and care for them, as if they were their own. Wish they’d been around when my elder kids were born, but the Council only came up with the idea of generations of mortals caring for our children when the three eldest were over one thousand.”

  “When I was pregnant with Dani, we were living in England. I wanted to stay there so we had an Aunty-Uncle couple move in.” Louisa smiled as she recalled the couple. “They were wonderful. They stayed with us until Dani moved to Italy to study when she was twenty-two. While they were with us they had a boy and a girl, so the house was always filled with laughter.”

  Michael added, “We saw them last time we were in Romania. They’d returned there when Dani left. I was so grateful that they came and stayed.”

  The rest of the night was spent catching up and enjoying as much as they could of each other’s company—the next evening they were all going their separate ways.

  Tomas would miss his sisters and Radu. Even though they teased him mercilessly, he loved them dearly. He made the most of the time with his family. Who knew when they would be together next?

  The following evening was filled with sadness and tears as everyone made their goodbyes. Even though they could speak over the distances, being with family and friends physically was wonderful.

  Finally it was just Tomas, Louisa, and Michael left.

  “Well let’s get to work, kid.”

  Michael spread out a map on the dining table and the three of them studied the markings on it.

  “Louisa hacked into the local police database and each of these red dots represents the suspicious deaths Viorel Nicolescu wants us to look into. If you look carefully it seems to be in a hundred and fifty kilometre radius around this large city, Windsor.” Michael pointed out to Tomas. “I think we need to centre the search there.”

  “Makes sense. Do you want me to go there tonight and set up?”

  “Can you? Louisa and I have a meeting with Viorel tomorrow night, so if you can get things organised, that’ll be good. You can set up a place for us.”

  “Easy done. I’ll leave now. Are you two driving out or flying?”

  “Driving. We need to use a car for supplies, comes in handy at times. We’ll leave once we have spoken with Viorel but we won’t be there until the following morning after that. Is that okay with you?”

  “Actually, that’s good. Can you bring Matei’s box of goodies with you? I’ll just take a couple of knives with me. I hate flying with something that heavy for so long.”

  “Good idea.”

  Louisa looked thoughtful. “I imagine we should only be there for two weeks or so. If there is a strigoi active in the area, we should be able to track it down and destroy it fairly quickly. So if you book somewhere central for two weeks with an option to extend.”

  “Okay.”

  Michael rolled up the map and concluded, “Once we’ve done that, Louisa and I’ll do a circuit of our area and meet you back here in a couple of months, unless something comes up. If we need help then you can come to us or vice versa.”

  “All right, all makes sense. I’ll leave now. It’ll take me all night to get there. Make sure you don’t forget the box.”

  Michael grinned at him, then clasped his arms, “Live şi lupta cu onoarea Tomas. ‘Live and fight with honour.’”

  “Live şi lupta cu onoarea, Mihăiță.” Tomas hugged Louisa and kissed her cheeks before giving her the traditional warrior greeting. “Live şi lupta cu onoarea, Louisa.”

  He walked out onto the deck and then changed into an owl and flew off.

  Michael looked at Louisa, “Come my love, let’s load up anything we need into the car, then we can relax until we see Viorel tomorrow. We’ll take Matei’s tent as well in case we don’t find somewhere to sleep through the day.”

  He pulled her to him and kissed her passionately before they walked down to the garage to pack the car.

  Chapter Two

  Tomas flew most of the night, stopping now and then for a rest, finally arriving an hour after sunrise. He was tired, too tired to worry about finding a motel. Instead, he would need to find somewhere to sleep through the day and then tonight would find a motel or hotel for himself and the others.

  The city was at the foot of a large mountain chain. There were plenty of dry, clean caves higher up Tomas could use today. He found one that was clean, dark, and deep. Settling in for the day, he closed his eyes and slept the sleep of his people, after assuring Michael he had arrived and was okay.

  That evening he flew into Windsor. It would become their central point in the search. It was a fairly large city, with a lot of outlying towns and then wide rural areas. It was no wonder the strigoi had found plenty of food here. It would be able to feed without drawing attention to itself by the local police. It was only Hunters who knew what the signs of strigoi activity were who would be alerted.

  Tomas located a hotel that had two bedroom self-contained apartment suites, and booked one for their use. Tomas was lucky. A suite with a large balcony on the top floor was available. It would be easier for them to fly discretely from it and return. He booked it for two weeks.

  He told the clerk he and his companions worked through the night and would be sleeping all day, to ensure no one disturbed them through the daylight hours. He also told the clerk the others in his par
ty would be arriving the next morning or later in the evening. Once he had it sorted with the hotel, he looked for somewhere to eat.

  Walking through the nearby area, he found a little Indian bistro that served vegetarian food as well as meats. He ordered a delicious vegetable curry served with naan bread. Tomas felt much better after eating, but knew he’d need blood after flying for so long the previous night. He wandered through a small area of the city near the hotel, and came upon a man who was walking his dog through a park. There was no one else around so he sent a message of friendship to the dog and drank from the man. He left the man with the impression of a very pleasant and most enjoyable walk.

  Time to do a little investigation.

  Tomas walked into a small grove of trees in the park and transformed into an owl before flying off to slowly circle the town, looking for any signs of strigoi activity. After about an hour he detected something in the treetops further to the north, in the lower part of the looming mountain chain. Flying over the general area for about twenty minutes, he noticed the tang of freshly dried blood in the air. Landing, he found a body, recently drained. He would return later and take the body closer to the city so it could be found. But first, he needed to see if he could pick up a trail. Taking to the air again, he began circling in ever-increasing distances until he found the recent trace he was looking for.

  Flying carefully, he followed the trace higher into the mountains until he caught the unmistakeable vile stench of the vampire nearby. Landing quietly in a tree, he looked down to see the strigoi pacing back and forth beneath him.

  Without warning, Tomas leapt, transforming and drawing his knives as he landed on top of the strigoi. The vampire had no chance to dematerialise as Tomas stabbed him in the chest. The vampire fought back and slashed across Tomas’s chest and onto his arm, but Tomas stabbed it again. The vampire fell with Tomas on top of it. Tomas plunged his knife into the chest and deep into its foul heart.