Page 1 of Willing Prey

ONE

Claire

Nerves make me slam my truck door too hard, the sound shattering the stillness and announcing my arrival before I’m ready.

My Chevy pickup seems out of place in front of the sprawling Victorian home, a blemish on an otherwise perfect face.

I’d expected a partner at a law firm to have a nice house, but this is beyond what I’d imagined.

It’s picture-book perfect, complete with a welcoming front porch and huge, grassy yard.

Once I look past the house and yard, my heart beats a little harder. The woods are thick, the trees dense and lush. If the house is something from a storybook, the forest belongs in a fairy tale. It’s pure Grimm’s.

It’s fitting, considering I’m here to be hunted by Shane Underwood, partner at Graves, Underwood we both know she just strapped a countdown-to-fuck-town watch on my wrist. “I might as well be paid for it.”

“I suppose.”

It’s clear she doesn’t understand, but I can’t make her.

Explaining my need for the thrill of the hunt and the brutality of the fight feels too personal.

How do I tell her that hunting is my outlet for the aggression and frustration that have accumulated over a lifetime of being nice without sounding like I’m filled with some depraved darkness?