Chapter 41
“Ariella”
When the sun rises, the men who participated in hunting emerge from the trees with their spoils. Front of the line I spot my brothers, behind them, a few men carrying the most gigantic boar I’ve ever seen.
“That’s King Rafe and King Eli from Crystal River!”
“They’re so handsome. I don’t think they have mates yet, do they?”
“Even if they don’t, they won’t pick you
I run up and give my brothers each a hug. “Wow! That is quite the catch”
I’m utterly impressed by the sheer size of the thing as they drop it to the ground. It’s the size of a carriage
“It was all King Ethan’s idea,” Rafe says with begrudging respect.
“Work together to take down the biggest prey.” Eli added. “Speaking of, where’s Ethan?”
Just then, cool and sighs rise again from the women around ine. Ethan strides out from the forest like a god. Sunlight catches on his broad shoulders, casting a soft glow on his strong but graceful form. Some women even shriek, but he doesn’t glance their way even once.
His gaze locks onto mine, as he makes his way through the crowd
“Welcome bac–um Before I can finish my sentence, he pulls me into a kiss. When he lets go of me, he groans. “Fuck, I’ve missed kissing you.”
Whispers immediately flutter around us and I’m at a loss for words.
Did he just kiss me in public like that?!
My checks burn with embarrassment, especially knowing my brothers were watching I catch a glimpse of Cassadura out of the corner of my eye. She turns her head away, her body tense.
“What a successful hunt on Day One!” Ethan’s arm is still around my waist as he shouts to the crowd, “Goddess has given us her blessings till the
nex Harvest Moon!
“Hooray!”
“King Ethan! King Ethan!”
The crowd bursts into celebration and Kyle leads the crowd to sort all the wild games.
Taking that opportunity, Ethan pulls me aside. “So how did it go with you. Did you find it!”
клар
out from my shock and embarrassment from his kiss and show him the stone in the necklace. “Yeah.”
“Good. One thing check off the list. Are you ready for tonight?” he asks. Women’s hunt is a night hunt and won’t start until the end of Day Two. which is tonight.
Perhaps it’s the hunters‘ pride and the crowd’s enthusiasm that are too contagious, or maybe it’s in our nature as wolf shifters to thrill at the thrill of
good hunt, I can’t help but smile and respond. “You bet!”
“Why are you using weapons?” Cassandra whispers next to me, as I aim my crossbow at a deer. “Not that this way of hunting isn’t fun, but I
“Because like you said, it’s fun,” I answer dismissively as I press my trigger.
I watch my prey fall, my heart rate ticking up slightly, but more noticeably, I sense the moonstone humming. It feels as if it’s warming i up
I remind myself to behave as normally as possible to avoid drawing any attention to the moonstone necklace around my neck.
Luckily, Cassandra isn’t too observant. She lets out a while. “Wow, great shot,” she comments, but then follows up with a q want to answer, “But why not shift, Ariella It’ll be even more fun”
a question I really don’t
“I just don’t feel like it. I enjoy taking my timir
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Chapter 41
As lame as my excuse is, she doesn’t seem to be too suspicious. Instead, she continues with her endless questions ever since we entered the forest, “But you’ve been hunting with the crossbow for a couple hours now, isn’t time for a change!”
Getting a little frustrated, I stop in my tracks. “Cassandra, you really don’t have to follow me, I say
“But I told you if you hunt, I would hunt with you, didn’t I she replies innocently.
Yes, when Castor asked us whether we were interested, she did say she would hunt. I just didn’t know her plan was to accompany me the entire
ume
I sigh, trying to contain my annoyance. “I appreciate that, but you don’t have to wait for me. If you’re bored, just go ahead and shift.”
“But then, you won’t be able to keep up with me.”
“It’s okay. You can go ahead to join other noble ladies. I’m sure some of your friends from the capital city have come here too. You guys will have a lot more fun” I try to persuade her, praying she can just leave me alone.
“Nah. I think I’ll just stick with you”
“Why?!” I mutter under my breath
Just leave me alone, please! It’s so frustrating that I’m going to lose my temper
I have to do this because
it’s part of the requirement to wake up my wolf, but bombarded by Cassandra’s questions is just too mentally exhausting.
“Because if I’m not here with you, you’ll be all alone,” she says. “I need to take care of you.”
Her answer takes me by surprise. Honestly, that’s the least thing I expect from her, whether she truly means it or not. For a moment, I don’t know how to respond.
“Look there’s a rabbit!” She points to our left front direction. I draw out another arrow and get my crossbow ready again. Steady and release.
“The 5th kill. You’re good”
She claps, as if she’s totally forgotten our previous conversation. But I haven’t.
“Cassandra.“I let out a sigh of defeat. “That’s very kind of you to say. I mean, I can take care of myself, but still, I appreciate the gesture.
“Huh?” She pauses for a moment. “Oh that
“Thank you.” I look her in the eye. “I appreciate it.”
She seems to be a bit uncomfortable, and she looks away from me, “Hey Ariella, can I ask you something
“Go ahead. It’s not like you haven’t asked me a hundred questions tonight already.”
She chuckles, but somehow she looks even more uneasy. “Will you forgive someone if they did something wrong that they didn’t mean to do?”
However, before I can answer her, I hear a twig crack.
I lift my bow without thinking, pointing in the direction that I had heard the sound coming from.
Cassandra turns as well, snarling as she shifts her teeth into fangs, her nails sharpening to claws. But there’s nothing there, and after a few moments of silence and nothing, I lower my weapon.
“We’re on edge.” I mutter, mostly to myself. “The thrill of the hum.”
Cassandra removes the beginning of the shift, her teeth back to their dull normal size, and her claws vanish.
“Maybe,” she answers
And then, without warning, there’s a flurry of movement and sound. I hear Cassandra gasp. I spin around, crossbow at the ready and there stands Marcus, his claws around Cassandra’s throat, threatening to puncture the skin and rupture. her windpipe.