Page 43

AURELIA

T oday is graduation day.

Thorin has taught me to shoot and hunt almost daily for the last two months, and my aim has improved immensely. But after Seth said none of it’s useful if I don’t kill anything, I bet them all I could catch and kill our dinner tonight.

Of course, they hadn’t gone for it.

The death squad. I’m too recognizable. They can’t risk me being seen. Blah, blah, blah.

When I asked if this was how the rest of my life was expected to go—hiding in this cabin with the three of them as my only source of human contact—an uncomfortable silence followed, which is how I found myself sneaking out of the cabin an hour before dawn.

I made sure to sleep in my loft last night under the guise of being too pissed with them to sleep in one of their beds. It’s easier than trying to crawl from under them since my mountain men turned out to be as overbearing in their sleep as they are when awake.

The lingering cold from winter is nothing more than a comforting breeze in the early spring morning. The warmer season has taken over most of the Cold Peaks, but there are still many places where the sun doesn’t reach, so the snow lingers on top of exposed rocks and precarious slopes. The guys warned that the risk of avalanches is even higher now, but I’m pretty sure it was another excuse to keep me inside. Still, after what happened to Tyler, I’ll be the first to admit that I get a little jumpy at the slightest sound of snow shifting and falling from the branches above me.

I keep going, focusing on the grass, flowers, and bees as I cross the clearing with my pack, compound bow, and the hunting knife Khalil gave me. When I reach the tree line, and my mountain men don’t come bursting out of the front door to drag me back inside, I slip the uncomfortable wolf mask over my face and start into the wilds.

I’m nearing the first hunting spot—a maze of blowdowns just before sunrise, and I can’t believe my luck when I spot a buck lying down with its back against the largest tree that has been knocked down.

The buck’s head is down, its nose tucked under its hind legs as it sleeps.

The bow is a close-range weapon, so I have to get really fucking close.

Thankfully, it rained last night, so the ground is soft, muting my steps as I approach from downwind. When I’m about a hundred feet away, I slowly draw an arrow from my pack and place it on the shelf before nocking it on the string. I don’t fumble with it as much as I had in the beginning, which is a damn good thing because deers—which I learned the hard way—can hear really fucking well.

I don’t have time to overthink my aim, knowing it won’t be long before my arms and shoulders tremble under the weight of the bow and the tension in the string. Khalil’s been helping me with that, too, coaching me through some strengthening exercises. For now, I tell myself that my aim is true when I pull back on the bow and peer through the peephole that acts as a sight.

The moment I whistle, the old Aurelia tries to make a comeback, and I hear her screaming at me to leave the deer alone. No, don’t! Look how cute! It’s just a helpless animal!

Shut up.

Exhaling nice and slow, I release the arrow once the startled deer lifts its head, and I watch it sail through the sparse trees and pierce the buck broadside.

It’s a swift kill.

But I don’t see the deer when it takes its last breath.

I see me.

I’m slumped against the fallen tree and bleeding out. My face is painted, my hair is primped, and I’m draped in diamonds and dressed to stun in the designer gown I wore the night I won my first Grammy. A meaningless fucking award that countless others likely wanted more and probably deserved. I still have that plastic fucking smile on my face, even in death. When I see the arrow piercing my false heart, I tip back my head and roar my victory.

Birds burst from the canopy, giving my position away, but I don’t care.

The puppet is dead.

I take one step toward my kill when I hear a low growl.

A giant paw appears on top of the fallen tree that the buck made its bed, and then a furry head and pointed ears appear as the wolf climbs over with its gaze locked on me.

It’s the pregnant, tawny wolf Thorin and I spotted during one of our hunts a few weeks ago.

The same one Seth petted like it’s a damn domesticated dog.

Well, it’s not pregnant now, and seeing it up close, I’m convinced Seth is fucking nuts. The wolf is huge with flesh-shredding claws and teeth. I’ve seen up close what it could do with them—how quickly and viciously wolves can kill.

It’s a testament to this mountain trying to kill me several times that the natural terror I once had for them is muted. There’s only respect from one hunter to the next as I watch it leap over the dead buck and growl again.

I still see flashes of Cassie dying in the snow, surrounded by more than just one. But I’ve since learned that wolves are not the scariest thing in these wilds. And now they’re mine.

“What the hell do you want, mutt? I’m not in the mood.”

She bares her teeth, so I reveal mine by reaching for an arrow.

I swear her eyes follow it when I pull it from my pack. She retreats a step, and I mistake it for submission until she turns back the way she came.

I still don’t catch on to the fact that I was never her intended prey until she sniffs at the buck before wrapping her jaws around its neck.

My eyes are blown wide when she starts dragging it off.

“Hey, you bitch! That’s mine!”

Raising the bow again, I aim and fire a warning shot, hoping to scare it off. It lands with a thud inside the tree near its hind. The wolf snarls but doesn’t let go of the deer as it rounds the trunk and torn-up roots of the fallen tree, so I nock another bow.

I aim for the wolf this time, but after a full minute, I still can’t bring myself to take the shot. I stalk it around the tree when I lose sight of the wolf, but my arms start to quake, and I know I can’t hold it for much longer.

Her den must be nearby.

The den where her cubs await their mother’s return.

All things die.

Not today.

Lowering the bow, I let it fall to the ground as I helplessly watch the mother wolf and dead buck retreat.

“Oooh!” I punch the air when the wolf disappears. “You’re lucky you’re a single mom!”

I swear I hear her growl again.

Alone again, I debate my options. Thorin, Khalil, and Seth will be pissed that I snuck off either way, but will they be more so if I return empty-handed?

I’m almost sure they’ll be happy that their fuck toy returned at all, but if I’m going to take their shit either way, I might as well make it count.

An hour later, my ass hurts from sitting in a tree, and I have to pee. I wait another ten minutes for something to kill to walk by, but when I don’t spot anything, I sigh and climb down.

Unable to accept defeat, even though the sun is up and my chances have dwindled, I start toward a rocky hill nearby that Thorin took me to a few times.

I get a little turned around, though, and after another ten minutes, I realize I’m lost.

Damn it!

I should have searched harder for a radio. Maybe then I could have called them to come rescue me. I bet they’d love that. Thorin will enjoy the hunt, Khalil will use it as an excuse to keep me locked inside the cabin, and Seth will appreciate being needed.

The guys let me have the bow and knife, but they’re still keeping me on a leash—albeit a slightly extended one.

Trust has to be earned. I get that. But it goes both ways.

So yeah, maybe sneaking out was my way of punishing them for not trusting me. I’m also proving that I can be trusted and useful.

Makes a ton of fucking sense.

After staring at my map for ten minutes to no avail, I’m forced to retrace my steps. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve gone in a circle before I stumble onto a terrifying sight.

My stomach bottoms out as I stop in my tracks.

About a hundred feet ahead of me is a bear.

A fucking brown bear.

I’ve never seen one before, so I’m rooted in terror where I stand. It’s fucking huge. Five or six hundred pounds, maybe? Its fur is grizzled and different shades of brown. Chuffing sounds come from the bear as it works.

An image of Thorin and the scars left behind from his encounter with Bruce flashes in my mind. I’m chilled to the fucking bone, and for a few life-threatening seconds, I can’t move.

The bear’s back is to me—dirt, grass, and roots flying up as its massive paws dig into the south face of a grassy slope.

It doesn’t know I’m here, but I’m upwind. My advantage won’t last long.

Slowly, I back away as quietly as possible. I don’t know what has the bear so distracted, and I don’t want to know.

Whatever the hell it’s after, it wants it bad.

After I put enough distance between us, I hold my breath as I turn to leave, but then a tiny sound makes me pause, and my stomach turns.

Yipping, squeals, and whimpers.

Desperate calls for a mother who’s somewhere devouring my damn dinner.

Oh, nature, you petty, heartless bitch.

The hole isn’t just any hole.

It’s the tawny wolf’s den, and those are her helpless pups inside. There’s a creek full of fresh water not ten feet away and plenty of cover from the elements.

If there was a pack, they’d be here defending her pups.

Instead, there’s only me.

I guess that makes me her pack.

Fuck.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

All I have is this damn bow. How many arrows will it take? What if I miss?

I’ll be mauled by a damn bear, that’s what.

If I can get around it, maybe I can get a headshot—or one to the heart if I time it right.

Stupid.

Fucking stupid, fucking idiot.

I continue to scold myself as I move around the bear.

It can’t fit inside the hole to get to the pups that must be huddled at the back of the den, but it’s only a matter of time.

It isn’t too late. Just leave. This isn’t your business. It’s nature. It’s the circle of life. You are Black, Aurelia!

None of it penetrates my stubborn will.

But…

Killing the bear for trying to survive doesn’t seem fair. How many nests have the mother wolf raided? How many young has it taken?

Ignoring that logic, I get downwind of the bear but forget to pay attention to where I step as Thorin taught me. A twig snaps underneath my heel, and the bear stops digging immediately.

Oh, shit.

It snorts as it backs out of the den and turns toward the sound. Once it sees me, it twists its head and roars.

I’m gonna die.

I force myself to hold my ground even when it takes a step forward and swipes a paw bigger than my head over the ground in warning.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. You’re big and scary, and I’m lunch. Let’s get this over with.” Reaching over my shoulder for my pack, I don’t go for the arrows. I unclip the non-lethal bear spray Thorin packed for me. “Listen, I don’t want to hurt you, and I know you probably feel the same. I surprised you, and that was rude.” Fucking idiotic, more accurately. “You have every reason to maul my face off, but we can both still walk away.”

The bear roars again and charges but stops after two steps.

Okay, okay, okay. Ignore your sweaty palms and knocking knees and focus . What did the books say?

Bluffing.

The bear is bluffing.

That’s a good sign, right?

“You’re probably hungry and cranky from sleeping all winter, am I right?”

He whines like that is indeed its problem.

Remembering something else I learned in one of the survival manuals I read out of sheer boredom, I say, “I saw some juicy-looking berries not far away. Bears like berries, right? It’s not so bad being a vegetarian. I tried it for a couple of weeks. It was…an experience.”

The bear clacks its teeth, and I can’t remember what that means, but a moment later, it whines again before turning and running off.

For several seconds I can’t do anything but stand there and question if that just happened or if I made it up.

I can’t feel my legs.

I can’t feel my brain either.

Finally, it feels like I’ve been rebooted, and my next breath rushes out of me. I fall to my knees, feeling like my stomach is about to drop out of my ass. Instead, I lift my mask and throw up in the grass.

My hands are shaking uncontrollably when I swipe the back of my hand against my mouth.

What the hell just happened? What the fuck was I thinking?

“Holy shit!” I exclaim. “That was a goddamn bear.”

“Yes, it was.” I’m startled enough by the unexpected voice to scream as I shoot to my feet. I’m lucky enough to have the forethought to pull my mask back down before I whirl around because I stop breathing abruptly, choking on my spit and vomit when I see the sheriff standing there, holding a rifle by his side. His bushy brows are raised in surprise while his thick mustache twitches when he chuckles. “But I have to say that was impressive, young lady. Foolish and dangerous, but impressive.”

Now I know why the bear ran off.

It saw that I had backup and probably decided a few scrawny pups weren’t worth the effort.

I understand the feeling.

“Forgive an old man’s memory. Aurora, was it?”

I take off running in the opposite direction.

“Hey! Hold on there! Wait!” he calls after me. One glance over my shoulder shows him giving chase. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! “I just want to talk to you!”

I don’t wait. I don’t slow, even for low-hanging branches, logs, or the rabbits and squirrels that scurry out of my path. I keep running as fast as I can in the direction I think the cabin is in.

The sheriff’s old. Maybe I can lose him.

Whatever I do, I can’t lead him back to my guys. I can’t let him piece together why I was never found.

“Stop… Aurelia !”

The sound of my name brings me to a screeching halt.

No. No fucking way. I’m wearing the mask. He can’t see my face. How?

My hair.

My golden locks.

They aren’t covered like when we met in Hearth all those weeks ago.

Still, anyone with access to a pharmacy and a decent hairstylist could have the same. It doesn’t explain how the sheriff pieced together my identity that fucking fast. When I turn around, the sheriff and I are facing each other down once again. There’s barely twenty feet between us now, allowing me to see exactly what he’s thinking.

The kind sheriff’s expression is shattered—as if he’d taken a stab in the dark and his worst fear answered.

“What did you call me?”

“Christ. It is you, isn’t it? You’re Aurelia George. The…pop star. I know who you are. I’ve been looking for you.” He steps toward me, but I back away, and he pauses in shock like I’d slapped him. “Don’t be afraid.” He holds out his hands. “I’m here to help you.”

“I don’t want your help.” When it looks like he won’t let this go, I try begging, “ Please . Thank you for your concern. Now forget you ever saw me.”

“You know I can’t do that. You have no business being out here. God knows what you’ve been through. Just come with me, and I’ll get you home. I’ll take you back to your uncle. Everything will be all right.”

I shake my head and take another step back. “You’re too late, sheriff. I have no interest in being saved.”

His bushy brows turn down even as a determined glint enters his eyes. “Why the hell not?”

“Because I’m trying to save you .”

“Save me…what the devil are you talking about? Save me from what?”

“You know who.” To the sheriff’s credit, he doesn’t look away or balk. He doesn’t pretend he hasn’t already suspected that his precious “boys” are fucking monsters. I bet it would horrify him to know that they’re my monsters now. It would baffle him at least. “Do as I say, sheriff. Forget you saw me.”

“And I told you I can’t do that. Look…whatever they did—”

“Whatever they did? Whatever they did!” That incredulous look is back on his face now at the fury in my tone. “Trust me, you old fool. You can’t handle knowing what they did to me.” The sheriff’s weathered cheeks turn stark red, proving me right. “Now go your way, and I’ll go mine.”

I’m already turning away to leave when he says, “You’re right. I failed you.”

“That’s not what I—”

He holds up a hand, and I fall quiet. “Let this old fool make it up to you now. Please.”

I grumble and look away. “That was mean. I shouldn’t have called you a fool.”

“That’s quite all right.”

“I’m still not going with you.”

“Aurelia—”

“It’s my choice.”

“Actually, it’s not. You just implied that you were held against your will and…mishandled. I am a man of the law, and I must uphold it. Whether you come with me or not, Thorin, Khalil, and Ezekiel will answer for what they’ve done.”

I file away that he said Zeke and not Seth and cross my arms. “And they’ve been waiting for the day to come when they have to disappear again. If it’s justice you’re looking for, you’re not going to get it. You’ll be too late, and I’ll be the one to pay the price. No thanks.” The sheriff isn’t any less deterred, so I add, “And then there’s the other obstacle.”

“What?”

“Me.”

“I don’t understand.”

“However it may have happened, however many times they’ve tempted me since to smother them in their sleep, they’re mine now, and you just threatened them.” Quicker than I’ve ever moved and smoother than I’ve ever managed, I lift my bow, draw an arrow, and slide it in place. The sheriff isn’t expecting it, so he doesn’t think to lift his rifle before I aim. “Now turn around and walk away.”

His visage becomes enraged while disapproval marks his tone. “Young lady, I am an officer of the law.”

“Does it look like I give a shit, old man? Last warning.”

The sheriff makes a humming noise, studies my bow and form, and sighs heavily when he realizes I’ve been trained well. By the best, in fact. By Thorin Thayer himself. “Very well then. I’ll be seeing you again, Ms. George.”

I can hardly believe it when the sheriff leaves.

Once I’m sure he’s gone and I’m not being followed, I circle back to the creek and find a tree downwind where I climb until I have a bird’s eye view of the den. For hours I sit and wait.

I’ll admit I grow antsy watching the sun moves across the sky. My mountain men will have long ago realized I’d snuck out and are no doubt hunting for me.

If I had a radio , I could tell them I’m okay, but noooooo.

Serves ’em right. Let them squirm, I say.

However, if they run into the death squad before they find me, my guys will probably shoot first and ask questions later.

And then there’s the sheriff.

What if he goes straight to Khalil, Thorin, and Seth? They won’t go quietly, and the sheriff is naive enough to think he can talk them into turning themselves in. He hasn’t said as much, but it’s obvious he’s developed a fatherly affection for them. Things will inevitably get ugly if I’m not there to stand between my guys and the well-meaning sheriff.

Okay, where is this bitch?

As if I summoned her, I see a flash of tawny fur.

The mother wolf darts from the tree line with something clutched in her mouth. She drops the bloody piece of carcass near the den and starts sniffing around. I do not doubt she can smell the bear when she whines. Sympathy twists my stomach.

I have no idea if her pups are okay.

They haven’t made a sound or emerged from the den in the entire—I check my watch and grumble at the time— three hours— I’ve been waiting for their mom to return.

She’s back, which means my babysitting duties are over, but I stay where I am with my gaze focused on the mouth of the den.

I feel the mother wolf’s pain as she whimpers and whines before disappearing inside the den. Three minutes later, she emerges again with one…two… three pups running, tumbling, and pouncing at her heels.

The largest one is black with a small tawny patch at the top of its snout. It paces anxiously between the mother wolf’s front legs while the other two—a gray wolf and a white one tussle and bite into each other.

The pups can’t be more than two feet long from snout to tail and weigh no more than a gallon of milk. They’re at the age when their heads and paws are too big for their small, wiggling bodies.

They’re adorable.

And very much alive.

Most importantly, the pups are safe now with their mother to watch over them.

I can go home now.

My stomach growls, and I realize I haven’t eaten yet, so I climb down as quietly as possible, but it’s no use.

Wolves have exceptional hearing.

The moment my feet touch the ground, and I turn, I see the mother wolf staring at me through the trees while her babies tear into the buck she’d stolen from me.

I’m not close enough to present a threat, but I still back away slowly, waiting for her to growl or bare her teeth like she did the other times we’ve crossed paths. After a long and intense stare-down, the tawny wolf turns away and trots over to her ruined den. She plops down inside at the mouth of the hole where she can watch over her young. Only then does my stomach unknot itself, and I can breathe again.

Holy shit.

I guess it’s fortunate she stole my kill. I have no doubt the wolf would have fed me to her kids if she wasn’t full of Bambi’s father.

The moment I turn to leave, I walk straight into the jaws of another predator, and I scream.

Green eyes, olive skin slick with sweat, and a furious expression stare back at me. “What the fuck are you doing out here?”

“Seth! God!” I punch his chest, and he grunts. “I was almost eaten twice today. Don’t scare me like that, you jerk!” Lifting my mask until it rests on top of my head, my nervous gaze moves behind him, expecting to see the others. “Where’s Thorin and Khalil?”

“Pissed and looking for you.” Of course, they are. “Now answer me. What are you doing out here?”

I hold up my compound bow. “Hunting.” Seth immediately looks skeptical. “Seriously. I caught a buck with one shot. You should have seen it. I was so badass.”

Seth’s subdued gaze studies mine carefully, and then he turns me around, checking me over for injuries. I swear he even sniffs me as if he can scent out the lie about where I’ve been.

See what I mean? My boyfriends are savages.

“Seth, I didn’t try to run,” I say when he takes my bow from me and straps it to his back.

“You were gone for hours, Sunshine.”

“Because you bitches wouldn’t give me a radio, and I got lost!”

“You have a map.”

I roll my eyes. “Yes, but it was pretty much useless without a starting point. I don’t know this place as well as you three.”

“All right.” Seth stands back and slips his hands inside his pockets. “So where is it? Where’s the buck?”

“I…she stole it.”

“Who?”

“The wolf…Meera.” It’s the first time I’ve said her name out loud. I’d been toying with it while watching the lone wolf nurture her pups, so I’m surprised by how right it feels.

Seth doesn’t even blink at the ridiculousness of me naming a wild animal. “Seriously? A dog ate your homework? That’s the lie you’re going with?”

“ I’m not lying ,” I grind out.

My frustration and panic are at an all-time high right now. If I can’t even convince Seth, who worships the ground I walk on, that I wasn’t trying to run, I have no hope of convincing Khalil and Thorin.

Thank God I added the “no punishment” clause when I agreed to stay, but that doesn’t mean they can’t find other ways to make me sorry. I’m still a little torn about the “Blood Rite,” as I call that night I got my period a week and a half ago.

Seth gives an exasperated shake of his head and takes my arm. “Come on.”

I follow him happily like a good pet and pray his mood improves before we meet up with the others. I need him on my side or it will be three against one, and I won’t stand a chance. I hadn’t planned to stray so far or be gone for so long, and I damn sure wasn’t expecting to return empty-handed.

It looks really bad.

Seth radios Thorin and Khalil to tell them he found me and we’re heading back. Twenty minutes later, we’re a mile in, and Seth is still brooding. His eyes are fixed straight ahead as we travel inside a dell—a dried-up stream bed with steep hills on either side. Seth’s expression is stormy, so I wrestle my arm free of his hold and take his hand instead.

The feel of my fingers linking his longer ones snap him out of whatever dark thoughts have taken over his mood. Seth looks down at me, and I tilt my head and smile. It’s a small reassurance but the best I can do without giving my true feelings away.

“I know what you’re doing,” he says in a rumble so dark and terrifying, it sends a chill down my spine.

That voice…

It doesn’t…

That’s not Seth.

I falter a step when the realization hits, and I snatch my hand away. Seth stops walking immediately and stands there like a statue.

A whimper tears from my lips. “S-Seth?”

After a few heart-pounding seconds, he blinks slowly, curses, and then shakes his head violently like he’s exorcising a damn demon or something. I get the feeling that he’s locked in some kind of power struggle, and I take another step away while eyeing my bow strapped to his back.

“It’s me,” he finally confirms. There’s five feet of forest between us now while my stomach caves from the weight of my fear and uncertainty. “It’s me.” His voice sounds strained, as if he’s holding onto a ledge by his fingertips, but… he sounds like him.

He sounds like Seth.

Still, I keep my distance because whatever the hell just happened was too intense to merely shrug off. Seth still doesn’t quite seem like he has full control. It’s the only explanation for why he stays where he is when he turns around to face me.

“Are you okay?” I don’t realize I’m throwing self-preservation away and inching forward until he takes a cautious step backward. I stop and stay where I am. “What the hell was that, Seth?”

His eyes are pinched with worry even as his lips curl, and he spits out the name like a curse. “Bane.”

My blood turns to ice. “I thought you said he doesn’t come out unless Zeke is in danger.”

“He doesn’t. I don’t…I don’t know what that was.” Seth curses again when he sees the terror in my eyes, and then he rips the radio off the clip at his hip. “Change of plans,” he spits out. “I need you to meet us two clicks south of the she-wolf’s den.”

I hear the crackle of the radio, and then Khalil’s voice comes through loud and clear. “Everything cool, Seth?”

“No.” Seth’s gaze flicks toward me and then he speaks into the radio again. “Thorin…you’re going to need the tranquilizer.”

Again, Seth doesn’t bother to explain, but maybe he doesn’t need to with them because I hear Thorin cursing through the radio a moment later before confirming he’s on his way.

“What’s going on, Seth?”

“You have to stay away,” he pleads when I try to come closer again. “You’re not safe with me.”

His words are a landmine that stops me in my tracks. I can see how much the admission pains him and find myself rebelling against it.

“Don’t say that. I don’t believe you,” I immediately deny. “You—” My eyes blow wide, and the rest of my words disintegrate like ash when Seth pulls his gun. “What—”

A twig snaps behind me.

Before I can turn to search for the source of the sound and whatever new threat has descended upon us, I spot movement in the trees behind Seth while he stares behind me at whatever put him on his guard.

Surrounded.

The grim, silent men dressed in tactical vests and helmets and armed to the teeth have us surrounded, and even worse, they have the high ground. We’re fish in a bowl. Sitting fucking ducks.

“Sunshine.”

I obey the unspoken order and return to Seth’s side, pulling my mask back over my face. Seth doesn’t resist when I free my bow from his back. We have a shot in hell of fending off the death squad, but neither Seth nor I will go down without a fight. I nock an arrow, and the forest itself stills.

It’s survival of the fittest, and it looks as if the mountain is about to test us once more.