Page 68

Mateo

The second he hung up, Mateo’s head rolled back against the tree Ezra had dragged him to.

He closed his eyes and tried not to move, his whole body hurting to the point that he wondered how he was still alive.

He hadn’t wanted to call Scarlett yet, but Ezra had been inconsolable.

The only thing to calm him had been her voice.

“We’re not going to tell her shit,” Ezra mumbled.

“Why not? Don’t you want her to know you bawled your eyes out over my dead body?” He tried to sound amused and lighten the mood, but his words were weak and more of a slur.

“You wouldn’t fucking dare. If she ever knew you were dead for even a split second, she would never let us leave the house again.”

“No… no she wouldn’t.” He felt his mind doze off, but before he could Ezra slapped his cheek. “Fuck you.”

Ezra shoved water and food in his face. “Here. Take this and maybe I’ll let you fall asleep.”

“Such a papa bear all of a sudden.” But deep down, Mateo was unimaginably grateful for Ezra’s love—because that’s what he’d felt when he’d woken from unconsciousness.

Ezra didn’t say a word, only offering him food and water. Only then did he allow him to rest his eyes.

When Mateo opened his eyes again, Ezra had lit a small fire and was already carving into one of the lycans, cutting out what they thought would sell well. With his body no longer aching, Mateo stood up and walked over to his backpack that Ezra had retrieved for him and searched for food.

“Do you want to rest now?”

Ezra shrugged it off and continued to slice through the lycan’s skin. “What happened?”

Sitting down next to his friend and warming up by the fire, he tried to recall exactly when things had gone wrong. “I was wiring one of them after I thought they were dead, when the first one we shot grabbed me. I guess he wasn’t completely dead.”

Ezra grunted, unapologetically elbow deep in the guts of his prey.

They fell silent, the only sounds around them being Ezra gutting and dismembering the lycans.

The wilderness was far from quiet, with the sounds of the wildlife and the wind rustling through the trees, but the thought of hauling five of those creatures back to their trucks was, in a way, defeating.

Since lycans were living creatures, they also had decay to worry about, which meant they were working on a clock—unlike vampires.

After a while, exhaustion caught up to Ezra too, so he rested while Mateo kept watch. Though they were confident they’d gotten them all, they still feared that there were others out there ready to avenge their dead.

Vince showed up late the next day, topping up their food rations.

They loaded two lycans up, tying them up to drag behind the quad.

With Ezra’s night vision giving him a clear advantage, they decided he would go first and take Vince with him, so they always had someone watching the remaining bodies.

It also meant Mateo was on his own, but they had no other choice.

The lycans were too large to be dragged all together.

Once Vince and Ezra were all set, Mateo felt their bond vanish as they disappeared into the night.

Vince was calm as always, but even he was exhausted—and not just physically.

Every single one of them had been shaken to the core.

Hunts were always a risk, but neither of them had ever come face to face with death—not that closely.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true; Ezra liked to make it pretty close.

He’d always had these tendencies, but maybe that was the point.

Ezra was thrilled by the risk, so him getting hurt was expected, Vince and Mateo on the other hand were rather careful.

He sighed and tried not to let the knot in his stomach grow.

Maybe Ezra was right, and they shouldn’t tell Scarlett all the details.

He tried to stay up, but fatigue swept over him once more. He covered up the fire, set some bear traps around a tree, and found a cosy spot high in the branches.

Ezra came back the following afternoon and Mateo insisted he take a nap before they left. Ezra wasn’t fond of the idea, he just wanted to get back to Scarlett. They all did, along with hot, running water.

He let Ezra sleep until past nightfall. The way back was horrendous and with no path to follow, it was a rough ride.

It took hours upon hours, but at least they didn’t have to hike.

They hadn’t dared to take quads on their way up, not wanting to alarm the lycans.

They’d agreed that Vince should take one closer to his position, but even that had been risky.

The trucks were hidden far off a trail, where it was easy to transfer the lycans.

The quad was a rental, so while Mateo went to return it, Vince and Ezra followed behind in the trucks.

It was an ordeal. With everything cleaned up and the only thing left to do was drive back to the cabin, they pulled over and called Scarlett.

“Hi,” she greeted, her voice vibrating with worry and excitement.

“We are on our way,” Ezra revealed and earned them all a relieved sigh.

“Oh, good. You’re all together?”

“Yes,” Vince confirmed. “Once back we’ll rest for a few hours and then head out.”

“I’m all packed and ready. You’ve got food waiting for you and there’s plenty of hot water.”

“Oh, princess, are you going to spoil us?” Ezra hummed.

“Yes,” Scarlett answered with conviction. “Yes, I will.”

“We appreciate that very much.” Then Mateo added, “We will let you know once we are an hour out.”

“Do you want any treats from the village?”

Vince shook his head with a grin. “Only you.”

“Well, be safe now and come back to me in one piece.”