Page 44 of Hysteria Rises (Dark Falls Hollow #1)

THIRTY-ONE

CROSS

A summons from my father. Wonderful. I grit my teeth, staring at Leif and Fenix in disbelief.

My twelve- and ten-year-old brothers shrug as I shift the axe from my shoulder.

“You’re sure?” I’m about done chopping firewood, but I definitely had other chores to finish.

“Just this morning, he told me that Mal and I were supposed to take care of that tree that got struck by lightning in the storm. It’s been threatening to fall for days now.

” With our luck lately, it’ll drop in the wrong direction and take out the chicken coop.

I eye my brothers and sigh. Of course, they’re excited. They’ve only just been entrusted with a few small tasks. One of which, it would appear, is to play messenger boys for our father.

Fenix nods excitedly. “He said he had something he wanted to discuss with you. Now.”

Rolling his eyes at his younger brother’s exuberance, Leif folds his arms over his chest and raises a brow before nodding. “He’s not wrong. He did say now.”

I exhale, then jab a finger at the axe as I rest it against the woodpile. “Leave the axe be.” When they don’t immediately answer, I growl out, “I mean it. Hands off.”

They lift their hands in mock surrender. “Yeah, okay,” Leif agrees, deflating.

“I think if you want to help someone, Hayze might be hanging the deer he took down.” A moment later, they hurriedly run off in the direction of the shed. I exhale hard. They’re growing up too fucking fast. Before long, they’ll want to be involved in even more.

Inside the building, I head for my father’s quarters, wondering what he needs me for. As usual, I knock, then at his beckoning, I enter.

I stop abruptly after taking a few strides inside. “Sorry.”

My father glances over his exam table where the light brightly illuminates what he’s doing between Twenty-two’s legs. “Come on in, son. Have a look.”

I clear my throat, moving to the sink and washing my hands before joining him. “What’s going on?”

He chuckles. “Nothing. I simply like to do an exam every few days. I have something I want to talk to you about, but we’ll take a minute to let you study her vagina and vulva. Tell me what you notice. She’s in her third trimester.”

And that’s my father, turning everything into a teaching moment.

Exhaling, I study her, noting the way she shifts as I have a look. Her hand rests protectively on her stomach.

“Are you referring to the way the extra blood flow to those areas is causing some swelling and a slightly darker color?”

“Exactly.” He nods, smiling at me before he gives her one last look, then pats her thigh. “Okay, dear. You can go. Everything looks good. Come back in two days’ time.” Nolan gives her a hand, helping her to scoot back and sit up.

We wait while she makes her way out of the room before either of us say anything else. “When does the testing get done?” This is what I’ve been waiting for. I want to know everything.

“We could do both an ultrasound and a paternity test at any point now. The latter is simply the matter of a blood draw from the mother and a cheek swab from the potential father. But I typically wait for both until we need to know. I’ll let you assist with all that this time.

” He smiles, nodding. “It’s time you were entrusted with that.

” Stripping off his gloves, he brings them to his nose, inhaling deeply before tossing them in the trash and resting his hip against the exam table with arms folded over his chest.

He’s got this oddly contemplative look on his face. I dampen my lips, waiting. “What is it?” Is this about the snake? Arrow’s back? Some other random, completely inconsequential thing that he’s thought of?

“I want to impress upon you the importance of the Hunting right now.”

My brows draw together as I watch him curiously.

We always place the utmost importance on our rituals, so I’m unsure what he’s talking about.

Something I can’t quite grasp passes through his eyes, and his hand darts out, roughly clutching at my shoulder.

In mild shock, I search his face, looking for whatever I’ve missed. “Of course, Father.”

He gives a swift jerk of his head. “You will inseminate as many of those women as possible.”

My brow furrows. Tomorrow is the new moon. This mentality is common during the Hunting, but I don’t understand why he’d feel the need to impress this upon me now specifically. “What’s happening?”

He heaves out a breath. “Just do what you know to do. It’s necessary.”

“I understand,” I quickly agree. I don’t.

“Find Twenty-three, especially. And Sixteen. I will be out there, too. We all will be.” His eyes are almost crazed. Manic.

I’ve always understood the sense of duty that is inherent in the Hunting. This is the way our society grows and prospers. Scraping my teeth over my lip, I nod, my gut in a tangle.

“Follow. Honor. Nourish. Kneel,” he rasps.

I drop to my knees. “Yes sir.”

Later that evening, I lie in my bed, staring at the ceiling.

A symphony of shallow breathing and rumbling snores echoes around me.

The Hunting under the new moon always results in a sort of crazed carnality that is unmatched by any of our other rituals.

Without the glow filtering through the treetops, what is done under the cover of darkest night is always a fucking free-for-all.

Men in the wild at their most raw, their most savage.

There are no limits as to what we do, so I don’t understand why my father felt the need to issue the reminder of what’s expected of me.

The fact that the Collective will also be out there is strange.

None of them have run in the Hunting in several years.

Mostly, they do what they want with the women, whenever they feel the urge.

The whole thing is keeping me awake, wondering what the hell has changed and why my father is so unhinged about it.

Shrugging it off, I tuck an arm behind me, conjuring one of my favorite fantasies to occupy myself.

My chest tightens, but I can’t help the way my mind slips to visions of Twenty-three in gauzy white, running barefoot through the woods, blonde hair tangling in the wind as she whips around to look behind her.

Gah. I scrub my hands over my face as reality yanks me back to the present.

She doesn’t even know what’s coming. The idea of her out there, being chased down by every man who is of age makes my breath catch.

There is no fucking way my fury will accept her fate.

I groan, unsure what to do, or if there’s even anything I can do. Except catch her so no one else does.

I clench my teeth and glance over toward Arrow’s sleeping form.

Will he even be up for the Hunting? Not a clue.

He hasn’t had access to anything else to take the edge off the pain he’s been in.

But I do think he’s finally sleeping tonight.

My gaze wanders for a second to Hayze. He kept to himself all day, spending the majority of his time drawing or hunting.

He’s thrown up a wall that very clearly has Leave me alone scrawled across it.

Not a clue what’s going on with him, though.

Turning my head, I seek out Malakai, eyes skimming over his body.

He lies sprawled across the bed, like he doesn’t have a fuckin’ care in the world, one leg bent and an arm thrown over his face.

I work my jaw to the side, trying to stop what I know is coming, but it’s futile.

Every time I look at him, I can’t stop my fucking vivid imagination, and every altercation with him feeds into it.

My favorite scenario to revisit is that day down at the river—wrestling with him in the rain and mud.

I know the urges I have where he’s concerned go against everything the Collective teaches, but I can’t help myself.

I’ve never let a single person in on any of my desires.

Except him. The way he looks at me … I know.

He has the same impulses, the same inner turmoil I do, even if he won’t admit it.

A sigh rattles from my chest. The truth is I’ve been playing a wicked, dangerous game where he’s concerned.

Fortunately for me, he’s always been so desperate to fit in—not that he’d admit as much—that he’s kept every taunt between us.

I don’t know what to do, though, because the feelings coursing through me just keep getting stronger, and every moment with him makes me ache.

That heated stare of his, it dares me to take more, to push him harder.

Like when I had him pinned up against the wall.

Before long, memories from the gathering room add to the mayhem rushing through me.

My cock jerks as a vision of Mal fucking Twenty-three wanders into my brain.

In this fantasy, I’m watching—just like I was that day—only no one else is there with us.

And there’s no correction in progress, it’s just the two of them and me.

And then she smiles, beckoning me to join them.

I let out a shuddering sigh. One thing’s clear, I’m not sleeping with these thoughts storming around in my head, nor with all the apprehension as to what will happen tomorrow.

I’m way too keyed up. Throwing the covers back, I slip from the bed and stealthily exit the room, intent on one thing—relaxing under the spray of a hot shower.

A few minutes later, I’ve finally adjusted the temperature to suit me and step inside the stall.

This is one of my favorite things to do, keep the lights low and let the water pelt away whatever is troubling me.

Living with so many people, it’s only in these quiet, middle-of-the-night hours when I find an ounce of solitude.

Tipping my head back, I take a couple deep breaths, letting my mind roam free, but it’s not long before it circles right back to my earlier thoughts.

I release a groan as I soap up my hands then skim them over my torso and downward.

At the first contact of my hand with my dick, I let go of a ragged fucking exhale, and I’m right back inside the earlier scenario my tired mind had conjured.

Only now, I partake. As visions of my fury’s bouncing breasts and Mal’s rock-hard cock pistoning into her fill my head, I turn around, bracing my forearm on the tile wall.

Faster. I swallow convulsively, then gasp as I shuttle a hand over my erection.

I don’t bother holding in the grunts and groans of satisfaction as I work my soap-slick hand, tightening my fist just how I like it.

And then my mind twists, taking a sharp turn, and suddenly I’m flat on my back on that floor with Twenty-three’s pretty cunt in my face and my ass full of Mal’s cock.

Click. The sound of the bathroom door closing has a wave of heat rushing to my cheeks and a low raspy moan escapes my lips. I shudder out my release, unable to stop myself from painting the tile wall before me with cum. “Fuuuck,” I groan out, panting.

Somewhere across the room, a throat clears.