That was two mornings of funerals for Lance. First Allan and now Cat. He scrubbed his hand down his face, exhaustion weighing heavy on him. No one had gotten any sleep and all were clearly feeling the burden as they trekked along an overgrown path further into wolf territory. The women had spread out, all within sight of one another, but on guard nonetheless. The forest became more dense, the sunlight only penetrating completely when it reached midday.
Ariana signaled to stop.
“What’s the plan?” Lance asked as he rested the tip of his sword against the ground, both hands on the hilt stopping him from reaching out to grab Ariana and pull her in for a kiss.
Take it slow. Don’t push.
She sheathed her sickle. “We stop for a few hours. Get some rest.”
“And then?” Kelly stepped forward, dark circles under her eyes. This journey had taken its toll on her. He wasn’t too keen on her facing her wolf in this condition, but at the same time, if it meant that she regained some of her old strength, then he was willing to help her do it.
“Then we move to a spot in the forest where the pack lines bisect and you’ll call your beast.” Ariana nodded toward a line of bushes. “There’s a small clearing in there. You can catch some sleep.”
Kelly nodded and slowly began moving toward the spot Ariana had pointed out. Lance sheathed his own weapon then stepped closer to her, their bodies swaying together like magnets drawn to one another.
“Where will you be resting?” Lance asked, his voice gruff, his cock hard.
She looked up at him, her lips curling into a smile. “I’m taking first watch.”
Of course she was. “Then so am I.”
She shrugged, the sparkle not leaving her eyes. “Suit yourself.”
Ariana grabbed a bow and quiver of arrows that one of the Huntresses leaned up against a tree trunk and slid both over her shoulders. With one glance at him, an eyebrow cocked, she grabbed onto the lowest branch and swung herself up.
“What the hell?” Lance watched in awe as she scurried up the tree at a speed that had him jittery, the urge to hold his arms out just in case she fell very strong.
She settled on a largish branch about thirty feet up. With a whistle and a smirk she patted the branch behind her and then crooked her finger at him. She didn’t think he’d do it.
Challenge accepted. He slipped his scabbard off, his sword too cumbersome to climb with and hung it on a branch a few feet off the ground, hidden within the foliage. He looked up again, squinting as the sun picked that exact moment to shine in his eyes.
Great.
Heights were not one of Lance’s favorite things. But Ariana was. He breathed a deep sigh and started up. His muscles ached as he stretched and pulled his way along the branches, fatigue making him doubt the wisdom of this climb, a glance at Ariana reminding him otherwise.
She hadn’t frozen him out again, not yet anyway. She was still being flirty, kind of, still accepting a touch here and there. He wanted to get into her head though, find out what made her so resistant. It had to be more than just loyalty to her tribe, although that played a fairly significant part. There was something underlying everything she said and did when it came to him, something that made her scared and he wanted to know what.
He pushed himself up and grabbed the branch just below her leg. He swore as his boot slipped slightly and his arm scraped along the bark.
“Took you long enough,” she teased as she shifted forward, giving him room to join her on the branch. He swung up and around, nestling himself behind her, immediately wrapping his arms around to pull her back against his chest. They both sighed as they settled, the branch large enough that his whole ass fit just fine and was surprisingly comfortable to his weary body. He bent his knees, caging her on either side so she wouldn’t fall if she fell asleep.
“How are you feeling?” He swiped her hair to the side and kissed her neck.
She shivered and he smiled, loving how her body reacted to him, craving more than just a kiss.
“Tired, angry, itching to kick some wolf ass.” She blew out a long breath. “Mostly tired, though, and sad.”
Tired, yeah, absolutely fucking exhausted was a better description. Although heightened strength and stamina came with the bond, it didn’t mean an endless supply. They both needed sleep or at least some time to wind down long enough for their bodies to recharge somewhat. He kissed her neck again, then leaned his head against the trunk. Her honesty surprised him—maybe surprised her too because she stayed quiet, not offering anything more, her breathing steady, body alert. Her bow was across her lap, an arrow loosely strung.
“It was a Hunter who hurt you, wasn’t it?” While they’d trekked through the forest, he’d replayed her words, the ones she spat at him just before they’d fucked in the woods. “That’s what you meant when you said that not everyone with a Hunter’s mark is noble, isn’t it?”
She tensed, shifted forward but there was nowhere for her to run, not unless she was planning on jumping thirty feet, and he’d have something to say about that.
He squeezed his legs a bit, caging her more. “I’m just trying to understand, Ariana.” He nudged her to sit back and she resisted. “It will help me understand if you tell me something about where you’re coming from.”
The silence stretched out and Lance thought he’d lost her to the freeze again, but after a moment, she relaxed, ran her hand through her hair, leaned back a little.
“Yeah, it was.” She transferred the bow to a jutting branch just above, hanging it with the quiver, the arrow sliding back into the case. She lifted her knees, bringing them closer, like she was curling up into a ball. “My dad.”
Lance nodded, stroking her hair. “He betrayed your trust?”
She snorted. “Just a tad.”
He didn’t say anything to coax her, wanting her to talk to him because she wanted to. He just continued to stroke her hair, mesmerized by the Neapolitan-like colors. If he was being honest, he was mesmerized by everything about her. She was smart, and wickedly sensual, fierce and strong. He was proud to call her his mate, would forever be grateful to have her by his side fighting against their common enemy. He felt a stab of guilt that he’d ever thought there could be another mate for him, and then another stab as he thought of Kelly and what she meant to him. It was complicated. Too much for his weary brain to deal with.
The silence brought his exhaustion to the forefront. His eyes started to close as he leaned his head against the trunk. His hand slid from her hair to her arm, as his body grew limp.
“He was a brutal man.”
Lance’s eyes shot open, his brain alert at the sound of her voice.
“We lived away from the Order but that didn’t mean I wasn’t fully indoctrinated into the expectations, the vows.” She sucked in a deep breath, let it out slowly. “Oh yeah, he taught me really good about obedience and loyalty. The fucking hypocrite.”
“Hypocrite?” he croaked.
“I thought you were asleep.” She chuckled softly, sucked in a breath, blew it out. “He refused to join with the Order, or serve his time as he put it. The vows he took were the same ones you did, just with a different agenda. Protect the humans from the beasts…if the price is right.” She ran her hand over her face, stifling a yawn she thought he didn’t see. “There’s an underground order, rogue Hunters who train as mercenaries, killers for hire kind of thing. My father was one of them, taking his vow as a Hunter as serious as the dollar dictated.”
“No way!”
Lance could barely believe what he was hearing—a rogue group of mercenary Hunters that the Order knew nothing about? With how things had splintered after the Burning Times, it wasn’t unlikely, just hard to swallow. Questions pounded through his head, his fatigue snapping away as his thoughts revved through the new information. Where were these mercenaries located? How did they get contracts? Who organized them? But he pushed them back, reining in his fascination. This wasn’t about him—it was about her, her story. The questions could be answered later.
“Yeah, you have no idea.” She barked a laugh. “He was brutal to Mother as well. Like she was his to own and use. He beat her if she stepped out of line or asserted herself in any way.”
“A Hunter beat his mate?” Lance was appalled. He’d never stood behind any view of the Huntress being less than equal, or less important than the role of the Hunter. He’d never condone any action against them. Ever. “And other Hunters stood by and allowed that?”
“Yes, they allowed it. They didn’t like it, or at least that was my perception as a child, but Father was from an old world way of thinking, and he was respected, his powers to manipulate fire were coveted. He had a lot of wolf kills under his belt. Or rather, my mother had a lot of kills. He took the credit though. Just like many of the old school Hunters, the accolades went to the male. Huntress be damned.” She blew out a long breath before continuing. “Like any domestic violence, nobody wants to really step in, you know? Everyone thinks it’ll take care of itself or something.” She shook her head, bushed some hair behind her ear, her fingers shaking ever so slightly as she did. “Anyway, when they fought together, Mother and Father, like side by side, on a wolf hunt, they were glorious. They were united in those moments. A solid team. I remember it well, even craved that kind of connection.” She cleared her throat. “Those moments were great but few and far between compared to the other reality. When he got drunk or pissed off and then he’d beat the living shit out of her. And me too.”
Lance felt rage. He wanted to beat the shit out of her father, protect his mate from any more hurt. “I’m sorry you went through that.” He hugged her tight, his body quivering. Now he understood, or was starting to anyway. How could she trust anyone bearing a Hunter mark if she’d lived in that kind of world growing up? She’d be ingrained to mistrust, to fear.
“Yeah well, he’s dead now, so…”
That only gave him small comfort. “And your mother?”
“Dead too.” Her voice cracked. She cleared her throat. “When I was thirteen. Somehow on a hunt, she was struck down. Father was never clear on the details. It changed him though, made him harder, meaner, if that was even possible. Everything he’d given to her he put onto me. He trained me hard, schooled me severely when I didn’t perform.”
“How did he know you were a Huntress? I thought that it wasn’t possible to tell unless the Hunter comes to claim.”
“Any child born of a Huntress is a candidate. And there’s a ritual, like a blessing request that can be done. I was marked from birth, it was inevitable. And anyway, when you live around other Hunters and Huntresses, the traits come out a little easier and earlier, as if being around like people tricks your body or something. Anyway, I was really young when I started showing signs. I can’t even imagine what would have happened if I didn’t exhibit Huntress traits. That kind of failure would have been intolerable to Father.” She shrugged. “The Order has lost touch with the mythical side of things. You all don’t honor the Goddess anymore. The Order seems to have forgotten all about the magic and the rituals.”
“The scholars follow the texts.” Lance hadn’t ever bothered much with the Order’s idea of the way things were supposed to be. “They try to decipher what the hell is going on.” Which usually resulted in a total clusterfuck.
“The scholars don’t know shit. They’re stuck in an old world way of thinking. Gaps in their legacy, their knowledge, their training. It’s a decadent and deadly way of running things. Dangerous. Like Kelly’s Andrew, he knows enough that he’s a fucking disaster waiting to happen, total time bomb in the wrong hands. If he gives up any…” She shook her head, chuckled a bit. “Never mind that.”
Before he could do or say anything more, or even think too hard on what she’d just said, she’d somehow flipped around to face him. With her legs dangling on either side of the branch, straddling so that she was spread wide, she leaned forward, the cleavage display impressive, her breasts threatening to pop right out, nipples budding right before his eyes. She looked up at him from beneath her lashes. He knew that smile.
“Keep an eye out for beasts, will ya?”
She quickly moved her hands to his pants and popped the button, zippered down and had his cock in her hand within seconds. He moaned as he watched her dab her tongue to her top lip, licking around in a circle, promising to do the same to his cock as she stroked gently down his shaft.
“Are you watching?”
He nodded, his eyes sliding closed for a moment when her wet lips touched his cock and then parted to suck him down. “Yes, I’m watching.”
You.
She slid back up, smiling as she ran his cock along the seam of her mouth, then bypassed his shaft altogether in favor of his balls. Kissing him tenderly, reverently almost, a far cry better than past treatment of his sac. She gently enveloped one then the other into her mouth, rolling her tongue, flicking, teasing. He held her head as she stroked him with her hands, her tongue, her lips, even the slightest graze of her teeth. She was masterful as she played him, making him groan and buck.
With her hands gliding and her mouth sucking, he couldn’t help the rise of his climax, his orgasm shattering him once again as he came hard.
She wiped her lips and smiled as she put him back into his pants and zipped him up. “Now get some sleep and let me do my job,” she joked as she snatched the bow and an arrow once again. She turned her back to him, nestling against his chest somewhat, her body alert, her head moving as she surveyed the forest below.
As the afternoon progressed, they took turns watching over the others. Sharing snacks, avoiding conversation. She’d opened up to him and he could tell she was uncomfortable. Too much information shared on her part, a lot of information to digest on his. The silence was good though. Gave him time to think.
And sleep did come, three hours of broken fitful tree sleep. It wasn’t enough, his body still beyond exhausted, but it would have to do.
When they finally climbed down the tree and rallied the rest of the group, it was nearing sunset and almost time for Kelly to seek her beastly mate.