Page 3 of The Hunt

Thankfully, she wasn’t wearing a skirt or a dress right now, but jeans.Jeans, and an oversized sweater, which was a good thing.She was always cold, he remembered.

Making their way through the forest, he inhaled deeply, and he’d been warned there would be no way of knowing what enemies they faced.

“This is insane,” Calliope said, whispering.

That he agreed with.

The Hunt was fucking dangerous.People had struggled through, but no one had failed.No one had opted to die.They all came out loving one another, being together, having kids, mating, and living their perfect lives.

Right now, he didn’t know if they were going to be able to ...succeed.He was more than capable of taking care of them.He had the strength, and had been honing his abilities with his wolf for the past three years.He was the one in control.

But he had never had to focus on keeping anyone else alive, least of all Calliope.The girl he’d teased.The girl he’d insulted.The girl he missed and knew he was one hundred percent in love with—which was why he made her life miserable.

Calliope looked fine.She looked happy.Like she didn’t have any feelings for him whatsoever, and why did she get to have all of that freedom and fun, while he couldn’t?

He was trapped by his feelings for her.Feelings that were technically, completely justified, because their elder stated as such.

“So, we agree on that,” Jaxson said.

“Okay, at least we can agree with ...things.What’s the plan?”

He stopped and turned to her.

“Plan?”

“Yeah, we’ve got to have a plan.I mean, I don’t know how long these things are supposed to last.We’ve got to find food and shelter, and figure this out.They have left us with nothing.”She held her hands open.“Nothing.”

“That’s because we have to work together to survive.”

“And that’s why I am saying there is a plan, isn’t there?Do we know when nightfall will hit?”

“Calliope, we’re in a mystical land, and I didn’t stick around long to listen to how other people survived this.”He’d seen how happy they were, and in all honesty, he didn’t think he’d ever have to worry about being thrust into The Hunt.

He remembered bits and pieces of conversations, but he wasn’t about to scare Calliope.The truth was, it could turn to night with the click of fingers.It could be burning hot or freezing cold.They could be attacked without any warning whatsoever.Food could be found when they least expected it.

The fact was, the only guarantee with each other, was ...each other.They were their only hope.

“You’re right,” Calliope said.“I didn’t either.I was happy they lived, but I didn’t stick around for the details.I only know this place is scary.”She glanced around.

“It’s going to be okay,” he said.

“I hope so.”She turned to look at him.“Because I really don’t want to die.”

He couldn’t have agreed more.“At least we’re in agreement with that.Neither of us wants to die.”He saw the smile on her face, and it had been so long since she last smiled at him.

“What do we have to do?”

There was no way Calliope was just going to sit back and allow him to do all the work.She always had a hands-on approach to everything.

“We’ve got to keep moving and I guess we’ve got to start looking like we’re open to the idea of being mated.”

He heard her sharp intake of breath.

“That shouldn’t be hard, right?I mean, that should be quite easy.”She nibbled her lip and he loved when she did this.

Her lips were already plump, but in some odd way, they looked plumper when she nibbled her lip.He couldn’t describe what it did to him, but it did drive him crazy watching her.

“Yeah, it should be easy.”They started to walk, and he looked left and right.There was no discernable landscape.Everything either kept changing, or they were going around in circles, or ...it was a maze.

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