Page 58 of The Hunt
“I could text, but this gives me a reason to see him in person. And if you’re there, maybe he won’t send me home right away.”
I truly felt sorry for Jenna. Here I was, trying to avoid any male Mom and Adira threw my way and feeling sorry for Fenris for having to deal with a similar situation. And, I’d never stopped to think of the other side. Jenna was desperately trying to gain Fenris’s attention because she liked him as a person. Hadn’t Nico and Nikhil said something similar? That they were curious about me? And, I turned all my hate and resentment over my situation at them. Guilt hit me hard.
“Of course I’ll go with you,” I agreed. “It’s the least I can do to pay you back for helping me with Elbner.”
Jenna jumped up off her bed and checked herself in the mirror, giving her cheeks a quick pinch.
“Ready.”
When I’d agreed to go with her, I’d thought we’d head to another cabin in Blueleaf. However, instead of taking a path between the homes, Jenna took a trail that led into the woods. I shivered as I hurried after her.
“How far away does Fenris live?” I asked.
“Oh, we’re not going to his house. He’s never there anymore. He tends to wander the woods. It’s like a big game of hide-and-seek to find him.”
She looked back over her shoulder at me. The hungry glint in her eyes and a shift in her scent told me she really hoped it would turn into something more. Her pace gradually increased, and I found myself jogging to keep up with her. While strength and stamina were part of the standard succubus package, I’d always been a little behind on the stamina part. Winded, I slowed to a walk then stopped to brace my hands on my knees and catch my breath.
My stomach rumbled hungrily at the same time the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I straightened and scanned the trees and blanket of snow around me. Nothing moved. The only sound was my own forced-quiet breathing. Yet, the feeling remained.
Something, or someone, watched me.
“Eliana?” Jenna called from ahead.
“Coming.” Following her trail, I found her at an outcropping.
“This is one of his favorite spots.” She set her hand on the rock. “It’s still warm. He should be around here somewhere.”
I huddled further in my jacket and looked at the ground. The only tracks I saw were our own.
“Don’t bother,” she said. “I think he’s part woodland spirit or something. He never leaves a trail.”
I recalled the trail he and I had left in the Drys Woods and knew that wasn’t true. At least, not all the time.
“Do we wait? Shout? Call him?”
“That would be too easy. This is part of the fun. Finding him.”
I thought of my already cold toes and silently disagreed.
“Come on.”
Since I was nice and easily swayed by my own guilt, I hurried after her. Once again, I grew winded and had to fall behind to catch my breath. Like the last time, the sense I was being watched prickled along the back of my neck.
I turned a slow circle in the trees.
“Who are you? What do you want?”
There was no answer.
“I don’t like games.”
Silence replied.
Refusing to be intimidated, I followed Jenna’s trail. My vision flickered between normal and enhanced until I saw her in the distance, looking up at a thick, old tree.
“Werewolves climb trees?”
“Fenris sometimes does. But I don’t see him up there. Are you okay down here while I go check if his spot is warm?”
