Page 84 of A Hunt So Wicked
The wolf pack seemed to circle their leader, more intimidating as a group than as one man—or one wolf.
“Your brother, Ewan, was discovered on a trail just outside of The Pale Forest.”
Howls ripped out of many of their throats, sounding exactly as they had when they’d terrorized us in the forest. Ayla slammed her hands over her ears and whimpered while Becca was beside her, trying to comfort her. Concerned for Eliza, I looked down the line and found her smiling.Smiling.
“How did he die?” Faolan demanded.
“He was—” Ero cleared his throat and stepped closer to the fellow ruler. “He was slain.”
A pit of unease was building within me. The place where this had happened… that was the same woods that Kael and I had fled from. Where wolves destroyed the other members of my escort. Where Kael killed the wolf who had been seconds away from killing me.
But that was well before the hunt. How would he have been in that form?
“We will see him avenged,” King Oberon promised.
“Peace be with him,” King Ekpen chimed in. “Death to his murderer!”
The Faolan men seemed to shift their attention from their king to Desmond.
“That’s his only son,” Isla whispered to me.
Ero stepped into the middle of the room. “Keep the Faolan clan in your hearts as they grieve their loss. Let us now move to more pleasant things! The reason we’re all here: The Choosing Ceremony.”
And in the blink of an eye, you’d never have known that the death of a royal had just been announced. Cheers and clapping came from around the room, including some of the women, which I simply didn’t understand. They were as delusional as the royals who’d hunted us down for sport. Even Eliza was grinning as she clapped with excitement.
“There is a system of sorts for this process. Before we get to that, I’d like to first thank these young women for their dedication and loyalty to the realm. Your bravery and determination will never be in question as you start the next phase of your lives. Your realm thanks you.”
I nearly gagged as King Ero bowed. To us. Every man in the room followed him while every woman, which wasn't many, curtsied.
“Bloody hell,” Riv cursed under her breath.
The mind games never ceased.
Thank you for coming here, not that you had a choice.
Thank you for risking your lives so our beastly children could hunt you down and rip you to pieces.
Thank you for accepting this proposal, and no, you can’t decline.
Thank you for keeping the secrets of our bloodlines so that we can do this again in ten years.
Ero stood tall once again and held out his hand to Corvus, who produced a scroll of parchment.
“My King,” he said, placing it in his open hand.
He held it up for the room to see. “This scroll contains the final selections that I will read aloud momentarily. Traditionally, The Hunt is a scored event. I won’t bore you all with the details of how the scoring system works, but each royal bachelor’s score is what determines which man gets first choice, and so on.”
Becca gasped, along with a few others and it gave me some hope that not all of them were under whatever spell seemed to be afoot here. It disgusted me beyond anything I’d ever felt that they actually watched the entire hunt and gave them points for killing the women they were supposed to one day vow to protect forever.
“The way we will do this will be from lowest score to highest. The men don’t know where they placed nor who they will ultimately be paired with. All will be revealed when I read from this scroll. After you’ve retrieved your bride, please move to stand in front of the platform.” He pointed to my left. They were really going to line us up from first to last. “Let us begin.”
The room broke out in applause as Ero unrolled it, and I fought the urge to act out. To scream about injustice or launch myself at the Volos King and claw his face off in outrage.
“Steady,” Isla whispered, snapping me out of my visions of vengeance. I didn’t dare look at her, but I nodded once, letting her know I wasn’t going to get myself killed in the middle of The Choosing Ceremony.
“Our first pairing of the ceremony; Desmond Faolan has chosen Miss Rebecca Tronter.”
Shouts of praise seemed to come from around the room, congratulating Desmond on such a lovely choice. Several of his clan embraced him emotionally, likely due to the news they’d just received.
