SWNOVELS The Hidden Falling: Chapter 18
going to get the Elites to keep Eridian a secret?” I ask the guys quietly. Darius said he would think about keeping Eridian quiet, but we need something solid, not a maybe.
We watch the Elites spar with each other in front of us. We are just outside the lilk trees in the forest and a good distance away from them so they can’t hear us. Some Elites are in wolf form, some not. I drag the elk we hunted for dinner closer to me, my bloody hands leaving red prints on its legs.
“I have no idea, Milal. But I’m not about to let you go to the Highers either way.” Josh steps up beside me and watches the Elites intently, tracing their moves.
Two wolves attack each other, their paws swiping and teeth biting. I watch on in rapt attention. They are so well trained, we look like puppies compared to them.
“We could kill them,” Colten muses, bringing my attention to him. “Poison?”
Hudson shakes his head. “They would smell it a mile off. They are highly trained. It won’t be that easy.”
“I could slit their throats in their sleep,’ Sebastian says, twirling his favorite knife in his hands, eager to throw it as usual.
“I doubt you could get close enough without them knowing you’re there,” I sigh, watching as Darius steps up to two Elites and guides them through a defensive move. His face is set into a mask of authority, his stance unyielding as he asks them to go through the move again and again.
Maize steps up to him, disrupting their drills and that mask breaks into annoyance. She waves her hands around wildly, and Leo walks over, listening to what she’s saying.
I haven’t seen much of Maize since the Elites came here a few days ago. She mostly sticks with the other members of the Elites or goes off on her own. The witch seems to have an eye for Darius though. It shouldn’t bother me, there is no reason for it to.
But every time her eyes are on him, I kind of want to pluck them out.
Leo shakes his head and walks over to Zaide, leaving her with Darius and starts throwing a series of punches. Maize starts pointing toward the barrier, and I bristle. The fuck is she talking about?
Darius starts to wave her off, but freezes when his eyes land on me just outside of the lilk trees.
Maize continues to talk to him, but his attention is solely on me, on the blood that covers me from the hunt, and I see his eyes flash. His body turns and takes a step toward me, but Maize grabs his arm to halt him. He pauses and turns his head to her, making her hand drop from his skin. I can barely hear the growl he releases toward her, but it has an effect because she storms off, head bent low.
He turns back, and with purposeful strides, walks toward me. He passes sparring Elites, not concerned with being accidently hit or caught in between anyone. His steps eat up the distance between us until he’s a few feet away from me. His eyes roam over my body, paying extra attention to the areas covered in blood, before looking down at the elk.
My body tingles under his attention, and my brows furrow at my reaction.
“Hungry?” he asks, and I lift my eyes to him.
“Dinner for the pack,” I reply, refusing to let the heat I feel at his perusal redden my cheeks. “She was an older elk, unable to breed any longer. She didn’t have much time left, so she was a good choice today.
His brows pull together. “You hunted her because she’s old? Why not go for the younger, healthier one?”
“Then we would take out a young, healthy and still fertile female that can reproduce and keep their numbers reasonable. We can then still hunt elk without worrying about their population decreasing.” Taylor answers him for me, his amber eyes glancing around the Elites at Darius’ back.
“You only hunt ones that are not as able as others?” Darius asks, his brows furrowing, and I can’t understand why this confuses him at all.
“Not all the time, but mostly. And we only hunt to eat, not to just chase or kill,” I shrug, wiping my hand on my shorts to try and get more blood off. Darius follows the movement, and I pause at the look in his eyes.
“Alpha,” a male greets. Darius and I both turn our heads at the title as Axel and Finn walk toward me. “All is well around the cliffs. No sign of anything close by. It’s fairly quiet.”
“Okay, good,” I tell him. “Rest up. Is Ben still out?”
“Yeah,” Axel says. “He wanted to go for a run.” He looks toward the Elites sparring with interest before clearing his throat and looking at Darius. “Would you mind if some of us spar with you?” I choke on my own saliva at his words, and Josh pats my back as I bend over slightly and cough.
A growl sounds in front of me, but then cuts off as my eyes spring up to Darius in surprise. His eyes are on Josh, his look screaming danger before his expression clears, and he looks at Axel.
“I don’t see why you or anyone else can’t spar with them. Though it may be better if you spar with some of the trainees,” Darius suggests.
Oh, he woke up and chose violence, I see. “They have experience,” I say proudly. Sure, we’re not exactly at their level, but were scrappy fuckers when we fight. Plus, Taylor has taught us everything we know and he was trained somewhat.
“Darius,” Leo calls, clearly eavesdropping, and we look toward him. “Let them play. It will be fun.” The fucker smirks, his blue eyes dancing in amusement, and my blood boils.
I straighten and walk around Darius, dropping the legs of the elk and heading directly for Leo. He examines me curiously, and the Elites around us slow their movements as they watch on. I feel the weighted gaze of Darius at my back, but I refuse to turn and meet his eyes. I have something to do first.
Leo shoves his hands in the pockets of his combat pants, his stance relaxed at my approach. He smiles when I’m two steps away from him, head tilted in amusement. “Wanna play–” My fist flies, aiming for his jaw, and it lands, forcing his head to whip to the side. His body follows as I sweep my leg, taking his feet right out from under him, and he lands with a hard thud on the ground. “Fuck,” he grunts, looking up at me in shock.
The Elites suck in sharp breaths around me and laughter rings out from behind as Colten loses it, cheering me on. I smirk. “Play?” I tap my finger to my chin. “I don’t think playing is the right word for me putting you on your ass.”
“What the fuck just happened?” Leo asks as he stands, brushing the dirt off his pants.
“You got your ass handed to you,” Damian cackles. “That’s what happened.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Leo growls at him before he starts toward me. I’m just about to uppercut the cocky shit, knowing I need to be quick, but he’s on his ass again before either he or I can blink.
Darius towers over him, features set in stone as he looks down at him. “You got put on your ass because you underestimated your opponent. You can stay down a little longer for that trainee mistake.”
Darius turns toward me, but I’m already walking off. “Axel, why don’t you ask some others if they would like to join you in sparring with the Elites. I’m sure it would be good for those that are okay with that.” He nods before he walks off with Finn.
I bend down when I reach the guys and grab the elk’s legs, pulling it along the ground behind me. As we walk toward the barrier, something pulls on the elk. I turn with a growl, a snarl on my lips at someone touching my kill.
Darius lifts a brow at me, yanking on the elk, but I don’t let go. “Give it up, little wolf. I’m carrying it so you can change quicker.”
“Why?” I wonder.
He pauses for a moment, his grip tightening on the elk as his eyes darken. “Because the sight of you covered in blood makes me want to hunt you.”
I swallow at his words, at the thought of hunting me in a way that makes the Alpha in me want to rise to the challenge. I let go, wanting to get away from him and the way he has my body reacting in a way I’m not sure I understand.
He picks the elk up easily and flings it over his shoulder like it weighs nothing when I struggled to drag it. We stare at each other, and the world narrows down to the two of us and nothing else. No one can penetrate this bubble we’ve created a few times now, and no one can stop it, not even us. Runa comes to my eyes, watching him intently as confusion stirs inside me at the way he commands my attention and focus.
I feel my guys are near me. I know the Elites are too. But it’s as if their presence is muted, like whispers at the edges of my being, and the only solid form is the one in front of me. He’s a force of his own, taking up all the oxygen around us and demanding my eyes to be on him at all times or else I’ll suffocate for the failure to do so. But I don’t think this feeling is one sided. He looks at me like he’s trying to figure me out, trying to understand what he’s seeing just like I am.
I don’t think either of us know the answer.
He steps forward while I’m rooted to my spot, my head the only part of my body moving as I tilt it back, unable to look away from his eyes. His gaze drifts over my features again. Moving over my eyes, my cheekbones, my temples, my nose, until his gaze slides down to the side of my neck, before finally moving and landing on my lips. The air around us thickens and heats spreads through my body when his scent hits me. My lips part, and his head lowers, getting closer and closer. His mouth is a breath away from touching mine, and I don’t think I breathe. He skims his lips against my cheek, barely touching my skin, before he whispers against my ear. I shiver.
“Keep looking at me like that, Rhea, and I’ll show you how I hunt and devour my prey.” He moves around me, the world coming back into focus as I stand there, sucking in air and wondering what the fuck just happened. Again.
“Gods,” Sebastian breathes. “You two giving each other fuck me now looks? That’s a disaster waiting to happen.” My mouth drops open at his words. “A hot disaster, but a disaster all the same.
“There were no fuck me looks,” I object as I clear my throat and turn to head home.
“There kinda was,” Josh says, and I shoot him a look of betrayal. He shrugs. “Just remember he’s the enemy.”
“How could I ever forget,” I mutter. He’s enemy number one, even more so with the way I react to him. He holds Eridian in his palms, and I have to find a way to make nice with him, or kill him, to keep Eridian hidden.
Now, I just need to ignore the fact that when he looks at me, I feel something I don’t think I have ever felt so strongly before.
Desire.
And that, is a hard fucking no.