The Hunt

I burst from the cabin. Cold pierced my bare feet and exposed limbs, but I didn’t stop. I listened to the overwhelming need to put as much space as possible between me and Fenris. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stop a second time if I didn’t.

“Eliana, don’t run!” Fenris bellowed behind me.

The terror at what I’d almost done prevented me from understanding his warning until an ominous tingle danced along the back of my neck.

Skidding to a halt in the snow, I slowly turned. The dim moonlight reflected off the white blanketing the ground, giving just enough light to discern trees. However, the rasp of my ragged breathing prevented me from hearing anything. I didn’t need to hear, though, to know I wasn’t alone.

My breathing calmed, and I straightened.

“I’m not running. I won’t run. Show yourself.”

The snow stung my feet, but I held my ground.

A low growl echoed from the darkness around me. The crunch of snow sounded straight ahead, calling my attention to the dark shape that moved between the trunks. The closer it stalked, the clearer it became. The low profile. The dark fur. The familiar, beautiful brown eyes.

Fenris paused a mere three meters away, and his wolf form began to shimmer until he stood naked and barely in control of himself. The scent of his lustful need rolled off of him.

“Will you run for me?” His words were filled with warning and promise.

Keeping my gaze locked on his face, I thought of the instances where I’d felt like I was being watched over the past week, and the clues I’d been missing clicked into place. All the time we’d been spending together. His constant presence and need to comfort me. The way he’d kept trying to get me to agree to feed on him. I’d attributed everything to the pressure his father had been putting on him to find a mate and Fenris’s desperation to escape that pressure.

How could I have been so blind?

Fenris’s reassurances that he was immune to my pull had been nothing more than artful lies. While he might have had more resistance than Eugene, he was now just as much under my thrall, thanks to Adira’s meddling.

“Unconditional honesty, Eliana,” Fenris said, sounding nothing like himself.

“No. I’m not going to run for you, Fenris. This isn’t you.”

He growled his frustration and heaved a deep breath before stalking a step toward me.

I retreated the same distance.

“Fenris, if you ever want me to talk to you again, I need you to go back to the cabin for my jacket and shoes. Please. I’m cold. You don’t want me to be cold, do you?”

He stopped moving, and his need-filled gaze flicked to my feet. Another growl escaped him, and he ran his hand through his hair.

“No. I don’t.” He glanced over his shoulder. Behind him, there was nothing but darkness and trees.

I’d made it a fair distance from the cabin. That meant my car was close. Hopefully.

Fenris’s gaze pinned me.

“Are you going to run away, Eliana?”

“How can I when my toes are two seconds from freezing off?”

“Let me carry you.”

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m using today’s ‘Fenris, stop pushing me’ card. I think I’ve been pushed enough for one day, don’t you?”

His scrutiny was no less piercing than the cold.

“Do you think one of my kind can get frostbite?” I asked.

“We’re not done, Eliana. Leaving when I turn my back won’t change that.”

His form shimmered. In his fur, he gave me one last look then trotted back the way he’d come.

With a shaky exhale, I hurried in the direction of my car. It was only once I saw it ahead that I realized I had no keys or phone.

“Crap on a cracker, why can’t anything go right for me?”

It didn’t matter that I wouldn’t be able to start the car. I needed to get out of the snow so I could warm my feet and so I could think of a way to get out of there.

A backup plan wasn’t necessary, though. All my things were already in the passenger seat with my car keys waiting on top of the pile.

As I started the car, I lifted my gaze and searched the illuminated trees for Fenris. Nothing moved, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t there. Nervous that he would interpret my hesitation as an invitation, I left.

The air flowing from the vents gradually warmed as did my hands and feet. However, my phone didn’t vibrate with any incoming messages on the drive to the Quills’. I should have been relieved, but after Fenris’s display in the woods, his silence concerned me. Fenris wasn’t the silent type.

After parking in the Quills’ garage, I grabbed my things and quietly let myself into the kitchen. A murmur of raised voices was coming from the second floor. I glanced at the grandfather clock in the dining room in confusion. It was almost eleven. Why would—

Like a switch flicked on in my head, I remembered everything that had happened just before I’d almost fed from Fenris. There’d been an earthquake.

I fumbled for my phone and found several messages that must have come after I left the cabin.

Mom: Please let me know you’re okay as soon as you wake up and see this.

Megan: Council called Oanen in a panic because Adira heard that I’m coming home soon and Uttira just had an earthquake. We’re in NY as planned. Chasing leads isn’t going as planned. Call me tomorrow.

Eugene: The girls and I are in the closet. Just in case you need to search for after-quake bodies.

Although I felt pity for them and wished I could send Eugene a reply that would make them feel safe, I wasn’t sure any of us were. At least they were together. Fears were easier to face with help.

I briefly thought of Fenris alone in the woods and felt pangs of guilt and regret. Staring at my phone, I stifled the need to text him. What would I even say? Stay safe? He’d only take that as a sign of affection from me, and that was the last thing he needed.

Rather than text Fenris or Eugene, I answered Mom that I was okay then snuck up to my room. The world might be falling apart around me, but I was cold and exhausted. Everything else could wait until after I had a hot shower and some more sleep.

The voices from the office surged loudly enough that I recognized Raiden. I couldn’t make out the words and didn’t care to get any closer to try. After finally seeing the truth of what I’d accidentally done to his son, I no longer held any resentment or hurt over how Raiden had treated me. Only shame. And I didn’t want to face Raiden and admit he’d been right to tell me to leave.

Fenris would be fine if he stayed away from me for a few days. I clung to that desperate thought as I hurried down the hall.

Safely in my room, I stripped from my inadequate pajamas. The shower, even when it started out cold, was warmer than my feet. A hissed breath escaped me as the water slowly heated and created a painful burn as my feet warmed. I lifted one foot to make sure standing in the snow hadn’t caused any permanent damage. The skin looked red but otherwise fine.

A yawn ripped through me, and I frowned. It was the middle of the night, but I was beyond “normal” tired. The run through the woods had taken too much out of me. While I could hope that sleep would help some of it, I recognized the level of my exhaustion as the warning sign it was. I would need to feed soon.

With that depressing thought in my head, I stumbled to my closet for warmer, clean pajamas then crawled into bed.

It didn’t take me long to slip into my recurring dream of the woods. There weren’t any cakes hanging from the barren branches, though. Instead, Fenris was leaning against one of the trees.

His beautiful brown gaze tracked me as I approached him. I opened my mouth to apologize for leaving him alone in the woods, but no sound came out. He straightened away from the tree and stalked toward me. His slow prowl triggered that tingle on the back of my neck.

“You’re slowly killing me, Eliana.”

I tried again to apologize for what I’d unintentionally done to him. Still, no sound emerged.

He stopped in front of me and cupped my face. The feel of his hands made my heart hammer painfully.

“I’m not sure how much more time we have. I’m trying, kitten, but I’m so in tune to everything about you that staying away is impossible. You exhale and I inhale. I breathe you in because you’re the only thing sustaining me.”

Hearing what I had suspected broke my heart for him. For us both. As much as I wished it wasn’t true, I ached for Fenris. I wanted him in my life. I wanted his hugs. I wanted his playfulness. Gods help me, I wanted all of him for myself.

Since I didn’t have the voice to say anything, I let my tears speak for me.

“Shh. Don’t cry. Take what you need.”

I shook my head, and he drifted away.

In his place, the branches shook. The small squares that dangled from the strings weren’t any type of cake they’d offered before. I tentatively took the piece of baklava. The honeyed sweetness caressed my tongue, and I smiled at the nuttiness. Then I licked the stickiness from my fingers. It was different, but it was still good.

Taking my time, I ate my way through several desserts before sitting against the tree. The food was filling, but not what I wanted.

“That’s not enough, nibbles. A little more,” the trees said, sounding oddly like Fenris.

I frowned up at the branches and noticed other options swaying in the light breeze. Boston cream pie was back along with lava cake. My two favorites. Ignoring the part of me that said something wasn’t right, I stood and listened to my hunger. It demanded I inhale cake after cake. My ravenous appetite seemed as endless as what the trees offered.

Gradually, my hunger faded, and I lazily ate because the food was there and I liked it.

“How many people know about this place?” an unfamiliar voice squeaked.

“Far too many. He needs to find his own woman and stop hiding in the trees. Hey, don’t touch her,” a familiar squeaking voice said.

The cake I’d been eating fell from my fingers, and I frantically looked for skunks. One peeked at me from around a tree, its faint aroma filling my nose.

“No,” I said firmly.

“Stop touching yourself,” Piepen’s voice scolded. “We can’t do that here. There’s a better place for that.”

I’d had these dreams enough to know what the sound of Piepen’s voice meant. He was in my room.

“Your woman, your rules,” the unfamiliar voice said right before the skunk and the faint smell disappeared.

I waited for what they would do next, but there was nothing. Only silence and the lingering scent of cakes. Part of me knew I needed to wake up and make sure I was fine. The other part of me was tired of constantly struggling with everything. I just wanted five minutes of peace and relaxation. Five minutes of simplicity. The gods could at least give me that.

Rather than fight against the dream, I gave in to the part that needed peace and curled up on a soft patch of grass. The light breeze caressed my skin, and I stared up at the sun-dappled canopy.

Prior to Megan leaving, I’d never been much of an outdoors person. Yet, even without the cakes, the grove comforted me. With a sigh, I relaxed. My eyelids closed, and I began to slip away from my grove into that place of deeper sleep. However, my next inhale ripped me from that serenity as I choked on the sudden, cloying skunk smell.

Gasping and coughing, I tried to inhale a clean breath, but the toxic mix was inescapable.

I woke with a start and scrambled out of bed toward the open window. The cold, fresh air was a reprieve from what clouded my room. Without leaving my position of safety, I scanned the area, but there wasn’t a brownie in sight. Despite that, the scent was so strong my eyes were watering.

If Piepen wasn’t in the room with me, he had to be nearby.

My gaze landed on my partially opened bedroom door, and I growled in frustration. It had been closed when I’d gone to bed, just as the window had.

With one last cleansing inhale, I hurried across my room and slipped into the hallway. The scent was even stronger there. Faint sexual groans and high-pitched laughing filled my ears, drawing my watering gaze to the light emanating from the game room.

For a moment, I wavered. I could return to my room, shut the door, and go back to sleep with the window open. Or, I could be responsible and march into the game room and stop whatever activities had the house reeking of brownie lust. I desperately wanted to remain ignorant of what was going on but knew, if I didn’t put my foot down, Piepen would only see that as an invitation to continue these horrible invasions.

The need for air motivated me. I hurried forward, nudged the door open, and froze. It took a moment for what I was seeing to register.

Two brownies hovered in the air above the couch. They wore cowboy boots and western hats and nothing else. Arm in arm, they hooted and swirled in the air while they frantically tugged on their tiny toothpicks to the sounds emanating from the porn that played out on the television.

Sparkles burst from the new brownie and rained down on the already shiny cushions beneath them. Oanen’s gaming couch. The one he’d slept on with Megan the night he asked her to be his girlfriend.

I was going to kill Piepen.

“This was your best idea yet, Piepen,” the creature squeaked.

Piepen didn’t respond. He was too busy tugging on himself. He squealed, and his wings stopped a second before he sparkled profusely.

“We should be safe here, Wetwhistle,” Piepen panted, his wings fluttering to life again. His gaze went to the television, and his hand returned to his tiny twig.

“You are far from safe here, brownie,” I said. “My forgiveness is at an end.”

Piepen’s head whipped toward me, his gaze already filling with adoration.

“There’s my little lady!” He flew at me and stopped at the last moment without me needing to warn him. “I’d like to give you a hug. Are you in the mood for one?”

“I’m in the mood for your blood.”

“She doesn’t sound much different than Dewy,” Wetwhistle said, his eyes locked on the screen and his hand locked on his happy stick. “But, at least this one isn’t demanding your wings.”

My eyes narrowed on the little man, and Piepen quickly flitted to the side so I was staring at his naked backside.

“Eliana is better than Dewy in every way. Disrespect her, and you and I are going to have words.”

The complete ridiculousness of the situation calmed some of my anger.

“No touching yourself in my presence,” I said on my way to the windows. The fresh air was a slight relief.

After a calming breath of it, I turned and found both brownies watching me. Wetwhistle’s hands were on his hips in a bold power pose that made me gaggy. Piepen had taken his hat off and held it in his hands. Whether intentional or not, it was hiding his bits, for which I was grateful.

“Start explaining,” I said.

“I asked questions like the wolf suggested. The baby isn’t mine. Madeline confirmed that Dewy would have had to have been pregnant before I met her in order to give birth to a healthy baby when she did. But when I confronted Dewy, she wouldn’t admit the baby isn’t mine. Instead, she got angry and started accusing me of being a piece of flit dad.”

Piepen looked down at his hands for a moment before earnestly meeting my gaze.

“I swear on my life that I will be the best possible father to our children.”

Wetwhistle smothered a laugh with his hand. Piepen flushed, but he didn’t look away from me.

“Whatever it takes,” he promised solemnly.

“Piepen, how many times do I have to tell you? I’m not pregnant.”

“You man-stealing sex leech!”

My eyes rounded, and I turned my head toward the source of the ear-piercing shriek of rage. A round ball flew toward me at a frightening speed. Instinctively, my vision sharpened, bringing the projectile into focus so I recognized it was a female brownie flying at me from the window I’d just opened. Her small red face was twisted in an angry snarl as she pulled back her arm. Her tiny palm struck my cheek with all the force of a flicked pea.

I plucked her from the air before she could try anything else. Without the use of her wings, she swung at me and snarled insults.

“How can you possibly love this bloated beanstalk? Her breasts are pathetic. Look at mine.” She tugged down her top to expose her heavy breasts to the brownies.

They both looked their fill, and Wetwhistle’s hand dipped toward his sparkler twice, thankfully never making contact, as he frowned.

“Why can’t I touch my—’

“Please don’t hurt my sister,” Merrifolds cried as she rushed through the window. Sweat dotted her small brow as she struggled to fly level with the extra weight of the baby in her arms. The baby of questionable parentage, if I were to guess.

Taking pity on Merri, I held out my free hand. Protectively cradling the baby, she landed on my palm in a heap. She pulled back the blanket to check on the infant before looking up at me.

“Thank you, Eliana.”

My gaze swept over the brownies. Flushed Piepen. Annoyed Wetwhistle. Tired Merri. Irate Dewy, whose anger intensified as our gazes locked.

“The next words out of your mouth will be the truth, or I will pluck these wings from your back and make you eat them. Am I clear?”

Dewy’s complexion turned more vibrant even as she nodded.

“Who is the father of your child?”

“A lazy, flit of a brownie unwilling to sell his wings to support his offspring.”

Piepen and Wetwhistle looked sick.

“Why are you so stuck on wing-selling?” I asked. “There are other options for support.”

“It’s the creatures that visit the swamp, looking for wings,” Merri said. “They tempt us with promises of wealth. Yesterday’s goblin promised Dewy her weight in gold if she gave him wings.”

A ball of dread settled in my stomach.

“What goblin?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“He calls himself Elbner and has been showing up most mornings before dawn since Piepen arrived,” Dewy said. “I hate your gargantuan face with every fiber of my being. Piepen was mine. He worshiped every word I said until you seduced him. Release my man, homewrecker, and stop giving him your underwear.”

I spared Piepen a sharp, warning glance before focusing on Dewy again.

“Your weight in gold is barely anything. Definitely not enough to raise a kid even if Piepen’s wings were yours to sell. If you want to take the easy path and rob yourself of later opportunity, sell your own wings. Now, speak the name of your baby’s father.”

“Piepen is mine, you hateful hellcat in heat,” she shrieked.

Angry, I brought her closer to my face.

“The name,” I bit out.

She kicked me in the nose. My control snapped.

“Who is the father?” I yelled in her face.

“I am,” Wetwhistle said. “Dewy’s glistening petals lured me in, but I was smart enough to fly after I sparkled. Like Merri said, Elbner isn’t the first creature who’s come around to buy some wings, and I didn’t like the way Dewy kept petting mine while I was drinking her dew.”

I gagged at the imagery of his words, and my anger evaporated with the renewed lust wafting off Wetwhistle.

“Spare me the details.” I looked at Dewy. “And put your chest away. Now the truth is out, and you can go home.”

I released her. Instead of flying for the door, she flew at my eye. I flicked her away and watched her tumble in the air for a moment before she righted herself.

“The Council will hear of this mistreatment,” she railed.

“It looked like self-defense to me,” Adira said from the doorway.

I withered inside. Why me?

Merri shot me a worried look. “Is she going to eat our wings?”

“No, I am not interested in your wings, but I’m very interested in why a succubus is mediating what appears to be drama fit for daytime television.”

Since I refused to side with Adira even though she was completely right in this case, I ignored her question and addressed Dewy.

“I don’t trust you not to sell your child’s wings when it’s old enough. Because of that, I’m going to recommend to the Council that the child stays with Madeline and Marshal. If they accept, Wetwhistle, you’re going to get a job and pay them a reasonable amount to help support the child you made. And for the love of the gods, can you all please stop sneaking into my bedroom at night?”

Dewy crossed her arms. “You have no authority to make those decisions. That’s my baby, not yours.”

Yet, the accuracy of my assessment was reflected in Merri’s gaze before she ducked her head and tenderly checked on the baby.

“The Council does not support Eliana’s suggestion,” Adira said. “It is not the Council’s concern if you devalue yourself, your wings, or the wings of those in your care. Take your child and leave.”

Anger blinded me to the sight of Merri and the baby still in my hand.

Adira could meddle in my life and obsess over my eating habits but couldn’t be concerned with the life of a tiny, brownie newborn?

I lifted my black gaze to Piepen, who’d been quiet since Dewy appeared.

“For once, do what’s right.”

His gaze flicked to Dewy, Wetwhistle, then Merri. Almost faster than I could see, he zipped forward and snatched the baby from Merri’s hold. Dewy screeched and raced after him, followed closely by Wetwhistle and Merri.

I turned to look at Adira. Mrs. Quill stood a step behind her now. I focused on her.

“We need a druid to ward the windows against brownies.”

“They are warded,” Mrs. Quill said. “Against everything.”

“Then the wards are failing and need to be checked because the brownies continue to interrupt my sleep with their nasty lust, which has now destroyed Oanen’s favorite couch.”

“You seem exceptionally irritable, Eliana. Are you hungry?”

A calming breath wasn’t enough to curb the words that came out of my mouth.

“Given what just transpired and your complete lack of concern for the child, I suggest you tread carefully with any ridiculous displays of concern for me.” That dark thing writhed in my middle, demanding to be released, begging Adira to give me a reason to completely lose control. However, she dipped her head in acknowledgment of my warning.

“I see. Were you able to deliver the book?”

“The book was delivered to Eugene by Jenna. I’m not interested in him as a meal, and I suggest you stop trying to force-feed me.” I took several steps closer to her. “You remember how well that went last time, don’t you? Consider carefully before rejecting these suggestions.”

“What about Fenris?” Mrs. Quill asked gently.

“What about him?”

“Were you able to spend more time with him today?” Adira asked.

“I spent my day avoiding him, and I will continue to do so as I see fit. Now, if you don’t mind, I would like to go back to bed. Don’t bother waking me if there’s another earthquake. If the gods decide to shake this world to ruins, it would be an improvement.”

Just outside the window, I heard Dewy’s shrill voice.

“Where did he go?”

“Please close the window,” I said, addressing Mrs. Quill as I brushed past the pair.

“Nicolette mentioned her wish to invite your friends to Club Blayz,” Adira said, interrupting my escape. “I’ll give her my blessing for tomorrow night. Make sure you enjoy yourself.”

“Hateful hellcat,” I muttered under my breath before slamming my door.