Chapter Seventeen #2
“Okay. There will be three more hunts before the first Middle Ground. They're probably going to try to group us together again, but if tonight proved anything, it's that that doesn't matter. We will stay together during the hunts, us and Genie.”
A twinge of apprehension pulls my attention.
What if that's the point of this? So much depends on Cross and Genie and those treaties, it makes sense that someone would attempt to push them together.
But in a place like Recovery? People come here to heal.
Our Elders wouldn't allow that kind of interference here.
They wouldn't entertain that type of interruption to the goal of this program.
“How?” I ask, not wanting to be blunt about his wolf. “Will you attend the hunts?”
“I'll find a way,” he says firmly. “How was she when you left her?”
“Pissed off.”
He laughs. “At you?”
“Obviously.”
“But okay otherwise?”
I nod.
“You're staying here tonight,” he says and I take comfort in the authority laced through his words. Not because I particularly enjoy being ordered to do things, but because it feels like it used to. Above everything else, Cross will be my Alpha and I want the peace his authority provides.
***
The next week rushes by in a swirl of pointless classes and literal trust falls.
I refuse to participate in those. I don't know these people and I certainly don't trust them.
Cross's classes keep him away from me during most of the day, and Genie has kept her distance.
If the betas who abandoned us during the last hunt are still here, they're doing a hell of a job avoiding me.
The next hunt is tomorrow and I am on edge.
That edge gets sharper when I walk around the corner to my room to find Genie leaning against the wall beside my door.
“What?”
She releases a quick breath and crosses her arms. “They're not here.”
“The betas from the hunt?” I ask, knowing full well that's who she's talking about.
“Yes. They aren't here. I've gone to every residential room. They're not here.”
I quirk a brow. “People just let you into their rooms?”
“Some did, not all.”
“What about the ones who didn't?”
She smirks. “Don't worry about it.”
I close my eyes against the smile threatening to spread. “That's unethical.”
“They should have opened their doors when I asked.”
I smile at her and lean against the wall on the other side of my door. “That's no way to make friends.”
“I'm not here to make friends.”
“Obviously.”
We stare at each other for a few beats without saying anything else and it makes me wonder, really wonder, what it could be like if Cross did claim her.
Would she continue to hate me? Would I keep up my lack of appreciation of her?
What if we threw the whole thing sideways and actually got along?
Even if it was surface-level, it could be functional.
“Well?” she asks, tilting her head.
“Well what?”
“Are we just going to stand in the hallway?”
No, I was wrong. It couldn't be functional because the thought of her scent clinging to every surface of my room makes my eye twitch. “That's the plan.”
“You're such an asshole.”
I shrug. “What else would you expect in this situation?”
She huffs and rolls her eyes. “Fine. Do you have any idea who the older male is? I'm starting to feel uneasy with everything and not knowing what's really going on.”
At least we're on the same page. “Not yet. It's hard to go exploring with the schedules and audience.”
She nods. “I've tried to snoop around a little, but it's almost like I'm being watched. I'm probably just paranoid, but I can't shake it off.”
“Just stay out of trouble,” I tell her. “There's another hunt tonight. We'll get a chance to poke around while everyone is out running.”
“Do you think they'll pair us up again?”
I shrug again. “I don't know. Maybe.”
“I'm going with you regardless. I don't care who they try to put me with.”
I get it. If I was her I'd want to go with me too. But I don't like it and I don't want to watch her and Cross tiptoe around each other because I do want to go with him. These swinging emotions are driving me crazy. I'm getting pretty sick of feeling so unsettled.
My wolf pops up to make things even more ridiculous. We could leave, you know. We could disappear into the trees again and leave all of this turmoil.
I ignore his opinion and he slinks back into the background, laughing the whole way. I don't know why he thinks this situation is funny. All he does anymore is laugh at me. I'm getting pretty sick of that, too.
“No,” I say firmly. “You're not. I'm going with Cross, and nobody wants to deal with the two of you together right now.”
She drags in a breath and licks her lips. “I think that might be the point.”
“What point?”
“Pushing us together.”
My mouth draws up. I do not like that she's on the same wavelength as I am. “It seems silly to do something like that here, don't you think?”
She shrugs. “I don't know, but something is happening.”
“Just go for a walk or read a book or something until it's time to go down to the courtyard.”
She turns to go, but then looks back. “Did you get any information about the rules for tonight?”
I shake my head. “There's plenty of time. Just stay out of trouble.”
“You stay out of trouble,” she returns, then marches off down the hallway.
As if by magic, there is an envelope laying innocently on my bed when I walk through the door. I roll my neck before opening it.
Mr. Merritt,
You have been assigned the roll of prey for tonight's hunt.
Have fun!
I release the heaviest sigh I've ever felt in my life.
Role of prey?