13. Huntyr
Chapter 13
Huntyr
T here was absolutely no way I was going to sleep after that. My heart pounded so hard in my chest, I knew Wolf could hear it. Jessiah too, though he was fast asleep on his bedroll just feet from me.
Wolf took the first watch, which I was somewhat grateful for, because at least that meant he was on the other side of the clearing and not sleeping beside me.
But that also meant he was over there in the darkness, using his half-angel eyes to watch me. Every single ounce of my body buzzed with a new energy, an awareness of him, a thrill.
I shut my eyes and tried to count backward, tried to force myself to sleep.
Tried to force myself not to listen to Wolf’s breathing from a distance, tried to force myself not to reach out through our bond and see what he was thinking, feeling.
Dammit, Huntyr. You know what he feels. If that kiss was any hint…
I rolled over on the thick blanket and ran a hand down my face as I took a long, cooling breath.
Time passed, though I lost count of the hours. I tried and failed time and time again, but it was no use. My racing heart would not slow. My rapid breath would not calm.
“If you’re going to toss and turn, you might as well keep watch.” Wolf’s voice slid through the air, as smooth as the breeze.
One glance at Jessiah told me he was still fast asleep. His wings cascaded around him, blocking out the rest of the world as he snored quietly.
That would be fucking nice right about now.
I pushed myself up and stormed in Wolf’s direction, wrapping my arms around my stomach to try and fight off the cool breeze of night. He sat against a tree trunk near the trail, using his dagger to sharpen a random piece of wood. He didn’t stop as I approached, didn’t take his eyes off what he was doing for even a second.
“How’s your arm?” I stood awkwardly a few feet away, not sure what to do with myself, not sure it was safe to allow myself any closer to him.
He stilled, dropping the now violently pointed stick. “My arm is not what I’m worried about.”
I took one step closer and paused. “You don’t have to worry about me.”
“Yes, I do,” he answered without a breath.
I closed the distance between us, moving to sit beside him, resting my back against the same rough bark. His shoulder brushed mine gently, and neither of us moved away.
“Well, I don’t know why. I can take care of myself.”
His laugh was silent, but I felt his shoulders shaking beside me. I snapped my eyes to his. “What?”
“You think I don’t know that, Huntress? You’re a wicked, violent little thing. I know you can take care of yourself just fine.”
“Then what’s with the act? What’s with…” I waved my hand between us. “What’s with all of this?”
“This?” he asked, turning his body to face mine. Below the moon and the stars, his eyes nearly glowed. He was only inches from my lips, so close that I could feel his breath as he spoke. “You mean me sharing my blood with you?”
“That, and then there’s the kiss.”
The smirk fell from his face. My stomach dropped.
“I shouldn’t have done that,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”
I bit my lower lip. “I didn’t bring it up so you could apologize. I brought it up because—because I’m confused .” I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around my shins, dropping my forehead to rest against them as I took a long, calming breath. “Why is this all so damn difficult.”
Wolf didn’t respond with a snarky comment like I expected. He just leaned his own head back against the bark and twirled his dagger in his hands. “I don’t know.”
I lifted my head. I wasn’t sure why; maybe it was the way his voice broke just a little, or it could have been the way his brows wrinkled in worry as he focused on his own hands, but I couldn’t stop myself from reaching out and pushing back his thick, dark hair. It had grown so much since we met. It now fell in waves, nearly long enough to tuck behind his ears.
He froze at first, then leaned into my touch slightly, jaw clenching.
“You’re feeling a lot of things right now,” he whispered. “The feelings that come with feeding can be a bit sensual.”
“Does it always feel like that? Even with others?”
His eyes snapped to mine in the darkness. “No, Huntress. It does not.”
“And when you fed from me?” Heat flushed my cheeks. “Is that what it felt like for you too?”
He smiled. “Are you asking me if I enjoyed it?”
“I guess I am.”
“Yes, Huntress. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed every goddess-damned moment of it.”
My chest cracked. My stomach dropped. I didn’t want to fight with Wolf. Not anymore. Not after everything.
I mean, hells, I had lost so much. But so had he.
Tears came rushing forward. I wasn’t sure why, but I couldn't stop them. I couldn't even begin to control them as they spilled over my cheeks, dripping down my chin in a sudden rush. Wolf didn’t say anything; he sat beside me silently as I cried and cried.
I wasn’t even sure why I was crying.
“Wolf,” I said, though a sob cracked my voice half-way through. “I’m really sorry about your wings. I never wanted, I mean, if I knew that he would?—”
He spun his entire body to face me and pulled me into him, wrapping his arms around me and rocking us back and forth. “Shh,” he whispered. “Don’t even think about that, Huntress. My wings were not your fault, okay?”
His voice cracked too, and I could have sworn I saw his own eyes glistening, but perhaps I only imagined it.
“If I would have just given your father what he wanted—if I would have trusted you?—”
“Don’t.” He stopped rocking us and twisted me around until he could look at my face, holding my chin with both hands. “Don’t you dare give in to him. I don’t care what he takes from me; do not give in to him. Understand me?”
More tears came. More tears fell. “How? How do you let him control you like this?”
Something dark washed over his features. “A lifetime of hatred will make you do crazy things, Huntress. He can take from me now, but I’m working on a lifetime of freedom, a lifetime he can’t take away from me.”
“Tell me how.” I pulled Wolf’s hands into my own. “Tell me how you’re going to stop him.”
I could see the debate in his eyes, of whether or not he should tell me. “You’re already risking too much. I won’t put you in more danger than you’re already in.”
“I don’t care what I’m risking. I want to help you. I can’t—I can’t keep living like this, not knowing who to trust, not knowing what’s going on. I’m trapped in this life, Wolf. I’m trapped in this life, and I can’t get out, and I’m fucking terrified.”
He pulled my body to his again, and I let him guide me until I rested with my back against his chest, settling between his legs.
“I know you don’t want to trust me,” he mumbled against my mess of hair. “I know I betrayed you. I know I broke your fucking heart, and trust me, mine broke that day, too. But I will never hurt you again, Huntyr. This marriage, this trip, this kingdom we’re heading to, Asmodeus is wicked, and he is powerful. He can make us do all these things like we are his little puppets for now, but when this kingdom rises, when things change, when people start seeing you as the powerful, unstoppable queen you are, you will not be denied. Not by anybody, and certainly not by my father.”
A chill ran down my body. Not from the cold of night this time, but from the raw power of his words. What he was saying…it was…
“But you don’t have to think about all of that right now,” he continued. “I’ve already put you through enough. All I want is for you to stay alive. Because I can fight. I can plan and I can kiss ass and I can be the pawn of the kingdom, but without you?” He choked on his words. “Without you, none of this matters. Without you, I don’t give a fuck what happens to me or this kingdom.”
I put my hand to my mouth and stifled a sob. Things were so messy, so screwed up. How did we get here? I was a vampyre, for fuck’s sake. How had I fallen so far?
I leaned back onto Wolf, reveling in his warmth, not caring that I was supposed to hate him, not caring about any of it, actually. Not caring about anything at all.
T he next day was just as uneventful as the first, thankfully with no insane cravings for blood, no reason to feed from Wolf, and no attacks from vampyres in the woods.
It was all very calm.
Until it wasn’t.
“Are you sure we’re heading in the right direction?” I asked. “Have the two of you been here before?”
“More times than I’d like to admit,” Wolf answered from behind me. “These trails are supposed to be confusing. It keeps us all safer when hungry ones and other creatures get turned around in between our kingdoms.”
Interesting. After last night’s kiss, there was no need to pull my body away from Wolf’s. He leaned against me too, whatever grudge he was holding yesterday was long, long gone.
We didn’t talk about it. We didn’t talk about the blood, either, and neither did Jessiah, which I was grateful for.
I didn’t need anyone to mention the fact that I was undeniably a vampyre. I couldn’t hide it anymore, couldn’t pretend it wasn’t actually happening. This was all very real. It was happening. There was no going back now.
“Do you feel it yet?” Wolf asked, breath brushing against my ear.
My senses flared. “Feel what?”
“The surge in your power. Your abilities heightening.”
I took a quick scan of my body. My abilities were always very dull. Even in Moira, I could barely feel my magic unless I was absolutely desperate. That had been an afterthought so far; using my magic or even thinking about it was no use in the house of the archangel.
“I don’t think so,” I admitted. “I feel exactly the same.”
He laughed quietly, his broad chest shaking against my shoulders. “Focus here.” He snaked an arm around my body and pressed his palm against my stomach. “What do you feel?”
My entire body became aware of his hand pressed against me. “I feel you .”
I couldn’t see him, but I could practically feel the way he smirked. His fingers tightened, pressing deeper into me. His thumb brushed my ribs just below my breast, and his smallest finger reached down to my pant line. “What else do you feel?”
I took a deep, calming breath of the fresh forest air and tried to think about what else I felt, if anything. Yes, I felt him. I felt his warmth, his presence, him , but as he moved his fingers slowly, as he pressed his hand deeper against my body, I felt something else, too. Something deep stirred within me, like excitement and adrenaline mixed together in a seed deep within my body.
“ That ,” he whispered. “ That is your power awakening, Huntress. Since you fed, you’ll be gaining more and more strength each day. You’re changing.”
My breath hitched. He didn’t move his hand. I knew my power would grow once I fed, once I completed that transition into a vampyre. I did notice the way Wolf’s blood healed my wounds overnight. It pulsed through my body with a new wave of strength, and I didn’t realize just how badly I craved just that. It was as if I could finally take a full breath, like I finally felt fully energized.
But that all came from Wolf’s blood. I was still terrified of what would happen from my own magic awakening. “What if I don’t want to change?”
“You will,” he replied. “Especially when you’re powerful enough to summon your own wings.”
Wings? I twisted around so I could see his face. His eyes lit up with a teasing level of amusement. “Are you kidding? You think I’ll be able to fly?”
“You are descended from the most powerful vampyre bloodline. There are much weaker vampyres that have no problem summoning wings. All it takes is magic, which you already possess. I don’t doubt it for a second.”
I couldn’t stop the smile that spread over my face or the laughter that bubbled from me. Flying. With wings, I could fly far, far away from here. I wouldn’t be a slave to my feet, wouldn’t be trapped riding horses or spending days on any one journey.
I could go home.
I could go anywhere in the world.
“Don’t get too excited,” Jessiah called from ahead, clearly eavesdropping on our entire conversation. “We have to survive the next few days first.”
His voice had gone cold, worried.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
He shook his head, his eyes scanning the thick trees of the horizon as he slowed his horse. “I don’t know,” he answered. “But something doesn’t feel right.”
Wolf slowed our horse too, immediately stiffening. “You’ve still got Venom, right?” he asked. I loved that even he called her by her name, out of respect more than anything.
I nodded.
“Good.” His hand moved from my stomach to my waistline, where Venom was strapped to my belt. He slid her out of the sheath seamlessly and moved it to my hands.
I took it without question.
Jessiah descended from his horse without a sound. His white, feathered wings were tucked tightly behind his shoulders, ready for a fight.
Wolf started to do the same, quietly guiding himself onto the ground.
I stayed on the horse, peering into the forest around us. Jessiah was right—something was off. The birds should have been chirping, the wind should have been blowing the trees and rustling the leaves.
Instead, there was only silence. An eerie, blood-curdling silence.
But then, I smelled it: the same stench that lurked in my nightmares since I was a child.
Hungry ones.