The Hunt
Matilda stared into the forest’s vastness, stretching before her like an endless ocean. For a moment, she closed her eyes and tapped into her newly heightened senses.
She could hear everything—the slow thump of a rabbit’s heart somewhere beneath the underbrush, an owl gliding through the trees above, and the distant rushing of a river.
And somehow, Luka’s heartbeat pulsed through the forest like a drum.
Her lips twitched in annoyance from the slow, steady beat. He didn’t fear her as he should.
“You arrogant bastard,” she whispered, stepping forward. She took another step before breaking out into a sprint.
The forest blurred around her as branches whipped past. Her feet barely touched the ground as she hunted him. She vaulted over a fallen log without breaking her stride and felt herself closing the distance.
She was born a hunter, and now that she was a vampire, her instincts screamed for her to hunt and destroy her prey.
She caught the first drop of Luka’s blood on a leaf.
Her fingers brushed it. She brought it to her nose and inhaled sharply.
Her hunger surged when she sucked her fingers clean.
She chuckled, remembering how she judged Luka as debased and uncontrollable when he licked her blood off the window.
Now, it was her with cravings she would do anything to satisfy.
Matilda moved deeper into the forest. His heart rhythm changed. He didn’t fear her… he anticipated her.
She paused, dropping low and moving through the undergrowth like a wild cat. Her fangs ached as the leaves rustled gently beneath her feet. And then she saw him. He stood in the clearing under the silver moon like a sacrificial lamb that had accepted its fate.
Her gaze assessed him, and she was mildly relieved when his wings disappeared.
“I knew you’d find me,” he said without turning to face her.
“You made it easy. I fear you didn’t try,” she mumbled, entering the clearing like she was in a trance. She stopped behind him and buried her nose into his back. “We should end this quickly. I don’t want to be from Denalia long.”
Luka laughed. “You’re a new vampire full of confidence, rage, and strength, and yet that means nothing because you will not best me.”
“Must I remind you of our first meeting?”
“Are you referring to when you attacked me from your hollow like some terrified woodland creature? Tell me, my Queen, what was the outcome of that hunt? I recall taking you as my prisoner.”
“You are wrong, my King.”
“How so?”
“You have always been my prisoner… my prey.”
Luka finally glanced at her over his shoulder. “Expound.”
Matilda’s hands wrapped around his waist, nails burying into his flesh. He grunted when she dragged her nails up his torso to his chest.
“Where should I begin? The challenge against Beta David, feuding with the nobles, amending the hybrid laws, creating a haven for interspecies couples and their family, or giving me your heir?”
The corner of Luka’s mouth twitched. “I’d like to think the last part is mutually beneficial.”
Matilda dropped her chin on his shoulder. “You jest at a time such as this because you are trying to prolong the inevitable.”
“Which is?”
“You are weaker than your bravado pretends. I have grown weary of your games.”
Before Luka could respond, he was hammered into the dirt. They rolled across the forest floor in a violent blur of limbs and claws, ending with Matilda pinning him against the ground with her hand closed around his throat, where her fangs hovered.
She gripped his chin, jerking it to the side to reveal the expanse of milky skin. She trembled, lowering herself to him until her fangs pressed against his skin.
Luka didn’t move or resist. He didn’t fight what was to come. He had a debt to pay and would pay it in blood.
“Finish the hunt,” he instructed.
Matilda sank her fangs into his throat, and for a moment, the forest silenced. There was only the sound of Matilda furiously feeding.
Luka’s hand slowly rose and cradled the back of her head—holding her in place and letting her take everything she needed.
Eventually, she pulled away. Crimson blood fell from her parted lips onto Luka’s face in droplets.
In her straddled position, she sat back on her heels, tilted her head back, and stared at the moon.
Her chest heaved as Luka’s blood burned through her, filling the hollow ache in her stomach.
Indescribable strength flooded her body, and for the first time since she’d risen, the hunger quieted to a dull ache.
She rolled her neck and wiped her lips with the back of her hand. “More,” she demanded.
But before she could take her fill, Luka’s breathing shifted. She raised a brow when his breath hitched and his pupils dilated. “M-Matilda…” he breathed, voice ripping out of him rough and thick. “This… this cannot be possible,” he stammered, sinking his fingers into her hips.
“Venom,” she whispered. Her lips curled into a slow smile. She wrestled out of his grasp and rose to her feet. She grinned wickedly, placing her boot on his monstrous erection. “Oh, my King. How the tables have turned,” she purred.
“Fuck, Matilda!” he spat harshly, throwing his head back as she slid her foot back and forth over his dick. “Please! Have mercy!” he cried.
She raised a brow. “Have mercy? Where was my mercy when you killed me?” she questioned, twisting her foot and applying pressure.
“Better yet? Where was my mercy when we found ourselves in a similar position? What did you say, my King?” He groaned, whipping his head back and forth.
“You don’t remember? Well, let me remind you.
Take your pleasure beneath my boot like the whore you are. ”
Luka used the last of his free will and pushed himself upright. The erratic movement forced the venom through him like wildfire. His heartbeat quickened, and his breathing grew heavier. “You are provoking a dangerous game, huntress,” he warned through clenched teeth.
Matilda smirked and backed away into the shadows. “My favorite type of game.”
She turned and sprinted. Back in the clearing, Luka stood still while the venom multiplied heat, yearning, and a heat of a different kind.
“You should not have done that,” he murmured before giving chase.
***
Matilda ran through the forest like her life depended on it.
Her body moved instinctively, slipping in and out of the shadows as Luka pursued her.
She had a decent head start, but could feel him gaining ground; not through sound or sight, but through the venom that drew them together.
Something dark and exhilarating unfurled in her chest, temporarily overwhelming the bitter rage that had planted itself and spread like gnarled roots.
A whistle screeched through the air. She ducked and stumbled when a log crashed into a tree, sending splintered wood into her face. Luka’s hand closed around her arm, and he slammed her into the rough bark of a tree. He was on her before she could move.
He caged her in, bracing one hand beside her head and the other pinning her wrist against the trunk. Matilda was shocked at his speed. She thought the venom would slow him down; if anything, it made him stronger, faster, unrestrained, and desperate.
His breathing came out ragged and uneven as his forehead rested against hers. “I have apprehended you,” he announced, voice low and roughened by something sultry and sinister.
Matilda tilted her head back against the tree and lifted her gaze to meet his. His pupils were wide, black, and all-consuming.
“So you have,” she replied, seizing a fistful of his shredded tunic with her free hand. She dragged him closer until there was no space left between them.
“The gods shall punish me for what I am about to do to you.”
“And I to you,” Matilda whispered, waiting for him to do his worst.
An unmistakable crack in his composure exposed itself. It was the unraveling of the last of his control.
“Careful,” he warned softly.
“And if I shall not heed your warning? Then what?” she murmured, lowering her voice. “Will you end my life again?”
Luka’s jaw tightened briefly before he chuckled, sliding his hand from her wrist to her throat. His palm settled there with dangerous certainty. His thumb nestled where her pulse spiked beneath her skin.
“You are posturing, my love. You are not as crossed as you claim to be.”
“You ended me.”
“I brought you back.”
Their faces were close enough now that their breath mingled, unsettling Matilda.
She was infuriated with herself because the bastard was right. She was no longer mad about him turning her. Most of her anger stemmed from fear of the unknown.
He took advantage of her distraction, leaned down, and hoisted her up the tree, wrapping her legs around him. Her arms settled against his shoulders, and the urge to mate skyrocketed as soon as his erection pressed against her center.
“I still hunger.”
“For sustenance, or for me?”
Her lips curled. “You serve a dual purpose.”
“Then I won’t stop you. Let me be of service to you, my Queen,” he said, offering himself without hesitation.
Her fangs slid down and Luka inhaled sharply, waiting for his second dose of venom. Her mouth hovered over the mark she’d previously made. He groaned when her lips brushed close enough to remind him of the wound and what she’d already taken. Her tongue darted out and slicked the puncture holes.
“Matilda…,” he breathed out, voice unsteady.
His hand moved from her throat to her jaw, firmly guiding her face back to his.
“Forgive me, my love,” he murmured before sinking his fangs into her shoulder and tearing away the flesh.
She gasped in shock and horror as she bled freely.
Her bosom became slick with blood, and Luka didn’t hesitate to slurp between her breasts, lapping at the crevice between the two mounds.
His claws swiftly rendered her dress useless when he shredded it into tatters. Her breasts spilled forth, and his tongue trailed to her protruding nipples.
The cool air collided with the warmth of her blood, sending her into a mild frenzy.
The skin of her back scraped against the bark as Luka lifted her higher to release himself.
His trousers fell to his ankles, and he stroked his leaking length with one hand while supporting the small of her back with the other.
Impatient, Matilda shoved off the tree, sending them stumbling to the cold forest floor. She moved to straddle her king when he flipped them over, planting her face first in the dirt and snow.
He raised a brow when she didn’t wrestle him for control. It wasn’t like her to be so submissive.
“Have you no fight in you, my love?” he asked, angling her hips beneath the tattered gown.
“I have plenty of fight. Your time will come, my King.”
Luka placed a nail at the base of her neck and eased it down her spine, slicing open the fabric and flesh.
She seethed through her teeth from the pain, but was hissing for a different reason when Luka licked from her tailbone to the back of her neck.
She glanced over her shoulder and met his lips.
They kissed hungrily, exchanging saliva, blood, and unadulterated passion.
Matilda’s back arched, and her breath stuttered when he entered her without warning. He reached around and presented his hand, a thoughtful offer. She bit down between his thumb and forefinger, fangs melting into the flesh like butter.
“That’s it, Tilda,” he grunted, slamming into her. Her eyes rolled in the back of her head. She was stuck between pain and euphoria. The fucking was brutal—driving her hips and pelvis into the ground, but the blood felt like an orgasm in her mouth as it trickled down her throat.
“You… are… insatiable,” Luka claimed. “Shall you desire something else to suckle on?”
Matilda nodded, not realizing that she’d bitten through joints and bones, nearly severing his finger off.
She found herself bare on her knees with Luka’s dick protruding in her face.
She stroked him languidly while breathing in the scent of her arousal.
Swiftly, she sliced the sensitive skin of his dick with a pinky nail, hitting a vein.
He winced when she grabbed the base with two hands and squeezed in an upward motion, sending the blood rushing.
Her tongue lolled out, and she dipped her head beneath his dripping dick, catching the blood on her tongue.
He grunted when she took him down. His fingers gripped her curls and her hands landed on his pale thighs.
“I love you, Tilda, but this is for my wing.”
Matilda thought she’d prepared herself for the worst, but she had no idea what Luka had in store with her. His dick found refuge in her throat as he punished her and chased his pleasure. He smirked when she choked around him.
“Don’t tell me your human version took dick better. Mind your fangs.”
Saliva and blood leaked out of Matilda’s mouth as she maintained eye contact with her king and groped her heavy tits.
Suddenly, his head snapped in the direction of the castle, and the moment was lost. He eased out of her mouth and pulled her to her feet.
“What—”
“Shhhh,” he whispered, pressing a finger to her lips.
A few seconds later, Matilda picked up on the sound of Denalia whimpering. “Shall we continue this later?”
He smiled. “We shall.”