The Hunt

“No,” I said over Fenris’s affirmation.

“Anything interesting?” Adira asked with a brow arched at me.

I crossed my arms.

“Why are you here?”

“I wanted your opinion on the new club your mother’s building.”

The woman was being stubbornly persistent. Did she honestly think I would admit that I thought the club was pointless and that I would never feed there?

“You could have used your phone instead of a portal. Why didn’t you?”

She glanced at Fenris, her gaze skimming what I’d just been staring at. My blood boiled.

“It seems you’re still meeting Eliana’s needs, then?” she asked him, oblivious to anything but her own agenda.

Fenris’s comment about playing their games echoed in my head as I grabbed my phone and dialed my mom. She picked up on the first ring.

“Adira’s here harassing me,” I said bluntly. Adira watched me, likely waiting to see how far I’d go and how much further still she could push me.

“Put me on speaker, baby,” Mom said.

A hairline fracture marred Adira’s confidence as I did what Mom asked.

“Adira, Eliana has been far more patient with you than I would have been at her age. You know what happens when a ravenous succubus’s meal is interrupted. That’s nothing compared to what Eliana will do to you when she finally snaps. You’ve been warned.”

I felt no joy at the sight of Adira’s withdrawal through the portal. My gaze locked onto the phone still in my slack hand. I didn’t remember letting it drift to my side.

“Mom?”

“Baby, Adira knows she’s playing with fire and will deserve every burn you give her. Think nothing of it. Go have fun and don’t worry about that woman.”

I managed a weak okay before hanging up and looking at Fenris.

“So that’s a ‘no’ to the hugs?” he asked.

Disbelief colored my expression, and he shrugged.

“Suit yourself, but you should know, with Megan’s hugging skills and all the practice Oanen’s getting, you might have some serious competition when they come back.”

This time, I easily turned my back on Fenris.

“I regret getting out of bed this morning.”

He chuckled behind me and closed the trunk.

“Ready for a hike?”

“Lead the way.”

The soft sound of snow crunching underfoot measured our progress as we walked into the woods together, and the relative quiet gave me a chance to think. Maybe I’d been too hasty to reject Tegan’s offer, given that Adira was tracking me when I still needed to find Ashlyn. Sure, she was currently more focused on my feeding than why I was in the woods, but she was smart. It wouldn’t take her long to figure out I was up to something. Especially if she decided to pop in again when I was with the druids.

Something moved to our right, just at the edge of my vision. When I looked, though, nothing was there.

“Dryad,” Fenris said softly. “The woods are filled with them and centaurs.”

I didn’t know much about either creature, other than both kept to themselves and rarely sent their children to the Academy. They didn’t have to since most of them never wanted to leave the protection of their wooded homelands. Dryads could look relatively human but couldn’t survive without their trees, which is why they lived in Uttira. There was no tree cutting allowed in the Drys Woods. Centaurs had a much harder time blending than the dryads and needed more space to run free than the human world would allow them.

“Are they going to mind that we’re here?” I asked softly.

“You? Probably not. Me? Definitely.”

“Why?”

“There was a little incident a while back with a stag hunt. The pack got too close to the Drys border, and the centaurs didn’t like us chasing a stag that they considered under their protection.”

“Why did you offer to help me if it’s going to cause you trouble?”

He grinned.

“Trouble is just the unapproved version of having fun.”

I shook my head at him.

“That explains so much about you.”

Fenris laughed. “If you keep everyone on their toes, they’re more wary of what you’ll do next.”

The cold didn’t penetrate my borrowed coat, but it numbed my jean-clad calves and my feet after a few minutes. I began to shiver and glanced at Fenris. He’d buttoned the shirt when I’d turned my back to him but didn’t wear anything else. Despite the meager clothing and chilly temperature, he seemed completely fine. I couldn’t help but envy that. Mom’s comment about my coldness being due to my underfed state bounced around in my head.

“What?” he asked, catching my eye.

“Just thinking.”

“Oh, I love our conversations that start out with you thinking. Are you daydreaming about eating cake? Want to talk about last night’s flavor?”

I snorted.

“No. I was thinking that I’m a little jealous that this cold doesn’t even bother you.”

He reached out and brushed the back of his hand over the tip of my nose, startling me.

“You’re too cold. Time for a ride.” He didn’t wait for my permission but, instead, swooped me up into his arms.

I opened my mouth to protest as he continued to stride forward, however with the buffer of my jacket, my hunger didn’t stir like I thought it would. At least, it didn’t until I looked up and saw Fenris’s throat inches from my face. The lean cords and the ever so slight thump of his pulse heated my core, and I immediately closed my eyes.

“I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Are you getting colder?”

I felt far from cold at the moment.

“You know it’s dangerous to touch me, Fenris. You’re going to end up in the snow on your back with me on top of you.”

I felt the shudder that ran through him and his misstep.

“I’m sorry, Fenris, but I know how uncomfortable it was for you to have to deal with me the last time I lost control. I don’t want to put you through that again.”

His silence had me opening one eye to peek at him. His straight-ahead stare and serious expression worried me enough that I could ignore the hunger.

“Fenris?”

His gaze met mine. “I’m never uncomfortable when I’m with you. The only thing I don’t like about you letting your iron-clad control slip is that you hate yourself for it.”

“You’re far too understanding,” I said, giving him a sad smile.

“And you’re far too hard on yourself.”

I made a non-committal noise and focused on the trees. Having my feet out of the snow helped a little. The heat that Fenris radiated helped even more. As soon as I felt my toes again, I asked to be put down.

It was a good thing, too, because a minute later, we heard a distant howl. Fenris tipped his head and listened. Another howl came a little distance away from the first one.

“Trouble?” I asked.

“No. It sounds like a few of the pack are searching this part of the woods. They’re coordinating their efforts.”

“What are they searching for?”

“Ashlyn would be my guess.”

My heart gave a little jump of hope.

“How big are the Drys Woods?” I asked.

“About 144 square miles, give or take.”

My steps slowed as I mentally calculated the number of days I had left before Megan returned and how much time each day I’d be able to spend searching for the druids. It equaled too much on them and not enough looking for Ashlyn.

“We’re never going to find her in time.”

“Ashlyn?”

I nodded before I could stop myself.

“So that’s why you want the druids? You think they can help you find Ashlyn.”

“I think they’re the place to start.”

“Why?”

My chest tightened with panic. I wanted to confide in Fenris so badly, but I feared his reaction. My friend list had already shrunk drastically, and I couldn’t afford to lose another.

“It’s okay,” he said softly. “When you’re ready, you can tell me. There’s no rush.”

But there was. Ashlyn’s safety was on the line, and time was against us.

Another howl echoed in the air, this time much closer. I startled when Fenris howled back. The sound was deep and throaty and very inhuman. The answering howl was immediate, and Fenris stopped walking.

“What?” I asked.

“They’re coming to us.”

I wanted to ask why but spotted the wolf running through the trees ahead and knew he’d hear. So I waited next to Fenris and let out a little squeak and closed my eyes when the wolf’s form shimmered and melted into an upright and very naked man.

“Fenris, what are you doing out here?”

“Hey, Conall. Trying to meet up with some friends. What about you?”

“Looking for someone. Have you seen anything?”

“Nothing the way we came. What about you? Seen any girls?”

Conall snorted. “You don’t have enough of them panting after you at home?”

“What can I say? I like the attention.”

I knew for a fact that was a lie. Based on the man’s next words, he knew it too.

“We’ll see if you still feel that way Tuesday night. The only females we came across were three druids a few miles back.”

“Thanks.”

Silence descended, and I struggled to keep my eyes closed. Curiosity won out, and I peeked through one eye only to squeal and stumble backward when I saw Fenris’s grinning face inches from mine.

“What is wrong with you?” I smacked his arm and looked around for the other wolf.

“He already left, and I was wondering how long you’d keep your eyes closed.”

“So you got in my face?”

“It was pretty funny.”

I shook my head at him, slightly amused but unwilling to admit it. The last thing Fenris needed was encouragement.

“Are you ready to find your druids?”

“More than ready.” Blood pumping from the scare, I managed to walk on my own for quite a distance before Fenris caught me shivering again. I didn’t protest when he picked me up, but I was careful to keep my hands and eyes to myself.

“I smell smoke,” he said softly. “They aren’t far off now.”

“I can make it the rest of the way on my own.”

He snorted.

“And how are you going to find your way back? Just accept that I’m here for the whole thing.”

I wrinkled my nose, wondering how long it would take him to figure out the druids and I were responsible for Ashlyn’s disappearance after I told them she was missing. Probably seconds.

The girls weren’t camped in some nice clearing or anything. They had a tiny, one-man tent set up in a space between two large oak trees. Anne popped up from her spot by the fire as soon as she spotted me.

“I’m going to kill Tegan,” she said, the anger in her eyes glittering more than her makeup.

“You didn’t give me much of a choice.” I wiggled in Fenris’s hold, and he set me down. “You could have just texted me.”

“We were busy.” Annoyance laced Meg’s expression and tone. “We—”

“Need her,” Lauv said, looking at the other two. “I’m cold and tired, and she’s the answer. We’re ready to call in that favor, Eliana. We want you to seduce a dryad.”

“Favor? I don’t owe you anything. My mom is still in Uttira, and Ashlyn is missing.”

All three frowned.

“It should have worked,” Anne said.

“Maybe if we’d kept to the spell, it would have,” Meg said. While Meg and Anne glared at each other, Lauv stood and brushed off her butt.

“We’ll cast it again. This time, we’ll get it right.”

“No, you won’t. And you’re not listening. Ashlyn is missing. She disappeared, and the last time I saw her was in the bathroom. You need to find her. Now.”

The three of them shared glances and, almost as one, looked at Fenris then me.

“Who knows?” Lauv asked.

“Everyone knows she’s missing. They knew the moment she didn’t show up to teach her class that same day.”

“The wolves that passed through here are looking for her,” Fenris added. “I’m guessing they won’t find her though?”

I refused to look at Fenris, and he sighed.

“Fine,” Lauv said. “We’ll do a locator spell for her after we’re done here. We’ve invested too much time to just drop everything and return with nothing. Adira would be suspicious.”

The whole reason I’d sought out the druids instead of waiting for the Council to pick one was that I’d thought it would be faster. Lauv’s refusal to immediately fix the mistake they’d made didn’t sit well with me.

“Adira is going to be suspicious about a lot more than you returning empty-handed. The mermaids know,” I said.

“Damn fish,” Anne mumbled.

“We’ll deal with them,” Meg said confidently.

My irritation only grew, and Lauv noticed.

“If you’re in such a hurry to find Ashlyn, help us,” she said. “We can be out of here in minutes.”

“I am not seducing a dryad.” I crossed my arms. “Besides, we’re all going to go down for what happened if we don’t fix it fast.”

“And, like we already said, we’re not leaving empty-handed.” Lauv mimicked my stance, and I felt my eyes flicker between black and brown.

Fenris stepped between us, his usual humor missing from his expression.

“If Eliana helps you, you find Ashlyn and you remove the tracker spell on Eliana and prevent another from being placed on her.”

My mouth popped open in protest, but Lauv beat me to it.

“Not happening. Removing a tracking spell is hard. Preventing another is nearly impossible. That’d take some powerfully pure life essence.”

Fenris shrugged. “You have five minutes to decide if you’re capable before we leave and you have to figure out what you’re going to tell the Council when they finally figure out why Ashlyn is missing.”

“Your girl here is just as much to blame,” Anne said.

“She’s not the one with the magic.”

I understood that Fenris was playing on their fears of blame, but he was playing on mine, too. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t magically inclined. I was the one who started the whole mess.

Yet, the three girls exchanged worried glances.

“There might be enough,” Meg said, a hint of question in her tone.

“Only if she can coax two dryads out instead of one,” Anne added.

“If we do her spell, then we can’t do ours,” Lauv said.

Worried that they were actually thinking about the deal, I spoke up.

“I’m not helping with anything until I know what spells you’re planning to cast. I’m not going to be responsible for someone else’s ruined life.”

“Dramatic much? We came out here for the last ingredient for a simple cloaking spell with a twist. We’re going to merge a pure life essence with a cloaking spell to mask ourselves. We think it’ll get us through the barrier without our marks.”

“Through the barrier?”

All three nodded, and I looked at Fenris. Druids were only dangerous due to their magic whereas most of the other creatures in Uttira were dangerous because they wanted to eat humans. So, three semi-trained druids out in the world was, in theory, not disastrous. Especially at the skill level of these girls.

I knew Fenris thought the same when he shrugged. However, his indifference wasn’t helping me find a way out of this.

“I can’t seduce a dryad,” I said desperately.

“Based on what we’ve heard about you, that’s probably right,” Anne said.

Fenris snorted.

“O, ye of little faith. Watch and learn.” He reached into his pockets and produced his phone and a set of earbuds. Warily, I took the earbuds he offered.

“Put them in and take your coat off.”

“This isn’t going to work,” I said, already guessing what he intended.

“If it doesn’t, then I’ll let you out of one of our bets.”

“And if it does work?”

He grinned.

“Then I want your unconditional trust.”

My heart and stomach both did a scary little flip.

“That’s not something I can just give,” I stammered.

“Nope. It’s earned. And if I’m right, maybe you’ll see that I’ve earned it. Coat off; earbuds in.”

Wide-eyed, I slowly removed the coat and shivered lightly at the loss of insulation as I tossed it aside.

“Only for a few minutes,” he promised.

Resolutely, I put the earbuds in. Music filled my ears. A slow soothing mix of piano and violin that was far from enticing.

“How exactly am I supposed to seduce anything by listening to this music?”

Although I knew I said the words, I couldn’t hear them. His earbuds were amazing. There was nothing in the world but the music. With sad realization, I wondered how bad Fenris’s problems were that he needed such a thorough escape from them.

My second realization was even more enlightening. This was the music that Fenris listened to when he wanted to escape.

He twirled his finger at the girls, and they obediently turned their backs to us even though Lauv rolled her eyes. Then he pointed at me and pantomimed dancing.

I shook my head.

He arched a brow and changed the music with a touch of his phone screen.

The heavy beat called to my soul. It demanded movement as much as the cold did. My gaze flicked to the druids, who still had their backs safely turned to me. When I looked at Fenris again, he had a knowing smirk. He’d removed my reason to refuse dancing before I’d even had a chance.

Stubbornly, I scowled at him, shook my head again, and rubbed my arms.

The mutt had the nerve to pantomime a chicken just as the vocals started.

I itched to move. To give in to the seductive beat.

This wasn’t like making Tegan into a love slave. This was simply dancing. Couldn’t I do that to save Ashlyn? I could. Or, at least, I could try. After all, in the privacy of my own room, I danced wildly to exhaust myself and distract my thoughts from my hunger. When the club was empty enough, I danced too. But I never really let go. Not like I knew Fenris wanted me to do now.

Fenris moved to sit by the fire, watching the druids, not me. He’d asked for my unconditional trust because he knew he already had a small level of it. Now, I knew he’d keep the druids safe from me. But letting completely go? That scared me. What if I couldn’t pull myself back from whatever happened? What if I did something terrible?

He glanced at me and gave that sad smile that I was coming to realize he only wore when he felt bad for me. He nodded, pantomimed dancing again, and gave me the “you’ve got this” sign.

How did he always seem to know when I was doubting myself?

Trying to relax, I closed my eyes, let the world melt away, and started to move.

Then, I let go.

I allowed myself to feel confident, strong, and pretty. Arms above my head, I rolled my hips and arched my back. I trailed one hand down my arm and across my throat and tipped my head back, swaying and moving with the rhythm. Each sway of my hips, right then left, matched the bass beat and my pulse.

Smiling, I embraced the moment. I loved dancing. I loved moving. But mostly, I loved being free to be myself, completely without restriction.

A familiar ache of loneliness clouded over the joy I felt. I hated that I always had to dance alone. I wanted arms around me, swaying with me.

As if my thoughts conjured them, a light touch feathered over my shoulder. I lifted my arms, giving access and begging for more touching. My partner complied, stroking a finger down the thin material covering the inside of my arm. I shivered at the touch and leaned back against a hard chest. Something tickled the side of my neck at the same time something pressed against my backside.

In time with the beat of the music, I moved my hips against the pressure. My partner trembled and wrapped an arm around my waist to hold me closer.

The scent of earth and rain teased my nose, and I breathed in deeply. Another tremble coursed through my partner as something lightly touched my cheek. A hand captured mine, reeling me forward as I moved, until I was pressed against someone else.

Sandwiched as I was between my partners, my movements should have been limited. Instead, we swayed together as one. The hips grinding against my backside forced me into the hips grinding into my front. I inhaled more earth and rain. The flavor coated my tongue, and an involuntary groan escaped me.

Both my partners jerked and trembled suddenly, losing the rhythm completely.

Their support disappeared, and I stumbled as I opened my eyes in confusion.

Anne was whooping and fist-bumping the air as she grinned. Lauv and Meg were rushing to me, each holding a clear bottle. And Fenris was sitting at the base of a tree, his head tipped back and his eyes closed.

I pulled out an earbud.

“She freaking did it. I can’t believe it.”

Meg grabbed my shoulder and partially turned me as Lauv crammed her bottle against my stomach.

“What are you—”

The words died, and bile rose as I stared down at the iridescent goo slowly sliding its way down my shirt. When Meg pressed something against the base of my spine, I knew more was there, too.

I closed my eyes against Anne’s happy-dancing and let the druids collect their pure essence, all the while wishing the earth would open up and swallow me whole. The music that continued to beat in my other earpiece did nothing to soothe me.

“Start getting everything ready, Anne. The fresher this is, the longer the cloaking spell will last,” Lauv said.

“No,” Fenris said. “Eliana’s spell first.”

I didn’t open my eyes to look at him, not even when both girls stopped pressing their bottles to me and moved away.

“We can’t. We don’t have everything we need for that one.”

“Then I’ll hold onto both of these until you get what you need.”

The scuffle of noise was enough for me to finally open my eyes. Fenris held two vials just out of any of the girls’ reach. Barely. He deflected a knee to a groin but not a stomp on his foot. He cringed enough that the distance between Lauv’s grabbing hands and the vials closed by an inch.

“Do it again,” Lauv said.

My eyes went dark at the thought of them trying to hurt Fenris.

“Enough!”

All four froze and looked at me.

“You have until Tuesday to get what you need, and you will start looking for Ashlyn before you even consider leaving Uttira. If you don’t, the Council will be the least of your worries. Do you understand me, druids?”

Lauv nodded slowly. There was no fear in her eyes, just acceptance, which I didn’t trust at all.

I grabbed my phone from the coat on the ground and handed it to Lauv.

“I want all of your numbers. And when I text, you will answer.”

She nodded again and passed the phone to Meg after entering her number. My distrust grew. They were listening too willingly. Why? Anger curled inside of me at the thought they might be entering fake numbers.

When I got it back, I sent all three of them a text and heard three devices chime with notifications.

Appeased for the moment, I nodded to Fenris to return the vials and grabbed my coat from the ground.

“Tuesday,” I repeated. “Do not fail me…or Ashlyn.”