Page 40 of Hunting for her Heart
“I don’t want to be your mate.” The words slip out before I can even consider that telling them that might be a bad idea.
A few frowns are exchanged before Calder steps closer, only a foot of space between us now. “You say that now, but you will come to love us soon. We will care for you and protect you from thosecannibals,” he says, his lip curling up in distaste.
“They don't eat people,” I tell him in their defense.
His eyebrows raise in amused surprise. “Is that what they told you?” He glances over his shoulder at his brothers, a smirk growing on his lips. “Because if they did, they were lying. The entire Redmere tribe are cannibals. Everyone knows it.” His eyes bounce between mine before he tells me, “Don’t worry, we’ll protect you from them.”
I want to tell him that it’s him and his brothers I need to be protected from, but I have a feeling it won’t help my situation. So I stay quiet, my eyes filling with tears at the realization that I’ve been stolen away and might be stuck with these men forever if the Hunt ends and I’m still in their possession.
I never even got the chance to see what this bond was between the Vikings and me. I only just learned about it and them yesterday. I haven’t even had my first kiss yet. Deepregret fills me. I should have done it when I had the chance last night, instead of turning away like a coward.
Glancing around at the men in front of me, I worry that if one of them kisses me, it might break me. I don’t want them to be my first anything.
I wipe my tears away as I look past them and into the woods, trying to figure out which way we came from so that when I have the chance, I can make a run for it. I won’t sit here and let them take anything from me that I’m not willing to freely give.
Slowly, the brothers begin to disperse around the clearing. Two of them tend to a fire that was already set, and three of them appear to be standing guard around the edges. Milo and Declan beckon me forward to take a seat on a cut log by the fire, then they sit on either side of me.
I’m not sure if they are guarding me or if they are trying to be friendly. Either way, I wrap my arms around my body as I stare into the flames and try to figure out the best time to make my move.
Night is probably the best shot I have. Even though it will be much more dangerous to move through the woods in the dark, at least half of them should be asleep, if not more. My gaze moves to the surrounding trees, then to the sky. It’s still only midday; it will be hours before it’s dark.
A tugging sensation in my chest has me placing my hand there. Didn’t Ronan tell me that was the mate bond? Wasn’t that how they found me the first time? If that’s true, then they’ll be on their way here right now.
My small smile of hope is squashed as a loud roar comes from the trees to my left. The three of us jump to our feet as we stare into the forest.That sound wasn’t human.It didn’tsound like the trolls from yesterday, either. It was more like the sound of a wild animal, like a bear.
Several of the men pull out their swords and move to form a wall in front of me as I slowly start to back away. The sound comes again, and my eyes widen with fear.What the hell kind of animal is that?!
The ground rumbles as if something large is moving, and I see the trees and bushes start to part. A brown mass of fur steps into sight, and I scurry backward until my back hits the rock wall.
The creature must be nine feet in height. Its body is shaped like a massive bear, covered in brown fur, but it has a horn in the center of its head. A head that’s shaped more like a large cat, with two large fangs.
I realize the head is reminiscent of a saber-toothed tiger. It opens its mouth and roars, showing off all its sharp teeth, then sets its sight on the men in front of it, with their swords pointed in its direction. It lifts its giant paws and bats away Valen’s sword as if it were a pesky bug and not a deadly weapon. Then, in one quick motion, it pounces, biting Valen’s head clean off before I can blink.
A scream lodges in my throat as my flight instinct kicks in. Turning, I run into the trees on my right and don’t look back. I can hear the men’s screams and the roar of the beast, and fear that it will make quick work of them and come after me.
Those brothers may have stolen me without my permission, but it didn’t mean I wanted them dead. They hadn’t actually harmed me yet.
I keep running as tears streak down my cheeks and try to concentrate on the pull in my chest, but for some reason, I can't focus on it and am unable to tell which direction it’stugging in. But I don’t dare stop. I want to be far from that beast when it’s finished with its current meal.
My heartbeat is pounding loudly in my ears, blocking out all other sounds, which is probably the reason I run straight into the middle of a camp.
I skid to a halt when I see two small tents and a firepit. My first instinct tells me that I’ve found people and I’m safe. Then I see who’s inhabiting the camp.
Five men push to their feet, their eyes wide and delighted as they take me in. I recognize a couple of them from the beginning of the Mating Hunt. One is the man who had squeezed his junk when I looked at him. Right now, he’s grinning at me and licking his lower lip as he takes a step toward me.
“My my, what do we have here?” he says, taking another step in my direction. I back up, right into something hard. I glance over my shoulder as the brick wall behind me grabs my arms and holds me against him. This man has to be almost as big as Hawk, the biggest man I’ve seen here besides my Vikings.
I try to yank my arms from his grip, but he holds my arms tight as the other men step up in front of me. The gross one moves in so close that I can smell his disgusting breath, and I turn my head to the side to lessen the stench.
He doesn’t like that, grabbing my chin and wrenching it back to face him. “You look at me when I’m talking to you, do you understand?” he asks with a glint of anger in his eyes. I nod my head and try to pull my face from his grasp, but he holds me a little tighter, making my chin ache.
“Who are you running from?” he asks, and when I don’t answer, he squeezes my face, making me wince. “You’ll learnto answer when we ask you a question. Now tell me, who are you running from?”
“A beast,” I tell him, so he’ll leave me alone.
“You haven’t been on your own for two days, have you?” he asks, his eyes trailing down to take in my entire body.
When I don’t answer, he starts to squeeze my chin again, and I manage to rip my head out of his grasp.
