Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79244 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79244 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“No!” I shout and halt my ride before sliding off right next to Killian, who stumbles against the wooden gate, his eyes wide as if I’m here to drink his blood. I told him what I was. He knows my occupation. Is the hunt really such a big step farther?
“N-no… what?” he asks with that tremble in his voice. I hate that he’s once more afraid of me, but it won’t do him any good riding into a forest on his own either.
“You’re not running from me like this,” I growl and grab him by the shoulders, because something about the jittery way his eyes dart left and right tells me he might bolt. “Years ago, someone tried, and they died in the woods. Would you like to end up like her? You’re mine. Do you understand that?” It slips out. I didn’t mean it to say it out loud. I wanted him to come to me on his own, but I can’t stand the idea that he still thinks he is free to leave me.
He meets my gaze, eyes red like he’s been crying. I want to squeeze every truth out of him. What was he thinking? Why was he crying? Does he hate me for all of this?
“I’m… I’m not trying to run!” he chokes out with a growing scowl.
“No?” I ask, squeezing his arms as the pulsing inside my skull grows in intensity. “Then why are you in the stables?”
“I just met this horse! And you know I can barely ride, so how would I be escaping on horseback?” He squints at me and raises a hand with an apple in it. “I’m trying to make friends with Bessie. Since she’s my only goddamn hope in this house full of liars!”
I blink, about to glance into the stall when the massive head dives between us to capture the fruit.
“I—what?” I mumble, unsure where I was going with this in the first place. “I didn’t lie…”
“Yes you did! Never once did you mention that you happen to be hunting people! What the fuck, Damen? I trusted you, but you don’t trust me. Not with the important shit, you don’t. I guess why would you if I’m also prey tomorrow, huh?” Kill pushes my chest, like a cornered kitten showing claws.
Aspen clearly omitted the fact that he also told my fake husband a bunch of bullshit that probably reached him through gossip between the uninitiated.
“No. You will be completely safe. I swear,” I say and cup his face so he can’t look away or run. “I don’t know what Aspen told you, but it’s bullshit. I would never put my husband in danger!”
I hate the way his lips tremble, but at least it means there’s feelings for me other than anger hidden behind the growing wall. “So they won’t be hunting me?”
I’m going to kill my cousin.
“No. Nothing of the sort.”
Killian takes a deep breath. “I asked you for one thing. You promised not to lie to me. You know how important that is to me. And here I am. Like a fucking dumbass. Trusting a man who hunts people for sport. You are my worst choice yet!” He hits my chest without much conviction.
So I am his choice.
Maybe I shouldn’t smile when he’s in crisis, but the affirmation he accidentally delivers makes my heart feel lighter.
“They’re bad people though.”
His eyes settle on me, the internal struggle all too clear. “How bad?”
Hook. Line. Sinker.
“Worse than me,” I whisper, caging him against the fence as Bessie pokes her head out and sniffs my pocket. I ignore her and stroke my boy’s cheekbones as his dark eyes watch me with all the hope in the world. He wants to believe me.
He wants to be mine.
“And you know how bad I can be,” I finish softly.
His eyes moisten, and I hate myself for being the reason for his tears. “Why did you lie to me?” he utters.
I sigh, knowing there’s no running from the fact that I did omit some truths. I hate that.
“Well… I didn’t lie exactly. I was waiting for the right moment to tell you, because—” I swallow the rock forming in my throat and meet his tearful gaze. “You were undecided, and I wanted you to like me.”
This isn’t another lie to manipulate him. Deep in my heart, I was still afraid to show him all of me, afraid he’d turn away from me if he knew that yes, I am the kind of man to be excited about tracking and hunting down our family’s enemies. It’s not normal.
“And you still do? Is that why you said I’m yours?” The hand he punched my chest with before now flattens over my heart. He wants this. I knew it. He’s not even protesting the hunt anymore.
He is my gem. The one who’s worth all this hassle. The only one for me.