Fate's Pawn: Twin Moons

Chapter Four: Operation Distraction

I had to give them credit, I hadn’t expected them to work as long as they did. They must really hate me. The moon had made it all the way to the middle of the sky by the time they finally were satisfied with their traps and contraptions. If I hadn’t stumbled onto this I would have most likely not survived the race the next day. They were far too thorough.

They had quite the variety too. There were the simple traps that looked like the forest floor, but if I stepped on it, I would fall into a pit filled with sharp sticks and pikes. There were snares where if I wasn’t careful of where I’d stepped I’d be flung into the air, sometimes into a rock. They had even gone so far as to make areas of the path look traveled so I would head in the direction of the mass of traps instead of the safer route. And that wasn’t even to mention all the avalanches they had planned if I went down the rocky area.

There was a snore beside me and I glanced over at Orchid as the sky started to show the first signs of the sun stirring again. When the girls had finally left I had kicked into overdrive to map out the entire route for Orchid. She’d be perfectly safe and as a bonus, no one would even know she was there until she got to the end. I stretched with every bone popping in protest and poked her shoulder.

I knew better than to just try to grab her with my arm. She had flipped me over her shoulder once, and I did not want a repeat of that to happen this high up. “Hey, Orchid, get up.”

She groaned and cracked an eye to glare at me. “Hazel, it’s not morning yet.”

“It’s a good thing it isn’t, or I wouldn’t have any sleep before the festivities.”

This got her to wake up a bit more and she squinted at me as she lifted her head. “Why are you in my house?” She looked around. “Oh, we’re still out here? When did I fall asleep?”

“Hours ago, but it’s fine. Listen, it’s all set up. You climb this tree tomorrow, a little higher than this, and just follow the route. Don’t let any see you make the climb, I’ll make sure that they don’t even look your way.”

She groaned and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “I have a feeling you’re about to think of something even more harebrained than this.”

I shrugged at her. “It doesn’t matter, at least you’ll be safe. Now come on, I’ll walk you to your house. We’ll get maybe three hours more of rest before it’s time?”

After we had climbed back down and slipped back into town, Ivy was far more relaxed but I could still tell she was still pissed at me that I put her in that situation in the first place. ‘The nerve, I can’t believe that you stayed up all night to fix the race.’

‘I’m not fixing it, I’m just making sure nothing happens to Orchid and Sunflower. We still have to run our race, and I’m not planning on coming in last.’

“Hazel,” Orchid’s grip on my arm tightened as she started to panic. “The patrol is right outside my house, how am I going to get in there?”

I grinned at her. “I think I can help with that.”

Her eyes widened as realization struck. “Hazel, don’t be stupid!”

But I was already out of her reach and jogged over to the group, circling around so that their backs would be to Orchid. “Morning,” I greeted with a nod.

Tuff was growling at me before I even got two steps. His eyes focused on just one area of my body and I did my best to ignore that look. “What are you doing out this early?”

I forced my lips upward in a semblance of a smile. My muscles worked against me but I forced them to obey. “Morning, Tuff, I just couldn’t really sleep. The Race is tomorrow and I’m really nervous about doing well in it.”

They glanced at each other over the top of my head. A few chuckled but Tuff continued his stare at my chest until I could feel sweat starting to bead. “I wouldn’t be worried about doing well if I was you. You won’t be here much longer anyway. You’re lucky they’re letting you stay long enough for the Feast.”

I nodded and made my eyes go wide. I could see Orchid making a break for it now since the whole group was distracted. “You are so right, I’m really grateful I get to see Lapis become the leader I always knew he’d be.”

One of the others grabbed my arm and I did my best to not wince under the pressure. “You’re acting strange, come, I’ll take you home.”

I tried not to swallow or show any other signs of distress. They would be able to pick up on it far too easily. “I’m actually going go a jog, I want to limber up before the event.”

My choice of words must have been magic because Tuff adjusted himself not even bothering to hide his interest. “Limber up, huh? There are quite a few ways you can do that, and it’ll get you far more prepared for your day ahead.”

Ivy was demanding submission. She wanted me to beg for them to forgive them and show my neck in complete defeat. I, of course, ignored her. “I’m grateful you guys would want to take some time out of your day to help me, but shouldn’t you be getting some rest yourself? The Great Hunt is really so much more taxing on the body than just the race, and I’d hate for you to be too tired before the real event started.” I applauded myself for the wiggle I put in my eyebrows.

They looked amongst each other again and Coal let go of my arm. “Yeah, I guess you’re right about that. Go home, we don’t want to see you here again.” Tuff glared at me but his eyes were widened with interest. I would have to be careful of him, of any of this group during the Hunt.

I walked away with a sway to my hips as I tried to calm my raging heartbeat. I had to be careful to appear to be as casual as possible. While it was true this was not my normal way of dealing with them, it was the best I could manage while trying to keep their interest off of my friend. Besides, maybe this little act of mine would shift a couple of the males’ interest to me instead of her during the Hunt. The more the better, the safer that Orchid would be, which is all that I wanted.

“Hey, wait.” I froze as Tuff jogged up beside me. “It wouldn’t be right to let you wander the streets all alone. I’ll take you back to your place, so nothing happens to you.” The grin he gave the others was not a very reassuring one. “We wouldn’t want anything to happen to her yet, right, boys?”

His hand rested on my shoulder and it took all my will power not to fling it off and go for his throat. I couldn’t get into a fight yet. If I messed up and entered the Race with a penalty I really would doom myself, and as bad as marrying some alpha stranger was, at least it wasn’t as bad as staying in this clan. “Thank you for the offer, but I promise I can make it back safe.”

“Now, now, Hazel,” Tuff chided, his hand slipped from my shoulder down to my side as he moved me a step closer to his side. “When a male offers to take you home so you’ll be safe, you should really accept. I’m sure you’d hate it if we told the alpha you were sniffing around out here.”

“Where are my manners?” My lips wanted to lift in a snarl, but once more I forced a smile and a nod. “Thank you so much, Tuff. I appreciate your kindness.”

He smirked at me. The kind of smirk that sent my heart racing. Not out of s****l excitement, but the kind of excitement that can only come from dreams of violence. I wanted to hurt him for everything he and the rest had ever done and tried to do to me. His hand dipped lower now, it rested on the curve of my ass and he squeezed it. “Let’s go, Hazel.”

I dropped my head and tried to be as half as submissive as Ivy always was and moved with him. If I was going to try anything I at least couldn’t do that in the view of other members of the pack. He walked me towards my house, but as we got closer he chose darker and darker paths until we were in an alleyway, quite alone. “I can make it from here.” I smiled once more and turned to leave.

He caught me and pressed me against the side of the building, the rough wall digging into my back. “You can’t go so fast, come on, Hazel, don’t you want to experience what it’s like with a male from your own pack before you go on your suicide mission?” He licked his lips as he pushed himself against me. “Give me what I want right now, just submit and I’ll even protect you during the Hunt. You won’t have to mate with anyone else, but me.”

I tried to shift to the side but he was crowding me in. There was no one around us, I lived alone and no one wanted a residence beside the outcast. “You’re going to let me go, Tuff.”

“When I’m done with you,” he whispered his hands fumbling at my clothes. “I’ll let you go when I’m through, it’s time for you to pay.”

I snarled and pushed him hard. He stumbled back one step and started to laugh at me. I followed up with taking my elbow and driving it into the softness below his neck. He let out a gurgled sound of shock, good. As he stopped to hold his throat I took my foot and kicked him squarely between his legs. He would have yelped for sure if I hadn’t had went for his throat first. Instead, he made a really pleasing gurgle as he turned a brilliant red color.

“b***h,” he whimpered.

I smiled. “I might be one, but I’m not yours.” I kicked him full in the face this time. His head jerked back from the action and it smashed into the side of the building. I smirked and dragged him back into my place. I was going to have to be careful of hiding him and tying him down. If he got free before tomorrow’s events were over I would suffer endlessly. Maybe it would be best to kill him instead.

‘We will NOT spill blood! You’re insane enough for attacking a member of the pack, Hazel! Obsidian is going to have our head, we need to turn ourselves in right this instant and grovel for mercy!’

‘Fine, I don’t kill him, Ivy, but I am making sure he can’t tell on us.’ I tied him up in my own room using thick ropes. It made me very happy that robe weaving was one of my strange hobbies. Not only had it helped Orchid, but it was going to save my ass today as well. I shoved a thick scarf in his mouth and made sure that he couldn’t move at all before I was satisfied.

I crawled into bed and stretching out let myself drift for a few precious hours of slumber before the day’s activities would truly begin.