The Hunted

Chapter Five-Avyanna

Reida released my arm, my glazed over eyes blinking in my new surroundings. His scent washed over me first, fresh pine mingled with burnt cinnamon and coffee. It was comforting and familiar, it felt safe. I then noticed the man that towered above me, his clothing struggled against his muscles that seemed to be carved from marble. Bulging biceps tensed and relaxed as his eyes studied me, his chest looked like two perfect boulders.

That momentary relief form his scent dissipated as I found his eyes. Obsidian. My body started to tremble, they were a pure black, deep and endless, swimming with emotions I didn’t understand. I threw my hands up in front of my face, hoping that would shield me from his blade, I knew it wouldn’t. His eyes were so similar to the ones form the dream, tears began to stream down my face, realising it must be him. He was just here to finish the job.

I panicked more when he didn’t move, when he just stood staring at me, frozen to his spot. I wondered if he was enjoying this, enjoying my fear. I was at war with my senses, with myself. His eyes reminded me of danger, of death, of the dream. His scent was comforting, warm and safe. It was familiar, I had been captivated by it in the town square.

Looking at him now, I should have known he was the cause of my dreams, they started the day I saw him, the day he found his target.

When he finally took a step towards me, I dropped to my knees in defeat, the blades of grass scratching at my skin on impact. I waited, for the final blow, for that agonising feeling of his silver blade slicing my stomach open, for the feeling of gushing blood over my skin. I waited and waited and waited, trembling from fear as it dawned on me that this was my end.

I was in complete disbelief, that Reida had brought me here, that she had betrayed me. After everything we’d been through together, she would be the pivotal factor that would cause my death. She had hand delivered me to my killer. I whimpered and sobbed at the betrayal, as our loving memories washed over me in my final moments, I had never cried much before today. I had always been brave.

I wasn’t brave anymore. I was weak, disgusting, cowardly.

My heart stopped as the man with the obsidian eyes dropped to his knees in front of me, his body came forward and a breath caught in my throat. This was it. This was the end. My dreams had been a warning I hadn’t heeded.

His arms wrapped around me, pulling me into his firm chest. A feeling I never expected hit me like a tsunami, knocking whatever air was left in my struggling lungs out of me.

Electricity sparked to life where his skin touched mine, the tingling spread across my skin, coursed through my veins until my entire body was pure electricity. A warmth spread in my chest, starting at my heart and spreading, slowly engulfing me in comfort. My body relaxed, my trembling ceased, my fears dissipated. Everything around me faded out of existence until only him and I were left, locked in an unexpected embrace.

Mate…

Ari roared to life, a new power washing over us both. Her body flexed and relaxed as she enjoyed the sensation that lapped against her in waves. I tightened my grip on him, wanting to close any distance left between us, embracing the comfort he brought. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced; it was like he had reached inside of me and destroyed everything negative I had felt before.

His embrace felt familiar, his large arms wrapped tightly around my body. He was protecting me, shielding me with his body. He was that momentary relief from the nightmare, he was the one who always tried to save me. The one who pulled me from the depths of my watery tomb, the one who held me as the floor caved in beneath us.

When he tried to pull away, I tightened my grip on him, I wasn’t ready for what awaited me outside of this embrace. I just wanted to feel like myself for a second longer, I wanted to feel brave again, to feel safe. Understanding he tightened his arms, stroking my hair comfortingly. This was never how I expected to meet my mate. This was never the plan. But I couldn’t be more thankful.

“What’s your name?”, his voice was calm and warm, it was like a campfire on a summer night, I was so distracted, between his voice and my mind, I didn’t hear his question. He rubbed my back in the way that always calmed me, like he had known me longer than the few minutes he actually had. I didn’t care that he was a stranger, he wasn’t anymore, he was my soul mate.

He asked me again, still maintaining his soft tone, like he was afraid to scare me. “Avyanna”, I nuzzled into his neck as I mumbled my name, breathing more of his scent in. The longer I stayed here, the more my fears subsided, the safer I felt. He nodded, testing my name on his lips, it sounded like the most natural thing in the world, like my name was written for his tongue.

“Conri”, I nodded, testing his own name in my mouth. It was perfect, it was like there’d never been a more perfect words out of my lips.

I don’t know how long we sat there, wrapped in an endless embrace, but I didn’t care. For the first time all week, I wasn’t terrified, I wasn’t shaking and trembling. I was completely calm, my mind released from its cage.

“Do you trust me?”, his body pulled away from mine, but his hands lingered, his eyes studied mine. I stared into his, reminding myself that he wasn’t my killer. His eyes were alive, they were bright and full of energy instead of faded and empty. Streaks of electric blue and silver intermingled with the strands of black. The longer I stared, the more I got lost in them, noticing how they danced with emotions I couldn’t read.

“Do you trust me?”, I heard the words this time, clearing away the fog of my mind. Did I trust him? I wanted to, I felt like I should, but I knew it was just the bond, but shouldn’t I trust the bond? The moon goddess didn’t make mistakes, she didn’t put us in danger, that was all the work of us and us alone. The bond was our gift, it was honest and meaningful and real, even if nobody truly understood it.

I nodded slowly, still not knowing if I truly did, I wanted to.

“I need to see your wounds”, my breath caught in my throat and my heart thundered. I didn’t want him to see them, how did he even know about them? They were probably healed, there would be nothing to see. I shook my head and he looked behind me, towards Reida. Her hand rubbed my back soothingly, “you know they aren’t healing like they should be”, I shook my head. I was healing fine, they were just deep wounds, they needed time.

With both of them staring at me with desperation, I gave a defeated nod, holding back frustration I didn’t understand. Why was I frustrated? What was happening to me?

I jumped when his finger tips grazed the skin of my hip, his fingers hooked underneath the fabric of my shirt. His eyes studied mine for a moment as panic washed over me, was he trying to get me naked? “I won’t go any higher than your upper abdomen”, I heard Reida stifle an amused scoff and I knew exactly where her mind was going. I nodded again, watching him intensely as he looked at my abdomen. He stuck to his words; he kept my chest shielded away. He grimaced at the sight, I’d only looked at the little ones on my arms, I’d never thought to look at my whole body. My stomach didn’t hurt. Should it?

I lower my eyes away from his face and down to my stomach, grimacing when my eyes see what he sees. My chest heaves as bile rises up into my throat, trying to keep what little of my stomach contents was left. Had Reida seen this? Why hadn’t she told me.

A deep gash ran across the bottom of my stomach, the edges of the wound were frayed, skin pealing away from the wound. It was barely scabbed over, some of the edges bruised. I didn’t understand, why didn’t it hurt?

“f**k, how long has this been like this?”, he looked at me, the obsidian depths swimming with concern and panic. I didn’t know. I hadn’t even noticed. How hadn’t I noticed? It looked painful, so why couldn’t I feel it? “I don’t know”, my words were quiet, barely a whisper. “Reida, have you seen this?”, I turned my attention to her and she nodded, confused, of course she thought I’d seen it. I should have.

“That’s been there since the first night, it gets worse every night”, my eyes widened as she answers the question for me. In one whole week I hadn’t noticed this? Maybe I was going insane. Maybe I already was insane. He dropped my shirt, running his hands through his hair. Did he think I was broken? It was the first time we’d met and I was already hurt. Would he reject me for being weak? Had the dreams destroyed more than just my body?

“This isn’t the curse, this is so much worse”, my eyes widened as I realised, he knew I was one of the hunted and he was still trying to help me. If he got caught, he’d die. Ari whimpered at the thought, the idea of losing her mate. I choked on my words, struggling to release them. He stopped pacing, his eyes meeting mine.

“You can’t help me”, my eyes fell to the ground, I saved people, I didn’t kill them. “You need to pretend you never saw me, or they’ll kill you”, my voice was barely a whisper, but he heard me. A growl echoed in his chest as his hands gripped my shoulder, forcing me to face him. “Let them try”, he pulled me in against him, he was angry, frustrated, confused, sad. I felt it all in his embrace.

He was trying to keep me grounded, like he thought I might float away, or disappear. Maybe I would, I didn’t know what to expect anymore. His head lowered into the crook of my neck, inhaling my scent, calming himself down. I didn’t understand his reaction, but it felt like I didn’t understand much of anything anymore.

“This is wolfsbane poisoning, I need to burn it out of you”, before I could react Reida pulled my body away from his, her eyes were burning into his as a low growl echoed in his chest. “You aren’t touching her! I brought her here so you could save her! Now hurt her!”, she screamed in his face, shielding me with her arm. “She’ll f*****g die!”, he growled back, his voice was dominant and demanding, power leaked off of him.

“She’ll die if you burn her!”, they were getting closer, their anger building to a violent crescendo. I didn’t want this; I didn’t want any of this. Without thinking I moved myself between the two of them, I knew Conri was right, this was the only cure for wolfsbane poisoning. I gave her a comforting look but her eyes dropped, filling with fear and sadness.

I turned my attention to my mate; his expression was unreadable.

“We need to do it soon, if it’s affecting your dreams you’ve been infected by a small dose, but its spread over time”, I nodded, understanding how this type of poisoning worked. A large dose killed you instantly, a small dose sent you insane until you killed yourself. I felt stupid for not realising sooner, for blaming him for all of this.

Reida shook her head, she was conflicted, she didn’t want to watch, but she didn’t want to leave me. I gave her a reassuring smile, rubbing her shoulders with my weak arms. “If it’s too much you can leave, you could wait in the lake?”, she shook her head keeping her feet firmly grounded. “I’ll be here, always”, my chest filled with pride and happiness at her words. She nodded at Conri and he nodded back.

Conri pulled out a lighter and I gulped hard. He waited for me, his eyes unwavering as he studied mine, until I nodded, lifting my shirt. My breathing was heavy as I prepared my body for the fire, this was going to be a long process, a panful one. But this time, I would heal.

I winced, sucking in my stomach as the flame grazed the wound, Reida tightened her grip on my hand. I felt my blood sizzle, pop and burn, black ooze now leaking from the wound. I bit my lip as I muffled my screams, the flame burning deeper and deeper, more ebony liquid seeping out of me. I watched the pained expression on Conri’s face, distorting his features into an expression of misery.

I felt something sharp in my chest, I couldn’t hold myself back anymore. I screamed as my blood boiled hotter and hotter, the poison fighting against me and the fire. My body was at war with itself.

Reida grabbed a hold of my shoulders, supporting my weight as my knees trembled in agony. “Just hold on, please”, his voice was pleading, he was trying to focus on the wound but his eyes kept darting up to my face, watching as it contorted in pure agony. I nodded, closing my eyes as tight as I could, fighting against the pain and the pressure building in my chest.

Ari howled and whimpered, pushing herself as far into the back of my mind as she could. I tried to find the strength to build a block, so she wouldn’t feel this, but I couldn’t. Her pain only intensified mine. Black spots began to cover my vision, an explosion of light behind my eyelids where I closed them too tight.

“s**t, s**t, s**t, sh…”, the noise around me became fuzzy, like my head was under water. My body became numb and my muscles collapsed as I succumbed to the pain. Everything stopped.