Or I guess, three.
I didn't know how much time passed, but I'd been walking for a while now. Through the dark canopy of trees, I couldn't see the sun sliding across the sky, but I knew it was slowly descending towards the horizon.
I should probably get back before dark, I thought.
But the idea of returning so soon didn't appeal to me. I still wasn't in the mood to confront Lupa or any of my other family members who would probably try to uplift my 'bad mood.' I wasn't in one anymore but I still wanted to be alone for a while.
It was ironic. I didn't want to betrulyalone. I wanted a fated mate just like Zak and Quinn, though I'd rather die before admitting that to any of them. But because of my shameful envy, I tended to want to be by myself. It was a vicious cycle.
What a stupid story it was. I always told my cousins I didn't care about love or fated mates or any of that crap, but it was buckshit. How could Inotcare? My parents, Dax and Morgan, were fated mates. Every time I saw them, they were head over heels for each other in a way that never faded.
And then Zak and Quinn were always unwittingly rubbing it in my face that they had everything I craved but wouldn't admit to.
But it wasn't exactly the same. They were both alphas. They didn't know what it was like to be on the other end of the spectrum. They never went into heat or desired an alpha's knot plowing into them...
Okay, it is so not the time to be horny.
I snorted and shook my head. Unfortunately, I forgot I was in my buck form. My antlers thwacked against a nearby tree hard enough to make me shudder.
"Ow," I mumbled.
This wasn't my day, was it?
On top of everything else, my stomach started to grumble. Good thing I was surrounded by food on all sides. I stepped towards a tree with juicy looking green leaves and snatched a mouthful. I let out my frustrations as I worked my jaw, grinding them into paste.
My ear twitched on its own. I stop chewing and listened for a moment, but I didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. My nostrils flared as I sniffed the air. My sense of smell wasn't as keen as a wolf, but it was better than a human's.
Still nothing. Just clean air, earth, and the smell of the forest.
My ear righted itself and I went back to eating. The woods were utterly silent. Nothing was there, right? If there was, I would have sensed it.
My nose twitched again. This time I caught a peculiar note. It was sweet, spicy, and thick—a strange combination of notes I couldn't place.
Weird…
Once again, my ears flicked backwards. This time I listened to my body. Even if I didn't hear anything, my instincts wouldn't react needlessly.
I glanced over my shoulder and stared into the black depths of the forest. An uncomfortable tingle passed over my skin.
Was something watching me?
I swallowed my food, unsatisfied by it. I was no longer hungry. Adrenaline sparked in my stomach, cutting off any other needs. Now my instincts were screaming, 'stop eating or else something is going to eatyou.'
But it was strange. I didn't smell anything dangerous, except for maybe that thick spicy scent a moment ago. Could that belong to a predator? Even if it did, it was coming from the opposite direction.
Shit. Was I surrounded?
And then I saw them—a pair of slitted yellow eyes glinting in the shadows.
My stomach twisted into knots of dread. Instinct took over. I kicked off and bolted, crashing through the undergrowth wildly.
I didn't know what it was, but it was big, fast, and it was chasing me. I needed to get the fuck away from it.
Paws thumped behind me, but they were too quiet. The sound of whipping twigs and leaves was louder. That terrified me. Whatever was hunting me was silent and dangerous. If I'd been a moment slower to notice I was being watched, I might have been venison by now.
But a dense forest wasn't the easiest terrain to navigate for a buck deer. My antlers kept knocking into tree trunks and low hanging branches, creating drag that slowed me down. Whatever the thing behind me was, it was gaining on me.
Shit, fuck, shit —
