Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 31025 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 155(@200wpm)___ 124(@250wpm)___ 103(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31025 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 155(@200wpm)___ 124(@250wpm)___ 103(@300wpm)
It was all freaky and scary, and she hated it, but she had watched people come together. She saw their love and happiness at knowing they were destined to be mates. Then, of course, there were people that were heartbroken. In her case, she and Jaxson had burst out laughing, and then denied it. For three years they continued to deny it, with the threat of The Hunt looming over them.
“Okay, okay, so, we’re not failing. We’re going to survive,” Calliope said. She didn’t want to be mated to Jaxson, but at twenty-one years old, she didn’t look forward to death either.
Jaxson moved toward her. “You know what this means?”
“This means that you and I share a common goal. We’ve got to make it out of here alive.”
“No one makes it out of here alive unless they are mated, Calliope. Mated, marked, and fucked. We both know what that means. So, until that happens, I guess we have no choice but to work together and survive.” He took a deep breath. “And seeing as you don’t have strength or speed, you better watch my back.”
“I can totally take care of myself.”
She gasped as he suddenly cupped her face. It was the first time he’d touched her. At first, she didn’t know what to do. It was easier when there was no touching involved.
They shouldn’t be doing this.
She hated him. Didn’t she?
Did The Hunt mess up feelings as well?
None of this made any sense.
“You and I both know, without me, you cannot take care of yourself. There are going to be things that attack us, Calliope. Scary, monstrous things. There is a lot you can do, but taking care of yourself is not one of them.”
With that, he started to move, and she had no choice but to follow.
****
Jaxson had a little secret. He never went to his parents, nor did he go to the elder to ask him to withdraw the mating between him and Calliope. He had every intention of doing so. Each time he did, some other excuse came up that stopped him. He couldn’t explain it.
His father advised it was because he knew Calliope was his mate. That made no sense.
Sure, they had kind of grown up together. When they were kids, they had been best friends. Calliope had been a little bit of a tomboy, climbing trees with him, and they would run around wild in the forest. There was a time she’d been his best friend.
Then, something happened. She suddenly turned into a girl—a girl he noticed with beautiful thick, rich brown hair. Gorgeous brown eyes, that always had that sparkle in them, as if she was trying not to laugh about something. He adored her.
Then, she stopped wearing dungarees, jeans and shorts, and instead wore skirts and dresses. She started to wear makeup and pin her hair back. She looked beautiful, and he started to become attracted to her, and that was a bad thing. A very bad thing.
So, he’d been a little surprised when the elder stated they were mates. Sure, his feelings for her had never quite gone away. Somewhere along the way, their friendship had changed, and they’d become enemies. That was what they were now—enemies.
Although, she did look really pretty.
Thankfully, she wasn’t wearing a skirt or a dress right now, but jeans. Jeans, and an oversized sweater, which was a good thing. She was always cold, he remembered.
Making their way through the forest, he inhaled deeply, and he’d been warned there would be no way of knowing what enemies they faced.
“This is insane,” Calliope said, whispering.
That he agreed with.
The Hunt was fucking dangerous. People had struggled through, but no one had failed. No one had opted to die. They all came out loving one another, being together, having kids, mating, and living their perfect lives.
Right now, he didn’t know if they were going to be able to ... succeed. He was more than capable of taking care of them. He had the strength, and had been honing his abilities with his wolf for the past three years. He was the one in control.
But he had never had to focus on keeping anyone else alive, least of all Calliope. The girl he’d teased. The girl he’d insulted. The girl he missed and knew he was one hundred percent in love with—which was why he made her life miserable.
Calliope looked fine. She looked happy. Like she didn’t have any feelings for him whatsoever, and why did she get to have all of that freedom and fun, while he couldn’t?
He was trapped by his feelings for her. Feelings that were technically, completely justified, because their elder stated as such.
“So, we agree on that,” Jaxson said.
“Okay, at least we can agree with ... things. What’s the plan?”
He stopped and turned to her.
“Plan?”
“Yeah, we’ve got to have a plan. I mean, I don’t know how long these things are supposed to last. We’ve got to find food and shelter, and figure this out. They have left us with nothing.” She held her hands open. “Nothing.”