Page 5 of Stormbinder King
I was a little annoyed at being shoved this way and that.
“You don’t have to be so rough,” I told Aurelia, as she marched me back to the tub.
She only snorted. “Soft little girl. You probably won’t get chosen after all. But I have to bathe the stink off you. Now get in that tub.”
I reluctantly took my filthy clothes off. They weren’t much, but they were the last connection I had to my own world. I put a tentative toe in, but I was too slow for Aurelia.
Gripping me by the hair, she shoved me into the freezing cold water of the tub.
How did they get it so cold when everything else was dripping with humidity?
Then she took a bar of disgusting-smelling soap and scrubbed my hair until my scalp stung, holding my head under the water until my lungs were bursting.
Then she brought me up and let go abruptly.
“Hope nothing gets you in the forest. But you’re as ready as I can make a weakling like you.”
Was I ready?
For what?
I just needed to figure out where I was going to go next and how to get home. If Icouldgo home.
With frozen fingers, I put on the clothing they had laid out for me—no panties or bra but a stiff, poofy white dress. It was made for a much taller and bustier woman, so I had to do the laces up tightly and gather a long, heavy train in my arms. I looked like I was going to a Regency ball.
What in the world was happening?
“Just give them a challenge, you know?” Aurelia hissed. “They like that. Or. . . you might find yourself left and forgotten in the forest. And it’s not kind to humans at night.”
My stomach clenched with nerves as we were escorted into a large building paneled in light wood.
From the way the heavy tables were pressed up against the wall, it looked like some sort of communal dining area.
My eyes darted around to look for an exit, my chest feeling constricted by the laces.
Men dressed in light, forest-colored shirts and pants began to walk into the room. They were all big men of different races and skin colors, but all tall and muscular, their bearing confident if not arrogant. Their eyes scanned the room almost greedily, flicking quickly between each woman.
I cowered further back into a corner, my fingers pulling at the laces, trying desperately to loosen them so I could draw a breath.
However, none of the men made a move towards us.
They seemed to be. . . waiting.
“What is happening?” I gasped to the nearest woman.
She turned toward me, her pupils dilating with excitement and anticipation.
“Moonbright Night Hunt,” she said, pinching her cheeks to bring a rosy blush color there. “Maybe some of us will even find our fated mates tonight. Wouldn’t it be amazing if mine was Prince Jack? Of course, everyone else wants that too.”
Fated mates? Ahunt?
My heart pounded with fear.
So that’s why the men were looking at us, appraisingly. We were there to be hunted.
Sweat gathered between my breasts, soaking through my thin dress.
I cringed back into the shadows, the hair rising on my neck as the strangest noises broke from their throats, low vibrating growls all joining in a strange and frightening cacophony of sound.
