Page 33 of The Hidden Falling
Good fucking morning to me.
Eighteen
Rhea
“Anyideahowwe’regoing to get the Elites to keep Eridian a secret?” I ask the guys quietly. Darius said he would think about keeping Eridian quiet, but we need something solid, not a maybe.
We watch the Elites spar with each other in front of us. We are just outside the lilk trees in the forest and a good distance away from them so they can’t hear us. Some Elites are in wolf form, some not. I drag the elk we hunted for dinner closer to me, my bloody hands leaving red prints on its legs.
“I have no idea, Milal. But I’m not about to let you go to the Highers either way.” Josh steps up beside me and watches the Elites intently, tracing their moves.
Two wolves attack each other, their paws swiping and teeth biting. I watch on in rapt attention. They are so well trained, we look like puppies compared to them.
“We could kill them,” Colten muses, bringing my attention to him. “Poison?”
Hudson shakes his head. “They would smell it a mile off. They are highly trained. It won’t be that easy.”
“I could slit their throats in their sleep,’ Sebastian says, twirling his favorite knife in his hands, eager to throw it as usual.
“I doubt you could get close enough without them knowing you’re there,” I sigh, watching as Darius steps up to two Elites and guides them through a defensive move. His face is set into a mask of authority, his stance unyielding as he asks them to go through the move again and again.
Maize steps up to him, disrupting their drills and that mask breaks into annoyance. She waves her hands around wildly, and Leo walks over, listening to what she’s saying.
I haven’t seen much of Maize since the Elites came here a few days ago. She mostly sticks with the other members of the Elites or goes off on her own. The witch seems to have an eye for Darius though. It shouldn’t bother me, there is no reason for it to.
But every time her eyes are on him, I kind of want to pluck them out.
Leo shakes his head and walks over to Zaide, leaving her with Darius and starts throwing a series of punches. Maize starts pointing toward the barrier, and I bristle. The fuck is she talking about?
Darius starts to wave her off, but freezes when his eyes land on me just outside of the lilk trees.
Maize continues to talk to him, but his attention is solely on me, on the blood that covers me from the hunt, and I see his eyes flash. His body turns and takes a step toward me, but Maize grabs his arm to halt him. He pauses and turns his head to her, making her hand drop from his skin. I can barely hear the growl he releases toward her, but it has an effect because she storms off, head bent low.
He turns back, and with purposeful strides, walks toward me. He passes sparring Elites, not concerned with being accidently hit or caught in between anyone. His steps eat up the distance between us until he’s a few feet away from me. His eyes roam over my body, paying extra attention to the areas covered in blood, before looking down at the elk.
My body tingles under his attention, and my brows furrow at my reaction.
“Hungry?” he asks, and I lift my eyes to him.
“Dinner for the pack,” I reply, refusing to let the heat I feel at his perusal redden my cheeks. “She was an older elk, unable to breed any longer. She didn’t have much time left, so she was a good choice today.
His brows pull together. “You hunted her because she’s old? Why not go for the younger, healthier one?”
“Then we would take out a young, healthy and still fertile female that can reproduce and keep their numbers reasonable. We can then still hunt elk without worrying about their population decreasing.” Taylor answers him for me, his amber eyes glancing around the Elites at Darius’ back.
“You only hunt ones that are not as able as others?” Darius asks, his brows furrowing, and I can’t understand why this confuses him at all.
“Not all the time, but mostly. And we only hunt to eat, not to just chase or kill,” I shrug, wiping my hand on my shorts to try and get more blood off. Darius follows the movement, and I pause at the look in his eyes.
“Alpha,” a male greets. Darius and I both turn our heads at the title as Axel and Finn walk toward me. “All is well around the cliffs. No sign of anything close by. It’s fairly quiet.”
“Okay, good,” I tell him. “Rest up. Is Ben still out?”
“Yeah,” Axel says. “He wanted to go for a run.” He looks toward the Elites sparring with interest before clearing his throat and looking at Darius. “Would you mind if some of us spar with you?” I choke on my own saliva at his words, and Josh pats my back as I bend over slightly and cough.
A growl sounds in front of me, but then cuts off as my eyes spring up to Darius in surprise. His eyes are on Josh, his look screaming danger before his expression clears, and he looks at Axel.
“I don’t see why you or anyone else can’t spar with them. Though it may be better if you spar with some of the trainees,” Darius suggests.
