Page 33 of Moon Bound

With one last exhale, I leave the tree’s protection and wince as the sun's full heat rages down on me once more. Torsten’s body hangs across me limply as he’s either passed out or died on me. My calves struggle to keep moving as I fly over the painted white lines of the racetrack, my skin growing too tight around the muscles. I’m sure I’m about to seize up and fall on my face in a giant cocoon of my very own skin.

Black spots are starting to obscure my vision as one of my feet doesn’t move fast enough, and I stumble a few steps before colliding with the floor. My nose crunches beneath me and I instantly feel thick liquid spilling from my face as a final fog overtakes my brain. Torst falls from my grip and skids a few feet away from me, his glassy gray eyes the last thing I see as my own drift closed and give in to the symphony of pain my body can no longer shut out.

* * *

“Chase!”

I can’t feel any part of my body, yet it’s all screaming at me. My internal organs, movements, and even thoughts are suffocated by the rigidness of my limbs. Blistering heat surrounds me, making it impossible to draw a breath as if I’m drowning in a vat of acid.

“Chase! Where is-” Words are lost to the roaring in my ears. For a while, I’m pretty sure I am dead. The pain had ebbed away to nothing, and I was strangely at peace, calm even. Nothing existed but the emptiness that has been present inside me longer than I care to admit.

A dream filters into my mind of a white-haired girl pulling on my arm and begging me to take her. To fill her, own, and claim her. Navy eyes branded inside my mind blink long, sultry lashes. A gentle smile that hides her insecurities. But I see her. All of her. For despite all the injustices dealt in her favor, she's stronger than any of us ever could be…filled with an attitude that I take pleasure in toying with but never want to break. The push and pull, the games we play, all add to her allure, but I crave something deeper. I'd willingly offer my soul to her for even a fragment of hers in return. Not just because she's a rare, viable female but because she has become my everything. Because she’s all I have.

I groan, my throat raw as the pain rises once more as I begin to stir, the relaxed fog slipping instantly. I desperately try to grab at the image, eager to watch the scene play out. From the hammering in my head to the cramping right down in my toes, my body starts to pulse as the regeneration process kicks in. Screams explode inside my skull, a fire stoking in the pit of my stomach, threatening to burn me alive from the inside. Yet I can tell externally, I’m completely still.

“Listen to me, baby,” a sweet voice whispers into my ear and spears me directly in the heart. “I need you. Please answer me.” More agony tears through me limb by limb, as does the anger directed squarely at myself and the wasteful, useless life I’ve led. I have no mate to mourn for me, no achievements I will be remembered for. If this is my last day of existence, there’s nothing to suggest I ever mattered. So, the real question is, do I accept that fact and give in, or do I fight to change it? A growl sounds then, one which isn’t my own, before my head is thrown backward for another blossom of pain to flare.

“Wake up, asshole. That’s a command.” Her voice cracks, splintering my being in half. Gritting my teeth until my jaw cramps, I push all my energy into my hands. As the burning increases, a roar fills my mind, but I keep pushing until my little finger twitches. Internally, I collapse, a rush of relief rushing through me like a tsunami. But it’s not enough.

Wetness is pushed against my lips, spilling into my mouth, and leaking down my throat—the sweetest, rarest taste that can only come from one source. Activating my organs, I gasp and fly upright, blinking my vision clear. And there she is. Beneath the gym’s dome, reflecting around her like a halo. She is as beautiful as ever, even though her eyes are large, and her cheeks are tear-stricken.

“Chase, did you get it? The flag?” she asks, worry affecting her voice. Internally, I’m smiling because soon it’ll be announced that I’m her new mate. I did it for us. “Chase, please, give me something. Jaxon is still out there, and they won’t end the trial until it’s complete. Where is the flag?!” Aspen grips my face, and I groan. The brief moment of bliss has died a sudden death. I fight to open my mouth, but my body still does not correspond with my brain.

“Pa…pa…” I try to croak out, but the fire has crept its way into my throat, and talking feels like I’ve swallowed a handful of razor blades. Instead, I force my eyes to lower to my crotch, and Aspen groans. Muttering I’m an asshole again, her hand dives into my pants, knocking my dick around roughly to retrieve the material. Whipping it out harshly, I flinch and groan again.

“It’s here!” Aspen shoots upright, waving the red flag, but no one moves. Nealon stands just inside the doorway, his arms folded and scowl deep.

“I’m sorry, Princess. That’s the decoy.” My heart stills.

What the fuck did he just say?

I struggle to follow the following movements as my brain descends into a hazy state once more. With the loss of Aspen’s blood and not nearly having enough of it, each breath rains down more pain, reigniting the flames licking my skin. I topple over, my temple crashing on the gymnasium floor.

Torsten is there, being attended to by a round of royal guards. Between us and the open doorway, the sunlight creeping inside emphasizes a long smear of blood from being dragged inside. I fight to shuffle back, wanting to be as far away as possible, until I see a curvy silhouette dart past Nealon and disappear into the light.

Chapter21

Aspen

I’m no stranger to running beneath the midday sun. Whether from an ambush of shifters or my own feelings, running is in my nature. But now, as my arms pump and thighs burn, as my heart pounds and breathing shallows, I wish I could have been saved this run. If these archaic, outdated trials didn’t exist, there would be no need for the men who are chipping away at my hardened heart to prove themselves any further. I don’t want a male who will die for me, I need one who will live for me. Stay with me.

Tearing through the forest, I hunt for Jaxon’s scent. My inner beasts shy away from daylight, but I surge them to the forefront of my being with vigor. A heavy dose of honeydew hints at me, the scent I recognize as Torsten as I pass a patch of flattened grass beneath a tree trunk. Evidence of his burns have stuck to the bark, leaving behind gloopy pus trails and skin patches. I shudder, forcing the image of him lying still on the gymnasium floor from my mind. How much more do they have to suffer in my name?

The forest blurs by in a rush of browns and greens, a distinct lack of woodland animals present as I listen out for heartbeats. The further I run, the more my throat clogs with emotion. Why do males have to be so damn stupid?! Chivalrous, sure, but also narcissistic, egotistical assholes. Was I supposed to find their rotting corpses appealing? No. I find their muscles and tattooed bodies far more alluring, especially when they are naked and grinding, fill me to the-

A groan flutters to me on the wind my speed creates. Skidding to a stop, I search for it. The waterfall thunders to my left, and although I consider the males may have needed to cool off, Chase’s scent is all over the water bank. He wouldn’t have left Jaxon had they been together. I shoot in the opposite direction, arriving at the stone wall surrounding the territory before mentally retracing my steps.

Time ticks by as I backtrack, keeping to the wall's edge to shoot from one side of the forest to the other. The noise doesn’t sound again, nor do any others. The woods are unnaturally still, and the longer Jax is out here, the less chance he has of surviving. Tensions are rising, as well as the heat, forcing me to stop and take stock of what I’m even doing.

He was looking for a flag. The point of the trial is to push competitors to their limits. So, the guards wouldn’t have hidden it somewhere dark and shaded. It would be out in the open, where the sun would shine with the full force of UV. I look across the forest, between the speckled illuminations penetrating the canopy, and tilt my head upwards. You’ve got to be kidding me.

Hanging directly above a patch of grass I’ve crossed multiple times, Jaxon’s arms swing freely from a mesh netting. Strung upside down in the trap, he’s fallen into a shaded patch against the tree trunk, except for one beam of light. Spearing the trees, it penetrates his chest, his t-shirt melted into the burns underneath. As soon as I see it, I smell the rancid bubbling of flesh, which causes me to gag. Spitting the taste from my mouth, I lunge for the tree trunk, starting to ascend when a hand grips my ankle.

Dragging me towards, I kick out, my free foot connecting with the foot of my attacker. My back hits the forest floor beneath Jax, my vision barely catching up before a large stone is swinging toward my face. Rolling at the last moment, I jump to my feet and grab the back of Carrick’s short hair. It comes loose in my hand, his scalp a softened mess of oozing skin. As he rears his elbow back, I’m too busy scraping his remnants from my palm to dodge to solid blow.

He’s strong, considering his current state. I see why he was chosen for the trials, but there was never going to be a version of the future where I was his mate. My heart is spoken for, and this fucker’s eyes rage with the desire to kill me. Hardly the type of foreplay I’ve grown accustomed to.

The next time he swings the stone in my direction, I shift position and bring my elbow down on the crook of his arm. Bones shatter on impact, echoed by my foot slamming through his ribs. I relieve him of his stone and blinded by the desperation to save the male hanging above, pummel Carrick’s face. Nothing matters but easing Jaxon’s suffering. Saving him from his own sense of duty.

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