Page 31 of To Hunt a Demon King

“It was Akela, actually,” he said, reaching over my leg to give the wolf a scratch on the head. Akela whined apologetically. “It was a rite, upon coming of age, to tame a wild beast,” he continued, still stroking the wolf. “Akela didn’t make it easy for me.”

“What kind of rite is that?” I asked, horrified that parents would send their children out into the Bloodwood to be mauled by hungry beasts. “It sounds barbaric.”

“It is,” Hunt agreed. “It’s rarely practiced anymore.”

“You never told me how old you are,” I said, stifling a yawn and trying to sound accusing. “You speak as if this were centuries ago, but you can’t be that much older than I am.”

Hunt chuckled. “You’ll have to give me another truth to earn that secret,” Hunt said, giving me another squeeze. I didn’t think it was unconscious this time. “Go to sleep, Red. You sound exhausted.”

“I’m not sure I can,” I said, wiggling to try to get comfortable.

“Put your head here,” Hunt said, patting the crook of his shoulder with his free hand. “I don’t mind.”

“Okay,” I said, hesitantly. “But wake me when you need to sleep.” Hunt nodded, and I rested my head on his shoulder. It felt strange and nice, and I willed myself not to look into it too much. Hunt wrapped the cloak a little more tightly around me as I began to drift off.

“Sleep well, Red.”

???

I woke first again, rubbing my eyes as I tried to recall where I was. My head was still on Hunt’s shoulder. More like his chest really, as we seemed to have slid down the trunk of the tree in the night. I craned my neck to look up and saw that he was asleep still, his head tilted back on the tree trunk and his throat bared to the forest. His neck and jaw were covered in short, dark stubble, and I had to resist the urge to reach up and run my hand over it.

Akela huffed, and I looked over at him. He was an expressive creature, and he looked at me with pricked ears and wide eyes, as if to ask me what in the name of the Goddess I thought I was doing with his master.

“Ugh, I don’t know, Akela,” I whispered, closing my eyes and laying my head back against Hunt again. “What should I be doing?”

“Sleeping,” came a rough reply from above me. I flushed, looking up to see Hunt with one eye cracked open. “Why are you talking to my wolf at the crack of dawn?”

“He doesn’t approve,” I said, reaching up to scratch Akela behind the ears.

“Of what?” Hunt asked groggily, reaching his free hand up to scrub over his stubbly jaw.

“Of me sleeping against you, I think,” I said, giving Akela a contemplative look as he studied me back. He let out a disagreeing howl, then reached forward to press his wet nose to mine.

“Ugh,” I said with a laugh, sitting up and wiping the moisture off my face. “See?”

“I think that means he does approve,” Hunt said. I looked back to see him giving his wolf a sardonic look. “Meddlesome beast.”

I laughed. “He’s not meddlesome,” I said, running my hand behind his ears again and earning another lick on my cheek. “He’s lovely.”

“Agree to disagree,” Hunt said, leaning forward to scratch Akela’s ears as well. Our hands met on his fuzzy head, and I turned a little, catching Hunt smiling faintly at me before he turned to stand.

Curse my heart and my lack of experience and the fact that Hunt somehow always looked good, even after sleeping against a tree. I willed my heartbeat to slow as I rose as well. Clearly, I was attracted to Hunt. There was no point in denying it. But nothing could come of it, I told myself. And he was irritating. And kind. And annoying. I gave myself a little mental shake, pushing the internal war out of my mind.

Artemis was kind enough to help with this, swooping low with a hoot and dropping another dead mouse in front of me. I shrieked in surprise, and a laugh burst from Hunt. Artemis hooted angrily, clearly offended by my rejection of her gift.

“I’m sorry,” I called after her. “You surprised me.”

“Your face was priceless,” Hunt said, still chuckling as he kicked the dead mouse to the side of our little camp, pushing leaves on top of it with the toe of his boot. “I hope Artemis brings you more presents.”

“Please tell me I won’t have many more mornings with her,” I said, turning plaintive eyes on the huntsman.

He smirked, but the smile didn’t really reach his eyes. “One more, if we make good time today,” he said, glancing up at the sky. I assumed he was gauging the position of the sun when he did this, but it annoyed me that he looked damn good while doing it.

Get it together, Elara.

“Better get moving then,” I said briskly, putting my hands on my hips. “Lead the way.”

“What exactly are you going to do when you reach the Darklands?” Hunt asked as he barreled off into the trees. “Have you even got a plan?”

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