The Huntress (An Olympian Fallen Shifter Novel)

by J. A. Culican

  “This should be as good a spot to park as any.” He said as he hooked a stick next to the wheel in a position so that the truck no longer moved.

  If we had been on real horses, we could have gone anywhere we wanted. The metal vehicles went a lot faster than our means of transportation on Olympus, but they also had their limitations. It seemed best not to bring these points up.

  “You and me, alone in the woods again. This is starting to become a thing.” His brows wagged and an impish smile crept across his face as he opened my door.

  “It would appear so.” I took his hand as he led me out of the truck. Chivalry appeared not be completely dead on this planet.

  “Oh crap! What about your bow and arrow? I didn’t think to tell you to grab it before we left the cabin.” Tilting his head up, his eyes looked to the sky as if for an answer to the questions he was just realizing he had. “Come to think of it. Where did you put it? I don’t remember seeing it in the cabin.”

  He was sharp, I had to give him that. I wasn’t sure how long I would be able to hold him off my truth or how long it would take for him to put all the pieces of my uniqueness together. An even better question I should have asked would have been why it mattered. What difference would it have made if he knew who I really was?

  “I never go anywhere without my bow.” Skipping as fast as I could to the back of the truck, I pulled for my bow and quiver. Making it seem as if I had taken it from the bed of the truck before he followed behind me would be the challenge.

  His eyes questioned my behavior, but he didn’t voice his thoughts. He knew, and I knew, that there was no way I had put my stuff back there. There just was no other explanation that would make sense for him.

  “How about those berries?” Changing the subject and getting us deeper into the woods was my objective.

  “Hunger is creeping in on you, isn’t it?” he joked.

  Only it was no joke. My hunger was mounting to an uncomfortable level. Only it wasn't food I was craving. My hands twitched with the need to touch him in any capacity.

  “You are kind of cute when you are trying to be funny.”

  “Cute? I can’t remember the last time I was referred to as cute or funny, but I will take both.” He grabbed my hand and drew me toward him. “You ready to find your little guy?”

  “Yes, but he is far from little. I am surprised we haven’t seen him yet.”

  Sunlight glistened off his eyes as if they were bursting with energy.

  “Would you feel more comfortable if you shifted? I don’t mind as long as you promise not to eat me.”

  “Thank you for that. Having the freedom to be myself around you means a lot to me, but I am more than content to be in this form with you. And as for promising not to eat you, I can’t swear I won’t do that to you that in this form or in my shifter bear body.” He snapped his perfectly straight opal teeth at me.

  My head fell back as I laughed and leaned into him. “You see, you are funny.”

  “I’m not kidding.” His voice flattened.

  The animal inside him shone through with all seriousness, and it gave rise to my endorphins instantly.

  “Lucky for you, the wild berry patch is just past that big, fat, out-of-place oak tree. Can you see ahead? There is a small clearing.”

  The big oak tree was easy to spot, and I could tell that the light was shining past it differently. I quickened my pace and started to run ahead of him.

  “Oh, so you want to race? You don’t think you can outrun a bear, do you?”

  “Depends on whether you think I am trying to outrun you.” I took off in a sprint fast enough he would have a hard time catching me, but not so fast that he couldn’t if he really tried.

  Chapter 12

  My feet thundered against the ground, and my heart raced as I darted between trees. The wind licked at my face, giving me a glorious sensation of freedom. To be like the wind was a gift in of itself.

  The tiniest of creatures did somersaults in my belly as I felt Xander’s presence gaining on me. The clearing now only a few feet ahead, I decided I would slow my gait once we reached the opening.

  Running around the big oak tree, I looked back over my shoulder. Amusement and frustration hid in the lines of Xander’s face as he shook his head.

  I couldn’t resist the wink. When I turned back around the sight before me had me stopping dead in my tracks. The beauty of it, along with the massive arms that enveloped me, took my breath away. Our bodies twisted and tangled in the air before coming down hard on the ground.

  He landed first, beneath me. And I took a rough bounce against his hard chest, but he held onto me, making sure that I didn’t hit the ground. Again, we found each other eye to eye, chest to chest, and nearly lip to lip.

  He cried out in what seemed like pain. Not the reaction I had expected from our playful chase. I was ready to laugh about and roll around in the colorful field of wildflowers.

  “Forgive me.” He grunted. “It was not my intention to scream in your face. I have a high tolerance for pain, but I am not looking forward to finding out what I just landed on.”

  “Oh!” I pushed up and rolled off him. “Let me look. What is bothering you?”

  “My leg. The same leg you shot me in.” Clearing his throat, he grumbled. “Damn that stings.”

  “Can you roll to your side?”

  He didn't answer, but he did as I asked.

  Instinctually, I sucked in a breath between my teeth. My sound effects weren’t the best way to make him feel any better.

  “What is it?” He reached down and twisted his body trying to look.

  “It could be worse.” My nose twitched at the amount of blood spilling from the back of his thigh. I was sure it was a mix of his new and old wound. “I am going to need you to just stay calm and not move. You have a broken bottle lodged into the back of your thigh.”

  “What! How is it even possible for me to suffer not one but two freak accidents in a twenty-four-hour period? I sure hope you are not bringing on this wave of misfortune for me.” He winced as he tried to laugh. “We are really far out this time, and my cabin and a first aid kit are nowhere near here. How bad is it?”

  “There is some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that it looks pretty ugly and deep. It is going to hurt a lot when I pull it out. You are going to wind up losing even more blood than you did with the arrow. This may have even cut into that wound.”

  “Somehow there is good news attached to that horrendous description?” He grabbed my hand. His eyes showed no signs of fear, only a longing for something other than this outcome to our run. “This was so not how this was supposed to go.”

  “Not how what was supposed to go?”

  “Taking you to my favorite place. The one place I feel at peace. I have never shared this spot with anyone before.”

  “Well, it would seem that you are either a litter bug or someone else is onto your spot.”

  “That is for sure.” Xander frowned giving my hand a quick squeeze. “Just pull it out. We will figure the rest out. I can take off my shirt and tie it around my leg. If I shift, it will slow things down a bit, but you will have to yank it out so I can take off my pants.

  “It’s amazing what a guy has to do these days to take his pants off around a lady.”

  He shook his head and started to laugh.

  I took the opportunity of him being distracted and got a good grip on the old piece of glass protruding out of his leg. There was no better time than the present to rip it out. Hopefully, the wound was shallower than it seemed.

  Finding the physical strength to pull it out would be the easy part. Everything else that would come after had me concerned.

  “Uhh. Grrr…” Xander yelped before full on growling at me.

  The edges of the broken glass were jagged, long, and dripping in blood. I needed to examine the wound to make sure I didn't leave behind any broken shards, but he was bleeding fast.

  “Get undressed. I will tear y
our shirt while you get your jeans off. By the time you are done, I will be able to wrap the wound.”

  “Uh…” He groaned. “I can do that, but I am not wearing anything under my jeans. Please don’t think I am disrespecting you in any way.”

  “Shut up and take them off. I told you the human body does not offend me. I don’t want you bleeding out and dying on me. Then what am I supposed to tell your sister?”

  It didn’t look as if any of the shards had snapped off, which meant no digging for unwanted treasure. We would need to be sure to bring that glass back to the truck on our way out. It was too dangerous to leave behind, although I wanted to chuck it as far as I could.

  Xander got to one foot with my help and removed his shirt first. The fabric tore easily as I ripped it into longer strips while he slid his pants off.

  I turned away slightly to give him an ounce of privacy. Maybe being embarrassed about his own nudity will keep him from worrying about my reaction to him, I thought, although I didn’t take him to be that way. When I’d found him, he had been running through the forest naked, albeit covered in bear fur.

  For the first time, I saw the back of his body. The muscles stretched and flexed across his back as he leaned forward to pull down his pants. His buttocks were tight and shaped like many of the marble statues on Olympus. He may not have been born one, but he sure did have the body of a god.

  “Okay.” He kept his jeans hanging down over the front of his waist. “How bad is it? I need to sit or lie down. I’m feeling a bit dizzy.”

  “Here, let me help you down.” I took the underside of his forearm and eased him to the ground so I could start wrapping his leg.

  “So, what do you do for a living?” he asked as his words trailed off into a slight slur.

  “I guess you can say I help people.”

  “Like a nurse? I took you for more of a business lady.”

  “My business is in keeping women safe and assisting them through childbirth. I also work to protect many creatures in the wilderness.”

  “Sounds as if you are a rich philanthropist.”

  I would have used such a word to describe who I was or what I did, but I didn’t have a better answer, so I shrugged my shoulders.

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “How are you so strong? You have shown an immense amount of strength. You never did answer me about what you are. Maybe you are some other kind of shifter?”

  “I am not a shifter. Now, will you please stop moving so I can get this bandaged.” I had already wrapped the majority of his t-shirt around his thigh, and the blood was soaking through it. The only other thing I had left was my dress.

  “This isn’t cutting it, Xander.” I said as I lifted the soft cotton dress over my head.

  He turned his head toward me, his face even more pale than when I shot him. Even the color in his lips was starting to turn a shade of purple as they inched their way up into a smile.

  “I could die like this, and it would be okay, just so you know.” He seemed to hum as his eyes rolled back into his head, leaving only the whites.

  “Xander!” I dropped my dress and crawled over to lift his head to my lap. “Can you hear me?”

  “Mmm hmmm.”

  Good, a response. Not one that made any cohesive sense, but he was still conscious.

  Without dropping his head, I reached for the dress and effortlessly tore it into more strips. It had to be enough. I could ball up half of the material and wrap the rest around that. I would need to get a better angle if I was going to get enough pressure on the wound.

  Gingerly, I slid his head back down onto a patch of soft, green moss and crawled back down to sit at his side. I worked the fabric around his leg and made sure the bunched-up rags were under him so I could create pressure from the weight of his leg between wraps.

  As I wrapped the last piece of cotton around his leg, I tucked it in the corner. There was too much blood. My hands were covered, and so was his leg and the makeshift bandages. I needed to find somewhere to clean us up after I brought him back around. There had to be a stream nearby.

  To gauge the time, I looked to the sun. My hands were shaking. Time was running out on my mission and on Xander’s life. I couldn’t bear to lose him like this. He had too much to offer the world, and he had a sister and future nieces and nephews to take care of.

  Having him granted a place in the sky beside his ancestors wouldn't be enough of an eternity for him. I couldn’t allow him to fall so soon.

  My eyes looked up to his handsome, unshaven face. His rugged good looks and tousled hair didn’t do him justice when he was lying there, so lifeless.

  Widely placing my hands on either side of his body, I carefully cinched myself up and over him. I allowed my bare chest to connect with his. Being heart to heart, felt right. He may have been okay with dying today, but he wouldn’t. Not when I could do something about it.

  I had no doubt the bandages were not efficiently managing his injuries. The little bit of breath I’d given him last time for his leg would not be enough to help him through this.

  My fingers laced through his hair until I could cradle the back of his skull in one of my hands. I used the other to drag my fingers across his soft, kissable lips. This would be the third time for me, and staying in control of my energy would prove next to impossible.

  It didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was Xander. All that filled my thoughts and my heart were images of his smile, his ferocious growl, and his dominant claim when he’d said he would make me his.

  If only that were a possibility.

  Breathing in deeply, I gently shut my lids and lowered the rest of my chest. My lips dusted against him as I worked his mouth open. Deep from inside of my divine body, I drew all the strength and vitality I could give and blew it down inside his lungs.

  I pictured my essence traveling through him, to every part of his body. Not just to the wounds on his leg but every inch of him, healing anything and everything.

  From what I was made, he too shall share with me, for as long as my heart shall beat, so too shall his.

  Chapter 13

  A raspy humming sound growled deep in his chest. Before I even had a chance to release him from my lips, I felt his hands come over the edges of my hips and slide up the curve of my back.

  His fingers laced into my hair as he grabbed ahold of my head and turned my gentle kiss of life into something so much more dark and passionate.

  His tongue pressed far into my mouth, searching and finding a partner to play with. Eagerly, I returned the depths of his kiss and fell into him fully.

  With his arms wrapped around me, encasing me in his embrace, he rolled me over onto my back. Xander Sucked in my bottom lip before breaking away from the kiss.

  “I am only stopping this kiss so I can get a better look at you.” He sucked in a breath as he leaned back onto one knee so he could sit up just enough to drag his eyes over every inch of me.

  Satisfaction curved his edible lips, exposing hungry teeth. His eyes hooded and closed slightly as he bit his lip. Resentment stirred in me as I watched him taking the bite that should have been mine.

  “Why doesn’t my leg hurt?” he asked, his voice deep and sultry.

  “Do you really care why?”

  “No, I don’t.” He reached down and tore off the blood-soaked bandages and leaned back onto the balls of his feet.

  Xander's arms slid under my knees and under my neck as he scooped me up.

  “The berries are not my only favorite part of this place.” His brows darted up as he carried me as if I was nothing more than a doll.

  We must have been quite a sight, two stark naked people covered in blood in the middle of the woods. There would have been a time when I cared what others thought, a time when I would have been ashamed of my bare body being so close to a man’s.

  All those thoughts faded into a trail of dust behind us. All inhibitions and concerns for my chastity disa
ppeared with every step Xander made as he crossed the small patch of violet and yellow wild flowers.

  We reentered the trees, only going a few feet before coming to a small, babbling brook. I thought for sure he would stop there for us to wash up. I turned my head and body in an effort to get back down to my feet. No way did I need to be carried.

  “Not so fast, my little kitten.” His breath danced along my neck as he nuzzled his nose under my ear.

  I lifted my gaze. “As you wish, my honey bear.”

  “Not many people, or bears for that matter, know about this place. Aside from the obvious fact that someone left a bottle out here, I would have thought it was my own little secret.”

  He slid me around and onto my feet, turning me away from him. His chest pressed against my back as he wrapped his arms around the front of my body.

  A few feet ahead of us, a small waterfall cascaded down into a pool. Steam rose up from a small encumberment of the stream.

  “Is that what I think it is?” I looked up and over my shoulder. Tiny bursts of excitement flared in my chest as I grabbed his hand and pulled him closer.

  “Maybe, if you think it is a hot spring. And it isn't just any hot spring. It is unique in that it has cold mountain water pouring in from the rocks above. It is the perfect rush of both hot and cold.” Pride flickered in his eyes. It was obvious that he could see how excited I was.

  It made me feel whole inside, knowing my happiness pleased him. I wanted nothing more than to satisfy him and bring the purest of joy to his life that I could.

  “Let me help you in.” Holding my hand, he guided me over a few small boulders.

  It was as if man had created the spot for his own selfish gains. The river rocks were polished smooth, but with enough texture that they were not slippery, and they created steps leading down into the bath. The water was hot against my toes, but not so much that I couldn’t walk right into it.

  Xander followed behind me, never letting go of me until we were both submerged waist deep in the water.

  “Come over this way.” We waded through the water to the other side. “There is a shelf in here where we can sit. It is just beside the fall, so it keeps the heat level down.”