Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 152666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 763(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 509(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 152666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 763(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 509(@300wpm)
“Fuck, lady,” the guy who’d taken an axe to the shoulder said, slouching a little. Dante, I think they called him. “Every time you give us a slice of your life, I feel a little more depressed.”
“You’re ripping me from my home to have me killed in a land far away by a creature I’ve only ever heard about in books. Is that not already plenty depressing?”
“Not when you put it like that, not really, no,” he replied. “Sounds exciting, except for the death part.”
“Doesn’t it just.” I pulled a hand from Weston’s waist and felt it up his hard chest to around his neck. I ran the edge of my thumb along his jaw, feeling the stubble. “You need to shave.”
“So do you. I’d happily do it for you,” he murmured, his deep voice vibrating in his chest.
“That is judgmental and wildly inappropriate,” I said, though I wasn’t actually offended. I smiled against his neck. “But I am very curious.”
“Did that group of hunters ever take that drug and shift into a wolf?” the one who escaped the axe said. Tanix, maybe?
“Speaking of judgmental,” I drawled, chuckling. “Don’t like what I do, hmm?” I kissed Weston’s neck softly, my desire starting to pulse.
“Did you ever notice any of them losing interest in the others?” he pushed. “Maybe not caring about hunting as much, even if just for a while?”
I sucked in Weston’s fevered skin, feeling his arm tighten around me, while I thought back. I’d watched that group of hunters often enough, feeling my loneliness keenly every time they started out. That feeling always ramped when they’d returned. I’d wished I could have such easy camaraderie with someone. Wished, with everything I had, that I could take to four legs and sprint through the trees in a pack. I’d lived in a community, but I’d still been very much a loner.
“Damn it.” I pushed off Weston’s chest, his arm around me resistant to let up. “That’s the problem with this product. You really need time to be lazy with it. It dulls the mind. Give me a moment, Mr. Judgmental, and I’ll shake off this journey. I think I remember something to that effect.”
“What do you mean—”
I didn’t hear the rest of what Weston said as I entered a sort of trance, feeling the areas where the product was altering me and imagining washing it away. Slowly the effects receded. As they did, the tension crept back in, the stress tightening my muscles.
“If I still had a job, I’d start working on that one again,” I said, fluttering my eyes open. “There has to be a way to—”
I paused, realizing Weston’s hands were on my cheeks, his expression panicked as he looked at my face. The horse was stopped and several others gathered around, all looking at me in concern.
“What happened?” I asked, confused. “What’s the matter?”
“Exactly—what happened?” He put the backs of his fingers to my forehead. “It felt like you were having a seizure. You were shaking and burning up and then you just kinda slumped down, like . . . like you’d died.” He swallowed heavily.
I felt my brow furrow at his reaction. At the strange sadness that welled up as I thought about parting from him. Then I pushed that strange feeling away. It was worse than any product I made because I couldn’t fucking get rid of it.
“I was shrugging off the effects of the relaxant. It feels great and really does the job, but it’s too hard to think deeply on it. I don’t like my mind being cloudy when I need to use it.” I pushed his hands away from my face.
“You were—you mean, you made it stop working, just like that?” His tone was incredulous. He clearly didn’t believe me.
“I test every batch and don’t have time to walk each journey. Some of the hallucinogens will keep you going all day. It’s a lot of time to waste and I’m not overly fond of the things my imagination sometimes conjures up. Can we get moving again, please? The sooner we can switch things around the better. Hadriel didn’t fuss nearly as much.”
“She likes me better,” I heard from somewhere in the throng.
“Yeah, good idea,” someone else responded. “Go ahead and keep poking the alpha. I’ll enjoy watching him turn you inside-out.”
I grinned and leaned against Weston so he’d be forced to quit staring at me in alarm.
“I did notice some of those things,” I told the guy who didn’t get axed. “I’m sure of it.”
As we continued, I recounted several times when a member of the hunting party, or several, would come back without smiles. They’d seemed frustrated and aloof, walking on the outskirts of the group, not connecting like before. Now that I looked back, it had always been around the times various batches needed testing. A few people from the village always volunteered. I couldn’t remember how long that had lasted, though. I wasn’t always around to watch the hunting party set out or return, not when things started getting busier. It hadn’t been forever, that change. I noticed throughout the years those few people always got back in the groove of things eventually.