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Chapter 24: The Hunters Begin
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2024-10-29 19:42:56As soon as the second shot rang out, Seth, Nate, and Logan took off after the raven-haired shifter who had taunted them not more than 10 minutes before. Logan was cursing under his breath the entire time. What he thought was going to be a quick catch was turning into quite the chase. His deflated dick was none too happy about the change of events in his hunt.
The hunters were naturally separating into three groups, much like the prey. The front group took off quickly, they knew exactly what they wanted. They had found their mate in the days leading up to this hunt and were determined to bring back their mates today. If luck held out, they would be ready to mark their prize and carry them back to the castle before nightfall. What followed would be the inevitable days of sex and closing feasts before they took their mates home for their tribes to welcome.
The second group of hunters was searching more slowly for a scent that would knock them over. They needed to find t
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Susanna was running faster than she ever had in her entire life. The look on Izzy's face when she heard her mate talking with Cliff would be etched in Susanna's mind for decades. It drove Susanna to sprint longer and harder than she ever had before. She weaved in the forest, following the path Amelia recommended. The path led out of the forest and along a rocky cliff. It descended slowly toward the easternmost part of the river before the river flowed out of sight into the neighboring territory. It was easier to run along this trail because the ground sloped downhill, gravity pulled her along. Susanna mentally checked the map she had seen, remembering the spot where Amelia had suggested leaving a fake trail. It would buy several hours at the very least while Susanna made better progress into the canyons to the secret tunnel across the canyon. That's what they needed most, more time. With a jolt, she heard the second shot, the men were off. She didn't have much time,
The Hunt Chapter 26: Keeping Watch
Izzy and Kate were still crouching behind the vines against the stone ledge several hours later. Unbeknownst to them, Susanna was running along the canyon and the men were hiking down into the canyon below, following the scent Susanna had placed as a decoy. Kate was assessing their situation on the ledge, wondering if they would see any other wolves coming their way. The time in the sky said they had evaded capture for over two hours. Every second that passed was one less second they had to hide, and Kate gratefully watched as the numbers counted down. 117:48:41 Kate heard a rustling in the leaves along the river and saw two men walking along the path, taking their time to sniff the area around the river. One of the men crouched down to look at the ground before standing up to look at the river. "She jumped in the river here. Damn it. I'm never going to pick up her scent again," he said, his frustration evident. He shook his head and rubbed his face. He look
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Susanna ran hard all day, stopping when she needed to take a quick break. She would gulp water and chew some jerky, swallowing it all down quickly. It was enough to energize her and keep her moving. She was determined to make camp on the other side of the canyon with a view of where she hoped Seth, Logan, and Nate had descended. Their descent would take a few hours, the rocks were sharp. With any luck, they would stop to investigate the smells as they went. Susanna was hopeful they would still be there by the time she made it to the other side of the canyon. She willed the plan to work. The canyon ran several miles from northwest to southeast on the land used for the Hunt. The river joined with the canyon at the upper northwest corner and flowed through to the adjoining kingdom. Susanna was running northwest along the southern border of the canyon, trying to find the bridge that Amelia had told her about. There was a rope bridge that crossed the canyon about two miles uprive
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Three Kreil warriors set off from the castle at 5 am the following morning. They had gotten a short, restful sleep and were prepared for a long day of tracking. The prize at the end was enough to drive them to an early start. They set off at a jog, unable to keep the quick pace they had set yesterday in their enthusiasm to catch their prey early. Since they knew today was likely to be a long day traveling, their pace was appropriate for a long-distance tracker. Because of their slow progress, they took longer to reach the canyon trail where they had been diverted the day before. The trail had taken up the better part of their day yesterday as they were exploring the path, having followed the strong scent of their mates’ urine. The urine scent was still overpowering, and the trail leading away was faint. It took several minutes for them to find the trail leading away from the canyon and as they started to move away they clued into the fact they couldn’t find any footp
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Susanna made it to the spring by mid-day, she looked at the sky and noted with relief that she had officially lasted over 24 hours. The Hunt had started at noon the day prior, and it was just past noon according to the clock in the sky. She held out hope that Kate and Izzy were also still in the game, hidden safely in the cave. 95:53:13 Susanna quickly shed her clothes and piled them neatly next to the river. She pulled out her soap and took a quick bath in the spring. She watched the bubbles float downstream as she dried off with her tiny tea towel. There was just enough cloth to soak up the water left on her skin. The cloth was damp when she was done, but she was dry, and her clothes slid over her skin quickly. She wrapped the towel around her neck to keep her cool as she walked in the afternoon sun and filled her water bottles. She still had a few hours of trekking to go before she would find the cave. She mentally went over the path Amelia had shown her between t
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The Hunt Sequel "The Dragon's Treasure"
Hello and Happy Summer to Everyone!! The sequel to "The Hunt" is called "The Dragon's Treasure" and it is being posted one chapter at a time on the web app here on Good Novel! (The first chapter will post this afternoon - June 14, 2022) You won't be able to find the book on the mobile version for a few months yet (it has to go through approval and I don't want to make it pay to read quite yet as I work through the story development and editing phases). The web app version is FREE! It will remain free for the foreseeable future as a thank you for reading this far! You'll want to click on my name to find my other works in progress on the web app and if you click "follow" on the book title you will get notifications when new chapters come online! I'd love to see your comments for anyone following along with the sequel. I enjoy reading them all!! Let me know what you think as the sequel gets posted. Sending lots of love and thanks - M
The Hunt Thank you!
Thank you so much for taking a journey with me through a magical world where dreams and nightmares both really do come true. I hope you've enjoyed the story. It's not the end! There will be a sequel, I’m writing it now! We will take a trip through the other kingdoms and follow Amelia as she tries to solve the mystery of Izzy and Cliff while evading the Dragon King. Will she succeed? Will Cliff continue to haunt so many? Only time will tell... stay tuned and follow me for updates! You can find me on Tw*tter at @michell76640823 I have a few other books in progress, I hope you'll take the time to check those out, too. The Praelia Chronicles: Hope's Despair is set in a dystopian fantasy world. Magical creatures were wiped out in a great war hundreds of years ago. Society has been structured into the upper, middle, and lower classes to keep the citizens in order. Every year, those of the lower classes wait in desperate anticipation hoping to be chosen during the rea
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Amelia looked around the kitchens as she loaded her pack quickly. She knew she would need to make good time to reach the Fae Kingdom before the king was alerted to her absence, if he didn’t already know. She could have sworn he could read her mind when she saw him out the window just minutes before.She had left a letter in her room, she hoped it would be enough to keep the shifters from following her. She needed to escape. This was no life, living in the shadow of an abusive mate. She couldn't endure another overpowering; overwhelming mate and the king would prove to be just such a man.How could she live in the shadow of a man as powerful as the king? She couldn't, and she wouldn't. She would never be weak and helpless again. He gave up the right to a life with her when he left her at The Hunt seven years ago, his chance was gone.She hurried through the halls toward the front doors and jumped when she heard a loud trumpet blast. The army was off,
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Izzy looked up into the kind eyes of her mate. How had she ever feared him? He was gazing at her lovingly as she moved back into their room. She turned to face him, aware that it was broad daylight and not caring one bit that the sun shone brightly around the room.She started to unbutton her dress and let it fall gracefully to her feet. Her chest rose and fell with each beat of her heart, her nerves getting the best of her. She stood in her shift and undergarments as she kept her eyes on Nate. He licked his lips, straining to stay in control. She smiled softly as she pulled the shift over her head and walked toward him. Her stomach twisted with nerves, but she kept her resolve. She was not helpless; she would not allow herself to be helpless again."I think it's time," she whispered to her mate. He looked down at her with confused eyes, unsure whether he should grab her and kiss her senselessly or put her clothes back on her. It hadn't been that long ago that sh
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Cliff found his release and sighed with the temporary relief he felt as he pulled out of the petite barmaid. She trembled as she rolled over onto the bed. The next shifter mounted her, ready to fulfill his darkest need before they had to leave. She froze on the bed and let him push his way into her. His groan filled the air and she pushed the pain away as she felt him fill her.“The shifters should be at the border by now, the Daikon will ride to meet them. They will have no reason to fight once they learn the truth of Izabelle but if all goes as planned, she will be left behind in Daikon. We will find her within the week,” Cliff said as he pulled his pants back on. He was not sated but it was enough to take the edge off and he would be able to ride to Daikon and find Izzy.“You think we will have her by week’s end?” Rikkard asked as he thrust into the barmaid, his hand wrapping around her neck as he held her firm against his brutal assaul
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Izzy stared after the king, her gaze flickering to Amelia's room in concern."Do you think we should check on her?" Kate asked nervously.Izzy nodded firmly and took a step forward, knocking lightly on the door before opening it. She called out as she stuck her head around the large wooden slab, "Amelia? Are you alright?"Izzy heard a rustling in the room but didn't hear anything else. She could tell someone was moving around quickly in the room."Amelia?" Izzy called out as she walked into the room."Izzy?" Amelia looked up in surprise, her eyes wide as she glanced around at the other shifters that were walking toward her. She was moving about the room, putting things in her pack. It was obvious she intended to go somewhere. She had been muttering to herself as she worked and Izzy sat on the bed, watching Amelia walk around."What are you doing?" Kate asked. Izzy shot her a look."I'm pretty sure that's obvious," Izzy sai
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The king walked through the soldiers. They were lined up to march south. The shifters were making better time than he could have predicted so they were marching out that night. He didn’t want the shifters to get so close to their women and children, they would fight to keep them back.Most of the warriors were men, but several women stood among the ranks. Daikon didn't care so long as you could fight. He came upon Matthias surveying the troops."How are we looking?" the king asked, glancing at Matthias, his brows drawn in question."Not as good as I would like, but we are prepared for battle," Matthias said as he nodded as if to reassure himself, they were sufficient."Make sure we have provisions, we leave as soon as we are ready," the king said as he walked off to talk with Theo.Matthias nodded in submission and walked away to check on the supplies they would bring with them on the march to the mountain pass.The king walked through
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Firam was determined to have Emilie. He couldn’t march to war and potential death without letting her know that she was his. She would be his until his dying breath, no matter how long or short his life may be, no matter how desperate she was to leave him. She was his.He stormed up the stairs toward her room. They marched out at dawn and he had no idea what fate lay ahead of him with war looming. He knocked on her door and waited. His heart was racing, he didn’t want to mess this up but he needed her to know. He needed her to understand.The door opened slowly, a small crack. There was just enough room for him to see her wide, terrified eyes looking out at him.“Can I come in?” he asked gently, his heart was in his throat but he somehow managed to keep his voice calm. It was a miracle that she nodded and opened the door, retreating back to the bench in front of the fireplace.Firam opened the door wide and stepped inside, closing
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Amelia could feel the tension in the air. Something was going on, something that she wasn’t privy to. It was an odd feeling not to be in the inner circle, to know firsthand what was happening.The generals had rung the war bell an hour earlier and dragons had descended on the courtyard from all over the kingdom. Word had spread and warriors were accumulating in droves. There were easily a thousand men and women being organized into groups, waiting for orders.Amelia knew something big was happening. The murmurs and dark looks being sent their way made her shift uncomfortably on her seat. She could feel the fury from the dragons. She could feel the lack of welcome. She decided the only option to get information was to seek out those who could tell her. She saw a dark-haired woman walking toward Susanna and Logan. Amelia decided she would listen in on the conversation.“We need shifters to go with us to the border, to stop the war before it even starts
