Green spruce along the outskirts of the grassy field were wilted brown and stripped bare of any sign of life. The once bright, colorful birch trees full of life now held whispers of their once whimsical state. The forest was strong, but the wilt was stronger. The essence of this meadow shifted from a beaming home bursting with vivacity to a mere shadow of its former self.
We didn’t know why, but as shifters, we could feel the change in the nature surrounding us. Glancing around the open grass field, I found the perfect tree to climb that would conceal my presence as I watched the night unfold below. I strapped my bow across my chest and climbed onto the bottom limbs that were still shielded with a thick array of branches covered with needles. It was the perfect camouflage. Not even the wind could sneak through and touch me, so I leaned back and waited to see what would come.
And waited …
As the night dragged on, I caught myself dozing in the comfort of my hideaway tree stand. To be honest, I was a terrible scout. Sitting still was not a strength of mine, and I struggled to remain in one place for long periods of time. I blamed my shifter side for that lovely trait. It was obvious that my animal was not meant for any type of cage, and that translated into my consistent fidgeting. At least, that’s what I told myself anyway.
Snap.
My ears twitched, hearing the sound of someone approaching off to my left. I froze, waiting for the creature or person to reveal themselves in the glowing moonlight. Only silence followed. I kept my sight locked on where I heard the sound. Whoever was entering the meadow was stealthy, and the snap from before was not intentional. I couldn’t hear or detect the scent of anything in the air. If I hadn’t caught that first hint of noise, I wouldn’t have known anyone was there.
Slowly, a silhouette along the tree line at the edge of the meadow appeared. The stranger’s identity was concealed beneath a heavy dark cloak, but with my shifter eyesight, I could make out features that were draped in shadow.
This was definitely a male. A large hand clutched the pommel of a long silver sword resting on his shoulder, while the other hung all too casually at his side. He paused at the edge of the clearing and straightened to his full height. Looking at the surrounding tree line, I could infer that he towered over my nearly six-foot stance, with strong, broad shoulders filling his frame. Judging by the defined muscled arm that escaped his black cloak, I assessed that this male had experience using the sword clutched in his grasp.
Please, for me … don’t venture off alone and try to handle a threat without someone going with you. Gilen’s words tugged at my conscience, trying to pull me away from investigating any further, but I couldn’t just sit here.
Sorry, Gilen.
I moved into a crouched position and silently readied my bow. I retrieved an arrow out from my quiver, my fingers delicately curling around the fletching.
The male quietly stalked out from the trees, tilting his chin toward the sky, revealing a trimmed black beard along a squared jawline. A breeze danced around him, circling under his cloak and carrying his scent straight toward my hiding place. I crinkled my nose at the strange foreign scent of this male. Fresh evergreen pine paired with a frost that reminded me of snowcapped mountains. My animal coiled inside my chest, thrumming with power and shooting prickles of fire through my veins.
This is different.
The stranger moved, sheathing his sword along his back, before tugging his hood and covering his face. I knew he was not our kind. He didn’t move like a shifter or radiate any type of familiar power. There was no doubt in my mind that this was a hunter, and I was determined to strike first.
Soundlessly, I drew back on my bowstring, inhaling a long, steadying breath, ready to take aim. In one swift movement, I leaped out of the tree, landing balanced on the ground as I lined up my target. The male heard me and spun his shrouded face in my direction. I released my breath as my arrow soared through the night, aiming straight for the heart of the hunter.
A silver shimmer flashed, and my arrow impaled the trees behind my mark.
“What the?” I stammered, turning my head left, right, and left again. Searching for the hunter I’d seen in the meadow. “Where the hell did, he go?” I cursed as I retrieved another arrow and carefully stalked around the base of the tree. I kept the trunk at my back so nothing could come up from behind and surprise me. He couldn’t have just vanished. That was impossible.
I might have been afraid, but I could not panic.
No, panicking would surely get me killed, and I refused to allow myself to become prey to those beings. I focused my hearing and other senses on detecting what my eyes could not yet see. An unnatural silence fell in the forest, warning all those listening that something was here. My heart rate slowed. The rhythm matched my breathing—calm and steady as I waited. I called upon my animal’s instinct and seeped into an acute awareness of the world around me. I was the predator here, not the prey.
Nocking another arrow, I noticed the difference in how the shaft felt against my fingers, and I realized it was one of the new arrows Gilen had placed in my quiver earlier this evening.
A shift in the wind alerted me to look right, and as I turned, I released a blind shot from my bow. A solid thud and a roaring curse echoing through the night indicated that my aim was true. Rustling sounds echoed along the forest floor, followed by grunts and groans of pain, which helped guide me to my prize. I leaped over the shrubbery to find the cloaked male lying on the ground with my arrow embedded through his left shoulder, just inches above his heart.
“What are you doing on our lands?” I growled, nocking another arrow. “Your kind are not welcome here.”
The male was doubled over on the dirt with blood staining the earth below him. He grunted as he shifted his body to face me, trying to grasp the head of the arrow that was just out of his reach.
“Iron?” His voice was deep and laced with a screaming internal agony. Collapsing onto his side, I noted his rapid, uneven, staggered breaths paired with the blood pooling under his limp body.
I quickly pulled back on another arrow and stalked to his front. “Want to add another? I missed my mark the first time. And … Trust me, that doesn’t happen. It would be a shame to leave you unbalanced. Shall I even you out?”
A deep, thundering sound echoed from the depths of his chest, causing him to shudder, and I could have sworn he was laughing. I had no clue what to make of that, but I was not waiting around to find out. I took one final step forward, and with the tip of my arrow, I flung his hood back to unveil his identity.
My jaw practically fell to the ground as a face even the gods themselves would be envious of appeared in the moonlight. His eyes were clenched shut beneath heavy jet-black brows that were framed by high cheekbones and a flawless complexion. A dark, neatly trimmed beard and mustache followed a strong, angular jawline, framing sultry, lustful lips that were pressed tightly together. His silver, black-streaked shoulder-length hair was half tied back, revealing the elegant, handsome contours of his face and pointed ears.
Pointed … ears.
My eyes widened with disbelief and shock. There was no mistaking what the male was.
High. Fae.
This was a High Fae!
The male groaned and fell backward, collapsing onto his back as his breathing became erratic and his coloring began to fade.
“Iron …” the male rasped once more.
“Fuck!” I gasped, suddenly realizing the gravity of what I had just done.
I’d shot a High Fae with an iron-tipped arrow. Iron repelled magic and interfered with our magically heightened abilities, including our rapid healing. The arrow I fired at him penetrated through his left shoulder, just breaths above his heart.
“Gods Above! No … no … no.” I was officially panicking now. My animal stirred inside my chest, flooding me with her presence and power so I could get a grip on my emotions and try to focus. “Don’t die!” I shouted at him, my power pulsing through my limbs and flowing through my words.
I immediately dropped my bow to the ground and moved to straddle his torso with my knees on either side of his hips. The lean, solid mass of muscle beneath my body tensed but didn’t move away. I quickly wrapped my left fingers around the shaft of the arrow and reached my right hand toward the arrowhead protruding through to his back. If I could snap the head of the arrow clean, I could remove the entire thing in one swift pull. Rising onto my knees, I bent forward and tugged on the arrow with one hand while I tried to push it through his skin.
Faster than I thought possible, the High Fae male opened his mouth, turned his head to the side, and bit down hard on my arm, right below my wrist.
“Shit!” I screamed, instinctively fighting back and elbowing him in the nose so hard that he thumped backward against the ground. “That’s fucking deep! I can see my gods-damned bone through the wound!” Blood dripped down my arm, but luckily, my shifter healing was already starting to kick in. Nothing compared to adults who had successfully shifted, but it was better than nothing. I tore at the bottom of my shirt tucked underneath my leathers and wrapped it around my wrist. “You High Fae have fucking fangs for teeth or something?” I sneered, tying my makeshift bandage. “I can’t imagine how painful foreplay is for your kind.”
His eyes remained closed, but the deep rumble once again echoed through his chest. Realizing it was most definitely a laugh, I squeezed my legs tightly around his torso to try and make my point.
“Not funny,” I grumbled, but it only seemed to encourage him.
Moving my body backward, I shifted my weight onto his hips to try and get his attention. I felt him twitch and stiffen, so I knew it had worked. He was listening. And I now had his undivided attention.
“Look … I know I shot you with this arrow and tried to kill you, but that was a mistake. My bad. I was actually told not to try and investigate threats on my own, but as my luck would have it, here we are. Honestly, I’m just trying to help fix this mess.” I spoke softly as I gestured to his mangled chest and shoulder.
His pointed ears seemed to twitch at the sound of my voice, and for the first time, he opened his eyes to look at me.
An awe-inspiring gray stare that mimicked the raging storm clouds over a mountain pass bore deep into my soul. Distant and dark, but yet … strangely, anything but cold. I felt a shock of warmth seer into my center as my animal danced in my chest, pulsing with power to match the swell of strength dwelling in his eyes.
There was a deep-rooted sadness echoing in his stormy gaze, paired with anger and violence. I was not scared, however. Quite the opposite. The intensity of his gaze drew me in, granting me an alluring invitation and desire to sink into his world and never ask to be released. Seconds seemed like hours as his eyes refused to move from mine.
I blinked and shook myself, remembering where I was and what I was supposed to be doing.
“Bite me again, and I’ll blacken your eye. Got it?” I didn’t mean it as a threat, but more of a promise. There was no way I was helping him if he was going to use those sharp canine teeth on me again. I refused to buckle or back down as I held his stare with my own fiery amber gaze. “So, are you going to let me help you or not?”
He narrowed his brows, and I could feel his body begin to tremble beneath. Oh no. The iron in his system was already beginning to shut his body down. Was I too late?
“You don’t have much time,” I whispered, trying to pull back the aggression in my tone. “I fired a clean shot. That iron is too close to your heart to stay in there for much longer. You will die if I don’t take it out.” He went utterly still for a moment. Those luminous eyes calculating his options, still debating if he would accept my offer to help.
Stubborn male.
“Please,” I asked softly.
His eyes darted to his wound, and then he snapped them back up to me. He didn’t say a word but gave me one firm nod.
“All right, then … here we go. Hold onto whatever grit you have. This is going to be a bitch to get free.”
I reached my bleeding arm behind his back once more, and the High Fae closed his eyes, inhaling a deep breath to brace himself. I felt his body tremble beneath me and watched his hands clench into tight fists.
I knew I needed to be quick. I snapped the head off the arrow and then braced my palm on his chest while grasping the shaft of the arrow with the other.