[Carys]The time seemed to have frozen in the hall and so did everyone’s eyes on me.An unsettling ripple broke out between the exchange of shocked glances and silent whispering. Christian gaped at me, initially with disbelief in his eyes that soon turned into something else, as his gaze traveled to Kian. Levi and Jackson exchanged glances before they, too, looked at Kian. Almost everyone now looked at Kian, who sat expressionless, staring into nothingness.I lowered my heavy eyelids. My heart clenched with the pain I had been trying to suppress all these years. Jax chuckled, clapping, “great! Just great! How shameless can you get? You are making up a non-existent child and killing it just to gain sympathy and get the meeting to your side—”There was a gush. Before anyone could comprehend what had happened, Kian had slammed Jax against the wall. Levi and Christian sprinted out of their chairs, pulling Kian off Jax. Jax fell to the floor, wheezing as he held his chest that Kian ha

[Carys](Past)“The judges will monitor us through the hidden cameras that are installed all around and within the hunting grounds. Or should I call it the hunting waters? Yes, we’ll hunt in a lake today. And we’ll all be divided into teams…” King Elysar cleared his throat and Joshua stopped speaking. He glanced at King Elysar, confused. King smiled once.“Umm. Let us hear from our judges about the games,” Joshua said and stood beside me.King Elysar came forth along with Alpha Maximus and father.“Youth. Twinkling eyes and burning blood. I can smell the thrill in the air.” King Elysar inhaled deeply.‘All I can smell is sun-roasted dead maple leaves,’ I mind-linked with Joshua.‘Shut up,’ he hissed in a suppressed mindlink, as if King Elysar might hear our minds. ‘And behave yourself. He is the Alpha King. He has the power to wipe out our pack in one command.’I looked at King Elysar and his dad-jokes that failed one after the other. He was the only one laughing and enjoying his own

[Carys] (Past) Kian got the first prize, Levi got the second, and Joshua won the third prize by the end of the hunting games. I miraculously made it into the top ten. I couldn’t get enough flags, but maybe helping Christian had secured me more points. I couldn’t get Christian’s and Levi’s face out of my mind when they saw Kian wipe off Christian’s blood from my cleavage. It was clear both of them now suspected us. Of course, they did. But what bothered me more was Este and Ara talking about that incident to almost every female camper. Kian was as big of a deal among the female campers as Christian and Levi. Most campers were daunted by him because of the silence and distance he maintained with the others most of the time. So Kian openly talking to me and touching me had become the popular gossip in the camp. Kian drew attention towards himself right when he shouldn’t have. I could feel the eyes of the female campers on me as I passed through the corridors. They whispered behin

[Kian](Past)One by one, all the campers entered the forests.In the end Carys, Christian, Levi, Joshua and I were left.“Let’s go together,” Levi suggested.“You think I am scared of this stupid place?” Christian scoffed. “Stupid people have haunted me enough throughout the hunt. I am so glad this stupidity is finally ending!” He landed a swift glare at Carys and entered the forest.“Don’t mind him, please,” Levi chuckled nervously, looking at Carys and her dad.“Of course not! Don’t worry, it’s fine,” Carys said, waving her hand. “He is just being himself. Isn’t it, dad?”“That friend of yours is a unique young man, isn’t he?” Her father looked at Levi and Levi’s nervous chuckles turned into coughs.Levi cleared his throat, “well… he is, I guess. That’s the beauty of life, right? Uniqueness.” He bowed at beta Logan. “I will be off now. It was nice meeting you, sir.”Levi hurried into the forest.Beta Logan stroked Carys’ frivolous strands back in their place. “It’s a Wild hunt. The

[Carys]He just stood there, listening with his head held low, his eyes dead.I leaned against his car because if I didn’t; I knew I would fall. My legs felt too weak to carry all the burden I had been shouldering within myself. I had told him everything I was holding back, yet my heart felt heavier with every silent second we shared.My occasional whimpers and both our erratic heartbeats were the only sound echoing in the parking lot.I grabbed his wrist, “seriously Kian! The first thing you thought of was drugs? Do I not matter to you even a little? Am I so worthless to you now? That you seek an escape from reality before me? Was it that easy for you to choose a fucking drug over me? It didn’t even occur to you that I might be waiting…” I bit back my words as he looked into my eyes.I shook my head.“It’s not your fault. I expect too much. You know what? Now, I am glad the poor soul didn’t come into this world. What would I tell them about their father? That he is a fucking drug ad