Hunt the Wood: An MM Red Riding Hood Retelling (Beautiful Nightmares Book 1) by Anna Fury & Amy Pennza

Author:Anna Fury & Amy Pennza [Fury, Anna & Pennza, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-04-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Ryder

The world whips by in a blur. A full moon shines overhead, casting a soft glow over the city. I barely notice. There’s nothing soft about my desperate race through the streets. The beast under me is fast, but I know in my gut it’s not fast enough to outrun Wotan.

Tonight’s dinner was revealing in more ways than one. Not only did I learn I mean less than nothing to the Master of the Hunt, I discovered he’s been holding back during our encounters. He pinned me to that chair without the slightest bit of effort, overriding my will and making my body a prison. He could have been doing that this whole time. Instead, he put his hands on me. Roughed me up and fucked me.

And it was all a means to an end. My end, apparently.

The horse’s hooves pound the cobblestones, and one thought echoes in my head over and over.

He set me up.

Maybe even as early as the Syndicate Ball. He was always going to hunt me. Like a true predator, he toyed with me, batting me around like a cat with a mouse. How he must have laughed as I writhed and begged under his touch. Maybe that’s why he preferred fucking me from behind. It was easier for him to keep a straight face that way.

My eyes burn, and I lean farther over the horse’s neck. There are always rules. Wasn’t that what he said? I have no idea what kind of rules govern the Hunt, but there’s got to be some justice, right? In the stories of the Myth, a pure heart counts for something. I’m not aiding the ridiculous Resistance. I’ve been honest every time Wotan questioned me.

Except that isn’t completely true. I haven’t lied outright, but there are things I’ve kept to myself. Like how I saw Rune at the Ball. I was prepared to tell my grandmother about that. I’ve also attempted to bargain with the vampire. Never mind that it hasn’t proved successful. I intended to escape. To deceive.

I was stupid to think that could have ever worked. There’s no place I can run where Wotan won’t find me.

My heart thumps painfully. Wind tears at my hair and clothes. I either make it to the Wood, or Wotan catches me and rips my mind apart to get the information he wants.

And once he discovers I’ve been less than forthcoming, he’ll kill me. Maybe I lied, but he didn’t.

The Wood looms ahead. The wall of trees and gnarled branches is darker than the night around it. Through it lies safety—or at least a temporary respite from certain death. I can reach it. I’m so fucking close.

A piercing howl splits the night. It goes on forever, trilling up and down and coming from every direction.

Terror shivers down my spine. The sound is eerie, and it resonates in the most primitive part of my mind. Deep in the tangle of synapses in my brain, an alarm blares a single warning: DANGER.

I grip the horse’s mane and dig my knees into its ribs.

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