Free Web NovelChapter 23: Chapter 23: The Unseen Stalker
"We need to move, now!" Kellar hissed, his fingers locking around Mila’s wrist. "It’s tracking us, and it’s not alone."
He bolted from the alcove, pulling Mila behind him into the pitch-black labyrinth of the conifers. They ran blindly through the dense brush, branches scratching against their bare skin as Kellar tried to break the line of scent. He doubled back, veered hard into a rocky ravine, and pushed through thick patches of ferns, but no matter how many erratic turns he took, the sharp, copper musk of the predator remained pinned to their heels.
*If I keep pushing in this direction, we’re going to cross the outer boundary and get lost in deep territory,* Kellar calculated, his mind spinning like a high-speed processor. *We need to redirect.*
He changed his trajectory, forcing his legs to sprint back toward the game trail where he had engineered his kill box. But as they ran, the persistent, suffocating odor of the beast didn’t fade a single fraction.
*What the hell is this thing?* Kellar thought, a dark frustration building in his chest. *Panthers are ambush predators. They strike fast or abandon the chase. Why is this bastard just hovering on our flank?*
A sharp, painful cry cut through his thoughts. Mila stumbled, her knees hitting the damp earth as she gripped her spear for balance. She was exhausted, her breathing ragged, and the deep, swollen soreness inside her freshly claimed womb was flaring up with a terrible, biting agony. She couldn’t take another step.
"Kellar... I can’t," Mila gasped, her chest heaving as she looked into the darkness. "My legs... they won’t obey me anymore."
Kellar spun around, his jaw clenching as he stood over her. He drew his razor-sharp ceremonial dagger in his right hand, and his massive, spiked Overlord Club in his left, its heavy weight anchoring his stance. The darkness was absolute; he couldn’t see his own hand in front of his face, and striking a torch now would ruin his night adaptation. He had to rely strictly on his Hunter’s Scent to track the physical trajectory of the threat.
Mila huddled close to his calves, her eyes searching around the void.
"Kellar, what’s happening?" she whispered, her voice trembling. "Why hasn’t it lunged? If it wanted to eat us, it had a dozen chances in the thicket."
"I don’t know," Kellar muttered, his nostrils flaring as he isolated the beast’s location. It was sitting exactly twenty yards out still, blended into the shadows of a massive pine. "The damn thing is just measuring us. It’s keeping its distance, following our exact heat signature, but it refuses to commit to the strike."
"The panthers seem to be steering clear of it too," Kellar whispered, his nose isolating the fading scent of the ring-tails that had previously surrounded the area. "Which means we’re safe from them for now. But it’s going to be a long night. We can’t lower our guard, and we can’t hunt our prize with this shadow hanging over our shoulders."
Mila leaned heavily against his leg. Even though she was blind to the threat and couldn’t smell a thing, her devotion to Kellar was unyielding. Having been claimed and deflowered by him, she was surrendered to her man’s judgment.
"Do you think it could be other hunters from the tribe?" Mila whispered, her teeth beginning to chatter. "Maybe Tor or the others trying to sabotage us?"
"No," Kellar replied coldly. "If it were a human hunter, the beasts in these woods would have tried to track and slaughter him by now. This thing belongs to the wood."
Mila nodded silently, her body shivering as the temperature plummeted. They were too far from their stone alcove now, stuck out in the open with no natural canopy to block the freezing mountain wind. Kellar guided her toward the wide trunk of an ancient pine. He kept his weapon raised, his eyes scanning the void while Mila trembled beside him.
"Come here," Kellar commanded dropping his heavy club to the grass. "Let’s use our bodies to generate some heat."
He sat back against the rough bark of the tree, pulling her onto his lap. They pressed their chests together, but the thick leather of their tunics was still damp from their earlier trek into the rushing riverbeds. The moisture was pulling the heat right out of their skin.
"Strip it off," Kellar muttered. "Get rid of the leather. Raw skin against skin is the only way we’re going to keep our temperature from crashing."
Mila didn’t hesitate for a second. She peeled off the damp tunic and slid her thin leather thong down her thighs, leaving her entirely naked. Kellar unbuckled his own trousers, kicking them into the dark until he was bare.
Mila snuggledherself against him, wrapping her smooth thighs around his hips and burying her face deep into his muscular neck. Her soft, bare breasts pressed tight against his chest, and her round, naked ass rested directly over his thick shaft, which was already hardening again from the raw, intimate heat of her flesh.
Kellar wrapped his powerful arms around her, locking her body tight against his torso to shield her from the biting wind. He felt her wet, primal heat soaking against his groin, but he kept his head up, his sharp emerald eyes piercing the blackness as his nostrils tracked the suffocating scent of the unmoving stalker just twenty yards away.
He slowly ran his large, warm palms down the smooth curve of her bare back, his touch firm, driving the residual chill from her trembling skin. He leaned down, his lips brushing against the shell of her ear as he let out a low, grounding whisper.
"Don’t be afraid, Mila" Kellar murmured, his deep voice carrying a heavy, unyielding weight. "No matter what is hiding in that brush, I will tear apart anything that tries come for us. You’re safe."
Hearing his confidence, Mila’s rapid breathing finally began to level out. She tightened her arms around his neck, burying her face deeper into his collarbone as his rhythmic caresses kept her warm, relaxed, and anchored.
