Awakening (Born From Shadows #1)
Chapter Sixteen

This chapter contains some mature themes. This is the only warning I will give for the entire book so if you don’t like those sort of things skip it or stop reading.

“Let’s go!” Riley shouted and climbed up on his horse. Freya followed in suit and then suddenly two pairs of hands were holding tightly onto Tatianna’s waist. They lifted her onto the horse, then the person swung himself onto the horse behind her.

“Hold on,” Nik warned her before he broke into a fast gallop. Freya and Riley were by their side as they flashed through the woods faster than Tatianna thought was possible. Nik sat behind her withheld one arm around her waist and the other was firmly grasped onto the reins of Ida. Despite the situation, despite the band of killers behind her, Tatianna could not get her mind off the hand plastered across her stomach. She felt the unfamiliar need to squeeze her legs together, but she couldn’t due to the horse. Her breathing became slightly more rapid, all she wanted was for his hand to move just the slightest bit lower. For him to use his long fingers and...how could she even be thinking something like that in a time like this?

She turned her head to look behind her, distracting herself from the heat that she suddenly felt. The Hunt was now charging towards their horses at full pelt, yet she could tell that their horses were faster. Eventually, the Hunt faded away into the distance and Ida slowed down to a canter.

“That was close,” Freya said.

“Not really,” Nik replied. “They were pretty far away. But now we know for sure they are following us. I don’t think we should go to Cainva.”

“Why not?” Riley asked.

“Because that’s where they think we are going. To not go there we have less of a chance to be caught.”

“What about your parents?” She asked, knowing he was meant to contact them in Cainva.

“I guess they will have to wait,” he replied.

“That’s very reckless of you, they could send out a search party,” Tatianna thought.

“Reckless of me?” he asked, his voice lowered so it sounded like a deep growl into her ear. “Says the one who just got wet during a chase.” She looked up and glanced around making sure the others didn’t hear what he just said.

“I did not,” she harshly whispered back to him, denying the truth.

“Deny it all you want Storm, but actions speak larger than words.” She knew without a mirror that her face had turned red from embarrassment. How did he even replace out?

“Don’t worry, it was a turn on for me too. Watching you get all wound up,” he whispered. Tatiana’s eyes widened as he adjusted himself in the saddle until she felt something hard poking at her ass. The horse’s canter did not help as she rolled back into it causing Nik to hiss. “This ride is going to suck,” he mumbled to himself, and she felt her heart rate increase. Feeling the throbbing between her legs go up with every movement of the horse. Even if she tried, if she wanted to, she couldn’t stop her behind from rolling into the space between his legs. Yes, it was, she thought.

After a few more hours of riding the sun began to set, luckily for her, she was able to calm down her hormones pretty quickly and get used to the thought of Nik behind her. She could also feel Nik slowly calm down which was a relief, she didn’t know how much longer she could stand him...all of him.

“Where do we want to sleep for the night?” Freya asked.

“Somewhere enclosed so the wind isn’t too bad,” Tatianna responded. “Perhaps over there?” She pointed towards a place that seemed like a small crevasse in the ground with trees surrounding it.

“Ok,” Nik said and turned his horse towards the hole. They dismounted the horses and tied them up to a tree so they wouldn’t run away in the middle of the night.

Tatianna wrapped her cloak tightly against her bare shoulders regretting not sleeping in something warmer the night before.

“I’m just going to go piss, I’ll be back,” she told the others and walked a little away from the place they decided to make camp. She squatted down behind a tree and did her business, looking at the stars above her head in the night sky.

Once she was finished a strange shuffling sound caught her attention. It sounded close. She looked around, amazed at how much her eyes could see even with the sundown. A snap of a twig caused her to spin facing a different direction. Whatever it was, it wasn’t human. It was fast. Her hand went straight towards her dagger and then she saw them. A pair of amber eyes staring straight towards her. It had to be at least twenty meters away, but she could make out the faint outline of the wolf’s body. It was bigger than any wolf she had come across before, the stray that wandered into the city.

She didn’t know if she could fight a wolf, especially if its pack was nearby, but the animal did not attack. It just stood still and stared at her. She lowered her hand from her blade and looking not just into its eyes but into it. She couldn’t describe it but somehow, she knew this wolf wouldn’t dare to harm her. It felt as if she could reach out to the creature, feel it without moving an inch.

“Tatianna, are you ok?” Riley called out from the camp area.

She turned her head to respond, “yeah. I’m fine.” When she looked back around the wolf was gone. That’s weird, she thought.

By the time she made it back to the camp, the other three were lying on the ground close to one another and savouring each other’s warmth. They had made small snow pillows, and all had their eyes closed, but she suspected they were yet to fall asleep. Tatianna spotted a gap between Freya and Nik, realising that it was left open for her.

She awkwardly laid down between the two not knowing what position she should sleep in. Eventually, she decided it was safest to just lie on her back and look up at the stars.