Chapter 35: CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

It was almost dark when Adam decided to go hunting in the woods, Adam felt rejuvenated each time he thought of the woods. He was going to Sarah if she would join him. Sarah had spent the night with him, each time she made her way into his room, something sparked up within him, and he felt the air at his earlobe stand as she walked into the room yesterday. Sarah was somewhere around his room mopping, he could not fathom how she could make her way in and out each time. He was unsure if she would agree to go with him, as he moved close to her, he wondered how she was able to exit and return back to his room and how he would take everything just to get into her head. 

“Going hunting Sarah, would you like to come?” he asked calmly, unable to process what ran through her thoughts. He felt most of her thoughts revolved around him and his household. 

“Sure, let me get ready. What would we need? She asked innocently while making her way into the other end of the room to get ready before she remembered it was not her room. She was in Adam’s room. 

She was getting agitated, she hoped the incense smell had fueled down because she couldn’t stand the smell of it. She knew Adam was watching and waiting for her to make a move, she picked up her little bag, hung it over her shoulders, and left his room. 

She was in her room pacing and searching for hunting outfits. She wanted to get out of the room as quickly as possible because the odor of the incense was still strong as ever, but she needed to look pretty for Adam since they were going to the woods alone. It's been such a long time since she went out with him but Adam had not told her what she’d wear, something like pretty work clothes, she thought. She got down to searching and searching each sides of her little space.

After several minutes of scrambling through some work clothes, she finally settled for one that looked appropriate for the mission ahead. She ran her hands through her neck area reminiscing how she would have dwelt severely with Xana if those stupid flashlights were not focused on her face. She completed the rest of her outfit and picked up a coat that was in the clothes pile. After completing her routine, she walked back to Adam’s room and turned the doorknob, but it was locked.

“Ready?” Adam’s voice made her flinch, she didn't know he had been behind her watching as she struggled to get the door open. She gave him a hard punch in his abdomen and he yelled, bending and holding his abdomen while he groaned in pain. 

“Yes,” she said with a malignant smile on her face, she ignored his groans, she knew he was obviously acting out one the roles in his head and possibly to make her laugh. 

“Here you go.” He gave her one of the guns he hung over his shoulders. He did not want her to feel totally helpless; his mission was to fill her into everything she needed. She retrieved it from his hands and hung it over her shoulders too. He tried to survey her work clothes because she looked pretty in those pants and shaggy shirt, he waved off the thought and smiled at her. “Shall we?” 

“Yes,” she replied with a sharp smile that left him mesmerized.  

***

Getting to the woods, the normal route was blocked with some native supplies, they were in heaps so they couldn't make their way through this path so they took the narrow path, only people that hunt in the woods knew the second path. It was a relief for them. The leaves crunched under his feet as he stepped into some piles of decayed leaves, trunk of trees pressed in on all sides, the wind howled in their faces, the crickets were chirping aggressively, the tall trees hung in the sky, they were shuffling through the rustling of leaves and the chiming of the wind. The birds were singing, the atmosphere was totally sound and serene. 

Adam and Sarah were alone with nature. Side by side.

She didn’t seem to like the rustles from animals from within because she kept on looking back, some of the trees were glaring at her, she was inhaling the smell from one of the trees, when a bee hummed, from the corner of his eyes, he could see the light written over her face, suddenly, a twig snagged at her hair dragging her shirt down her shoulders while her glisten hair that stood over her shoulders shone brightly in the dim evening light. 

His ocean blue eyes were quick to offer help but she shooed him saying she would handle the situation swiftly, he was amused to watch her free her shirts from the stronghold of the tree. He stood behind watching her struggle free, he was grinning from his heart too. 

It reminded him the last time they were here, she also got her shirt hooked to a branch of which she struggled to be free from, Adam had made a mockery of her “little strength”, she was pissed at such a condescending statement that after she freed herself, she chased him and fought him down the woods. They had stayed in the woods on that day for almost a day, most of it was spent fighting.

“What do you like about the woods, Adam? Well, I mean asides hunting, you know” 

“I love the peace, the happiness, the joy of being away from everything, all this signifies nature. I love nature. I love this feeling of walking without anything on my mind, I love this feeling of being here with you,” he said, taking her right hand in his. 

“So you always come here?"

“Mostly to hunt and calm my nerves”  

“So why aren't we hunting now?” she asked, trying to input some form of humor. 

“Because you are talking to me and I can’t concentrate if you keep asking questions,” he replied, rolling his eyes. 

“Ohhhhhh!” She grinned and sent a killing glare that read: ‘start hunting.’

It was quiet again. Maybe today wasn’t the right day to hunt or because he got sight of a deer while Sarah spoke but he was too engrossed in identifying nature than it flashed out of his sight. 

“Am I supposed to get my guns out now or wait for a command?” 

“You are not using it, Sarah. I just gave it to you so you won’t be wondering where we were going without weapons,” he replied, just in time to catch a reaction on her face, she had a frown on her face, her brow furrowed. He knew she hated those kinds of words but there was no better way to tell her he’d be doing most of the job.

“So I am just going to watch you hunt, nothing at all? I won’t allow it,” she stated, releasing her hand from his hold and proceeded to the other side of the road, 

“Wait, Sarah, I didn't mean it that way” He obviously wanted it that way because he didn’t want to get her all worked up over hunting, he didn’t want her hurt or bruised but she had already moved to the other end of the lane before he could stop her. 

He ran after her, grabbed her by her hand, held her chin up to his masculine eyes, and told her, “I don’t want you to get hurt.” Adam looked into her black eyes that was almost purple in rage. 

“Get hurt? Have you ever gotten hurt from hunting?” she asked, making him ponder in utter dismay. 

Huge silence accompanied her question. 

“Maybe we should actually start hunting, stay beside me, and do as I say, please, Sarah. Just this once?"

Suddenly, he heard a disturbing sound far from a distance. It disrupted him from his thoughts. Within seconds, blood exploded out of Sarah’s body and neck as the metal made an impact. All he saw was Sarah’s body falling to the ground. Her fall to the ground was slow, it seemed to suck out all around them. He looked down at her as she fell to the ground, his eyes widened, cold heat abated him and he felt his whole life fall apart before him. It wasn’t a bullet but a silver arrow, it pierced her body and neck, she was groaning in pain, and swallowed in her pool of blood. He couldn’t let the shooter get again, yet he couldn’t leave her here. She was on the ground in her pool of blood, he was furious. My entire body started molding itself into skin, my wolf was about to get revenge. Not knowing what to do, his eyes rolled around and he heard a rockslide rumble from the rustling of the leaves. He was definitely going to hunt down the person who fired at her. He started to move towards the sound of the rustles, he was going to devour the animal. As he moved to find the person, his eyes fell back at Sarah who was on the ground, groaning with the little strength that was left. 

He couldn’t stop to think, couldn’t comprehend the few minutes that had just passed by. He picked her up, her eyes looked gentle, as he carried her softly, she let out a soft whimper that sent tingles down his spine, and he knew he had to remove the arrow from her body before it got worse, and he wanted to call the alpha nurses who helped at the mansion. As he moved to inspect the injuries, he rethinks his action, he couldn’t bear to watch her in pains at the same time, there was nothing else that could be done except the removal. He had watched videos of people helping out a terribly injured person but he didn’t know this was how it would feel watching Sarah struggle for breath and life and at the moment he knew he was the only chance at saving her.

It would be hard to lift her arms up with the arrow still pressed on her body. He starts to move her body to the other position so he could drag the arrow out of her body. 

“Be still, Sarah,” he said before he dragged out the arrow that had pierced her neck. She let out a loud scream that reverberated through the woods. At that point, he wanted to stop the act and just take her back but she’d lose so much blood if the arrow stayed for long in her body. “This is the last one.” He started again as he moved to drag out the one at the back. The silver arrows were obviously the same, from the same clan.

She was shouting again as he removed the arrow from her body and placed them beside his feet. 

“Let’s get you home," he said while looking into her tears face, he was still bewildered at the quantity of blood she had lost. 

He moved her into the back seat, lay her gently before he jumped into the driver’s seat, and picked up his cellphone to call the nurses;

“There’s an emergency. Sarah has been badly injured-shot. I need you all to prepare for her medical attention,” he declared, panting and sweating as he jabbed the steering wheel, ignited the truck back to life, sped through the road like he was about to lose something. 

The silver arrow was in his pocket. He was going to get them in for sampling, the shooter had survived this time but not the next. 

On the way to the house, he stepped on his brakes several times. Some yelled and cursed back at his roughness but he didn’t mind, all he wanted was to get Sarah home safe and sound. By the time he got to the house, her blood had formed a river at the back seat. The blood was completely red and healthy.

The nurses circled him the minute he drove into the house. But he saw her black eyes begging him to stay with her. He accompanied them into the room, he held her hand and told her “You are not alone” into her ears. Her eyes were threatening to close. Suddenly her eyes starts closing in on me, I was trying to fathom what it meant, 

“Is she dying? What’s happening to her?” he asked, not caring who he was referring to in particular. The nurses gave themselves some sort of glare and he was left in total dismay. 

“She is unconscious, she lost so much blood,” one of them replied and continued treating her wounds. 

In his room, he couldn’t sit to think, he started pacing round the room thinking of ways to get those bastards that fired at her. She looked pale, she obviously lost blood at the scene, and her blood still formed a pool in his car. 

What if she dies? He thought to himself, still unable to comprehend how the shooter aimed for her, not him. They both stood together. Why did they aim at her?

Moving to the door, he passed through the back walkway out to meet his pack, alerting them of the present situation. All members of the Colven pack were in attendance mostly because he had given the orders furiously. He knew it was such a short period of time to schedule a meeting but it concerned Sarah so he was going to be intentional about it.  

“I am not here for chit chat. I want to know where this silver arrow is from, who it was sent from and why it was sent to Sarah. He held out the arrow, displayed them like gold under auction on the table for all to see. As he spoke, some of the other pack members entered and fixed their attention to the arrow Adam was talking about.

All of them took turns each to get a glimpse of the arrow, Ian spoke up first “Did you get a glimpse of what the shooter looked like?” Ian asked in utmost rage. 

“I couldn’t see him, I tried to get him but Sarah groaned in pain. I regret not going after him,” Adam said, still in total anger that he left the man. 

“We will do our best,” Ian spoke up on behalf of the rest of the pack. 

He could see desperation in their eyes and that was all it took for him to get his revenge on the attacker. 

He could see desperation in their eyes and that was all it took for him to get his revenge on the attacker.