Chapter 48 Hunting II
Heaven stood rooted to the ground, shock locking every bone in her body.
Her breath hitched, her fingers curled, and she shut her eyes.
The bull thundered toward her, its horns lowered, tearing up the ground with each violent step.
Her chest squeezed painfully as she braced herself for the impact of the horn that would rip through her for the pain she had no chance of escaping.
BANG!!!
A deafening sound through the air so sharply the entire estate seemed to freeze.
The earth trembled. Something heavy collapsed beside her with a violent thud.
Silence swallowed the hunting ground.
Heaven flinched, her breath jumped.
She didn’t feel the horn.
She didn’t feel anything.
Slowly… cautiously… she opened her eyes.
The massive bull lay collapsed a single step away from her. Its horn had stopped inches from her ribs, dust settling around its heavy body. The ground was still trembling from its fall.
Silence swallowed the entire field. A trembling exhale escaped her lips.
Then she felt it.
The stare.
Cold.
Sharp.
Burning straight into her bones.
Maverick.
He stood several feet away, the rifle clutched so tightly in his hand that his knuckles whitened. His eyes, usually unreadable, were rimmed red, wild, furious. For a second, she saw something flicker there.
Fear.
Real, raw fear.
Then it vanished behind that familiar wall of ice as he strode toward her.
Heaven’s heart thudded painfully, breath shallow, her mind screaming don’t come closer. They held each other’s gaze, a silent pull neither wanted, neither understood.
When Maverick saw that bull charge toward her, something snapped loose inside him. His heart dropped, his soul had left his body, and the world had narrowed into a blur of instinct and terror.
Without thinking, he grabbed the first rifle he saw on the weapon stand, spun, aimed, and fired.
Before he could reach her, Butler Rose came running, breaking the tension like a shattered glass.
“Young miss!” Her voice trembled.
Heaven tore her gaze away from Maverick immediately. Relief washed over her. If Butler Rose hadn’t come at that exact moment, Maverick might have exposed them both with whatever he was about to do… or say.
Servants rushed forward. The Richard and Edward elders hurried over.
General Richard’s booming voice cracked the air.
“Who is in charge of the barricade? I want that person fired immediately!”
Eva rushed towards Heaven, gripping her by the shoulders.
“Heaven are you hurt?” she asked urgently.
Heaven flinched, still shaken, still feeling the ghost of death on her skin.
“I…I’m fine…” she whispered.
But she wasn’t fine.
She couldn’t breath properly , her skin cold, and she still felt Maverick’s eyes burning into her from where he stood.
Major Vincent stepped forward, he had just arrived and had seen what happened. His deep voice carried through the tense air.
“That was an impressive aim, Maverick. Perfect shot. If you hadn’t reacted that quickly, your sister in law would’ve been gone.”
General Edward clapped Maverick on the back.
“A soldier is always a soldier. Excellent instincts, son.”
Maverick didn’t respond.
Eleanor snapped her fingers at a servant.
“Get her water. And someone check her pulse.”
When they all saw Heaven was physically unharmed, the tension slowly melted. The bull was dragged out, the barricade repaired, and the event resumed.
But Maverick’s eyes…
They kept flicking back to her.
Over and over.
Heaven tried her best to ignore it, but her pulse reacted every time.
The hunting coach stepped forward and began explaining the rules.
They would be split into pairs for safety. To determine a team each one of them had to pick a-colored ribbon from a wooden bowl the same color meant the same team.
Heaven, still shaken, dipped her hand into the bowl first and pulled out a blue ribbon.
Eva drew hers red.
Then Maverick stepped up.
He paused.
His eyes slid to Heaven’s hand to the blue ribbon she clutched before he reached into the bowl.
When Maverick opened his fist, a blue ribbon hung from his fingers.
Exactly like Heaven’s.
For the briefest moment, something flashed across Eva’s face when she saw his ribbon. She smoothed it quickly
Killian,who had been observant drew his own ribbon red.
The final grouping was announced General Richard and Kiara, General Edward and Eleanor, Eva and Killian, Heaven and Maverick. Then came Major Vincent and the other guest.
Heaven’s breath caught.
Maverick didn’t look surprised.
He just slipped the ribbon into his pocket, gaze flicked back to her one more time, slow, intentional, unsettling before looking away.
They all gathered near the starting point, each of them wearing a jacket marked with their group’s color red, green, gold, or blue. The air hummed with excitement as the hunters checked their rifles and adjusted their reins.
“Richard, remember you owe me the land behind Landmark the moment I take down the buffalo,” Edward boasted, slapping the barrel of his rifle with a grin full of mischief.
General Richard scoffed, tightening his gloves.
“You think I’ll let you touch my land so easily? Did you forget what happened last year?”
“Oh, I remember,” Edward smirked. “That’s why I came prepared with a better rifle this time. I won’t let you beat me twice.”
Apparently, Edward had shot the buffalo last year but it had gotten away only for Richard to end it and claimed the victory.
The men chattered like roosters bragging about old kills, comparing weapons, and arguing loudly about who would win this year.
Kiara and Eleanor rolled their eyes and just watched their husbands.
Vincent folded his arms, eyes glinting as he glanced toward Maverick.
“Since Maverick already killed the bull earlier… does that count as a score? That thing was pretty massive.”
“It should. A hunter should be sharp at all times, and he was,” Edward, Eva’s father chimed.
Heaven stood quietly among them all, gripping Rosalia’s reins so tightly her knuckles whitened. Her hunting gun tugged at her arm, it was big and heavy. She wondered faintly if lighter guns even existed.
Her heartbeat refused to settle.
It pounded against her ribs like it was trying to escape.
She didn’t want Maverick as her partner.
Not today.
Not after last night.
Not when her body still remembered him far too vividly…and her mind absolutely despised him for it.
But rules demanded they pair up, she had no choice.
Rosalia snorted softly, nudging Heaven’s shoulder sensing her unease.
And then there was Maverick.
Standing beside his midnight-black stallion, Baximus, tall, muscular, and imposing. The animal looked like a beast bred for war, and yet Maverick’s grip on the reins was calm, practiced, almost elegant.
The breeze teased through his dark hair, highlighting the harsh lines of his jaw.
He didn’t speak.
He didn’t smile.
He didn’t break posture for anyone.
He hadn’t looked at her again since drawing the same ribbon.
He didn’t need to.
Heaven felt him.
He was a shadow stretched toward her.
A pressure tightening her lungs.
His presence was a pulse in the air.
Across the field, the hunting coach strode forward and raised a hand.
“Prepare yourselves! The hunt begins in five minutes! Release will start on my signal!”
Heaven swallowed hard.
She tugged Rosalia’s reins and walked toward her assigned partner.
Rosalia pawed the earth eagerly, tail flicking, completely unfazed.
And then…across the field…Maverick lifted his eyes.
His gaze locked onto hers instantly sharp, searing, and unmistakable.
Heat shot up Heaven’s spine. Her breath caught painfully in her throat.
The voices, the laughter, the restless shuffling of horses all faded.
For a long, suffocating heartbeat…the world narrowed to just them.
As she approached him, Maverick didn’t look away.
Not once.
Not even for a blink.
She realized something,
The most dangerous part of today wasn’t the hunt.
It wasn’t the animals.
It wasn’t the forest.
It was him.
As Heaven walked past Eva, Eva grabbed her arm firmly, she flinched but as she looked up to her she was offering a warm comforting smile.
“Heaven… are you ready?” she asked softly.
Heaven forced a smile she didn’t feel.
“Uh....Yes,” she whispered.
A lie.
She wanted to beg Eva to trade with her. To go in her place and be his partner.
But she couldn’t.
Eva stood beside Killian, her partner but she kept glancing toward Maverick,whose eyes never once searched for her.
Killian, however, had been painfully observant.
He had seen the bull incident.
He had seen the look Maverick gave Heaven, a look no brother-in-law should ever give his sister-in-law.
Too intense.
Too dark.
Too claiming.
Even now, as Killian watched them, he saw it. His jaw clenched.
His eyes shifted to the girl beside him,Eva. Always smiling. Always hopeful.
A girl he was worlds apart from.
“You know,” he said quietly, “you could have swapped with her. I know how much you want to go with your husband.”
The word “husband” tasted like treason on his tongue.
Eva shrugged gently, trying to be lighthearted and not think too much of it
“It’s not a big deal… I have eternity with him,” she chuckled, her hand clenched by the side.
Killian looked at her then…really looked.
His gaze held a flash of hurt before he masked it behind a polite smile.
And then.
BANG!
The starting gun fired.
The hunt began.