Chapter 51 Hunted II
Heaven’s eyes flew wide,wide enough to hurt as she saw the blood staining her hand.
His blood.
“Maverick?…you are bleeding” Heaven’s voice cracked, raw, disbelieving.
Her breath hitched so sharply it trembled in her throat.
He was bleeding so much, his knees buckled, his weight was too much she couldn’t hold him up anymore. Everything happened so fast. One moment he was behind her solid, unshakeable, his heat pressed against her spine…and the next…
Her scream tore through the forest, shattering the quiet.
“Maverick…..Maverick!”
Her trembling hands scrambled to his, pressing on the bleeding wound. Blood seeped between her fingers, spreading across her palms, her sleeves, dripping onto the earth beneath them. Her own heartbeat thundered in her ears until she felt dizzy.
Baximus reared with a sharp, piercing neigh of panic, hooves thrashing above them.
Rosalia paced frantically, circling them, her frightened whines filling the trees.
She pushed him up just enough to see his face.
His dark eyes were still on her but dimming until it closed. Heaven’s blood froze in her veins, tears blurred her eyes.
His breathing came in short, ragged pulls, like each inhale fought against something dragging him under.
“Maverick!” she tapped his cheeks.
“Stay with me… stay with me, please! Please…please don’t leave me!…?”
Her tears fell onto his cheek, warm against his chilling skin.
His eyelids fluttered at the sound of her voice, begging him.
Then, fingers rose, slowly and weakly to wipe her tears.
Heaven let out a broken sob, her face crumpling.
“Don’t worry,” he murmured, voice faint, “I won’t leave you easily…you belong to me,remember”
He smiled. A ghost of a smile, he had never smiled at her before.
Tears streamed harder down her face.
He coughed and blood splurged from his mouth. His hand fell back.
“Maverick…what do I do…” Heaven choked on her own breath, panic surging through her like fire. She didn’t know.. one thing she knew since he entered her life and she didn’t know what her life without him was like again.
She forced herself to look around, her vision blurry, desperate.
No one. No sound except the frantic pound of her heart and the rustle of restless leaves.
“I’ll get help…I’ll go get… I’ll call them….” she stammered, trying to stand.
But his hand grabbed her wrist.
“Don’t"
Just one word, yet itshattered her heart. She hated him intensely at that moment.
Weak and stumbling, he was no longer the cold, imposing commander who could silence an entire crowd with a single command.
Her mind spun out of control.
“Rosalia,” she choked, turning to the horse.
“Please..go find someone. Find Father..Mother ANYONE!”
The horse snorted sharply, as if she understood, before bolting into the trees.
Maverick through his dim eyes watched his brother's widow cry for him, every sound narrowed to her voice calling his name. His hand gripped her hand tightly.
He felt drowsy. “Maverick…hold still okay…they will come” he heard her call him.
Her hands cupped his face. It was warm.
Too pale. His breath ghosted faintly against her thumbs.
“you said you will make it up to me right?..promise me?” He heard her shaky voice.
I promise. Maverick couldn’t speak out again. He felt blood rushing into his lungs.
Heaven’s breathing turned sharp, uneven, tearing in and out of her chest, whey he couldn’t answer her again.
She lifted Maverick with shaking arms, trying to pull him upright.
“We have to get you up to Baximus… have to…..” she cried.
He groaned, a harsh sound ripped from deep pain, and her whole body flinched. Something rustled in the bushes.
Heaven’s head snapped up.
“WHO’S THERE?!…please help me” she screamed, voice cracking so hard it stung her throat.
The forest swallowed her words whole. Silence.
The floor trembled as the sound of hooves thundered,Rosalia leading them. Heaven sighed in relief.
“Maverick..they are here..” she patted his cheeks but he was unresponsive now.. Heavens breathing turned sharp, uneven, tearing in and out of her chest.
General Edward and Eleanor were the first hunters to break through the trees, their horses trotting into the clearing with the lazy satisfaction of a good hunt.
“I told your husband Richard I would get the buffalo this year…and I did!”
Edward boomed with laughter, triumph written all over him.
Eleanor chuckled, brushing a strand of hair from her face.
“He’s going to gloat about it till next year… I just hope Richard catches something big enough to soothe that fragile ego.”
They were still laughing when another pair of hooves thundered out of the forest.
General Richard emerged with Kiara riding beside him, chuckling at some joke she had made. Leaves tangled in her hair.
Eleanor smiled warmly.
“I think he hunted something worth bragging about.”
“My friend!” Richard called out to Edward, raising his chin proudly. “I didn’t even know there was a bison this year..and I wasted my time chasing a bug playfully.
The animals hunted were going to be pulled out later by the servants.
Eva arrived next with Killian quietly trailing behind her. Her face brightened as she had captured the antelope , exactly what she wanted she had almost given up on it.
Then a thunderous gallop cut through their chatter.
Rosalia. Riderless. Flying toward them like she carried death on her back.
Maverick, Heaven and Baximus were nowhere in sight.
A horse without a rider in the forest could only mean one thing: death.
All the smiles froze instantly.
General Richard didn’t wait for questions. He yanked the reins, whipped his horse around, and charged after Rosalia.
“GO!” he barked, voice booming with urgency.
The rest bolted after him Edward, Eleanor, Eva, Kiara, Killian all swallowed by the forest as Rosalia led them through the maze of trees.
The deeper they went, the heavier the air became. They held their heart in their arms. When they finally burst into the open space, the image froze.
Maverick lay sprawled on the forest floor, his head resting on Heaven’s lap. Her hands were drenched in blood.Her dress was stained.
And Maverick Richard, the cold, fierce, unstoppable force…was motionless.
For one terrifying second, none of them could tell who the blood belonged to.
Then Heaven lifted her head, eyes swollen, face pale.
It was Maverick.
General Richard’s vision turned red. His heart stopped .Then slammed painfully back to life.
“NO.”His voice cracked the air like a whip.
He jumped from his horse before it even stopped, stumbling, sprinting, falling to his knees beside his son.
Eleanor’s soul left her body. She pressed a hand over her heart, breath strangling in her chest.
Eva’s hand flew to her mouth so fast her knuckles turned white.
Killian froze, eyes wide and hollow.
“What happened?!” Richard roared, voice breaking…not with anger, but terror.
Heaven opened her mouth, but no sound came out, only tears and trembling lips.
Her hand hung helplessly above Maverick's chest, and she whispered
“He… he won’t… he won’t speak to me again…”, voice shattering mid-sentence.
Tears slipped down her face, falling onto Maverick’s cheek.
Eleanor collapsed to her knees beside them, trembling violently as she reached for her son’s limp hand.
Eva let out a strangled cry, stumbling backward as Killian grabbed her before she fell.
General Edward cursed under his breath, horror solidifying in his features.
Richard pressed his trembling hands over Maverick’s wound, blood soaking into his palms.
“He’s still warm..he’s still warm…” Richard breathed desperately, as if repeating it would keep Maverick alive