The Vampire’s Human / Book One ✔️
Chapter Fifteen: Trust Issues

Mackenzie stood frozen in her place as she stared down at the objects gently being pushed into her hands. If she had known that she was going to be woken by August that morning and told to get ready, she would have stayed in bed.

Lucas was too giggity. He was too excited about what they were about to do and she couldn’t help but to question. “Why?”

He beamed even brighter than physically possible. “Because you have been crying for four days and need to kill something.”

“Not everything can be solved by killing a living being.”

“Oh, hush!” Lucas scaled, pushing the objects into her hands even harder. “Tell me you know how to use these!”

Mack eyed the items. A large bow and at least twenty arrows were currently being forced down her throat and as she stared, she wondered if Lucas was right. What if killing made her feel better?

She remembered going off into the forest with her sister, she remembered the feeling she got when they were hunting their prey, the rush, the adrenaline but this time was different. This time Marley wasn’t here and Mackenzie was on her own with two males and the third somewhere in the trees doing who knows what.

At this point, she stopped wondering why a prince like Raphael liked to be in the trees so often. It was as if they called to him to be out there and because of this, he would use hunting as his excuse.

“I do.” She admitted sheepishly. “I just… I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“You need a distraction, your majesty.” August spoke with his hands cupped behind his back. “We all know how hard you have taken the news and need to break away from it.”

Mack wanted to protest but she didn’t know how to respond. Not only were they both right but she was also taken aback about being addressed as a royal. She had a feeling that it was going to happen eventually but she didn’t think it was going to happen so soon.

Instead of responding, she signed and took the bow and arrows. A happy grin being thrown her way while August silently nodded in approval. “How are we going to do this?”

“Raph has already gone and scouted the area this morning.” Lucas spoke as he began to walk, August and Mack following behind. “There is a small group of deer by the closest river bank, two hours away. He didn’t find any other animal tracks so we have a long walk on our hands.”

Mack internally groaned. She was still sore and tired from her six days of freedom and the idea of walking another two hours and to spend who knows how long, trying to hunt a deer was not on her list of things she wanted to do right this very second.

Spending time with both August and Lucas however gave her the opportunity to get to know them and allow her curiosity to finally get fulfilled. “So, why is it that Zack had travelled all over the country to find me but nobody else has seemed to do the same thing?”

“Because Raph and myself are unable to find our mates until after the future king finds his.” Luke replied. “It is a stupid rule considering we could have found our mates at any given time but that is the old way and tradition never dies.”

Mack nodded in understanding before turning to August. “And you?”

August took a moment to reply. “As commander it is my duty to serve, obey, and train. Having a mate complicates my duties however if I did find her, this will give the kingdom a chance to have another female warrior again.”

Mack frowned. “Another female warrior? What happened to all the girls?”

“They died.” Luke said sadly. “Three hundred years ago a black plague took over all dominant females. This plague covered them in black ink and caused them to go mad with bloodlust before finally, their hearts stopped. We to this day still do not know how this plague came to be and why it happened to the strongest of women but it happened and we have never had a female warrior since.”

“That is terrifying.” She admitted. Mack couldn’t imagine the pain and panic that plague had caused. The deaths of daughters, mothers and wives all because they carried a stronger mentality was horrific. “Because you have found your mate, what are you going to do?”

August took his time to respond again as if he had been thinking about this himself. “I have requested some time off which I have been granted for. I want to try and track her steps, find where she hides and maybe try and talk to her properly.”

Mack listened to his words and bit her lip. “Maybe I can help.”

“How could you do that, your majesty?” August asked in puzzlement.

“I might have found her companions and had dinner with them while I was running away.”

Lucas turned his body and looked at her in shock. “Companions?”

She nodded. “Something to do with a rare occurrence with them being mates, I didn’t get the whole story. All I know is that they are two felines and they are covered in weapons.”

The boys didn’t respond and she didn’t mind that. She could see the gratitude in August’s eyes and that was enough for her to be satisfied.

Their walk continued. The odd conversations would spark with her asking odd questions to break the silence until finally, Lucas held up his hand as a signal.

“Over there.” He whispered. Mack and August came up and looked over the bushes to find three bucks with sixteen pointers on their antlers each. From what she could remember, that meant they were the perfect hunting target. “Mack, we are close enough for you to get a perfect shot if you tried right now.”

Mack shook her head. “What if I miss?”

“Don’t think about it.” He responded sternly. “The more you think about it, the more you will convince yourself not to do it.”

Mackenzie still didn’t understand why she had to do this herself but decided to take Luke’s words and drew an arrow. Her bow was a little shaky as she got into position and drew back the bow.

She felt herself studying her heart rate as she concentrated on the closest buck. Mack remembered her private trying that Marley and herself did when nobody was looking. Neither girls were very good but they tried and had fun and that was the main point of it all.

From those memories she softly smiled to herself and released the arrow. The thoughts of her sister had depressed her ever since she was told what had happened but thinking about the good memories, the fun memories caused her to relax and pretend for just those short moments that she was with Marley again.

The arrow had flown in the air, the head piercing the bucks side and shot straight through the heart. Her adrenaline began to pound inside of her as she watched it take its last breath and finally collapsed to the earth’s floor.

Cheers surrounded her as she saw Raphael appear out of nowhere and inspect the buck before giving her a thumbs up in approval.

She smiled before making her way towards their food. The rest had run as soon as the dying buck had made its first cries of pain. Time seemed to have jumped as she watched the boys gut and skin the animal then and there, preserving its blood in jars that Raph had been carrying in a satchel.

The buck was large and solidly built, the meat was fat and juicy and just from the visual, Mack knew that the meat would be tender and delicious once cooked.

Their walk back was filled with happy, silent grins as she thanked them for ignoring her protests and forced her to go out with them. It was as if they were her two girlfriends who would pull her out of her own wallowing and for this, she was grateful for their friendship.

“Go inside and clean up.” Lucas said as they entered the stables. “Zack didn’t exactly like the idea of us taking you out without him so the faster he can smell your scent in the castle again, the better.”

Mack rolled her eyes. “I’m not remotely surprised.”

“I would never allow my lady to do a man’s job.” A male said behind her as she turned and raised an eyebrow.

“And why is that?” She questioned. The man was tall but lanky, his red hair looked to be greasy and his dull grey eyes made her feel uncomfortable in seconds. He was one of the stable boys and yet, he looked out of place.

“Because a lady should be protected and cherished.” He said as he eyed her up and down. “And I would treasure a beautiful lady like you in seconds.”

“You are aware that you are speaking to your future queen!” Lucas spoke with warning. His tone gave her a fright however she felt so uncomfortable around this strange man that she didn’t mind Lucas sticking up for her. “She deserves respect. Not to be looked at as if she is some piece of meat.”

“I do not mean to offend.” The man spoke as he saw August coming towards them with a questioning look on his face. “I find beautiful women should not be treated as if they have a cock!”

Mack’s eyes widened, she wanted to laugh both out of fear and humour as Lucas growled and exposed his fangs. August heard the man’s words as well and displayed the same reaction as Lucas.

“Mack, go inside.” Lucas commanded.

She nodded, not willing to argue as she slowly backed away and retreated into the castle. As much as she wanted to stick around and fight for her rights, she also felt like the entire royal army was about to do that for her.

And that was oddly comforting.

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