Kate and Sean

Untitled Part 14

The hunting parties assembled in the square with each group ballooning to well over thirty hunters. Mâvis stood on the dining balcony looking out over everyone gathered with their weapons. To his dismay, five humans made the hunt besides Abbott. One of them was a female and would be traveling with the women.

 Three of them were here long before he became king, and at least one of them was new, most likely a rescue Genevieve approved of without his consent. He soon turned his attention to the few dozen cubs playing in the great room. Jocelyn was busy helping to set up sleeping bags and leather cots while Layla was trying to scramble up on the bench next to him to look over the railing.

The king reached down to help the little girl steady herself, "Come cub, you can sit with your uncle, Mâvis." As soon as she was on the bench, she reached for the railing, opening and closing her claws indicating she wanted to go there next. The king snatched her up off the benched and rubbed his face in her belly till she giggled. He sat her on the railing and clutched her to his chest so she could watch the crowd below.

She squealed with delight when she saw her mother walk past in full hunting gear, "Mama, mama." She pointed out into the crowd and looked up at the king to see if he was paying attention.

"Very good, cub. Now let me know when you see your father. He is most likely cowering in his cottage in fear of a few deer." He chuckled as he ran his claws through the curly mop on her head.

Abbott having just walked onto the balcony with a bag of his daughter's belongings, overheard most of that, "I could just be cowering behind you in fear of the enormous wolves instead."

Mâvis sneered, "That is how you will spend most of the hunt, is it not?"

"You know me so well, sir." Abbott put the bag down and picked up his daughter to give her a hug before leaving for the hunt. "You're going to miss Daddy? Yes you are. I will miss you too." He planted a kiss on her forehead and had a bit of a hard time handing her over to the chambermaid before bidding a few of the other children good bye on his way out.

By the time they made it to the square the women were already gone on their hunt and the men were finishing with their supplies. Mâvis grabbed a crossbow and checked it for aim before handing it off to Abbott. He crammed a dozen or so arrows for it into his own quiver and stormed off to meet the guards that had left already. Abbott threw his hammock and satchel over his shoulder and followed, passing right by the newest member of the human group.

Sean packed the last of his gear in his bag and grabbed the bow and arrow he had been practicing with. Then he followed the humans and the one guard who was willing to show him how to use the bow to begin with.

Although the male group was so large, they had dispersed rather quickly. All he knew was that they were to keep up with the females, who chose to find a spot to camp before hunting rather than hunt along the way. For a while, he thought he was keeping up nicely but several times he found himself alone.

Finally, night approached and he found himself in need of a fire. No one else was around and he hadn't seen a single animal, beast or human in hours. He took out a flint stone that he had earned doing some work for the black smith and piled up some brush for kindling. It was blazing pretty well by the time he decided to venture out from the camp to gather more wood.

Sean made it all of a few feet into the darkness when he heard something growling and froze solid. It wasn't very far away and he feared even turning to gauge the distance, knowing the wolf would lunge. The growling intensified and he let out what he thought would be his last breath when the monstrous dog yelped and ceased all other sounds.