Wild Boys

Chapter Fifteen

a/n: this is a crazy chapter lol i had too much fun writing this. the 'vacation' arc has 2-3 chapters more!

enjoy reading!

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In the midst of Iris' third slice of heavenly chocolate cake, Mason came running in the dining area. "Yo, they've gone missing!"

And so that's how her dinner came to an abrupt end. It seemed like this test of courage not only weeds out those who were frail of hearts and those with hearts of steel; it also uproots those who had air for brains. When there's a perfectly done table full of great meals, you eat, not go out in the dark to enter an unfamiliar forest teeming with creatures that bite in the night. But she guessed that's the difference between them. Iris knew best putting her stomach a priority, and they didn't.

So why was she being forced to search for them? The answer was clear. Ares and his dark aura surrounded him, looking like the devil himself.

"I'll kill them." She heard him muttering under his breath. "I'll skin them alive. They better hope I don't find them myself because when I do, oh boy, I probably won't return with their bodies at all. They won't know what's coming for them."

Very slowly, Iris took careful steps away from him hoping he's too caught up in his upcoming murder plan to notice. "Where you going, young lady?"

"Away from you."

He let out a dark, scary chuckle. "Do you want to join in this search? Or do you want to die?"

"Not much choice, huh."

"There isn't. Get—" He narrowed his eyes at her and closed his distance in three quick strides. His hand flashed out, too fast for Iris, and felt his finger touch the side of her mouth. There was a dark substance on it that she realized was icing. Much to her amazement, Ares tasted it in his mouth. "Chocolate cake."

Iris felt her memory click. There had been one instance where his nose had sharply smelled the banoffee pie on her. Her mind ran through another part where Chief got boldly interrupted just as he was about to mention something...

Like Iris, addicted to—

Addicted to sugar.

His glare could bury her under. "Not a word."

Iris smartly kept her mouth shut this time. Her survival instincts told her he wouldn't be so forgiving this time around. She had no desire to end up as the victim of his murder plan, not when he had perfect other victims to kill. She wouldn't steal the spotlight from the boys.

That was how she ended up drawing the short straw. Julian, much to his disapproval, stayed in his villa to wait with the specific instructions that if they were still gone in another hour, he was to ask for help from the town.

They trudged into the forest with flashlights and bags full of water and first aid kit in case of worst case scenario. The murmurs of the night immediately surrounded them. The frequent crunch of leaves and the animals' mating calls, while Ares' voice strongly carried out his call for the boys in the dark.

"I'll kill you, get your asses here!"

In truth, she didn't blame them for not coming out.

"When I get ahold of you, wolf boy, your hide's gonna hang in my room!"

"Your head, Grizz!"

"Your hide's gonna be useful for winter, Fox!"

Iris cleared her throat. "Letting them know you plan to turn them into fashion pieces will most likely push them deeper into the forest, you know."