Page 102 of The Fox Heir

His voice is firm, but I don’t miss the note of heartbreak. “You never looked at me the way you look at him. Never.”

All around us, the frozen forest glitters in the sunlight. Squirrels hop from branch to branch, knocking the remains of melting icicles to the ground. Birds tweet, grateful for the warmth and the promise of spring, but I still feel cold inside.

“This isn’t just about Tristan,” I say. “You’re clearly still angry with me.”

Hunter looks at me as if he can’t believe what he’s seeing. “You betrayed me. Of course I’m angry!”

“You betrayed me first!”

And there it is, the splinter between us that’s never come out. The one ghost that will forever haunt us.

“That was years ago.” His voice breaks. “How long do I need to suffer?”

“You sold me out to my father because you were jealous.” I pin him with a glare.

He sniffs and sets his jaw in defiance. “I was. I probably still am. But I’m trying to move on, Sienna. Why can’t you?”

“What do you want from me, Hunter?”

All around us, the forest sounds have ceased, as if even the trees feel the brewing tension. As if they’re afraid.

Hunter’s face breaks into bewilderment. “Forgive me already!”

“I DO!” I don’t mean to shout, but the pent-up pain that I’ve been tending for years bursts out of me. My voice echoes off the trees, sending my words into the still forest in an unending loop. I nearly choke on a sob. “It’s myself I can’t seem to forgive, not you.”

We stand in silence for several long moments. A breeze shakes snow from a pine branch, and it glitters as it falls gently to the ground.

When Hunter speaks again, it’s so quiet, I almost don’t hear him. “I just can’t stand to see you with him.”

The truth of it is plastered clear across his face. Hunter is unendingly loyal, yes. But he is also jealous. Always has been.

“But I’m trying, Sienna. I truly am.”

“Hunter, I⁠—”

My words die in my mouth. The ground is shaking. I look to the trees around us to confirm. Leaves tremble on branches and melting snow rains down from the treetops. I listen intently. Beyond the sound of trees trembling, there’s something else.

Hooves.

I turn to Hunter, my heart in my throat.

His face is pale, his eyes wide in panic. He stands with his feet apart, ready to fight. “What⁠—?”

A creature leaps out from behind a clump of brambles. It’s a doe, I realize. Her eyes are red and wild; spittle foams at her mouth. She doesn’t even see us as she races past, her breathing strangled in panic. I turn toward the direction she came from. In the distance, through the trees, there’s movement. It’s so wide, I don’t know where to turn to get out of its path.

Hunter grabs my hand. “Run!” We turn to follow the deer.

It takes a moment for me to realize what’s approaching. It isn’t just one thing. It’s a stampede of forest creatures. I glance behind us. Rabbits leap over logs, their ears tilted back for speed. Squirrels dart from limb to limb, scrambling for purchase. Then, more deer.

I put one arm over my head as we dart between them, running in the same direction as we try not to get trampled.

Three bears thunder past, their paws indenting the soggy ground, spraying mud all over us. There’s nowhere to go, only forward as we try not to fall.

I stumble momentarily, and the little green book falls out of my pocket, into the slush. Panic floods me, and I reach out to save it, just as a buck leaps over me, crashing to the ground in front of us. Hunter hauls me to my feet as I stuff the book back into my pocket.

“Don’t stop!” He drags me forward with the tide of forest creatures.

They’re not all normal animals. A lynx-like cat with human hands slinks past us, darting between the feet of beasts much larger. Its spotted tail is tipped in a lethal-looking barb. What appears to be a boulder rolls past us, crushing a chipmunk beneath its weight. As it passes, I spot limbs tucked in tightly to its core.