Blood Ties

38

No winners
~
Erisa
~

The arrow freed from the bow and struck into the heart of the tree trunk, a crack drifting through the woodland.

Birds scattered out of their nests and took flight into the wind, chirping as their wings flapped away.

Drawing another arrow, Erisa stood straighter with an open stance and brought her focus to the tree trunk. She had been out every day for the past few weeks, same time, with the sun at the degree of rising above the tree line and into the clouds.

This time of day brought her a sense of ease she couldn't exactly place.

Breathing through her nose, eyes aligned with her target, she drew back her string, readying for the shot when a ding quaked through the woods like church bells.

Erisa jumped, fear passing through her and the arrow flew without her recalling the release, shooting past the tree and into the bushes.

Groaning miserably, she placed her bow and arrows on the ground with jitteriness shooting through her fingers tips as she marched away.

Erisa reached for her phone and Cole's name flashed on the screen. Her heart galloped, the tingling in her fingers heightening and she opened the message:

Cole: You want to go to a carnival tonight, Moonbeam? I'll win you a toy. ;)

Erisa's face fell, once filled with the joy of shooting arrows, now ruined by this ridiculous attempt at flirting.

Weeks have passed without a word from him, no message or call, not like before when there were continuous pursuits of communication. Erisa wondered how often she was on Cole's mind, a tinkering thought or a spiral of obsessiveness that overruled him.

Erisa: Do you have a good aim?

Cole didn't wait and responded quickly as she sent the message.

Cole: Come and find out. I'll pick you up at six.

Erisa grunted, dabbling her fingers across the screen at a rapid rate and wondered how on earth going to a carnival with an unhinged Alpha would play out.

Erisa: I'll meet you there, my dad and brother won't like a random guy coming by the house. Send the details.

It was bad enough he wanted to win her teddy bear, Erisa wasn't about to hand over her address ... that would be signing her life away

Cole: Sure thing. We're going to go on a merry-go-round.

A laugh peeled out of Erisa, slightly peeved by the nerve he had, but she didn't bother with the lunatic again. She would have the entire night to spend with him, feeding him blissful lies and whispering sweet nothings to him. And then, that would be it.

After tonight, Cole will be taken into the Fenris pack with no stones left unturned and Erisa wouldn't have to see him again.

____

The map they used drove them to a landscape of fields dotted with various rides, sprinkled with booming and vivid lights that could be seen distances away.

Many cars were parked on the dirt and even more, people scattered to the entrance of the carnival, walking through the gates of the clownery and festive place.

"Is Cole a kid or something?" Cadence demanded rhetorically, frustration in her tone. "A carnival, of all fucking places."

Erisa wouldn't deny, there were child-like traits the deadly Alpha possessed. Take immaturity and easily tempted for example, he was like a child with a toy he didn't want taken off him.