The Hunting Game: A Fantasy Romance Novel

by Leila Vy

  I felt a pinch at my butt, and I squealed a little, and I sat up straighter. It was then I felt that apparent hardness on my back. I turned to look at him, and he arched an eyebrow. I moved to get off his lap, but his grip around my waist tightened. He put the phone on mute and leaned in to kiss my neck where my pulse beats.

  “You need to stop moving your bottom, my beautiful mate. Otherwise, you and I would be doing something you might not be ready for,” he whispered, and my stomach fluttered with butterflies. I bit my lip and remained completely frozen in my spot. He chuckled as he un-muted the phone. God, he was really crazy—crazy alpha mate. Now, I was fully aware of every part of our body that was touching, and I couldn’t stop thinking about what exactly we would be doing if I continued to move around on his lap.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I patiently waited until he was done talking. He put his phone down and then turned my head towards him. I looked down at him and licked my lips as they suddenly felt dry, and my throat felt parched. His finger moved to trace my lips gently, and in its wake, a small heat tingled on my lips.

  “So beautiful,” he whispered. His hand snaked through my hair and pulled me down to meet him halfway as his lips molded perfectly over mine.

  A sigh escaped my mouth as he sucked on my lips several times before slipping his tongue inside. If I thought his touch was like wildfire, his kisses had me burning on the inside and out. The sensation intensified, and I felt myself wrapping my arms around him, urging him to continue. My toes curled at the overwhelming feeling, and a sound came from the back of my throat.

  When he pulled back and started trailing kisses down my jawline, I tilted my head, enough to give him access. He growled in excitement as he saw how willing I was as his mate. He was an intoxicating drug, and I loved it. Every time I was around him, my mind seemed to be in a numbing state.

  “Titus…” I whispered. He hummed his response as he sucked on his earlier love bite. “The phone please.”

  He sighed and dropped his forehead onto my shoulder as he reached for his phone and handed it to me.

  “You really know how to kill the mood,” he mumbled. I couldn’t help the smile that spread on my face as I dialed the alpha line. Shortly after, Kailyn picked up.

  “Kailyn, this is Patience,” I said eagerly. Kailyn squealed on the other end.

  “Oh my god, Patience! You called. How are you doing? How is he treating you? Tell me all about it.” She went on, and I blushed, turning the volume down even though I knew, either way, Titus would hear everything. His hand was naughtily moving up and down my side.

  “I’m doing great. It’s beautiful here. He is treating me well. I just wanted to call and let you and everyone know I am doing great and made it safely. I wanted to speak to Dad. Do you think you can go get him?” I asked.

  “Yes. Hold on for a few minutes,” she said. I heard some shuffling and noises before the phone went silent. I knew Kailyn had left the room. A moment later, I heard shuffling and noises again as the phone was being picked up.

  “Patience…” Kyle’s voice came on the end. He sounded weary. When I didn’t answer him, he spoke again. “Please talk to me. I need to hear your voice.”

  Titus’s body went rigid as he listened. “Alpha, how are you doing?”

  “Please don’t say that. Call me Kyle. You used to call me that.” He pleaded. His voice was broken.

  “I prefer alpha instead,” I replied calmly.

  “It’s Kyle, please. I miss you, Patience.” Titus released a growl, and I moved to touch his chest where I began moving my hand up and down his body. Part of it to calm him down, but I couldn’t deny that I didn’t enjoy touching his hard chest.

  “You have to stop, Alpha. This has to end. You have my sister. However, it’s actually a good thing you picked up, Alpha. Now that you have my sister and I have my chosen, I think it is best if you and I make a clean break. We can start out fresh.” I began, and Kyle interrupted.

  “No. Don’t do what I think you are doing,” he retorted immediately. “I won’t let you do it.”

  “I, Patience Valek, accept your rejection, Alpha Kyle from Greenwood Pack.”

  And it was like a string that snapped between us. I felt a pinch of pain in my chest from the break of the bond. It was the last of our bond completely letting go, and I heard Kyle roaring on the other line of the phone. He was an idiot, and to be quite honest, my sister deserved better than him.

  “Patience, I am not letting you go. I am coming for you. I don’t care about your sister or her feelings anymore,” he said angrily on the other end. “You’re mine! It was stupid of me to let you go. You are coming back home with me when I get there. I’ll rip that ass—”

  Titus stole the phone from me and placed it by his ear as he spoke threateningly. “Come for her, and I’ll kill you before you can cross my territory.”

  “She’s mine!” Kyle roared on the other end.

  “Not anymore. She isn’t,” Titus replied. “Now, she is mine.”

  Kyle roared on the other end, and I heard Kailyn shouting at him to stop. I heard noises and my father’s voice trying to calm Kyle down. I no longer felt anything for him. The bond I had with him no longer existed, and the only bond visible enough for me was Titus. I felt relief for the first time in a long time. There was always this heavy weight on my shoulders, and my heart was always in constant pain. I held onto Kyle and the bond because I had hope. Now, I realized it was useless to hold onto something that would never work. Kyle had made his decision. He could regret it all he wanted. I knew for a fact I was doing the right thing for me.

  The phone got picked back up, and my father came on the other line.

  “Patience, we have to let you go. I wish I can talk to you further, but it looks like we have our hands full right now,” he said quickly.

  “What is going on?” I asked because I could hear furniture crashing and things breaking.

  My father raised his voice. “Alpha Kyle isn’t handling the break of the bond really well. We need to control him. I can’t talk right now, but take care of yourself, child. I hope to see you soon.”

  “It’s okay, Dad. I’ll talk to you another day. I am sorry to have caused you any kind of trouble.”

  “Don’t be sorry, Patience. This is not your fault. You have to remember that this is not your fault. Alpha Kyle did this to himself. He will just have to live with his decision. I stand by what you have decided. You are my daughter, and I am on your side,” he replied. “I have to go. I will talk to you soon.”

  After that, we hung up quickly. Titus wrapped his arms around me as he sniffed me to help calm him down. He was feeling on edge too, probably due to the threat that was issued by another alpha. It was a challenge, and his wolf must be feeling on edge. I wrapped my arms around him.

  I wondered what was happening back at home. Kailyn would know for sure this time if Kyle was creating this kind of ruckus. He needed to control his temper, but then again, this did not involve me. It wasn’t my job to care about what happened to Kyle or Kailyn. Kailyn was my sister, and if anything, I did hope she found out about Kyle and me. I might be a coward to not have told her, but I really did want to protect her from any kind of pain.

  Titus’s rigid body was pressed against me. I sighed and pulled him closer, hoping to soothe away any kind of emotion he was feeling. This was tough on all of us. Finding a chosen like this was almost always a complicated matter. However, holding Titus in my arms was giving me strength to look forward in the future. I could see myself with him. He was a possessive and dominating alpha, but he was also caring.

  “I am happy that I met you, Titus,” I whispered.

  His body relaxed a little, and his arms tightened around me, his nose and lips grazing against the sensitive skin on my neck. It felt right in his arms.

  “And I am happy that you chose me, Patience. If he comes for you, I will fight for you.” His breath brushed against my skin, making me shudder. This tall domineering man was
mine, and he was going to fight for me. I had someone to stand in front of me, a wall that would protect me. I felt safe.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Kailyn

  I heard commotion coming from the other room. It sounded like someone was getting hurt. Picking up my speed, I ran towards the noise. When I opened the door, I saw my dad and the beta nailing down my mate who seemed to look like a crazy male. He was growling like crazy and shouting that “she” was his. Deep inside of me, something tugged, and I knew something was wrong—something I never bothered to look at or see. It was as if someone put a cover over my eyes.

  Kyle looked furious and crazed. He had never shown me this side of him. With me, he had always been the calm and composed male that I knew he was. He never picked a fight with me. He gave me everything I wanted, but that didn’t stop the seed of suspicion.

  “Kailyn, get out of here,” My dad ordered when he saw me at the door entrance.

  “But—” I started, wanting to help them. I was Kyle’s chosen mate after all. I should be able to calm him down.

  “Get out!” My dad commanded again in a firmer voice. It held no room for arguments. Even with my father commanding me, I hesitated. Then I glanced back at Kyle one last time. I didn’t want to leave him. He needed me. I couldn’t abandon him.

  Kyle whipped around to look at me. His eyes blazing with anger and craziness I had never seen before. It was directed at me. “I don’t love you. I thought I did. I love your sister. She’s mine! She’s my true mate, and I lost her!”

  The air in my lungs left me completely. I couldn’t breathe. An immense amount of pain twisted in my chest. I felt my world spinning around me. Memories flickered through my mind: all those years of seeing Patience in pain, crying, and looking heartbroken. I never would’ve thought it was Kyle. Out of all the male in the pack, it was him. I shook my head, and Kyle looked at me, still fuming.

  “Yes, it’s true. She’s mine. I thought I loved you. I made a mistake. I need her. She’s my rightful luna that the Moon Goddess gave me. I thought the bond with you will grow, but it didn’t. I only grew to love your sister more and more.” Each word was like a knife to my heart. Tears streamed down my face. I felt betrayal. I felt guilt for taking my sister’s mate. It was beyond my imagination. I couldn’t believe that without thinking, I had hurt the people I loved, and I didn’t even know about it.

  Why didn’t Patience tell me?

  Why didn’t my parents tell me?

  I felt stupid. I felt hurt and betrayed. How could they do this to me? I decided to live a life that wasn’t mine, but then the truth is I couldn’t blame them completely, could I? It was my fault that I chose a chosen instead of waiting for my true mate.

  The betrayal from my family hurt, but my stupidity also made me hate myself. I should’ve seen what was in front of my eyes. My dad looked at me from the ground as he pinned down Kyle. The concerned eyes of a father looking back at me only made me feel worse.

  “Don’t,” he said quietly. “We did it because Patience wanted you to be happy. You were already with Kyle then. She didn’t want to hurt you.”

  Clenching my first together to control my own emotions, I turned back to Kyle and truly looked at him. He spent his nights saying he loved me, but it was all a lie. He didn’t love me. I was a replacement for Patience. When we were making love, he never uttered a single word or a single loving phrase.

  A sob left my lips, and I quickly covered it with my fist. I didn’t recognize the male in front of me. My whole life was a lie.

  “You never loved me, did you?” I asked him. His eyes were still black, but his shoulder drooped with guilt. His face told me everything I needed to know. If he did love me, he should have stopped me a long time ago.

  “I did love you, but I can’t fight what the Moon Goddess gave me. For years, I fought it, thinking I was doing the right thing, but during those years, I have grown to love your sister more and more. I am sorry, Kailyn. I never meant to hurt you.” His eyes started turning back to its normal color. His anger was slowly dissipating.

  “But you did,” I said weakly.

  He pushed himself up onto his knees, but my father and the beta still had him firmly pinned. His arms were held in a tight grip to keep him down.

  “Understand that I couldn’t fight it. I was too weak.”

  “Did I ever mean anything to you? Wh-what we had…was it just an act? Did you even care about me?” It didn’t matter now. I know it didn’t, but I needed to know if anything we had in the past meant anything. I didn’t understand what he was going through because I hadn’t found my mate, and so staring at him, I knew I loved him. The feelings and affection I carried right now were real. The pain felt like my heart had broken into a million pieces.

  “It was never an act u-until I found out that Patience was mine.” He looked guilty. His eyes were desperate. “I loved you. I know for a fact that I did.”

  “You loved me, but why didn’t you give me up when you found Patience? Why did you lie? Why did you mark me when you knew that my sister was yours?” My pain was quickly laced with fury.

  He looked down in shame. “I didn’t want to abandon you.”

  “You took pity on me because I couldn’t find my mate?” The shock and pain came roaring back. I took a step back. This was too much.

  “Kailyn, please, listen to me.” He pushed against my father and the beta to stand up. “I’m sorry for what I did. I never meant to hurt you. You have to believe me. I did love you. I just know that I can’t resist the bond any longer. Patience was meant to be mine.”

  Tears streamed down my face, and the sudden surge of anger tore through me again. I glared at him with enough hate. How could he sleep with me and speak of words of love to me all this time when it was all a lie? He stopped loving me the minute he knew Patience was his. He just never knew it, but I knew that he did. I knew Kyle for so long that I knew how his mind thought before he did. It just amazed me that I didn’t realize it until now. I guess I thought I did know how his mind worked. I gripped my hands tightly into fist. My fingernails were digging into my palms, but the pain was incomparable to what I felt in my chest.

  “Sorry doesn’t cut it, Kyle. Stay away from me and Patience. She’s happy now. Don’t you dare go near her. You don’t deserve her, and you don’t deserve me. As for what you and I have, we are done,” I spoke through my tears, surprisingly calm. I looked at my dad who looked sad as he looked at me. I couldn’t look at him. No. It would only break my heart even more. I spun on my heels and ran out of the office with one intention in my mind. I needed to get to Patience. I needed to apologize for all the pain I caused her.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Patience

  After my phone call with my family, I felt something was wrong. My guts were churning, and there was a strange tug in my heart. I worried about my dad and my sister. I worried that Kyle might’ve told my sister who I was to him.

  It wasn’t fair. He didn’t have the right to do that. He rejected me, and now that I was finally happy, he was going to say that he wanted me? He was selfish, coward, and disgusting, but then again, knowing Kyle, I knew he would do anything to get what he wanted.

  I understood that the fact that I hid who Kyle was to me from my sister was wrong because family should have no secrets, but who was I to demand my mate from my sister when she was clearly in love with him? Who was I to place myself in between what had been growing between them for years? Moon Goddess might’ve chosen me to be Kyle’s mate, but was the mate bond strong enough to fight against a chosen love? All I knew at that time was that my sister was in love with my supposed-to-be mate, and their bond was stronger than mine. I didn’t have the heart to hurt my sister and destroy her relationship with Kyle.

  Imagine my surprise when Kyle told me on the day Titus came to get me that he had fallen in love with me over the years. The idea made me snort in hilarity. It showed how selfish he was. He dragged me on his side for years and kept my sister in his arms e
very night. It was perfect for him, and he made his choice.

  I should’ve told my sister then, but everything happened so quickly. If I did not leave, Titus would have Kyle’s head. I intended to speak with Dad regarding the issue of Kyle, but the dimwit decided to pick up the phone and talk to me.

  After the phone call, Titus left to speak with Christian, and I was left wandering down the halls until I found myself at the back of the house. I had no clue how I landed myself here, but at least, I made it to the lower level. I found a group of young teen females laughing and giggling at Noor as he was training the pack warriors on the field.

  Noor was shirtless and was walking around with his hands behind his back. He was cute with his tan skin and black hair tied into a ponytail. It made him look rugged with his broad tattooed chest. He had the darkest protruding brown eyes I had ever seen, but I thought that was his best feature because it made him look more dangerous. No wonder the young teen females were sniffing around him.

  “Noor!” I shouted as I made my way toward him. He turned around and smiled when he saw me.

  “Patience, what are you doing out here? Where is the alpha?” he asked, looking around.

  “He left me to speak with Christian. Honestly, I don’t know how I landed myself out here. I was looking for the breakfast room,” I replied, and he began laughing as he shook his head.

  “We need to give you a proper tour,” he said.

  “That we do. At this rate, I would get lost in a supply closet,” I muttered. He grinned at my comment. “So it seems you have attracted yourself a group of young females.”