Crucible – A Dark Enemies-to-Lovers Romance Read Online B.B. Reid

Categories Genre: Alpha Male, Dark, Erotic Tags Authors:
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Total pages in book: 194
Estimated words: 187754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 939(@200wpm)___ 751(@250wpm)___ 626(@300wpm)
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But I don’t see the deer when it takes its last breath.

I see me.

I’m slumped against the fallen tree and bleeding out. My face is painted, my hair is primped, and I’m draped in diamonds and dressed to stun in the designer gown I wore the night I won my first Grammy. A meaningless fucking award that countless others likely wanted more and probably deserved. I still have that plastic fucking smile on my face, even in death. When I see the arrow piercing my false heart, I tip back my head and roar my victory.

Birds burst from the canopy, giving my position away, but I don’t care.

The puppet is dead.

I take one step toward my kill when I hear a low growl.

A giant paw appears on top of the fallen tree that the buck made its bed, and then a furry head and pointed ears appear as the wolf climbs over with its gaze locked on me.

It’s the pregnant, tawny wolf Thorin and I spotted during one of our hunts a few weeks ago.

The same one Seth petted like it’s a damn domesticated dog.

Well, it’s not pregnant now, and seeing it up close, I’m convinced Seth is fucking nuts. The wolf is huge with flesh-shredding claws and teeth. I’ve seen up close what it could do with them—how quickly and viciously wolves can kill.

It’s a testament to this mountain trying to kill me several times that the natural terror I once had for them is muted. There’s only respect from one hunter to the next as I watch it leap over the dead buck and growl again.

I still see flashes of Cassie dying in the snow, surrounded by more than just one. But I’ve since learned that wolves are not the scariest thing in these wilds. And now they’re mine.

“What the hell do you want, mutt? I’m not in the mood.”

She bares her teeth, so I reveal mine by reaching for an arrow.

I swear her eyes follow it when I pull it from my pack. She retreats a step, and I mistake it for submission until she turns back the way she came.

I still don’t catch on to the fact that I was never her intended prey until she sniffs at the buck before wrapping her jaws around its neck.

My eyes are blown wide when she starts dragging it off.

“Hey, you bitch! That’s mine!”

Raising the bow again, I aim and fire a warning shot, hoping to scare it off. It lands with a thud inside the tree near its hind. The wolf snarls but doesn’t let go of the deer as it rounds the trunk and torn-up roots of the fallen tree, so I nock another bow.

I aim for the wolf this time, but after a full minute, I still can’t bring myself to take the shot. I stalk it around the tree when I lose sight of the wolf, but my arms start to quake, and I know I can’t hold it for much longer.

Her den must be nearby.

The den where her cubs await their mother’s return.

All things die.

Not today.

Lowering the bow, I let it fall to the ground as I helplessly watch the mother wolf and dead buck retreat.

“Oooh!” I punch the air when the wolf disappears. “You’re lucky you’re a single mom!”

I swear I hear her growl again.

Alone again, I debate my options. Thorin, Khalil, and Seth will be pissed that I snuck off either way, but will they be more so if I return empty-handed?

I’m almost sure they’ll be happy that their fuck toy returned at all, but if I’m going to take their shit either way, I might as well make it count.

An hour later, my ass hurts from sitting in a tree, and I have to pee. I wait another ten minutes for something to kill to walk by, but when I don’t spot anything, I sigh and climb down.

Unable to accept defeat, even though the sun is up and my chances have dwindled, I start toward a rocky hill nearby that Thorin took me to a few times.

I get a little turned around, though, and after another ten minutes, I realize I’m lost.

Damn it!

I should have searched harder for a radio. Maybe then I could have called them to come rescue me. I bet they’d love that. Thorin will enjoy the hunt, Khalil will use it as an excuse to keep me locked inside the cabin, and Seth will appreciate being needed.

The guys let me have the bow and knife, but they’re still keeping me on a leash—albeit a slightly extended one.

Trust has to be earned. I get that. But it goes both ways.

So yeah, maybe sneaking out was my way of punishing them for not trusting me. I’m also proving that I can be trusted and useful.

Makes a ton of fucking sense.


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