Free The Master of the Hunt: A Paranormal Romance by Susan G. Charles

Chapter 1
    (Twenty Years Ago)
    “4… 3… 2… 1… Ready or not, here I come,” Elizabeth shouted in rhythm, uncovering her eyes to inspect the wooded field ahead. It was a wondrous day to escape the valley where she lived with her aunt and uncle, into the forest for a game of Hide-and-Seek. And this was the last game of the day. The sun was fading in the sky and soon it would be time to retreat indoors for supper and all those last minute bedtime rituals. This was a game they’d always played, just the two of them. Two years apart with only a combined age of 18, Elizabeth and Richard were best friends.
    She ran as fast as she could through the twilight forest in the hopes of catching him before her uncle called them in. Her uncle would usually signal the day had come to an end by a shrill whistle made with his lips over his teeth, pressing down on two brawny pinky fingers pushed over top of a curled up tongue, and blowing. It was a shrill sound that seemed to travel for miles and one that she would never mistake. Still, Elizabeth hoped they would be able to finish this game before it was brought to an abrupt stop for the night.
    It would not be long before she caught her friend, Rick. His name was really Richard but everybody around here called him Rick. She was already on to his tracks, even though he would try to cover them up, or create some type of diversion but terribly fail and get tagged. The wooden heels of his leather boots left a perfect trail for about fifty yards, leading directly into an unexplored part of the forest. Well, not unexplored, it was just an uncharted part of the forest to her.
    She stopped at their invisible boundary line and observed her surroundings for the first time. There wasn’t anywhere she was not permitted to go as long as she stayed on the trail their house was on, and this area was not of the right course. In fact, she had never ventured past more than an eye full of the land. After twisting her head in every direction, she glanced to the trees and watched as leaves slowly descended, spinning or swaying all around her, the sun hardly visible through all the many tall trees around her, the sounds of the wilderness compelling her to tighten up her hearing senses to focus on finding that one person in particular.
    “Where is he”, she thought to herself with a smile, hoping to hear the slightest footfall, stick crack or leaf rustle somewhere nearby. Was he that foolish to disobey their caretakers orders and travel farther than what was permitted? Elizabeth immediately knew the answer to that particular question before it had fully formed in her mind. “Boys!” she murmured under her breath, with just a hint of aggravation in her voice.
    His tracks led into the unknown wild just beyond the path she now stood upon. But wait! Hang on. Okay, now she could see where the tracks really stopped. His tracks had completely vanished after about five steps inside the uncharted new land ahead of her. She thought it was possible that he stepped back over them in reverse and that maybe he was just getting smarter and learned how to cover his tracks now. But she couldn’t just stand there, the sun was fading fast and she was determined to catch him before it was too late.
    She turned back to where she had entered the area and couldn’t see the stables, let alone their house. Her uncle would be furious if he knew where she was right now. She could not see anything but woods, with the all too familiar trees closing in on her – she wondered to herself what she might have to do next if she didn’t fine Rick fast. Curiosity killed the cat but what’s wrong with a little adventure? Something about the other side of that imaginary line enthralled her enough to finally raise a foot to make that first step into the unfamiliar woods.
    As her foot hit the softness of the Earth’s green mossy hair, the sounds of a snicker was captured by her right ear, jerking her attention to the treetops in that