of being watched weighed far heavier on her than it had before.
Minutes ticked by, and nothing happened.
Diana chuckled under her breath to ease her nerves. She could be getting worked up about nothing. It was likely just an animal that caught sight of her and hid. It didn’t ring true, but she clung to the idea as she walked further into the forest and approached her trap.
The box trap was simple in design, ideal for catching small game. She knew that some hunters preferred to use snares, but Diana avoided the use of them. She wasn’t always successful with her traps, but she fell into a comfortable rhythm with the forest near her house.
Spying the box lying flush against the ground, her nerves were forgotten, and elation filled her at the sight. Very slowly, she lifted the trap, revealing a fat rabbit hunkered in place. Whispering her thanks, she dispatched the animal quickly, dropping it into the small leather bag that hung from her belt while she reset and baited the trap. She didn’t linger even a minute longer than necessary, striding off through the brush.
Diana didn’t want to test the conditional benevolence of whatever watched her.
Instead, she visited her other traps, only two of which held animals. Another rabbit was added to her catch, providing a spare to be added to the growing stores of meat in her freezer. The weasel, however, she released and watched as it darted away.
Pushing back up to her feet from where she was crouched, Diana brushed her hands off on her pants. In the distance, she could hear the jeep in another part of the woods, the sound of the loud engine carrying. She had hoped to come across a buck, but that wasn’t going to be possible with those fools in the woods frightening away all the game. She scowled in its direction, kicking a small stone out of her path as she turned and began her trek home.
The jeep roared in her direction, screams of terror separating and merging again with the mechanical rumble of the engine. Her blood chilled, and she stumbled over the thick root of a tree, startled at the sound. Regaining her balance, she glanced around warily for but a moment. Her breath rushed in and out with increasing distress, and she choked when the roar of some unearthly beast broke through the woods, nearly eclipsing the noise of the fleeing hunting party.
Whatever it was, the idiots were bringing it her way!
Jerking forward into a run, Diana darted through the trees at full speed. She hissed with displeasure, knowing without a doubt that her actions were stupid. She wouldn’t be able to outrun the jeep, never mind whatever was chasing it. All the same, she wasn’t going to stand about and wait for them to catch up either. The muscles in her thighs burned and protested as the trees whipped around her, half blinding her in a mad rush.
Why the fuck did they have to come this way? And where the fuck was the tree line? Diana turned her head this way and that, looking for anything familiar. This wasn’t right. She couldn’t just flee through the woods. She pulled to a stop, hissing between her teeth as she attempted to reorient herself. She had been so close to the altar near the edge of the woods, she should have run right into it. Shaking her head, she squinted at the sun and cut to the left.
The altar should have been right there!
As she delved further among the trees, her a frown knitted her brow. Where was it? Diana panted as she broke through unfamiliar brush. Had she somehow become turned around?
She could hardly think as she attempted to mentally backtrack the route she had taken. The sound of the jeep roared closer as she gasped for breath. Every branch on the trees quivered and trembled as if something monstrous was moving through them. Clutching her bow to her, her head whipped around as if trying to make sense of what she was seeing. The leaves quaked and shimmered, and tiny living lights bounced all around the woods in a dizzying swarm. A bulge in the brush raced in a line toward her, filling the air with savage, vicious snorts as it came closer. Diana shook her head in denial as she stumbled away.
This wasn’t her forest!
Chapter 2
Something shuffled near her. Diana winced, bringing a hand up to her head. What had happened? She attempted to grasp