Compelled (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 5)

Bowley made a few chirping sounds as it continued to roll on next to me like we were the best of friends. At this point, maybe we were because I sure as hell wouldn’t be trusting anyone else in this competition.

The forest started to thin out as we ended up in a field of house-sized boulders. I couldn’t tell what the obstacle was until I got closer and saw the swampy land surrounding the large stones. It was hard to tell that it wasn’t grass, but I saw the way it wobbled, indicating it wouldn’t be safe to try and walk between the stones.

Heading toward the closest boulder, I managed to scramble up, losing some skin in the process. My healing was extra slow, but the scrapes weren’t painful enough to stop my climb. At the top I looked around and let out a groan; I’d basically chosen the one boulder that didn’t have any closely situated boulders to jump to. But at least I could map out the best route from here.

Once I’d sighted the path I wanted to take, I scrambled back down. “I’ve got to climb and jump across,” I told Bowley. “Can you do your float thing and meet me on the other side?”

It let out a squeak and bumped against my bare foot, which I took as a yes. Leaning down, I brushed my hand across its little spikes. “Stay safe,” I whispered, and then I moved to the boulder I needed to climb. My debris-covered feet gave me some traction on the surface, and when I finally got to the top, I was breathing heavily. The urge to vomit pressed in on me, but I refrained.

Taking off, I ran across the surface of the boulder, almost slipping on the smooth edge, before leaping across to the next one. I didn’t stop there, moving in the same manner, jumping and almost dying so many times it was borderline a joke.

But I made it to the end.

Sliding to the ground, my breaths were labored as they wheezed noisily from my mouth, lungs aching with each pull. I’d never felt this bad in my entire life, and I wasn’t sure where I was going to find the energy to keep going.

Who freaking knew how much longer the obstacle course even was? Or if there was any one left in here beside me. Except for Hattie-bitchbag, I hadn’t seen one other selected since stepping foot in the forest. Knowing my luck, I was going the complete wrong direction… Or maybe they were all just fifty miles in front of me.

Either way, I had to keep moving.

After a few minutes of breathing, I realized that Bowley hadn’t made it to my side yet, and I felt a tear escape at the thought I’d left him behind with no way to cross.

Not like I could have climbed and jumped with him in my condition, but that wasn’t the point. You didn’t leave friends behind. It was a basic-as-fuck rule.

Groaning, I forced myself up, determined to go back. As I got up to a sitting position, my stomach protested, and I had to roll over and vomit up more blood. Once I started, I just couldn’t stop, heaving and clawing at the ground.

“Bee?”

At first I thought I was hallucinating, but then he called my name again.

Lucien had found me.

“Go away,” I croaked, blindly waving one arm while the other one wobbled and barely managed to keep me up. “I don’t want you to see me like this.”

Cool hands brushed across my face, highlighting my fever. “Simone, what the hell happened?” he asked, voice tense.

I hadn’t been able to lift my head and see his face yet. “Food poisoning,” I gasped, black dots dancing in front of my vision as I swayed. My arm finally gave out, and I would have face-planted if Lucien hadn’t scooped me up. He pulled me against his body, standing as he did.

My stomach lurched, and I gasped, heaving again. “Put me down,” I begged, tears running down my heated face. “This is gross stuff I really don’t want you to see.”

He just growled, and I finally pried my eyes open to see his face wreathed in thunderous anger as he said, “You’ve eaten food here before, so this was deliberate.” A statement, not a question. “Who did this to you?”

I held no loyalty to Hattie, but I needed to confirm my suspicions before I dropped her in the shit. “I will let you know once I’ve had a chance to interrogate my suspect.”

Lucien muttered something not very nice as he turned and started to march away, not even pausing when I wiggled against his hold. “Put me down,” I demanded again, wishing I didn’t sound so weak.

“No!” he snapped back. “You will die if I don’t get you medical help. Your blood smells like tatan root. It’s a rare herb that we use to dilute blood. In small quantities, it’s fine, but in large doses like this, it will boil you from the inside out.”

Well, that explained the heat. “I have to finish this trial.”

He finally slowed. “I thought you wanted to lose.”

“I do,” I shot back quickly. “You know that I do. But some asshole tried to take me out, and the best revenge is finishing.”

With a shake of his head, Lucien started walking again. “I will drop you near the finish line so you can cross, and then we will deal with the betrayer.”

That wasn’t going to work for me because they’d still think I cheated.

“Can you do me a favor first?” I said in a rush, hoping to distract him.

He let out an exaggerated huff, but he did stop moving.

“I made a friend out here, a froden, but I had to leave it on the other side of the boulder swamp. Could you check if it’s still there and bring it across for me?”

Lucien stared at me like I’d just grown two heads and started singing a different national anthem from each. “You made friends with a froden?”

“Yes,” I said in a rush. “I thought it could cross the swamp, but it hasn’t shown up. I can’t just leave it.”

“They control this area of the woods,” he told me, eyebrows still tightly drawn together. “It’s in no danger.”

I mimicked the stare. “I don’t leave friends behind, not even bowling-ball creatures of destruction.”

Lucien started to mutter again, and I wondered if I’d finally driven him over the edge of sanity. “Fine, I will go and check, and you will wait right here. If you’re in trouble, shout out; I’ll hear you.”

He set me down near a tree and took off as fast as he could within this area. Using the tree for leverage, I immediately headed off in the opposite direction. Finding Bowley and finishing this course on my own were my two goals, and with Lucien’s help, I might achieve both.

I knew there was a reason I liked that vampire.

The stream appeared in front of me soon after I left the tree. As I approached the bank, I could see others gathering out in the vast open space beyond this forest and felt the slightest lift in my mood.

This end of the obstacle course.

And my chance to confront my saboteur.