Shades of Love, hima [tools of titans ebook txt] 📗

was excited in the family to finally go hunting. When Rachel said Nikki about the plan she just nodded. Ethan also looked forward for the camping.

They packed all their stuff into two cars and one jeep. They wanted to give some space to Ethan and Nikki so those two were sent alone in a car. Nikki insisted on staying home but finally Jane convinced her to come.

“Where are we going…?” Ethan was surprised to hear her voice, he barely listened her voice these days…It was like music to his ears to listen her actually speaking.

“To the mountains…”he gave a quick answer eagerly. Nikki frowned.
“Why mountains…?” she asked.
“The mountains are full of wild animals for hunting…” he responded. Nikki considered his answer for a second… she understood after a while that hunting for vampires is unlike humans, vampire hunt for blood. She sighed.

“Why do you want to hunt…? I mean we are having blood supplies at home, right?” she asked.

“It helps to train our instincts…” Nikki pondered on the question whether she was ready to hunt, she couldn’t tell if she wanted to do or not. The Reed’s family set up the four small tents by the time they reached the clearing in the mountain.

“Nikki… since it’s your first time hunting. Ethan will help you to hunt…” Jane said.

“Yes… you should go with Ethan he would show you how to hunt a rabbit… if you want to know what a real hunt are you should come with me…”Felix boasted.
“We’ll see, brother…” Ethan snapped.

They ran into the forest in different directions paired up. Ethan caught Nikki’s hand and led her through stealthily. “First rule in hunting…you should be as inconspicuous as possible…” Nikki nodded.
“Second Rule; use your vampire senses to feel this place…” She nodded she pricked her ears and wrinkled her nose as if she was getting ready to a herculean task. Nikki was really excited about something for the first time. She heard a movement somewhere near the bushes.

“Now pinpoint the direction you heard it…”Ethan whispered. She nodded; she could feel the rustle of the bushes… It wasn’t a small animal, she thought. “Don’t give chance for it to escape, be quick and smart, one blow is all it should take…”he said. Nikki nodded.

When Ethan gestured her to go for the prey, she let her senses take over her, she made one swift move toward the animal and thrust her canines into the smooth skin off it, the warm liquid that poured into her mouth made all her senses go alert like an alarm. She finished off with the deer she caught and tossed it off. She licked her lips in satisfaction…Ethan was standing by her smiling.

“How do you feel?” he asked. “Great…” Nikki growled. Ethan laughed at her. “Are you ready for another yet?” he asked. “Sure…”her face alighted.

They were hunting this time together… Nikki was still up for another one even after she finished with two deer and one bear. “I think it’s enough for today…” Ethan said. “One more…”Nikki pouted, she was clearly having fun hunting. Ethan nodded and they started searching for a prey. Nikki caught Felix scent nearby somewhere, curiosity driven her to see how he was doing. She followed his scent and found Felix making a swift motion towards his prey; he wasn’t quick enough so the deer ran away as soon as it sensed danger. Felix ran after it and Nikki ran after him to see what he would do. She saw the deer escaping into the nearby bushes. Felix jumped towards it, none of us saw Eric coming from the opposite side they both bumped into one another and fell few meters apart which gave time for the deer to run away. I laughed so hard on seeing them covered in mud.

Ethan was seeing all that Felix was doing…His big brother better kept his words. He thought. He stared in shock when he saw them fall in the ground and was more than surprised to hear a musical laughter ringing through the forest. He looked at her; she was truly enjoying his brother’s stupidity. It was the first time that he saw Nikki laughing whole heartedly, his heart went out to her. Felix saw Nikki and growled at her for laughing at him.

Later that night they all gathered at the clearing, they set up a fire and sat around it to talk about their exploits… Nikki remembered the whole Felix incident and started to laugh again, everyone was surprised to see her laugh again. She explained them why she was laughing like mad, all the time ignoring threatening glares from Felix. Eva was angry at Nikki for making fun of Felix but she was happy that she was laughing after so many days. The party called it a night as the chilly winds began to descend them.

Ethan stayed out by the fire poking the dying down fire. Nikki wished goodnight and slipped into her tent. She watched him for a while trying hard to sleep outdoors. “Ethan…” She called.

“Come in…there’s so much room here.” She mumbled. Ethan tried to say something but she insisted. Finally he gave up and moved in to her tent. She smiled at him and slowly drifted into sleep. The couples in other tents grinned to themselves to see that their plan had indeed succeeded.

Ethan watched her for a while and drifted off to sleep. When Ethan woke up Nikki was in his arms, He wanted to get up but took his time to enjoy the moment; holding her close to his heart. Nikki stirred in her sleep and woke up to see that she was sleeping in Ethan’s arms. Her cheeks turned red from all the embarrassment. She jerked him away from her and in one quick stride she was out of the tent.

“We’ll go sightseeing today and later hunting…” Rachel cheered. “You should go…We’ll stay here…” Carl and Jane said.

The mountain was full of vegetation… Nikki soon forgot about the morning’s incident and enjoyed the greenery all around her but Ethan’s mind was full of the morning’s incident.

“First one to the lake…” Felix challenged.
“A single condition, there is no fun if you’re racing alone without baggage…”Eric quipped. Eva caught their game and was all in.
“Yes…darling. You’re going to run by carrying me.” Eva smiled sweetly tossing her hair.
“I’m in...”Felix and Eric replied. Ethan understood their brother’s game but he wasn’t sure how Nikki would take it.

“I think our little brother lacks courage to challenge us…” Felix teased. “You’re going to lose…”Nikki winked at him. Ethan was surprised that she wanted to participate; his grin grew wider as the girls jumped on to their backs.

“Are you sure you want to do this…?” Ethan asked Nikki eyeing her suspiciously. “Of course, yes…I would like every chance to beat my big bully brother…”Nikki winked.
“Wind your legs around my waist... and have a good grip over my shoulder…”Ethan instructed.
“Don’t worry about me…I want you to beat my big brother to dust…” Nikki said sticking out her tongue at Felix.

“Ready…” Rachel’s voice commanded us to move after the count of 3. “1…” Ethan took his position followed by others. “2” They bent low waiting impatiently for her count. “3””Ethan made a huge lurch forwards and then began to use all his muscles to run fast. Nikki gripped him tight around the neck, she could feel the wind ripping across her face, and she enjoyed the heavy blow of wind against her face… Nikki tried to see how the others were doing but everything seemed to be a blur, Nikki let her senses take over and she could see distinct images of Eric and Felix running just a few seconds apart. She found it fascinating to see that they are running at impossible speed without running into anything ahead. She thought they would bump into a tree one way or another, but wove a snaky path across the trees. I need to learn this thing…she thought.

She could smell fresh water somewhere close…She knew they must be close to the lake. Felix put extra effort to close the distance between us. “He is coming…”She whispered. If someone watches us with a human eye they would see nothing but to my eyes it was like slow motion movie. Felix trying to pick up the speed, Ethan pushing himself harder and Eric ignoring them and enjoying the run…

She was so immersed in watching them that she didn’t feel Ethan leaping into the water…Once the fresh water slapped across her face, she realized that they won. She untangled herself from Ethan and shouted about their victory, after few seconds Felix joined and then followed by Eric. She hugged Ethan in joy surprising him. He stumbled back by the force she jumped at him but managed to stand.

“I just let my little brother win this time…”Felix smirked. “Oh! Really…”Nikki said smiling walking towards Felix. She caught Felix unaware when she splashed water against him. Eva laughed at him. “You are so going to get for this…”Felix said pouncing on Nikki and making her go down into the water. She was shocked but soon recovered and made another splash at him.
“Hey…Look at Rach, it’s not fair for us to be wet and her…” Felix whispered in Nikki’s ear pointing to Rachel who was standing by the shore laughing madly at us. She winked at him. Felix with one swift move scooped up Rach and dumped her into the water. She growled complaining that it was her favorite dress. They laughed at her; she gave an evil eye and started to walk away from them without a word. Nikki thought she gave up but ran back right into Felix who turned his back on her, he fell into the water and completely soaked. Nikki thought it’s only justified if the other’s are completely wet like them, Nikki conveyed her plan to Felix and Rachel by gesturing while the others were getting dried off. Nikki pounced on Ethan sending him into the water, Rachel did the same to Eric, Felix scooped up Eva and dumped her into the water, Eva snarled at him. Ethan was electrified by the closeness when Nikki pounced on him. He lay still in the water looking at her fun filled eyes; Nikki was so much fun when she wanted to…he thought. Her eyes were sparkling when she laughed at him.

They played for a while in the water and started towards their tents completely soaked. This time there was no race, they walked talking about how much fun they had. Everyone was internally happy that at last Nikki was laughing which they never saw. Carl and Jane were very much surprised to see them all wet and they also noticed that Nikki was in good mood.

They changed back to dried clothes. “I’m hungry… “Rachel was shouting at them.

They went out into the forest similar to how they paired up yesterday. Nikki remembered all the techniques Ethan thought her and hunted down a grizzly bear. She found that it tasted better than deer. She tossed it aside when finished with it…She wanted to hunt something different…She let go all the restrain on her senses and felt around the forest for new prey. She smelled warm blood and her senses alerted her about the animal lurking by the bushes…She could smell the intoxicating smell of blood emitting from the