Christmas Game: Hunting for a Human Mate as My Bride

Chapter 8: Last Chance

I wait on the limb in the tree as the wind picks up. The pine needles start to rustle around me in the darkness as the cold starts to seep into my bones. I do my best to not shiver, but I can’t help it as the time starts to pass slowly. I don’t know how long it has been, but I must have dozed off for a couple of minutes because when I snapped my eyes open, it was to the sound of someone or something growling below me.

I jump as I look down and I catch the eyes of something at the base of the tree. The eyes are gold and they reflect in the moonlight. I watch carefully as the eyes lock onto mine and I see a large hand reach up and start to climb up the tree.

“Hello, little bunny… We meet again.”

Hunter…

“s**t…”I feel my stomach drop to my toes as I quickly undo the knot on the rope. I wrap it up and throw it over my shoulders and I start to climb up the tree. Hunter is below me and he is very agile and quick, but I notice something about him… He has a sold hundred and twenty pounds on me, if not more.

I scurry to the top of the maple tree I am in and get to the very top. The branches are much thinner up here, but I don’t trust this guy to not try and climb up here with me. He seems overly competitive and after our deal, I know he is going to do whatever it takes to win.

I look down and realize he has climbed past my original spot as he starts to try and climb higher. With every step he takes, the branches creak and crack under his weight. Several times one of his feet slips, but he quickly recovers as I see his fingers dig into the bark on the tree.

“Give up, little bunny… You’ve run out of tree and I am about to get you and time is running out.”

I swallow hard as I look down and realize he isn’t wrong. His head is about six feet below me. He seems tall, lean, and strong, but I know I still have a fighting chance. I look around the top of the tree and spot something about ten feet away. A thick limb over half-way up a pine tree is jutting out towards the maple tree. I gasp as I smile and realize my luck has turned around.

I quickly take the rope off my shoulders and stretch the noose loop out so I can use it as a lasso. I throw it hard and it slips over the branch with ease as I pull it tight. I look down and smirk at Hunter below me as he continues to climb higher. He hasn’t noticed what I have done yet, which means, I have the upper hand. He is about four feet away now, but I don’t care.

“My tree might have run out, but my options haven’t,” I called down to him. I feel my smile spread wide across my face as I get ready to move.

I jump from the top of the tree and swing to the other branch using the rope like a vine in a Tarzan movie. I scream out as I feel my stomach fall to my toes. I pull my legs up to my chest as I prepare my body for the impending landing with the tree.

“Son of a b***h,” Hunter says as he watches me. “What the f**k, little bunny!?!”

When I hit the tree, I fix my feet so I am standing on the branch that I swung to. I smile brightly as a page rings through the forest.

“Five minutes.” The Game Maker’s voice rings through the woods as I feel my heart soar.

“I have a chance,” I mumble. “I have a chance.”

I start to do a small dance on the branch before I quickly decide I better not do that. I don’t want to fall from this high up.

“Happy birthday to me!”

I watch Hunter climb down from the maple tree quickly and stand a bit away from the pine tree as he looks up. His gold eyes are shining brightly in the moonlight as he looks up at me. His face is completely covered with his camouflage bandana and I can see his body better from up here. He has his knife at his side and I watch as he unsheaths it and starts to twirl it in his hands.

“Five minutes, little bunny… Are you going to come down here or are you going to make me wait?”

I smirk down at him as I look into his eyes as I stand firmly on the branch. “I think I’ll make you wait… Seeing as I have less than five minutes until I win the game.”

Hunter nods his head slowly as he walks closer to the base of the pine tree. He sighs and shakes his head. “Well, you don’t like to play fair at all, do you, little bunny?”

I scoff and roll my eyes as I look down at him from my branch. “I feel like this is pretty fair considering you could easily climb this tree and try to get me again if you wanted to. Besides, I followed the rules of our deal to the letter. You only get me if you catch me.”

I hear Hunter chuckle as he looks down at his knife that he is still twirling in his hands. “No, little bunny, I’m not climbing after you this time… You see, that tree is a lot more difficult to climb from the bottom and I know if I wait patiently enough, you will come down to me.”

I scoff and roll my eyes as the Game Maker announces that there is less than two minutes in the game. “I’ll come down when I win, sir.”

I hear a strange noise as Hunter nods his head firmly. “We’ll see…” Without much warning, he throws his knife up into the tree. I gasp as the knife hits the trunk just under my foot. I jump as it hits the tree and I feel myself lose my balance.

I scream as I fall and try to grab the rope. I had left it hanging on the tree without realizing just how far away it was.

“No! No!” Fear runs through my body as I see the ground coming closer and closer to me. “No!”

I close my eyes tightly and change my body so my back will catch the fall. I wait for the hard ground to meet my body when it doesn’t.

“Gotcha,” Hunter whispers in my ear.