Once upon a Princess (Atypical Series #1)||✔️

6. Princess and the Hunter

"Arianna's still sleeping?" I asked, trying to get Nate's attention away from me.

"Most likely, she's like an owl. Sleeps throughout the day and up all night reading books,"

"Don't forget you're on hunting duty with us today," Isaac called out from the sink.

A surge of excitement rushed through me, then an odd thought prodded at my brain,

"Hunting? I thought you guys fished at the lake?" I then remembered the hunting rifles I saw amongst the brother's equipment, two days ago.

"We barely see any animals out there to hunt, so fishing's our thing now."

This came from Nate who had finally retracted his gaze and hand from me.

"Alright kiddos, well go get ready, our journey begins soon," Isaac instructed, wiping his hands on the back of his jeans.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ALEXA

We had reached a good distance into the woods now, Nate muttering occasionally, that it was a bad idea to bring me along.

"It's fineee," I drawled, shoving Nate to the side. He stumbled slightly, and a slight smile appeared on his face.

"Good. You're smiling now. I was getting annoyed by your bitching," Isaac laughed, glancing behind at us. We walked for a few more minutes in silence, listening to the sounds of birds and hoots of animals arise from the trees and bushes.

"Guys, when you said that plan to hunt animals, you mean that there are dangerous animals amongst us right now?" I gulped.

"Nah, we brought the rifles for the fish," Isaac quipped, casting me a devilish look.

The path expanded, and we entered the field that I had stumbled upon, two days ago. The brothers headed for the lake. Isaac tugging his equipment over his shoulder.

"The famous field," I muttered, spinning around to fully admire the area in the daylight. In the opposite end, I spotted the forest that I emerged from on that awful day.

I sat on the grass, observing the brothers as they joked around while preparing to reel in fish.

"You sure you wanna be sitting there, Princess?" Nate called out, glancing in my direction. He'd made it a habit of calling me Princess whenever he felt the need to tease me.

"You do know that there are hundreds of ants and insects jittering around in the grass right, now right?" he continued.

I rolled my eyes and scrunched my face at him, "Don't you have fishing to get back to?"

Isaac flicked Nate's ear, "She's right, start reeling,"

I closed my eyes and enjoyed the sounds around me and willed myself to relax. Find the beauty in everything, I seemed to hear her whisper in my ear. I was instantly reminded of the flashback I had gotten the night before. I ignored the fact that the grass was beginning to itch my bare legs and there were odd noises emitted from the forest; and instead focused on the melodic chirps of the birds, the feel of the midday breeze on my face and the laughter of the brothers.

A rustling noise came from beside me and my eyes flew open, skimming the field for any sign of danger. Nada. Isaac and Nate were knelt together at the lake, reeling in a trout. There were at least five more thrashing around in the net they had brought. The rustling got louder, and a low growl was emitted from the same source, causing all the hairs on my arm to stand.

"Um... Guys?" I whisper-yelled, turning slightly to the source of danger.

"Just a sec," Isaac replied, his eyes still focused on the lake.