novelraw Chapter 575: The Hunt
Chapter 575: The Hunt
Sera woke midmorning because she wanted to.
She didn’t need sleep the way humans did, and she could go days without it without losing anything that mattered. Still, there was something satisfying about opening her eyes to a house that existed because they had decided it would.
The cabin didn’t creak or complain the way the old world’s buildings had.
Sera rolled onto her side and stared at the ceiling for a moment, letting the peace settle.
There was no siren in the distance.
There was no lab waiting to drag her into a cage.
There was only the jungle humming outside, bright and alive, and the knowledge that nothing here could force her into a box unless she allowed it.
She got up when she felt like it, the guys already out of the bed and doing their own thing.
She pulled on clothes that were more habit than necessity and ran her fingers through her hair without bothering to tame it. Then she went downstairs, her bare feet quiet against the planks, and let herself enjoy how normal it felt.
Ashkar was already in the kitchen.
He wasn’t cooking in the human sense, because none of them needed human food, but he was still doing what he always did. He was arranging the supplies she had kept in her space all that time, checking to make sure that she had more than enough chocolate to get her through the day, and just maintaining things...building the kind of order that made a home function.
He looked up the second she entered, eyes warming in a way that still surprised her sometimes.
"You’re awake," he said.
"I’m bored," she replied, her lower lip dropping just slightly in a pout.
His mouth curved faintly. "That is not an excuse to start a war."
"It’s absolutely an excuse," she said, leaning against the doorway and watching him. "It’s just not a fun war if we win too quickly."
Psycho appeared behind her like he’d been waiting for the word bored to be spoken aloud.
He wore that lazy grin that always meant he was about to make someone’s day worse in a way he’d find hilarious. His eyes flicked over her like a touch, bright with interest.
"Does that mean that we are going on a hunt?" he asked, practically bouncing on his toes at the idea of killing something that was technically supposed to be extinct.
Sera’s smile sharpened. "A hunt."
Caerwyn looked up from the table where he’d been scratching notes into a piece of salvaged paper like the world still needed maps.
He didn’t ask why, he simply nodded his head, as if her decision locked into place the weather outside. Even the air around him shifted subtly, the breeze changing direction like it was checking where she wanted to go and would make it cooler for her.
Aerenyx stepped in last, quiet as ever.
He didn’t speak right away, just looked at her the way he always did—an assessment so practiced it felt like a kind of language. She read his approval in the way his shoulders eased a fraction.
"Are you hungry? Are we hunting for food?" he asked finally.
Sera tilted her head. "I want to hunt because it’s fun and I’ve already finished the book that Psycho brought me two days ago."
Psycho’s grin widened. "I love you."
"I know," she said, and the casual certainty of it made him laugh.
Ashkar set down what he was holding and came closer, his heat brushing the air around her in a steady halo.
"Then we hunt," he agreed, like it had never been in question. "You choose the direction."
Sera considered the day.
The sun was already climbing through the sky, turning the jungle bright and humid, and the air tasted like wet earth and green growth that never slowed down.
She liked it, and she liked how the world didn’t ask permission to be what it was.
"East," she decided. "Toward the water."
Caerwyn’s gaze flicked to her, then out toward the canopy. "You want a beach day with violence."
Sera smiled. "You’re learning."
They left without ceremony.
The cabin sat back from the water, close enough to hear the constant movement of it, far enough to avoid storms and flooding. They’d cleared the path already, and the jungle had learned to respect it.
It didn’t stop growing, but it stopped trying to swallow their work.
Vines hung heavy along the edges, leaves brushing their shoulders as they passed, and the air wrapped around them like a warm hand. Sera walked at the center of them, relaxed and loose, letting herself be touched without tension.
Ashkar’s hand found her waist as naturally as breathing.
Aerenyx’s fingers brushed her wrist briefly, pulse-checking out of habit even though he knew what he’d find. Caerwyn walked at her left, the wind curling around his shoulders like a cloak that wanted to be seen.
Psycho ranged ahead, stepping over roots and half-fallen trees like the world was an obstacle course built for his amusement.
"You know," Psycho said, turning to walk backward so he could look at her, "we could make this romantic."
Sera raised an eyebrow. "Why am I not surprised that you think shedding blood is a romantic date."
"I think everything is romantic," he replied. "Especially if there’s blood."
Caerwyn scoffed. "That explains your entire personality."
Psycho’s grin turned razor-sharp. "Jealous much?"
"Disgusted," Caerwyn corrected.
Sera’s laughter slipped out before she could stop it.
It was easy. It was unguarded.
It made all four of them shift in subtle ways, attention sharpening, bodies angling in closer like that sound had become a reward they all wanted to earn.
Sera caught the reaction and didn’t hide her satisfaction.
Good.
They moved deeper into the jungle, and the dinosaurs noticed.
Small ones scattered first, their eyes bright and their bodies fast, disappearing into dense undergrowth that swallowed them whole. Larger shapes lingered longer, watching from a distance with wary intelligence, their massive tails flicking from side to side as they angled their bodies away from her.
They were too big to run fast and both Sera and the bigger dinosaurs knew it.
Sera felt their attention slide over her like a question that answered itself. Apex recognized apex, and the world recalibrated accordingly.
But that didn’t stop the brontosaurus from slowly walking away like they didn’t want to trigger Sera’s hunting instincts.