He Faked A Limp For Six Years To Avoid Marrying Me Chapter 04

 

He Faked A Limp For Six Years To Avoid Marrying Me Chapter 04

One by one, every other hunter dragged their captured boars back to the clan holding grounds.

Only Talen and I remained out in the wild timber, and the last single wild boar roamed the valley between us.

The second he heard the news about Dax, Talen forgot all about blocking my way.

He whipped his horse around and charged straight for the hog, single-minded in his hunt.

I’d never seen such feral determination in his eyes in six years of watching him fake weakness.

That fire wasn’t burning for me, though—it blazed solely for Elowen’s sake.

That final boar sat halfway between our two positions. I spotted it first, well within my bow’s effective range, while Talen was still too far off to land a killing shot.

I raised my recurve bow and lined up my aim.

Talen called out to me, voice thick with desperate begging.

“Shay, hand this boar over to me, please.”

“Dax’s mind doesn’t work right. He’ll drag Elowen into a miserable marriage if she accepts his hog proposal. Could you stand by and watch that happen?”

A bitter laugh bubbled out of my throat.

“If you take this boar to wed her, what becomes of me?”

Talen glanced away, unable to meet my eyes, a flicker of guilty remorse crossing his face.

“You’re the clan head’s daughter—you’ll always have another way to find a husband.”

“Just let me have this hog. I’m begging you on my knees.”

I’d never seen a single tear fall from Talen’s eyes, not even when I laid dying from rattlesnake venom years prior.

Now, with Elowen’s marriage to another man on the line, hot tears streamed down his cheeks without restraint.

“I’m not surrendering this boar to anyone. It’s mine.”

My archery skill outmatched nearly every male hunter in Hollow Creek Clan, no contest.

I drew my bow tight once more, ready to loose the fatal arrow at the hog.

An arrow sliced through the air faster than mine, but its tip wasn’t aimed at the wild boar.

It flew straight for my thigh.

The sharp iron point buried deep in my leg. I lost balance instantly and tumbled off my horse’s back, rolling down a steep rocky bluff for dozens of feet.

Every bone in my body screamed in agony as I crashed against boulders and jagged stone.

But the physical pain paled in comparison to the ache splitting my heart wide open.

Talen only spared one fleeting glance at my crumpled, bleeding form.

His eyes held quiet regret—but not a single urge to dismount and pull me to safety.

“I’m truly sorry, Shay. I’ll make this up to you somehow later.”

“Elowen’s waiting for me back at the clan grounds.”

With that, he swung off his horse’s saddle, his limp vanishing entirely.

For six years he’d dragged that fake injured leg, and in this moment, he ran faster than any man I’d ever seen.

He sprinted straight for the last wild boar, firing arrow after arrow until the hog collapsed motionless on the dirt.

I rolled to a stop at the bottom of the bluff, the broken arrow shaft still sticking out of my wounded thigh, a permanent mark of his betrayal, carved deep into both flesh and soul.

I woke back in the Hollow Creek clan cabins hours later.

Red cloth streamers lined every wall, strung from every beam.

Maren wandered past me with a wide, giddy smile on her face.

“Elowen and Talen are set to wed now. She’ll never threaten to return to the city again.”

She caught sight of my stiff, silent frame and sighed heavy.

“Don’t hold a grudge against Talen for this, Shay. Every single one of us agreed this was the only path forward.”

“Dax caught a boar and Elowen almost said yes to him. We couldn’t let her waste her life on that fool. Thank the Lord Talen secured a hog to claim her hand instead.”

Jasper stepped up to agree wholeheartedly.

“Elowen and Talen fit together perfectly, soft and gentle matched with a steady hunter. Love doesn’t follow a first-come-first-served rule. You can’t tear them apart just out of jealousy.”

I’d thought my six years of devotion to Talen would leave me shattered beyond repair.

But all I felt was empty, numb indifference.

Talen walked toward me, his face heavy with remorse.

“I lied to you for seasons on end, and that’s my fault entirely.”

“But if I hunted a boar to wed you, Elowen would pack up and leave the mountains forever. I faked that limp to keep her close and string you along all at once.”

Elowen nodded beside him, slipping her arm possessively through his and leaning into his chest with a smug little grin.

My gaze dropped to the buckskin wedding gown she wore, and my blood ran cold.

It was the hand-tooled bridal gown my late mother had stitched exclusively for me.

I stared at Elias, lost and confused, hoping for some scrap of fairness from him.

He shrugged like her theft of my mother’s heirloom was completely reasonable.

“That dress was made for the clan head’s daughters. Maren swore an oath of sisterhood with Elowen, so she counts as my child too.”

“It fits her perfectly, as it should.”

He turned back to me, tone dismissive and patronizing.

“You’re welcome to stay in this hollow as long as you live. I’ll provide shelter and meals for you no matter how old you grow.”

“Once Elowen settles here permanently, you can learn her soft, mild manner and fix that sharp edge of yours.”

Talen reached out and wrapped his hand around mine without asking permission.

“I can’t fully let go of you either, Shay, I won’t lie about that.”

“But Elowen’s in a far more fragile place right now, so I have to choose her as my bride.”

“You’ll always have a place with our clan even if no other man claims you. We can keep things just like they used to be between us.”

I ripped my hand free of his grip hard, disgust curdling in my throat.

“Who said I plan on staying trapped in this hollow forever? I’m leaving to marry someone else.”

Every clan member turned to stare at me, many snickering behind their hands.

“Quit spouting ridiculous lies for attention, Shay.”

“There’s no man in Hollow Creek Clan willing to take you as his bride besides Talen.”

The thunderous clatter of horse hooves echoed through the valley before I could reply.

A rider appeared atop a massive Mountain thoroughbred stallion, a giant prize giant boar slung across the horse’s rear haunches.

He called out loud and clear, voice warm and unshakable.

“Shay! I hunted this hog to claim you as my bride!”