Page 53 of Gone Hunting

“It looks awful.” Her words cut off when Koda shrinks away. “Why is your face so red?” She reaches up on her toes to feel his head. “Is the venom making you feverish?”

Liam cracks up. “Noway. Koda is blushing. Gemini, are you seeing this? Celia is totally making Koda blush.”

Which makes Celia blush, Koda’s face reddens further, and oh, boy, isn’tthisfun?

“I’m sorry,” Celia says. “I wasn’t trying to embarrass you.”

“It’s okay,” Koda says, his flaming face turning up another notch. “I just, you know what I mean.”

“Nah, we don’t,” Liam says, grinning ear to ear. “Please, elaborate and enlighten our feeble, yet studly, minds.”

“Liam,” Gemini interrupts. “Now is not the time.”

He starts walking, but neither of my knucklehead friends follow. They’re too busy waiting on Celia, who seems unable to detach herself from Koda. As if on cue, the wind lifts their hair, making them look like they should be on the cover of some sappy young adult novel. Awesome.

“You don’t owe me an explanation,” Celia tells him. In general, her voice sounds a little gruff, reflecting the worst of the world she’s seen. It shouldn’t come across as gentle as it does. Somehow, she manages just fine. “I just want to make sure you’re all right. All of you are hurt only because you tried to help me.”

“Females tend to stay away from me,” Koda blurts out. “I’ve never had one touch me.”

I think Koda was trying to make Celia feel better. Instead, he ended up revealing an ugly truth about his life.

Females are drawn to me, because of my status. They seek Liam out, gushing about how “cute” he is. Gemini is considered handsome, although his quieter disposition keeps those who might be interested in him at a distance. Then there’s Koda.

A few girls I’ve met have seen Koda’s picture on my phone. Most of them jabber on about how “hot” he is. One went as far as to call him the future father of her children. But then they meet him and everything his wolf does to harden and protect him against the cruelty he’s endured rises to the surface, causing those interested females to look elsewhere.

Koda shuffles after Gemini, embarrassed for admitting what he does.

“Why?” Celia asks.

Koda pauses, scowling over his shoulder. He thinks she’s placating him, but then he sniffs and realizes she’s genuinely confused. His frown dissolves. “I guess they’re intimidated.”

“I know how you feel.” Celia shrugs. “Males tend to stay away from me—”

“Naw.Really? I don’t believe it,” my friends interrupt.

Great, now it’s time for Celia to blush. It’s taking everything I have not to nail my pals with chunks of dead scorpion.

Celia covers her face, trying to get it together. She drops her hand away, speaking fast. “My sisters would be more than happy to hang out with you. Especially Shayna.”

Koda perks up. “Yeah?”

Celia smirks. “Koda, she would talk your ear off.”

With all the attention she’s getting, I’m sure Celia forgot all about me. But then she turns to me, smiling in that way she only seems to do around me. “Are you ready, wolf?”

“Yeah, let’s go.” I start forward, limping. Next to Celia, Gemini suffered the least amount of damage. I might have suffered the worst. The hole in my thigh burrowed into the bone, making it harder for my wolf to heal it quickly. I can’t stretch out my leg yet, but the venom is mostly gone, and the wound has begun to knit closed.

Celia jogs to my side. “Here. Let me carry you.”

I jump away when she bends and opens her arms. “What are you doing?”

“It’s okay,” she assures me. “I’m a lot stronger than I look.”

“If my bloody corpse lay covered in scorpions as my decapitated head looked on, I still wouldn’t let you carry me.”

She crosses her arms, one eyebrow raised. “If you were decapitated, you wouldn’t be able to see anything, let alone protest.”

My friends crack up, even Gemini, who’s trying to hide it by wiping his mouth.

---