Page 56 of Gone Hunting

“Sorry about the fight back there,” I say when I see her color improve. “Weresroughhouse all the time. We’re no exception and I’m pretty sure we engage in it more than others.”

“It’s all right,” Celia says. “It’s been a stressful day and you boys look like you needed to release some energy.”

“I take it you and your sisters don’t wrestle in mud?”

Celia laughs. “No. Taran and I occasionally go at it—”

“Naked?” Liam asks, a little too enthusiastically.

I don’t know which is worse, what he asks or how my friends light up and wait for her to respond.

Celia rolls her eyes. “No, Liam.”

“Oh,” Liam says, clearly disappointed.

“My tigress, being who she is, always likes to be in control. She gets grumpy when I tether her, which, in turn, makes me grumpy,” Celia explains. “And Taran, well, a lot makes her grumpy. Sometimes we clash, even though I recognize it’s my tigress needling me and that I should be more patient. But as I mentioned, my tigress is hard to control.”

“What do you fight about?”

She smiles fondly. “Stupid stuff really. Clothes, personal space. We don’t have a lot of either and we all share the same bedroom.”

“Why?” Liam asks.

Liam’s question is fairly innocent. But Celia’s life is more complex than most. It takes her a moment to gather her words, saying only enough to answer him. “Our foster mother doesn’t have a lot of space in her house,” Celia admits. “But that’s okay. She loves us, and it shows in the way she cares for us.”

Liam is clueless most of the time, but he’s not dumb. The way Celia’s voice fades and that sadness she keeps tucked away returns. She’s done talking about her family.

Our original plan was to eat at my place, but as we reach the rear entrance to our property, I sense no one plans to stay.

“I need to make sure everyone is okay,” Koda says. He backs away, waiting for the others to join him.

Liam kicks at the soil, bringing a small piece of moss into the air that he quickly catches. “I say after you check on the fam, you come and stay with me.” He throws the piece of moss at Koda. It bounces off his chest. “Dad may need help fixing my neck, since Mom won’t be able to hold me down.”

Gratitude finds its way into Koda’s voice. “All right. I’ll be there.”

“That was some fight today,” Gemini says.

Koda grins. “Yeah. We owned it.”

Gemini glances down, his cheeks flushing. “We all did well, but I was talking to Celia.”

Koda nods, speaking to Celia. “I saw you flip and land a few times. It was—”

“Hot?” Liam offers.

Koda’s hard gaze bounces to me. “I was going to say graceful,” he mutters through his teeth.

“Oh. That, too,” Liam agrees.

“My muscles are too heavy to do anything close to that,” Koda continues. “You don’t have that problem, Celia, even with all of your strength.”

“You do have an impressive beast,” Liam adds.

“Thank you,” Celia says, looking intently at the ground.

She’s not taken by the compliments or the attention my friends give her. They make her uncomfortable. It’s one of the reasons I like her. She doesn’t seek approval or demand everyone look at her, even though everyone does.

“We better head in,” I say.

---