Page 8 of Gone Hunting

“Is something wrong, Aric?”

There it is again. “No, I just . . .”

Her fingertips trail along her cheek, pushing the muddy strands away from her face. “You just what?”

“It’s nothing.” I cough into my shoulder. “I just like how you say my name.”

“Oh,” she replies.

The surprise in her tone is obvious. I can sense it and her shyness warming the air. I shouldn’t like the way she says my name as much as I do. Except, here I am, waiting for her to say it again.

“You know my name,” I remind her when she quiets. “But you haven’t told me yours.”

She lifts her chin, her gaze fastening on mine. “I’m Celia,” she says. “Celia Wird.”

Her words are careful, filled with uncertainty and a little fear. I don’t want her to be afraid. Not of me. I grin, pushing my hand through a small opening in the thick brambles. I ignore the bite of the thorns. “It’s nice to meet you, Celia.”

Her hand slides across my palm. Like a wave of sunshine breaking through clouds, warmth pulses through my hand, blazing a path through my veins and straight into my chest.

It doesn’t hurt.

It doesn’t sting.

It’s . . .incredible.

I jerk away as if burned, gaping at my palm and back at her. “What did you do to me?” I ask.

She trembles, her breath releasing in short gasps.

“Celia,” I say, when she doesn’t answer. “What did you just do to me?”

The sensation recedes, leaving me empty. Without thinking, I reach toward her again, seeking more.

“What are you?” I ask, my voice heavy and raspy.

She edges away, staring at my hand. I know she’s scared. I open my mouth, hoping to reassure her. But then she whirls, shooting up the embankment so fast I barely trace the movement.

“Celia,wait—”

Shock cuts my voice off like the slice of a blade. Celia, the young vulnerable woman hiding in the brush, is gone. In her place, a golden tigress, its fur coated in mud, charges through the terrain and up the bank in a blur of speed and grace.

I jet after her. My bare feet crush the moist debris until Ichangeand my thick claws scrape into the soil, flinging it behind me.

Chapter Three

I’m known for my speed, but Celia isfast.

She zigzags through the pines, letting the long heavy branches slap against my face. Flashes of black fur appear in my peripheral vision. Gemini is here with his twin wolf. Koda arrives too, the fur of his massive red wolf blazing like fire at midnight. Liam isn’t far behind, I sense him more than I see him.

We break through the clearing, racing at full speed. I catch sight of Celia, just as I realize where we are.

The cliff. She’s going off the ledge if she doesn’t stop.

I howl and snap my jaws, warning her. All that does is increase her speed, and incite my friends to howl and snarl. The thrill of the hunt and the proximity to what they perceive as prey stimulates their voracious hunger. Their keen sights are set on Celia, but she’s not theirs to have.

She’smine.

Dirt and debris pepper me as she digs her claws into the ground, trying to stop. She’s going too fast, the weight of her tigress pushing her forward. I leap,changinginto my human form and snagging her front paws when she slides, rump first, over the cliff. I wrench her to me, slipping an arm under her belly and around her head.

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