Page 9 of Gone Hunting

I dig in my heels and haul her back. The sensation—the one I felt when I touched her—envelops me in all the good ways possible. I start to relax until claws rake across my chest and tear through my skin.

“Ouch, Celia!”

I hook my arm tighter to pull her closer. “Don’t be mean,” I snarl. “I’m only trying to help.”

Our closeness amplifies the warmth between us. I try to fight it, but that fight is brief. Like before, the feel of her consumes me.

My body welcomes Celia like an embrace after a long, weary day. It relaxes me, despite how my heartbeat races and her presence further rouses my beast.

I groan, clutching her closer. “It’s okay,” I whisper into her ear. “I won’t hurt you. I swear it.”

I have no business saying what I do. I don’t know her and she just clawed my chest to pieces. My skin burns with the speed in which my wolf’s magic heals me. As the skin knits closed, an itch develops I can’t quite scratch.

“Werewolves, the onesnotfrom New Jersey, protect innocents. That’s you. So, predator or not, I’m obligated as a Leader of my kind to see to your safety.”

My words are merely a trace of sound against her ear. Having her so close makes me feel peaceful and I think she reacts to me the same way. She falls limp in my arms. Not from exhaustion or injury. No, this is something else.

Her heartbeat matches the speed of mine, pounding against my chest. She whimpers and releases a shudder, not what I expect from a creature close to matching me in strength.

“Shhh,” I murmur. “It’s all right.”

I rise to a standing position, pulling her carefully with me. She’s small for a tigress, not fully grown, but long and formidable.

I forgot about my friends, until I see them wagging their tails ferociously. Everyone, that is, except Koda. His dark, stormy eyes glint with suspicion. He’s not happy. Seeing how he’s glaring at Celia, seconds from biting her, I’m not happy, either.

Liam is the first tochange, leaping into the air and pumping his fists wildly. He tosses back his long blond hair as he lands. “Yeah! Aric bagged a tiger.” He points to Gemini. “And you thought that elk you brought down was the kill of the day.”

Geminichanges. He’s tall like me, but relatively thin. His almond-shaped eyes narrow. Like Koda, he knows all is not what it seems. His twin black wolf paces restlessly back and forth, refusing to break his focus from Celia.

“She’s not a tiger, Liam,” Gem tells him.

Liam frowns. “Sure, she is. She’s got stripes and everything.”

Gemini pinches the bridge of his nose. It’s something we do a lot around Liam. “That’s not what I mean.”

Kodachanges. I’m told I have a few more inches to grow. But Koda is already taller and massive, compared to the rest of us. The black hair he’s growing out brushes against his shoulders. “What is she, Aric?” he asks, his stance as deadly as his tone.

“A ti-ger,” Liam says, like we’re stupid.

“She’s a girl,” I say. I do a double-take when I notice Celia has one paw over her eyes. “She’s just, you know, a little shy.”

“A girl?” At my nod, Liam hunkers down, edging closer. “I don’t know, Aric. I say we eat her.” He straightens, holding up his hand. “Who’s with me? I call dibs on a leg.”

A guttural roar tears through Celia’s throat. I hang tight when my friends snarl in response, barely keeping her against me.

“You’re not going to eat her, touch her, or go anywhere near her,” I snap. “She’s a girl—a human—and she’s under my protection.”

My friends exchange sour glances. They don’t like what I say, yet they recognize my pledge for what it is. As a Leader, they can’t go after Celia without challenging me to a fight.

“You sure about that, Aric?” Koda asks, his deep voice lowering and menace dripping from each vowel. “Humans can’tchangeand she’s coated with magic.”

“And fur. Don’t forget the fur,” Liam says. “Koda’s right.” He makes a whirling motion with his finger. “Thatisnothuman.”

“Her name is Celia,” I say, growing defensive. “And, okay, maybe she’s not entirely human, but neither are we.”

“We’reweres,” Koda presses, his aggression growing more pronounced. “We know what we are, and what we’re not. Can you say the same about this thing?”

That peace Celia’s presence granted me abandons me in a rush. Ire digs through my tensing muscles, leaving me and my beast with the need to rip someone in two. “Call Celia a thing one more time and you and me are going to have problem,” I snarl.

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