Page 32 of Hunted

AERIN

“This walk is to distract me from something, isn’t it?” I have my hand in Mack’s and he’s leading the way through the forest at the back of the house.

Penny’s happy place is the grocery store, the baking aisle, to be specific. Mine is a slow walk in a quiet forest with no one around but me and Mack.

He’s walking much slower than he usually would, which isn’t surprising. So am I.

Walking and talking without panting like a dehydrated dog is starting to feel like something I used to do a lifetime ago. And stairs? I look at stairs and I remember the time when I used to run up them.

Now I walk slow, sit down often, and will almost always reach for oversize sweats, baggy linen dresses, and soft brushed cotton T-shirts.

“The walk is to make you smile. You like walks in the forest.”

I eye him, trying to work out if I’m reading too much into things. Idolike walks, and Mack knows it. But the suddenness of his suggestion feels a bit too… sudden.

When I stumble, I decide it might be in my best interest to look where I’m going. A fall while six months pregnant wouldnot be fun. Both the landingandpicking myself up after. “That phone call…”

He gives my hand another squeeze. “Was just someone calling and hanging up. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.”

“It could be the shifter from before,” I say. “The one who marked the tree outside the hotel.”

“It could,” he agrees. “But it could also just be someone who called the wrong number and was too embarrassed to admit it.”

Yes. But these little coincidences are piling up. Each thing has been small—except for the mystery shifter who marked a tree and left town. That’s a big thing.

Maybe I’d feel a lot less wary about these things if I had the means to defend myself. But right now, all someone would need to do was push me over and watch me struggle to get up again.

There’s a line between Mack’s eyebrows, and I recall his sudden decision to go on this walk in the first place, and I think there’s more to it than that.

“Enjoy the walk, Aerin,” he says, smiling slightly as he leads the way. “I can feel your frown.”

“You’re too observant,” I say.

He lifts our joined hands and kisses the back of mine. “Only about you. I couldn’t care about anyone else,” he says so cheerfully I can’t help but smile. “Is our neighbor talking to his horse again?”

I sigh loudly. “Every time you say that, it makes me sound like I’m crazy.”

He grins at me. “You are not crazy, and even if you were, I would fully embrace your craziness.”

I look toward our distant neighbor who keeps horses, and who, months ago, I heard talking to one of them. It’s been a while since I’ve tried eavesdropping. Mostly because I’m too busy talking with Mack on our walks to attempt it.

Now I have another reason not to try.

My powers.

Because if I don’t hear the animal-loving neighbor who likes to talk to his horses, it will be yet another sign that whatever is broken with me and my powers continues to be broken, and I’d much rather focus on this walk instead.

“Aerin?” Mack prompts.

“Just thinking.”

“About?”

We’re not in the habit of keeping secrets from each other.

At least, not anymore.

When I first came to Winter Lake, he hid the fact that he was the leader here because I nearly got myself run over by a truck running from Bennett when I thoughthewas the Alpha.

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