Page 38 of Hunted

“Want to change into something more comfortable?” I nod at her clothes. I was able to get her sweater off and her sneakers without waking her. But since she’s almost always wearing soft cotton or linen, all oversized or loose, she hadn’t looked uncomfortable as she slept.

She shakes her head. “This is fine.”

“Can I get you anything? Food? Water?” I keep my arms around her loose, not wanting to hurt her if she’s even a little bit tender from her fall.

She yawns so loud her jaw cracks, and I smile. “I have the thing I wanted.”

I turn out the lamp as I breathe in the sweet, fragrant scent of my mate. “Which is?”

“You. Safe. And in my arms.”

“I know exactly how you feel, love.” I kiss her hair and release the breath I feel like I’ve been holding since I saw Aerin at the bottom of that hill.

She’s okay.

NowI can relax.

“I’m glad you weren’t eaten by a bear,” she says quietly.

I smile. “Me too. What happened?”

When she releases a soft sigh, I feel the warmth of her breath against my chest. “As usual, I wasn’t looking where I was going. I thought I saw something.”

I freeze. “Something or someone?”

She sighs again. “I don’t know. At first, I thought it was the bear coming after me when it was through eating you.”

I smile as I lift my head to look at her. “Black bears don’t eat people.”

“But how was I to know?”

“I have a book downstairs. You can borrow it if you want.” I give her a searching look. “About this thing you saw…”

“It was like that time when I ran away from Shane after I threw his keys in the forest and everywhere I looked, I thought I was hearing him creep closer.” Her voice is soft, but her eyes are haunted.

“I’ll take a look in the forest. Just in case,” I offer. After Aerin screamed, I wasn’t focused on anything but the need to get to her and make sure she was okay.

“I’m probably being paranoid,” she says, holding onto me when I move to get up.

“But it doesn’t hurt to take a look just to make sure. I didn’t see anyone, hear anyone, or pick up any tracks when I found you.”

She pulls my head down. “I was being paranoid. Please don’t go anywhere tonight.”

Just the possibility that there might be someone out there is troubling, but Aerin rarely ever asks me to stay with her like this.

“Bennett could…”

“I’d rather you didn’t have Bennett and Helena trampling around in the forest, looking for something that wasn’t there. It was nothing. Just me being paranoid.”

I settle down. “Okay. I’ll have a look early tomorrow. Just to make sure.”

“You won’t find anything,” she assures me.

“But I’ll sleep easier after.”

I’ll shift and take a good long sniff and walk around tomorrow, early. But for now, I wrap my arms a little tighter around my mate and close my eyes.

13

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