Page 31 of Hunted

Then a ringing phone shatters the moment before I can extend the kiss.

I groan. “Ignore it.”

She breaks the kiss. “It could be important. Maybe it’s Ivy.”

Her expression is so hopeful that it’s clear she wants to speak to her.

If it hadn’t been for that, I’d have left the phone to ring out. But I get up, depositing her on the other lounger, and get to my feet. “Wait here. I’ll grab the phone and bring it out if it’s her.”

“My legs still work,” she calls after me.

“I didn’t say they didn’t. I’ll be right back.”

Inside, I pick up the still ringing phone and answer it. “Hello?”

There’s silence for a split second. Then the phone goes dead.

I pull the receiver from my ear. Assuming it was a wrong number, I hang up and move to go back outside.

Five steps later, the phone rings.

I pick it up again.

The second I’ve answered it, the line goes dead.

I check the last number called, but they’ve withheld it so there’s no way to know who it was.

I stare at the phone, recall the marks on the tree and dread forms in my belly. Reversing the call is pointless. Whoever called deliberately blocked their number.

Is this another test of our defenses? Or is this something else?

When it happens for the third time, I hang up and start to call Bennett.

“Mack?” Aerin calls from outside, sounding like she’s up and moving toward the house. “Was it Ivy?”

Not wanting to worry Aerin with potentially just a prank, I put the phone down, making a mental note to speak to Bennett about it later. “Wrong number, I think.”

But just in case it’s not just a wrong number, I’ll speak to the rest of the pack and have them stop by the house on a regular basis. If anyone is even thinking about causing trouble, that should make them hesitate.

Aerin appears in the doorway.

“How about a walk in the forest?” I suggest.

“Now?”

It’s been a while since we’ve been on one. Aerin gets tired easily, and she prefers to be closer to the house. Maybe it’s her nesting instincts in operation, but we go on fewer walks now. Our favorite thing to do has been to read in the den or garden.

“Just a short one. Maybe I can take you back to that tree I kissed you against when our dads were getting ready to kill each other the last time they stayed?”

Her eyes slide to the phone. “And you’re sure it’s just a wrong number?”

I tuck my cell phone into my back pocket, walk over to her, and wrap my arms around her. “Think so. Whoever it was hung up as soon as I answered.” I kiss her forehead. “Come on, let’s go out for this walk instead of killing more herbs. Bennett will never forgive us after all the help he’s given us.”

“Okay.”

I lead the way outside, but my mind keeps sliding back to the phone and I keep thinking there’s more to it than I want there to be.

11

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