Page 9 of Hunting for Love

I make my way into one of the showers. I stand there a moment, my mouth opening in a pant. Fuck. My body is sohot. I’m overwhelmed. Everything is too much. I can’t stand being in this form another moment!

The shift hits me all at once. One moment I’m standing on four legs, panting and overwhelmed, and the next moment I’m on two feet, leaning against the shower wall.

I quickly turn around and close the shower door behind me, locking it up tight. Sweat drips from my forehead and my hands shake as I carefully turn on the water.

Something pings at the back of my head, something that should be glaringly obvious but I’m just not putting it together.

I’ve felt this way before.

My stomach sinks as the pieces begin to fall into place. I’ve felt this way before right before I went into heat, right before I got pregnant with JJ.

Fuck. I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t even ask my true mate to help me with this because he’shuman. Would he even understand? Would he evenwantto help me with my heat? I’m so completely and utterly fucked and not in the way I so desperately need.

I turn the water to cool, letting it wash over me. I let it wash over my head, running my fingers through my hair to keep it out of my face. It feels so good and the only thing that would make it better is if Ronny’s thin, lithe fingers were wrapped around my--

“Zander?”

My entire body tenses and my ears pick up Ronny’s footsteps. A whimper leaves my lips without my permission, letting him know I’m here.

Everything is growing fuzzy and I’m finding it harder and harder to remember why asking Ronny to get into the shower with me is a bad idea. It couldn’t hurt, right? Heismy true mate after all.

Right?

Gods this is suddenly so complicated. I let out a shaky breath and resolve to having this conversation and hoping somehow, Ronny can understand.

CHAPTER SEVEN

RONNY

“Where did Papa go?”

I step back over to the group, ruffling JJ’s hair as I answer him. “He went for a little walk.”

JJ’s eyes go wide. “Is he coming back? The last time we went for a walk we ran away.”

My eyes jump over to Jeff’s. We share a look of concern before I squat down to talk to JJ eye to eye. “He’s coming back. I don’t think your Papa would ever run away without you, okay?”

JJ nods slowly before smiling. “You’re right. Maybe he had to go potty.”

“You’re probably right,” I tell him, standing back up. So many thoughts rush through my brain all at once. What are these two running from? Or is it awho? What happened that they had to run? Whoever they’re running from, are they looking for Zander and JJ?

Part of me would love to sit JJ down and ask him all the burning questions inside my head. But that feels wrong. I want to hear it from Zander, and only when he’s ready to tell us.

A surge of possessiveness runs through me. I’ve only known these two for a very, very short time but already, I know I would do whatever it takes within my power to keep them safe. I feel a pull towards them that I just cannot explain.

It seems their past wasn’t the best which is why I’m so fucking thankful I somehow stumbled upon them. They won’t have the same type of struggles as before. I can’t promise them the best life because I’m a hunter who’s always on the road and helping with danger, but I can promise they won’t have to run anymore.

Gods, here I am making promises to a person I still haven’t even met. What’s wrong with me and my giant bleeding heart? Maybe I should try waiting until Zander and I can actually talk before making grand, sweeping declarations.

There’s a tiny part in my head that wonders if this is how Jeff felt when he met Axel but I quickly push that away. I’mhuman. Zander is a cat shifter. We’re literally worlds apart. Aren’t we?

“Hey!” Jeff calls out, “welcome back!”

I look up, finding Martin, Cooper, and Carlos walking into camp. They all look fine so today must have been somewhat smooth without any sort of catastrophic side effect happening. I will gladly call that a win.

Carlos has a pained look on his face and his eyes dart around. “Hey, umm, where’s Zander?”

“He went for a walk. What’s up?”

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