Page 57 of Flock Around and Find Out

To me, at least. There would be far more damage to Kelvin if he ever threw me off a building again.

That was the sort of thing I only allowed once per a customer limit.

“I think it’s just a few minutes,” Galen said, tucking the tablet back into the bag. “Just ahead there should be a rocky area to the left, and a slight path up that. We follow it and we should find the hut.”

I picked myself up and off the log, the idea of almost being to our destination given me a little extra energy.

His directions seemed on point, because we managed it to the rocks he mentioned, and after a few minutes on that path—which was more upward than I would have liked—a clearing in the dense trees revealed a small hut. It had a roof made of leaves, all tightly packed, and walls of roughly cut wood. The door was slightly ajar, and the windows had no covers on them.

Outside was a pit with ash inside it and a few rocks in a circle around, along with a stick that balanced above it—for roasting meat?

It wasn’t a bad set up, if you liked the rustic sort of life.

I didn’t, of course, suddenly grateful that we hadn’t decided to spend the night here. Despite my complaining, the walk from the town was only about an hour and a half, which meant we could easily head back. Galen had packed flashlights in case we had to return in the dark.

I wasnotgoing to sleep here—that was for sure.

“Stay here,” Galen said, his steps changing as he approached. They turned lighter, and he cocked his head as though listening.

It reminded me that he was alpha, that he wasn’t delicate as he might seem when he wore his glasses and worked on his computer.

He was a killer even if he didn’t act like it all the time.

He approached the hut, making a low noise. It wasn’t a growl, not exactly, but there was no doubt it was an animalistic sound. A warning? A greeting?

Fuck knew I didn’t speak dog.

And, come to think of it, I doubted the tiger did? Perhaps they all had some level of understanding, like different dialects of the same language.

He pushed open the door and stepped inside.

After a long, silent moment, he returned, still walking softly. “Not here, but he didn’t leave that long ago.” He peered out at the tree line. “This isn’t set up with much in the way of supplies, so I’d guess he hunts and gathers water and other food. He probably went to do that.”

“So we just wait?”

He shook his head. “Hunting for a tiger could take all day, and if he shifts into his animal form, he could choose to simply sleep in the forest and wait for tomorrow to try again.”

“So we’re going to go track the scary ancient tiger in the jungle? Yeah, that sounds good.”

“Not we—me. You won’t be able to move fast enough and you’re far too noisy. I’ll track his scent and find him, then get him to come back here.”

“And I get to sit here and wait all by myself?” I peered around. The idea sounded absolutely terrible. I didn’t want to get left behind while the muscle went traipsing through a jungle.

This was theexactmoment when someone got killed off for being stupid in movies.

“We don’t have another option. I can tell that he’s been here a while, so nothing else is going to come anywhere near this place. It smells like tiger. So you’re safe from anything else, and I’m going to be tracking him, so you don’t need to worry.”

I sat down on one of the rocks with a huff. “Yeah, well, if I die, let me assure you that I have every intention of haunting you forever. I’m going to disrupt you every last time you masturbate, so be ready for an eternity of blue balls if your wrong!”

He let out a soft laugh. “I guess that’s a fair deal. Just stay put and wait for me. I’ll be back soon.” He paused just before he turned away, then shrugged his backpack off and left it beside me. “If I’mnotback in two hours, follow the path back through the jungle to the town.”

He didn’t wait for me to agree, instead turning around and heading off at a full jog.

It went to show how much he’d been holding himself back during our little hike. I’d figured we’d moved pretty fucking fast, given how out of breath I was.

It wasnothingcompared to the way that Galen traversed the small space before disappearing into the trees, hopping a log and moving between the trunks with an agility that was fucking impressive.

It seemed he really had been slowing down to accommodate me. No matter how much I hated the idea of waiting here, there was no possible way I could keep up, not like that.

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