Page 7 of Coral Rustling

Licking his lips, Ulkna picked up the thick sandwich.He eyed the hoagie, his mouth watering at the sight of the turkey, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and even a couple of dill pickles.Ulkna felt his stomach grumble again, so he took a big bite and hummed appreciatively as the flavors burst across his taste buds.

Yum!

As Ulkna ate, he listened to the men chatting around him.Yuma and Hunter were engaged in a conversation with Rueben and Ryan about the new archaeological excavation going on in the Grand Canyon.Rueben and Hunter both wanted to track down the site and take a peek during the night—evidently, neither human had been to an archaeological dig before—and while Yuma was watching indulgently, Ryan was trying to rein them in.

Ulkna was sort of on Rueben and Hunter’s side.He’d never been to an archaeological dig, either.When they’d been at the bottom of the canyon, taking an hour and a half break to walk around, check out interesting sights, and letting the horses rest, the wranglers had told them about the recent find.

Evidently, only a small percentage of the Grand Canyon was actually fully investigated.A group that had gotten lost hiking had stumbled upon a previously unknown Native American adobe-like structure.According to the wranglers, there were eleven different tribes that had lived in or around the Grand Canyon over the centuries.

It’d been fascinating.

“You know, you could just talk to Mark,” Yuma finally pointed out, stopping Rueben and Hunter’s cajoling of Ryan trying to reason with them.“Mark said he was buddies with one of the graduate students working with the archaeologists at the site.Maybe he could get you in to view the dig.”The small penguin shifter snickered as he added with a wink, “Then you could probably even go during the daytime.”

“Yeah, but if he gets turned down, they’d be on watch for us,” Rueben whined.“It’d be harder to sneak in.”

Ulkna fought back a snicker.Seeing the big redhead all pouty was really sort of funny.

“So, you starting in human or snake form?”Payson asked, plopping down near Ulkna and drawing his attention.His legs were crossed, and he immediately pulled Land onto his lap.

Ulkna gave them a few seconds to make out before he bothered answering.“I’ll start as human,” he decided.“If I need to get close and investigate while a human’s around, I’ll shift.”

In his coral snake form, which wasn’t all that large, Ulkna was rarely noticed.On the occasion when he was spotted, most humans would back away and leave him alone, even if they weren’t sure if he was the poisonous coral snake or the non-venomous king snake.Every once in a while, someone would get a shovel, and seeing as Ulkna was sentient and knew exactly what that could mean—they most likely intended to chop his head off—he took off at top speed.

“Sounds good.”Payson grinned widely at him.“We’ll bring a backpack with sweats and a hoodie.”Shrugging, he cocked his head.“And socks for his feet, if he wants ’em, cause no guessin’ at his shoe size, and I ain’t carryin’ a million shoes through the woods.”

Chuckling, Ulkna nodded.“Makes sense.”

Payson eyed the remains of Ulkna’s meal.“You ready, then?”Grinning broadly, he teased, “Or you gonna wait that recommended thirty minutes before exercise?”

Ulkna popped the last chip into his mouth with a roll of his eyes.“Let’s go,” he mumbled around his mouthful.Then he rolled his garbage into a ball and rocked to his feet.

Snickering, Payson lifted Land up, and they both stood.

Once Ulkna had placed his trash in the bag the guys had set out, he turned and headed toward the trees.He heard the guys’ calls of encouragement and congratulations and waved in acknowledgement.Ulkna slipped between trees, sensing Payson and Land following, and he began striding swiftly through the woods.

Ulkna had to remind himself on more than one occasion that Land was a human and couldn’t keep up if he started jogging through the trees.Still, it was tough to control his excitement.His pulse picked up speed, and anticipation thrummed through him.

Soon.Soon I’ll see my mate again.

And this time, maybe I’ll actually be able to talk to him.

As Ulkna spotted wood fencing appear between trees, he heard the murmur of voices.He slowed, judging direction and distance.Stalking forward, Ulkna flicked his gaze this way and that.He noted over a dozen horses interspersed amongst a number of paddocks.They milled around large feeders full of hay and appeared to be munching contentedly.

Finally, Ulkna pinpointed the source of the voices.A pair of men stood at the other end of the farthest paddock.The cowboy Ulkna recognized as Reagan, one of the wranglers from the ride, stood on the outside of the paddock.

The second man, wearing nothing but a pair of sweats and standing inside the paddock with mostly his back to him, drew Ulkna’s attention like a moth to a flame.He had wide shoulders that tapered to a narrow, trim waist.Nicely defined back muscles were on clear display, and his biceps flexed enticingly in his arms where he had his forearms resting on the top rail of the fence between him and Reagan.The man’s shaggy, dark-brown hair covered his neck, and he thrust a hand through it as if in agitation.

“Did anyone in the gang say where they were headed, Reagan?”the half-naked man asked.His tenor tones were filled with frustration and uncertainty.“What town they were staying in, maybe?”

“No, but—” Reagan paused, looking over the other man’s shoulder and sweeping his gaze over Ulkna, Payson, and Land.He smirked as he stated, “But I don’t think finding them’s going to be an issue.”

“What do you mean?”

Reagan pointed in Ulkna’s direction, and the sexy, sweat-pants-clad man turned.

Ulkna’s breath caught in his throat as he stared into the deep brown eyes of his forever.

Gorgeous.

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