Page 22 of Trolling For Love

“I’ve known Bo and his wife for a while before I knew he wasn’t human. He wouldn’t lie, and he wouldn’t warn us if there wasn’t a threat,” he said, agreeing with me.

“Let’s go into the woods tonight and see what we find there,” I said.

As soon as we returned to the camp both of us packed a bag with everything we’d need to stay in the woods until the end of the weekend. Flynn was very careful to make sure we had enough supplies, bedding, shelter, and anything else he could think of. My mate was smart, and didn’t go into any situation without planning. I, on the other hand, usually burst in unprepared and ready to tear apart anything that stood in my way. I was learning there were other ways to deal with problems.

“This is nice,” Flynn said as we walked through the dense forest going past where we’d met the leshy the last time we’d come out here.

“It is. I only wish we were here for other reasons,” I said and cleared a path for Flynn through the thick underbrush.

“We can still have fun while we’re out here exploring,” Flynn said. “I’ve missed you this week.” We had decided it was better that we didn’t spend any time alone during the week. Flynn didn’t want the crew to think he was favoring me in any way, and I didn’t want anyone to know he was my mate that could use it against him.

I turned to face him and cupped his face in my hand. “I have missed your touch, mate. You are all I think of and working next to you is not enough,” I whispered before kissing him. One touch and I wanted more. It was all I could do not to tear his clothes off and fuck him against the nearest tree, but right now we needed to find out all we could about any possible threats. “Later, my love. I promise I will remind you exactly who your mate is once we know we’re safe.”

“Okay,” he said, his eyes glazed over and still in a daze. “We should keep walking. Let’s see how far out we can get before dark.”

“As you wish.” We continued to walk but I wasn’t sure what we expected to see. If there was a portal, how would we know when we’d found it? In all the time I’d spent wandering Iceland theonly portal I had found there was the one that Einar had guided me through. I had been to the edges of the monster realm many times, but before that day I had no reason to want to travel away from my homeland. Now I felt no reason to return, because my home was where Flynn was.

“Let’s rest here,” he said and slipped off his pack while sitting on a rock. “I think we should set up camp before it’s too dark.”

“You are right. I forget that humans cannot keep going without rest and nourishment. Please know it’s not that I’m not concerned for you,” I said.

“I understand. This is all new to me too,” he said and took a big drink of water. “This is a good place to stay. We’ll get an early start tomorrow.” Flynn walked around the small, protected area under two ancient trees. The floor of the forest was soft here and covered with layer after layer of pine needles. He knelt and pulled more out of his pack than I would have thought possible to fit in it, and after a short time he’d set up a simple tent and was gathering rocks to make a fire pit.

“This is nice,” I said and knelt next to where he was now trying to start a fire.

“It is. I brought hot dogs and marshmallows to roast on the fire. I thought that would be the easiest out here and I didn’t know if you’d ever had smores before,” Flynn said without looking away from where he lit a small piece of paper he’d brought with him.

“What is a smore?” I asked.

“Ooey gooey goodness,” he said. “It’s a toasted marshmallow and a piece of chocolate on a graham cracker. You’ll love it. They’re a camping tradition,” he said. We sat near the fire while he roasted hot dogs on a stick, and I watched him. I could watch Flynn all day and never tire of it.

As night fell the forest fell silent, but I knew there were many creatures about. Not all of them were from this world and mostdidn’t want humans to know they were here. Those were the creatures I needed to speak to. They were the ones who would know more about a man that hunted monsters.

Chapter 20

FLYNN

The two of us slept in the small tent and somehow it worked. I was warm all night and felt protected. Not that I knew what I needed protection from. The monsters who had come to call Elder Ridge home did not harm humans, and I never felt threatened by any of them. The only threat I’d ever felt here was from my uncle, but I still didn’t understand why or what he wanted.

“Morning,” a voice said from outside the tent. Gunnar jumped out and tore the tent apart in the process.

“Who are you and what do you want?” he shouted while shoving me behind him. I found this was his reaction to danger and while I appreciated it, I wasn’t sure it was always necessary.

“Calm down now, we mean you no harm,” one of them said. He was wearing a small backpack but somehow, I knew hewasn’t a tourist. “I’m Ricky Ruas and this is Ricky Ruas, I work for the park service in this area and Ricky is a scientist with the research facility. We saw the smoke from your fire and wanted to make sure it wasn’t more than a campfire.”

He had a scowl on his face as he looked at both of us while the one he called Ricky gave us each a friendly smile. “I’m Flynn Davies, and this is Gunnar. We work for the lumber company that’s been clearing underbrush and logging nearby,” I explained.

“Oh yes, Frank Madron is your boss,” he said and smiled.

“Yes. We have the weekend off and Gunnar wanted to see more of the forest,” I said.

“Is that all he wanted to see?” he asked and stepped closer to us.

“Jason, I know you. I didn’t know you were working out this way.” Jason Bosco had grown up around here, the same as me, but he was older than me and while I recognized him, I didn’t know him.

“I took a job looking over the forest in this area,” he said. I knew Jason worked in the forest, but I didn’t know enough about him to know exactly what it was he did.

“I’m out here so much I’m surprised we haven’t crossed paths before. We do plan on moving the operation deeper into the forest so we might run into you more often,” I said. I might not know him well, but it would be good to know someone connected to the park service while we were working out here.

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