Page 143 of The Hunt
“Slept on my couch and knew better than to try to force her way in.”
“Not even Aubrey?”
He shook his head. “She knew it would have crossed a line with me.”
A ball of worry formed in my middle. He drew that line for all his girls and was willing to break it with me, but only after warning me not to get attached…for my sake? I didn’t understand what I was getting into, and that lack of understanding was the source of my nervousness.
Fenris’s thumb rubbed over mine again.
“You’ll be okay,” he said. “Dad will be shocked when he catches us, but happy.”
“Catches us?”
“It’s the same with him as it is with Adira. He won’t believe me if I march in and announce we’re together. He’ll need to see proof. Us together in my room will be that proof.”
“Um, what are we going to be doing in your room?”
He flashed a grin at me.
“The options are endless. There’s my extensive rock collection. I could show you how I’ve perfected throwing cards into a boot in case I ever go to prison and need to pretend to be bored.”
“You have no plan, do you?”
“Hey, I’m feeling a little pressured here. Performance anxiety is real, you know. I might not hit the boot now.”
Shaking my head at him, I relaxed into the seat.
“Fine, but without a plan, I don’t know how to act or react, so if things go wrong and your dad doesn’t believe what you want him to, don’t blame me.”
“Just be yourself, Eliana. Everything will be fine if you do that.”
Everything didn’t feel fine a few minutes later as I walked hand in hand with Fenris through the trees. I felt watched, but not the same kind of watched I’d experienced in these woods or by the cabin. This felt more open and curious, less… I couldn’t even put a word to what the other times had felt like. Sinister, but not. Like something was waiting to attack, but that I had nothing to fear, which made absolutely no sense.
As soon as we reached the clearing, a trio of wolf cubs raced past us. The front one’s legs tangled, and it tumbled tail over snout. The other two pounced on the first. Playful growls emitted from the jumble of moving fur.
Fenris chuckled beside me, and under his humor, I could feel a bittersweet longing.
“Jenna told me you grow up chasing each other. How many times were you caught as a pup?”
“A few. Like young Tarlen, I was fast and cocky, and the combination sent me tumbling on occasion.”
The cubs paused their tussle as one poked its head up to look at Fenris.
“Speed isn’t everything, Tarlen. Use your head too.”
The pup yipped at us then took off running again, leaving his confused companions scrambling to catch up. It was cute to watch.
“How old is Tarlen?” I asked as we continued on.
“Almost five, I think.”
“And they just run around without supervision?”
Fenris chuckled again.
“They’re supervised. Whether you see them or not, there’s always someone around keeping an eye on things.”
I took the reminder for what it was and kept silent as we wove our way toward the center of the clustered buildings. The smaller, older homes didn’t look much different than Fenris’s cabin in the woods, but as Jenna’s home had proven, exterior appearances could be deceiving.
