B008IJW70G EBOK (21 page)

      “
So what do you say?”
Hunter leaned in, close, his face far too near to hers as they ran. 

      “
Okay.”
She wanted to giggle. Riley actually wanted to giggle like a silly little girl. What must he think? A twenty-year old guy hanging out with a silly teenager? She was just lucky she couldn’t laugh as a leopard. 

      
“It’s a date then.”
 
      Her throat went dry, but she pushed through it, focusing on running alongside him. He obviously sensed her unease at the word. 

      
“Or not,”
he said. 

      Riley looked over at him, but he wasn’t playing around. He upped the speed and gave her a beckoning look.  

      
“Come on.”

      She leaped alongside him. It was nice to focus on moving. 
“How about you teach me to ride again tonight? But properly this time?”

      That stopped him dead in his tracks. His eyes bore into hers. “
You. Alone. On my Harley?”

      Of course. “
Pretty please?”

      He swatted at her with one big paw, hitting her behind the ears. Owww. It seriously hurt. “
Not a chance, but you can sit up front with me behind again.”

      She could just imagine the smug, satisfied grin he’d give her right now if they were human. Oh well, it had been worth the try. She didn’t really care anyway, because holding on to him while the wind hit her face had become one of her favorite activities. Or having him hold onto her. So long as they were close and touching, she didn’t really care. 

      “
Hey Riley?”

      She glanced over. 

      “
You ever just wish that life could go back to the way it was? You and your sister at home, back at school like normal, hanging out like teenagers should be?”

      Riley switched her focus and looked straight ahead. She couldn’t lie. He was asking her and expected her to be honest. 

“
Yeah, I do.”
He didn’t seem offended, but she wanted to explain. “
If it meant having
Claudia back, for good, I’d do anything. Give anything up.”
She liked the smile on his face. Like he understood.
“But I am happy here.”

      Riley gave him a look she hoped he understood as happiness. Hunter just flicked her a look back, not seeming offended. 

      They didn’t talk again, instead they raced and dodged, testing each other as they ran. She knew he was good, that Sophia had chosen him not just because he best suited her, but because he was the strongest leopard around. Which made her feel good that she could finally keep up with him, without him having to go slow. 

      Maybe, just maybe, she’d be able to match him one day. 

Riley padded along next to Hunter. When they were in leopard form, she wasn’t afraid of him. Not worried about what he might think of her or scared of his closeness. Being a leopard seemed to make her stronger.
In every way.

      It was like shifting stripped back the layers of doubt and embarrassment and left her raw. Strong, capable and ready for anything. 

      Hunter swished his tail at her, curling the tip of it over her back. It made her alert. The tail touch had become their signal. She scanned back and forth then found the mark. Her shoulders relaxed, and the urge to smile almost made her lose focus. 

      
Finally.

      A tiny cub was trying out its big paws, thudding around in circles on a bed of dry leaves. She stopped as Hunter did, watching the antics. She was less focused, but she felt the strength of Hunter, saw his eyes moving across the forest in long sweeping ranges. Always the protector. 

      A high-pitched squawk made her jump. Hunter wound tightly down as if ready to pounce, before two tiny black balls of fur sprung from the clearing, toppling the cute cub who’d been padding about. 

      Riley felt a shudder of–she supposed it was laughter that couldn’t be expelled, as it tickled her insides. Hunter turned sharp eyes on her, but she didn’t care. Seeing the three young cubs play was gorgeous. 

      
“Their mom?”
      
Riley sent her thoughts to Hunter. 

      He inclined his head. 

      Of course. A mother wouldn’t venture far from her babies. 

      Hunter started walking again but the cubs hardly noticed them as they moved silently past. They didn’t want a confrontation with the adult leopards, even if they were stronger than them, so they stayed well clear of them. 

      Hunter nodded a couple of times and she followed his eyes, seeing multiple black leopards in the forest as they went about their business. She’d always been fascinated by
Animal Planet
on television, but this was something else. To be able to move past them and see firsthand, these beautiful cats in the wild, was something she would never forget. Especially with Hunter at her side. 

      She had so many questions for him, but she waited. There was no point ruining the tranquility of the forest when they would be home in no time. Besides, she had so much to think about, not to mention a big decision to make where Hunter was concerned. 

      Being unsure was putting Hunter in unnecessary danger, not to mention herself.  

      
“Run?”
he asked.

She looked over at Hunter. It never ceased to amaze her that this huge, sleek, black leopard had the same soul, the same mind, as the equally gorgeous Hunter. Mind you, a quick glance down at her own body left her just as confused. Especially when her eyes looked at the world the same way. 

      From the inside, she didn’t feel that different. She was more reckless, less fearful, when in cat form, but she thought that had something to do with the strength she possessed physically when she changed. But on the outside, she was an entirely different being. 

      Hunter stopped. She did the same. 

      “You o
kay
?”

      She realized she still hadn’t answered his first question. Riley responded by gently butting her head to his neck. Nuzzling him. She was getting the hang of this. Riley purred, flicking her tail when she butted at him again. She was usually more confident as a leopard, but never this affectionate. Today, well, today it just seemed right. Especially now that she was closer to deciding, and now that he’d brought her here, to somewhere so special.

      But the moment was over before it had even begun.

      She stopped, stayed deathly still, as Hunter growled. Deep.       Her body froze. Was something approaching them? Riley glanced up at him, and saw how his eyes had narrowed. At the slant of them, the focus of them. The determination of them.

      
He was growling at her. 

      She’d never heard him do that before. Not like that. Riley butted him once more, then gave a soft growl back, trying to calm him, but she saw him flick his claws out. He was barely in control and it scared her. But more than anything it excited her. 

      Maybe he was just as in to her as she was him when they were both leopard? Hadn’t he said that the other shifters would find her far more alluring, more attractive, as a cat rather than as a human?

      Although she wasn’t going to test that out right now. Not with him spinning out like he was. She flicked her eyes at him again, saw the tension in his body, and sprang into life. She wanted him, but maybe what he needed was to be distracted. 

      Riley stretched her legs, building speed, enjoying the pull and release of her muscles as she pushed herself. The ground cracked behind her, moved beneath her paws, but she didn’t stop. Or look back. She just kept going. 

A loud growl echoed out, but it only made her more excited. Thrilled even more in the game. This had been a good idea. She was having fun. 

      
Because it was a game.
So long as Hunter didn’t decide to make it too serious, it was just game to distract them both. 

      Ouch! Riley felt a stab of pain in her side. It slowed her, just for a second, as she dodged around a tree stump, pausing to leap over a fallen branch. And then it happened again. Something sharp sliced into her, at the same time as Hunter started to close in on her.  

      Her nose lifted, her body weakened. 

Blood
. The strong, sickly scent of blood. 

      Then a paw swiped at her, narrowly missing her head, and she fell. 

A huge black leopard hit her, knocked the wind from her and toppled her to the ground. She hissed and growled, fighting the pain, but the beast was unrelenting. The anger, the intensity of the eyes made her question whether it was Hunter, but as his weight lessened, as the pupils took hold and softened, she knew it was him. 

      And he was hurting her.
Bad
.

      The growls in her own throat faded. She could hardly breathe. What was he doing? Did he want to hurt her?

      “
Hunter
.” She urged him in her mind. “
Please. I can’t breathe.”

      He kept his eyes on hers, a low, unidentified noise still emitting from his mouth. 

      “
Please
.”

      He sprung back, body heaving, before shifting. 

      Hunter was human again. Just like that, he was human and naked before her.

      Riley took a moment, stayed on her back, stilled her breathing, and thought about changing too. She quickly refocused her thoughts before it happened. She didn’t have any clothes and she wasn’t walking back naked, even if he was. 

      Her eyes stayed away from him. What the hell had gone on there? They’d been physically a lot more intimate in human form, and he was always so in control, the one to pull away. So what was going on today?

      Riley stretched, turning to lick the sticky blood from her fur, then got up to walk. Hunter followed, she could sense it. But she didn’t turn, because she didn’t want to see him. And it wasn’t like they could talk unless she changed too, and that wasn’t going to happen, not yet. 

      Until they reached her clothes, this would have to do.

      She could tell he was hurting, but she was fine. And she’d tell him so when they got back. 

      Where his claws had sliced her it hurt like hell, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. 

Riley changed. Hunter stalked around the trees while she slipped into her clothes. She could hear him breathing. Kicking things. Stomping. 

      She was annoyed with him, but she wasn’t angry. More annoyed that he was acting like such an idiot when nothing had happened. At the end of the day, he’d been able to pull away before anything really bad had gone down. Her wounds would heal, but a little part of her, a part that trusted him,
was
worried. Only a little, but it was a niggle like a tiny prickle in her skin that was in danger of not going away without some help.

      Today had been the first time that she’d seen him lose control with her. She was partly to blame, she’d provoked him, but the way he reacted had been kind of explosive. Not what she’d expected. Kind of like the way he’d tried to kill his competition, if you could even call them that. 

      She listened as he cleared his throat. Announced himself, like he’d been gone and had just arrived back.  

      “I’m decent,” she called out, knowing what he was wanting to know. 

      He appeared. 

      Hunter stood before her. It was the first time he hadn’t looked strong, as if nothing could beat him. There was something almost dejected about the way he looked. Something sad about the way he watched her. But at least he’d found his jeans. 

      “I’m sorry, Riley.” He walked toward her, but his eyes were downcast. That fiery, blazing green gaze that usually haunted her when he watched her was nowhere to be seen. “I am so, so sorry.”

      Riley shrugged. She shifted her sandal in the earth and made an indent. What did she say to that? She’d never had a guy apologize to her before. “It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

      He moved closer, touched her face so he could tilt her cheek and inspect the damage at her neck. Then he lifted her arm and turned it over. 

      Riley didn’t bother looking at herself. The wounds were burning, partly bleeding still, but she’d get Sophia to look at them later. It wasn’t like they were life threatening. If she was going to join this pack for real, she was going to have to get used to wounds. And pain. 

      She grimaced, then wished she hadn’t. Hunter had probably taken that look the wrong way.

      “Riley,” his voice sounded pained. 

      She held up her hand, forced a smile. “Seriously, Hunter, I’m fine. Can we just get going?”

      Hunter’s face, his voice, his emotions were pained. She wasn’t enjoying seeing him like this.  

      “You couldn’t even shift, Riley. You had to wait until we got back here. I’m meant to be protecting you and I’ve made you take a step back.”

      “You haven’t put me back,” she muttered. “Put me down, maybe, but not back.”

      He put his hand on her good arm, his fingers digging into her bones. Like he didn’t know what else to do but touch her and make sure she was still whole. 

      “Riley…”

      “I didn’t change because I didn’t want you to see me naked, all right?” Did she have to spell everything out to him?

      His hands dropped. She watched as the line of his jaw hardened, but she sensed an inch of relief too. 

      “It doesn’t matter why.” But she could see it did. “I’m supposed to guide you and help you, and I couldn’t control myself. I lost it back there.”

      Riley didn’t know what to say to him. She started to walk, for something to do. And to get away from him being so close to her. He had controlled himself in the end, and wasn’t that what mattered? Seriously, could he not see that she was okay? He was a hot-blooded male leopard, she could forgive him the odd sin. She pressed one hand to her side, grimacing again as her fingers connected with sticky blood beneath her T-shirt.