Page 11 of Hunting Isla

“Yes.” There was no lying to Axel. I wouldn’t lie about this anyway. The lie would be like poison on my tongue.

He just nodded, turning back to the car. “Your turn to drive,” he said, throwing the keys over to me. That was it. Axel was a man of few words. Always had been. He was inscrutable, but normally, he had a healthy dose of asshole thrown in.

“Shouldn’t you be warning me off, or staking a claim or something? You are Alpha,” I pressed, because apparently, I had a death wish.

Axel shook his head. “No. The choice is hers. It’s always been hers. She can have whatever she wants, and if it’s within my power to give it to her, that’s what I’ll do.” He turned, putting one of his huge hands on my shoulder with a heavy thump. “If that happiness is you, then I’ll be glad to have her in my life and within my Pride.” He grinned at me, but it was all teeth. “But I fucking hope she chooses me.”

I laughed at the absurdity of our lives in that moment. It was perilous, and we were considering regicide, but buzzing from that kiss, I was the happiest I’d been in five years.

CHAPTER 6

ISLA

Isplashed water on my face, desperately trying to get my libido under control. Archer had kissed me—like, really kissed me. Then Axel had caught us. I’d only kissed him hours earlier. What the hell was going on with me? It was like seventeen-year-old me had taken control of my body and was now calling the shots.

I’d had a huge crush on Archer when I was a teenager. Axel had been brooding and serious, always the responsible one in any situation. He took control. He made things better. But Archer, he was approachable. A little wild, a little crazy, but you always had fun with Archie. And if you were other women, you would probably end up in his bed as well.

Except for me. I always got walked to my door. A quiet goodbye, and a kiss on the cheek. I mean, I understood. I’d been a slightly plump street rat, with trust issues and a bad attitude. But not with the guys. With Wyatt, I’d felt an instant connection. When he’d taken me home to meet his cousins, that connection had spread to include them, too.

Did I want to mess that up by turning our friendship sexual? I could lose everything.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, noting the new blonde highlights in my hair, and the way my blue eyes sparkled. “No, Isla. Pull your shit together. They are friends. You can’t risk losing them just because you want to screw them. No.”

A low rumble reverberated from my mouth. I gasped at my reflection as my eyes flashed yellow. What the hell?

I sprinted from the bathroom, barreling into Wyatt’s back. He’d gotten so huge that his body basically absorbed the shock of my impact, while I bounced off his body and onto my ass.

“Woah, Isla! What’s wrong?” He pulled me to my feet, his eyes scanning the surrounding area for threats.

“I growled, Wyatt. And my eyes turned yellow. What the hell?”

Now it was his turn to seem perplexed. “We turned you, Isla, remember?” He stepped closer, looking intently into my eyes, then over my face. “You do remember, right?”

I pushed against his chest. “Of course I fucking remember, Wyatt. But I feel like you should have warned me that I’d have no control over this shit.”

He wrapped a muscular arm around my shoulders, pulling me tight to his side. “I’ll explain, but let’s get on the road first. We want to be off the grid as soon as possible.” He led me back to the SUV.

Archer took one look at my face, and his eyebrows lowered. “Is everything all right?”

I gave him a hesitant nod. “It will be. Can we just get out of here?” Without another word, we all slid back into the car.

A wordless conversation seemed to pass between the guys, until finally, Wyatt nodded. “So, this is what we know…”

Fingers stroking my face woke me. I’d been dreaming of changing into a 350-pound lioness and prowling through the woods. And that I was over three hundred years old. According to the guys, those were all real possibilities for me now.

“Lala, we’re here.”

Opening my eyes, I found myself staring up into Wyatt’s golden eyes. I was momentarily trapped by his gaze. With a concerted effort, I turned and blinked away the residual crud from my eyes. Wyatt backed out, and I unfolded myself from the car. Stretching, I looked around.

All I could see were trees. Even with my new enhanced hearing, I couldn’t hear a single car, truck or whirring engine. No voices, aside from Axel and Archer arguing in the house, and the sound of Bohdie running along the floorboards of the porch.

I turned to look at the cabin and sucked in a breath. It was beautiful. Simple, but perfect.

“Oh,” I whispered, moving toward the heavy front door, with its cut-glass panels catching the late afternoon sun. It was rustic, sure, its weathered exterior showing just how rough the Nebraskan winters could be. Logs were piled in a high stack by the front door, and a long bench seat ran beneath a shuttered window. It looked like the kind of place I’d longed to call home when I was a kid, right down to the squeaky front steps.

The front door opened, and Archer appeared. “Do you like it?”

Axel nudged him out of the way with a well-placed shoulder. “She hasn’t even seen inside yet,” he growled, walking to the car to get out another box of my stuff.