I nod. “It was so little, just me running down porch steps and my mom telling me to stay where she could see me. She called me Leya,” Leya for Kataleya Prairie. The girl I was before. I suddenly panic. “What if that’s all I remember?”
“You’ll remember more.” He rubs his hands up and down my bare arms in a move so distracting I wish he would stop. “Do you think someone took you?”
I shrug, retreating until his hands fall away. “I don’t know. Someone must have, but why would I go with strangers? Wouldn’t I have tried to go back to my family?”
He cocks his head, his expression thoughtful. “You would if you knew you had a family. If something happened and you forgot, then you might not know. Maybe you hit your head?”
“Maybe.” All I know is that a walk doesn’t seem like the best idea right now. I rub the pulse at the base of my head. “I’m getting a headache.”
And I never get headaches. I didn’t think shifters could get them with how fast we heal.
Two seconds later, I’m in Aren’s arms and he’s striding back toward the house, his forehead furrowed in concern.
“You don’t have to carry me.” Not gonna lie, it feels pretty damn good to be off my feet.
“Yes, I do.” He peers at my face. “You’re pale. Do you want me to take you to Gregor?”
I like Gregor, but I’d go stir crazy in his infirmary.
I shake my head. “I just need to lie down for a bit.”
I start to look for Leo, but he’s up ahead, leading the way to the house. I thought he would complain about the abrupt end of a run that we barely even started, and I feel bad, but I just want to lie down.
“I’m having an enforcer meeting in an hour,” Aren says as he walks us back to the house.
“So?”
“It’s about Cristofer. If you feel up to it, I’d like you to be there for it. If not, I can?—”
“I’ll be there. He’s a threat, and I want to be part of taking him down.”
One corner of his mouth lifts in a half smile, and I swear I glimpse relief in his eyes. “Thought you might say something like that.”
“Something like what?”
He sets me down inside the house, seeming not to notice the rest of the pack eyeing us curiously.
“You’re a hunter like me. It’s another thing we have in common.”
I’m too afraid to ask him what else we have in common. What I need are reasons to leave him, not reasons to stay.
“Right,” I say, though I’m not sure I believe him.
“You want me to carry you up?” he points his chin at the staircase up to his room.
I shake my head. “I can manage. And I’ll be at the meeting, so don’t start without me.”
“Yes, ma’am.” His salute almost makes me smile, and I hold my breath when he leans in and presses a kiss on my forehead. “Get some rest, Kitty cat. I’ll wait for you.”
But there’s a look in his eyes that makes me think he’s not talking about the meeting.
7
AREN
Frowning, I watch Kat walk up the stairs.
Her steps are slow and deliberate, and she grips the balustrade as if needing the support.
