Page 5 of Hunting Isla

Her eyes drifted to the cub and welled up with tears. “Don’t be mad. He’d been so sick, and I thought he had another ear infection, but instead he just turned into a freakin’ lion. I was scared, and so was Bohdie. He didn’t mean to bite me—we were both just confused, and I reacted badly.” It all came out in a rush, followed by a wracking cough, drops of blood spattering her lips.

“No one’s mad, woman. Just say yes already so we can save your life,” Archer yelled, stepping closer. The cub, Bohdie, growled, and despite the situation, I felt a smile tilt my lips. He was going to be dominant, all right.

Isla rolled her eyes at Archer, almost looking like the girl we knew. Or at least, a ghost of her. “I’ll turn into a lion, like Bohdie?” she asked.

Axel nodded. “And like us.” He shifted in an instant, so quickly that the motion would almost be invisible to a human.

Isla’s eyes got huge. “Holy shit!” She pressed back against the couch. “That’s Axel, right? Like, he’s still in there, not some random animal that wants to eat me?”

“I don’t know, I’m pretty sure Axel wouldn’t mind eating you in either form,” Archer said under his breath, and Axel’s lion raised a lip with a low rumbling growl of warning, the universal sound for shut the fuck up.

I pushed the cub into Archer’s arms. That’d keep him busy enough that he wouldn’t mess this up. Then I squatted down in front of her face. “When Bohdie bit you in his lion form, he infected you with a venom that kills our prey. However, if you consume the blood of the same species of shifter soon after their change back to human form, the natural antibodies flowing through their bloodstream act like an antivenom. Unfortunately, the side effect is that you’ll be forever changed into a turned lion shifter. But that isn’t all bad—it has a lot of upsides.” I could see her body starting to sweat, her limbs trembling.

“Okay.”

I couldn’t help the relieved breath that whooshed from my lungs.

CHAPTER 2

ISLA

My brain was obviously not processing anything in my near-dead state, because instead of freaking out about the possibility of turning into a freaking lion, I was processing the fact that when you changed from lion to human, you came back naked. I’d been in too much shock when Bohdie had shifted for the first time to notice what happened when he shifted back, then his bite had made me black out. But I was noticing right now.

See Exhibit A: Axel was standing in front of me, naked, so I got an eyeful of naked Axel. Did I mention he was naked? And hot? But really, really naked? Why couldn’t I look away?

“Cover your balls, man, before she passes out. I think all the blood left in her body is heading for her cheeks,” Archer said with a laugh, and I blushed harder, but managed to muster the energy to give him the finger.

A knife appeared in Axel’s hand from god-knows-where, and he cut down the length of his wrist. My stomach turned at the sight of the blood beginning to run down his golden forearm.

“You need to wrap your lips around the cut and suck down as much as you can. I know it sounds gross, but it’s the only way. In a couple of minutes, it’ll apparently taste like melted chocolate as your body realizes it’s being cured, so just hold out until then.”

He put his wrist to my mouth, but I couldn’t do it. It was disgusting. Axel put a gentle hand on the back of my head, forcing my mouth onto his bleeding wrist. As the coppery taste of blood hit my tongue, I gagged. I tried to pull back, but Axel’s firm hand prevented my retreat. Bolstering my nerve, I sealed my lips around the wound and sucked hard.

Axel let out a shuddering moan, and my eyes shot to his face. His face via his dick. Oh crap, he was getting hard. As promised, I quickly stopped being grossed out by it. But it tasted better than melted chocolate—it tasted like sunshine and perfection. I moaned, sucking it down faster.

No one seemed overly fussed by Axel’s nudity. I guess if that clothes disappearing trick happened every time they changed from lion to man, they’d have seen a lot of nudity, but it was seriously short-circuiting my brain.

Noticing my gaze constantly dragging down Axel’s body, Archer grabbed a throw rug from the back of the couch and wrapped it around Axel’s waist. He must have misconstrued my roaming eyes as embarrassment rather than lust.

Not going to lie—I was partly relieved, partly disappointed.

I could feel the anti-venom working. My muscles were slowly strengthening, the tightness in my chest easing so that I was no longer gasping for breath. I went to pull away, but Axel’s strangled voice stopped me. “You need more. Keep going.” Liquid heat pooled between my thighs, and I moaned again. I was going to embarrass myself soon, but he tasted like sin.

When my hair fell over my face, I gasped, my mouth unlatching from Axel. It was full and shiny, a touch more golden than it had been in years, like it had been kissed by the sun. I stood up, and although my clothes still hung from my body, I felt stronger. Axel was a little grayer, though.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, I just need a few minutes.” He snagged a backpack from the floor as he stumbled down the hall toward the bathroom at the end. The door shut with a quiet click.

I turned to the only remaining ghost of my past, unable to control myself. Closing the space between us, I leaped into his arms. Archer wrapped his strong forearms around my body, crushing me close.

And then I cried. I cried every tear that I’d kept trapped inside me over the last five years. “You came for me. She said you’d find me.”

“Always, Isla. Always.” He snuggled his face into the crook of my neck, sucking in deep breaths.

“Lala?” It was a child’s voice that called me, not Wyatt, though the boy from my childhood who was now a man stood beside him.

“Hey, baby. I’m okay now. Come here.” I squatted down so I could catch Bohdie in my arms. I kissed his floppy, golden hair and his cheeks, and he wrapped his arms too tightly around my neck. I stood with him in my arms, resting him on my cocked hip. He was too big for my tiny frame, but I was feeling strong.