Page 11 of Hunted

Before I can fully take it in, West rounds on me, jabbing his finger into my chest, his face tight with anger. “The only reason I haven’t hit you yet is because I don’t want to upset Zee. If you so much as raise your voice to her again, I won’t hesitate next time.”

“Fuck, man, I get it,” I say, batting his hand away. “I care for her, too, you know?”

“You have a fucking funny way of showing it. You have no idea who she is now. And you need to realize she doesn’t understand a lot of subtext.” His voice is steady as he speaks, but I can hear the undercurrent of frustration and anger.

“She’s missed a lot, growing up out here, and you need to be careful with her, or next time, you and I will be having more than words.”

“Are you done? Can we please get on to actually finding her now?” I ask with a raised eyebrow, trying not to let him know that his words are getting to me.

He drops his hand and backs off, mumbling, “Asshole.” Then he turns and scans the surrounding area.

“Zee!” he yells into the trees.

I turn the other way as I yell, “Darla!” When I hear nothing in response, my stomach tightens in worry.

Where the hell is she?

Chapter five

Darla

Ijerk awake, my eyes scanning the dark surroundings as I try to figure out where I am. It takes a minute, but as my eyes adjust to the darkness of the jungle, I realize I’m in a tree. I was cuddling Mo-Mo. I look down but he’s gone, long gone judging by the coolness of my legs.

What woke me?

“Darla!” My head jerks to the side where Reece’s voice came from.

What the hell is he doing out here this late? He’s never even been in this area before. He’s likely to hurt himself tripping over a root or something.

Being extra careful, I slowly extricate myself from my sleeping spot and start to climb down.

“Zee!” It’s Weston’s voice I hear now, and it sounds like he’s right below me.

“Weston?” I call down, trying to focus on where I’m placing my hands.

“Baby, where are you? I can’t see you.”

“I’m climbing down.”

“Be careful, take your time,” he says calmly.

“Darla!” Reece calls, sounding frantic, the sound of his feet getting louder as he joins Weston somewhere below me.

“Stop yelling, you’ll make her fall,” Weston scolds him.

“You were yelling, too,” he snaps back.

“For fuck’s sake Reece, shut up.”

I try not to roll my eyes as their arguing continues below. There’re a few times I get stuck, unable to find the next branch below me, but eventually I make my way down to them.

I squeak in surprise when I’m plucked from the tree by my waist by a pair of large, firm hands. Instead of setting me down, Weston turns me around and hugs me against him, kissing my head as he mumbles, “You scared me, please don’t go off at night again.”

“I’m sorry. I just needed to get away from—”

“From me,” Reece says from my side. Weston places me on my feet, and I turn to face my former best friend. Or is he still my best friend?

He stares at me, and even in the dark moonlight, I see a storm of expressions on his face. Worry, frustration, longing, agitation. I'm just not sure which emotion will win out right now.