Page 8 of Hunted

He has no idea what it’s like to lose the most important person in your life, only to find she’s been stuck out here alone all this time. And she wasn’t even trying to get rescued? I shake my head, unable to register that thought.

“Reece, you gotta calm down. You can’t yell at her like that,” Bower says, clamping a hand on my shoulder and trying to diffuse the situation.

“She could have come home years ago,” I say through gritted teeth as I stare up at the tree she disappeared into, wondering if I'll be able to climb it in my loafers.

“Shut. Up,” Weston growls, poking me in my chest with his finger. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“So you’re saying she didn’t avoid rescue?” I cross my arms over my chest and raise an eyebrow at him.

But it’s Kingsley who replies from our side. “She told us she never saw any planes or ships. She didn’t actively avoid anything.”

“Besides, if you knew what she’s been through, you wouldn’t make such accusations,” Weston says angrily.

My own glare turns to confusion. “What do you mean?” He snaps his mouth shut and I glance at the other two, who are suddenly avoiding looking at me. “What am I missing? Is there something else beyond her trying to survive here for so long?”

“It’s not our place to say,” Kingsley says, making me turn to him in frustration.

“Bullshit. Tell me.”

“No, it’s up to her to tell you or not.”

“The fuck? I thought we were family?” I ask angrily.

“And so is she. Would you tell me something Bower told you in confidence, or would you let him tell me himself?” I press my lips together, understanding his point but not liking it.

“Fine,” I say in frustration, stepping away from them and looking up again at the main trunk of the tree. “How do we get her down?”

“We don’t,” Weston says with a sigh, making my head swing to him in surprise.

“What do you mean? It’s almost dark out. She can’t stay up there all night.”

“She’s done it way more than we’d like. When we first got here, she refused to sleep in the hut for ages,” Bower explains.

“Until she hurt herself,” West mumbles, sounding frustrated himself.

“What do you mean, she hurt herself?”

A lot has clearly happened in the two months since they arrived here and I’m starting to get frustrated having to drag every little bit of information from them.

“What exactly has been going on here? And are you four in some sort of… relationship together?”

“We all care for her, Reece,” King says, coming to stand in front of me, his hands in his pockets as he tries to explain.

“It’s just trauma bonding. You can’t possibly expect for this to work. There’s three of you and one of her!” I yell as my eyes keep glancing up at the tree in hopes of a glimpse of her.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about!” West growls as he stomps toward me angrily, but King quickly puts himself between us, a hand on both of our chests to keep us apart.

“Look, allfourof us care about Zee—Darla. On that, we can agree, yes?” he asks, his head turning back and forth between us. West caves first with a single nod, and not wanting him to be the better man, I nod my agreement.

“Okay, good. Reece?” My eyes snap to King as I try to rein in my temper. “There is a lot that you don’t know, and no, we can’t tell you. We already told you that’s for her to decide. Just know, it’s not good. The three of us have come to care for her a great deal over the past few months. It’s not trauma bonding or a case of her being the only female here. We care abouther, specifically. She’s sweet and kind.”

“And brave as fuck,” Bower adds from where he’s standing off to the side, his arms crossed over his chest as he glares at me.

“We feel she needs and deserves all of us, especially after everything she’s been through.”

Taking a step back, I run my hand through my hair in agitation. I get what he’s saying, really I do, but she’s… mine. If I tell them she was mine first, I’ll sound like a toddler who lost his toy, but it’s true. I never wanted to let her go.

I think about what he’s telling me, about them all being in this together, and a new set of questions start to form in my mind.