The door swung open and Ford smiled.“Ready, you two?It’s all quiet here.The night is yours.”
He and Fallon left the barn, and she kept pace next to him as he trotted into the pasture.
The night was cool, and the clouds covered most of the starlight, but he could still see his beautiful mate as she explored the pasture, occasionally darting by him with a playful growl.They romped around the pasture, free and wild, for hours until they were both relieved of their shifts and could return to human.
He’d never had more fun in his stallion form than he did with his mate.They loved each other, they took care of each other, and they were on the way to starting a family.It was the perfect, sweet ending to the last couple days that had been stressful and scary.
He was one lucky stallion.
* * *
Ford Anderson took the opportunity of Avi and Fallon being back in the barn to shift back to human, to head into the kitchen and grab a cup of coffee before he took his night shift on patrol.The park was sending two shifters to help patrol in the morning, but someone needed to keep things safe overnight.
Since Ford was the only one who didn’t have a mate, he didn’t mind being up at night.Once he’d filled his travel mug, he headed back outside, passing Avi and Fallon as they made their way into the house.
“Thanks for standing watch for us,” Avi said.“I really appreciate it.”
“Of course,” he said.“You’d do it for me.”
“In a heartbeat.”
“What’s your favorite thing to have for breakfast?”Fallon asked.
He stopped on the bottom step of the porch.“French toast.One of my aunts used to make stuffed French toast and it had some kind of sweet cream cheese mixture in the middle.”
“That sounds lovely,” Fallon said.“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Oh hey, that’s cool, thanks.Rest well, you two.See you tomorrow.”
He nodded at them and walked off to where Grey stood in the pasture, staring out into the darkness, the rifle loosely at his side.
“Hope the night is quiet,” Grey said.
“Me too.”
“I overheard Crew talking to Jupiter at the park, and they’re only going to send security people for the next day or two.They’re a little concerned about Otto coming for Sera, even though she’s very safe underground.”
“Makes sense,” Ford said.“I like the extra eyes on the farm, but honestly, it’s our duty to keep our people safe and we shouldn’t need reinforcements constantly.”
“It was good to have the help, but you’re right.It’s on us to keep our people safe.Good luck tonight.See you tomorrow.”
“Night.”
Ford went into the maintenance barn and took the tablet off the charging station so he could keep an eye on the perimeter alarms and security cameras.They continued to add to the security of the farm, but it wasn’t foolproof.All they could do was be vigilant.
What he really hoped, though, was that Colton would get a clue and disappear with his two males and find somewhere to call home.He wasn’t going to take over the farm, and the sooner he got that through his thick skull, the better.
Out in the yard, he checked the security features on the tablet, then set it down on a bench so he could patrol.He kept the rifle at his side and walked around the fence line from the front yard to the back field, circling the farmhouse and barns.
Just as he was about to make another circuit, an alarm beeped on the tablet and he rushed to it.Something had disturbed one of the motion cameras at the far edge of their territory.
All he could see on the footage was a shadowy figure and then something small hanging from a tree branch and swaying slightly.
His walkie beeped.“An alarm tripped?”Crew asked.
“Yeah, out at the edge of the territory.”
“On my way.Don’t go alone.”
