I shrugged. “Anywhere you want, really. The sky is nice and clear, so we’ll be able to see them coming from pretty much anywhere.”
Jules started to shake out the blanket and then cocked his head at me. “They’re flying in?” He looked around again and turned back to me. “No landing strip. Are helicopters really allowed to land here?”
I had to stifle a laugh. After all, it wasn’t Jules’s fault that he didn’t have the same life experience I did.
“Well, not exactly,” I hedged. When Jules’s left eyebrow crept up, I sighed. “They’re, uh, coming in by, well, dragon.”
Jules’s caramel eyes widened briefly before he burst into laughter. “I call bullshit,” he snorted. “You reallllly think I’m gullible, huh?”
I shrugged and continued unpacking our food and laying it out neatly on the blanket. “You’ll see.”
Jules gave me a skeptical look before turning his attention to the food before us and beginning to pile his plate.
“Must have found your appetite, hm?” I teased with a wink, making Jules laugh.
“Burned off my breakfast on that little detour we took,” he agreed with a glint in his eye. “Figured I better stock up in case you decide to get lost again on the way back.”
Chuckling, I shook my head. “As much as I wish that was an option, the guests we’re expecting are here to help deal with the Hunter situation, so I think we’ll have to go straight back and help them settle in. Then I’ll have to meet with them, Kade, and Fang to come up with a defense plan.”
Jules’s eyes went round and I’m sure his jaw would have dropped if he hadn’t been chewing. Hurriedly swallowing, he set his cold drumstick down. “Seriously? Who exactly do you call in to provide backup to freakingwerewolves?” he asked in amazement. “Who the hell is tougher thanthem?”
Ignoring the small flicker of internal irritation at the thought that my speciesneededback up -yes, werewolves are known to be more than a little full of ourselves- I focused instead on catching Jules’s face when I answered his question.
The perfect opportunity came when he raised his water bottle to his lips and took a large mouthful.
“Bunnies.”
And then I lurched to the side as his eyes bulged and the water spewed out his mouth like a sprinkler.
Yup, it was definitely worth the revenge that I was sure my Omega would get at a later time.
Absolutely worth it.
Julian
Spitting my water all over the blanket was bad enough, but then I tried to breathe before my mouth was empty and began to choke on the remaining water. I probably would have felt vindicated at the guilty look on Chuck’s face if I’d been able to, well, breathe. Instead, I tried to keep my balance as he pounded on my back while I sputtered and gasped for air.
“I’m fine!” I choked out. “Stop hitting me!”
“What? Oh, sorry.” Chuck’s large palm ceased striking between my shoulders and began to rub gentle circles as I sucked in lungsful of air. “Is that better?”
“You’re a dick,” I wheezed as my breathing began to even out. “You did that on purpose.”
Chuck dropped his eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t really expect the reaction to be quite so..” he trailed off his words and gestured expansively. “That.”
Shaking my head, I reached for my water bottle, taking a small sip and swallowing it to soothe the fire in my throat. “Now, you want to explain the bunny comment?”
Figuring he was forgiven for his jackass behavior -incorrectly, for the record- Chuck pressed a light kiss to my lips and sat back. “Well, I guess that’s the least I can do, right?”
“Concerning my near dry land drowning at your hands?” I asked dryly. “Yeah, it is.”
With a somewhat sheepish grin, Chuck popped a pretzel into his mouth and chewed it before swallowing and beginning his explanation.
“We have to be cautious about how we proceed with the humans setting up their camp behind us,” he started, stopping almost immediately when I raised my hand. “Um, yes?”
“Aren’t they trespassing?” When Chuck nodded, I cocked my head. “Then why are you the ones who have to be cautious?”
Chuck sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, something I’d noticed he did when he was frustrated. “Despite all of the equal under the law claims, shifters and humans aren’t. Not really,” he said, shaking his head. “Even at the best of times and with rock-solid evidence, we still have to prove our innocence any time there is an altercation with humans.”
