Once they reached the ridge, he stopped, pivoting to look back over the house, yard, and outbuildings. Matt was talking to Luna once more, heads bent close and earnest. Perhaps all the playing nice hadn’t just been hot air but a chance for them to weigh one another. And now they had, they were getting down to business.
Leon stepped up beside him, tucking his hair behind his ear. Some kind of tell, from a man who seemed to have very few, but Karl didn’t yet know what that little tic told him.
“You’ll want to know where the perimeter lies,” Karl said.
“Satellite imagery only gets me so far.” Leon pulled out his phone. “Can you mark it?”
Karl reached for it, and Leon held on a beat longer than necessary. Not a challenge, but long enough to underline he didn’t think Karl was in charge here. He’d learn.
Leon eventually let him have the phone, being very careful not to touch him. That cat superiority complex again. He’d probably spend a day grooming himself if he so much as brushed against a wolf. As for Karl, he’d rather be catapulted into the sun than touch a cat.
The screen showed a satellite image of the ranch. He started to trace the lines. “Northern boundary runs along the ridge crest. Nothing breaches it up there—too steep, and we’ve got sensors on the only viable access trail. Eastern border’s this line here—natural creek bed. Cats don’t cross it without checking in first.”
Leon nodded once. “Noted.”
“South’s the weak point.” Karl tapped the wide, open slope. “We’ve got thermal cams and pressure sensors here, set back from the fence. And the driveway’s covered, too.”
Leon’s brows lifted slightly. “You planning to walk me through that setup?”
“No.”
Leon’s lips parted like he might push it, then just said, “Fair enough.” It looked like it had cost him, though, which Karl didn’t hate. At least he was accepting the restrictions Karl was putting in place.
Karl handed back the phone. “So long as you give me your schedule in advance, you can patrol up to the perimeter. But in cat form, you stay downwind from the horses and don’t get too close to them. We’ve got foals, and I’m not having them put at risk if you panic the herd.”
Leon took that instruction without argument, but he narrowed his eyes. “You think I’m careless?”
“I think you’re used to being top dog.”
Leon’s mouth curved, not quite a smile. “I could find that phrase insulting, you know.”
Karl didn’t miss the glint in his eye. Leon might’ve said it lightly, but the warning was there. He wasn’t just pretty and sharp-tongued—there was steel under all that silk.
“You want your people out at night?” Karl asked.
“Yeah. We’ll rotate shifts. Two out at a time, never the same path twice. And there’ll always be one of us on the house when Luna’s inside.”
Sounded like they’d be stretched thin, with little rest and recovery baked in, but that was nothing new. And hopefully it wouldn’t be much longer than a day, then they’d be gone.
Leon moved closer to the edge of the ridge, gazing down over the house. “This is a good spot to keep an eye on things.”
“Which is why I brought you here.” He wasn’t giving guided tours for fun.
Leon was silent a moment longer, then he spoke without looking at Karl. “You don’t like cats.”
Karl didn’t answer. Didn’t see the need to, not when Leon had pegged it in one sentence.
“You don’t trust us,” Leon added. “Which is reasonable. I can’t say it’s not reciprocated. But you’re not just cautious, you’re angry.”
Karl stared out across the land, trying not to let his reaction to Leon’s words show. He was used to being unreadable, but apparently not to cats. Or not to this cat, anyway. He didn’t want anyone to know the parts of him he kept hidden, and it angered him that this cat thought he could go poking around in Karl’s head to amuse himself.
“You really want to start nosing into people, rather than keep Luna safe?” He knew it was deflection, he knewLeonwould know he was deflecting, but as Matt wouldn’t like it if he snarled at the cat, he had no other option. Though a snarl may have sounded in his voice anyway. He took a breath, fighting for calm. “You’ll get access to the patrol log whenever you want. If one of your teams wants to tag in with ours, that’ll be your call, but I want notice.”
“You’ll get it.”
“Any shifts in your routes or coverage—”
“—go through you.” Leon’s voice was quiet now. No edge. “I understand.”
