“Colton came after us with fire before,” Avi said.“But this was far more destructive.”
“Agreed,” Grey said.
The rest of the herd joined their group in the middle of the yard.As the females found their mates and everyone held each other close, Crew said, “He’s getting bolder and more dangerous.”
“How can we combat him when we’ve done so much already to try to stop him?”Zara asked.“He marched right through the security perimeters and threw freaking fire-bombs at our home.”
“I don’t know,” Crew said.“But we’re not giving up.He will not drive us out of our home.This farm is our territory, and we will continue to fight and defend it.”
Ford nodded as he held Darcy tight.
Colton had crossed another line tonight.He’d hit them while they slept, despite two males on patrol and scores of motion detectors and cameras around the farm.His stallion was furious that Darcy had been in danger and he hadn’t been with her.
The truth was there, unsaid.
Colton Kane wasn’t going to stop and was going to continue to escalate untilhewas stopped.
“When the sun’s up, I’ll try to track him,” Grey said.“They rushed out of here so fast, they surely left a trail I can pick up.”Grey was a talented tracker, but so far Colton had managed to evade them.
“I’ll join you,” Dexter said.“We’ll see if we can find him before he comes after the herd again.He needs to be stopped.”
“Then we’ll stop him,” Ford said, determination filling him.
The herd nodded, males and females alike.
Colton Kane and his herd were going to stop coming after the Little River herd.One way or another.
Darcy hadn’t gone back to bed at all.
Not just because the whole house smelled like smoke and burned wood, but because she was too keyed up to sleep.Everyone got to work once the shock and anger at the attack had subsided.
She’d never had anyone throw a flaming bottle of gasoline at a house she was inside before.It was terrifying on a level she couldn’t really articulate.
She’d been trying to sneak a peek at Ford and ended up being in the right place at the right time to battle the flames in the kitchen.
She’d been calling for help but she didn’t think anyone could hear her over the screech of the farmhouse’s fire alarms as well as the roar of the flames.
She shuddered as the image of the flames shooting up from the floor replayed in her mind.
“You okay, hon?”Nancy asked.
“Yeah, just trying not to think about what could have happened.”
Nancy was human like Darcy, and so was Tatum.She liked not being the only one who wasn’t a shifter.
And shestillcouldn’t get over knowing that there were people out there who could turn into animals!
“It’s easy to get caught up in the what-ifs in these situations,” Nancy said.
They’d been working for hours, washing linens and clothes that smelled of smoke, and now they were side by side in the kitchen, washing the walls and cabinets so Dexter could see what needed to be replaced and what could be salvaged.
Nancy wrung out her rag into the bucket and scrubbed at a streak of soot on the wall.“When I first met Dexter, it was just him and Khyle in the herd.I had to keep the secret from Dani, which was hard as heck, but it wasn’t until she met Neo that she learned the truth and that was such a relief.”
“My friend Rhomi is mated to a lion at the park.She must have hated not being able to talk to us about it.I’m thankful I have her to talk to, plus everyone here in the herd.”
“The herd already loves you because you’re Ford’s mate.They’ll become family to you too, the way they are to me and Dexter.”
It was already happening.When the fire had started, she’d worried about Ford, but also about everyone in the house.
