Chapter 930 Chapter 930
Webb lowered the binoculars and inhaled slowly. His bear would assess all of the scents around them and let him know if anyone was in the bush that shouldn’t be there.
He looked over to see Rhogue looking through the binoculars, slowly scanning the area. She was Griffin’s sister. He’d told her to wait for the results only to calm her down, but he knew it was true. He’d actually thought it before, well, not that she was Griffin’s sister, there was something familiar about her, and he had wondered if she could be the sister of someone he knew. Of course, he’d lost the thought before he could look into it, because he was distracted by her. He sighed, just like now. He was watching her instead of checking the area.
She lowered the binoculars and glanced over at him.
“Everything good?” It was a struggle to get his brain to focus and speak when she looked at him. Right now, he had a two-fold plan. First, it was a good reason to keep looking at her without weirdness. Second, if she was talking, then he wouldn’t say something stupid. He realized that thinking stupid things was out of his hands for the time being.
She nodded and continued to look at him, and he couldn’t think of anything else to say, and he couldn’t look away.
“South patrol all clear.”
The voice on the walkie-talkie startled him. Moving to the back of the building, he lifted the cool metal against his face and looked at the area. He was glad about one thing—that all of this was happening now, before all of the growth in the bush was regrown. A black tiger and a black Jaguar came running along the fence and went into the bush.
Webb smiled slowly. He was wasting his time checking the area that Kobie and Calum were patrolling. He lowered the binoculars and pulled the walkie off his belt. “Calum and Kobie just went out to check the back.”
“Pasha and Keaton have the front.” It was Amari. “Tripp and I are taking the East side, Care Bear.”
He smiled. That was Amari’s way of telling him there was only one side that needed watching now. He wondered about the meeting but wasn’t going to ask about it over the radio. “Sounds good.” He clipped the walkie back to his belt.
“Grifter has confirmed Pike, and his two men were picked up on the cameras in town, so be vigilant.
He pulled the walkie off again. “Got it, Blaise.” His bear was alert inside him. Those guys were an hour away from them. If it had been winter, it would have been more like two hours, but the thaw had made it easier to travel in the bush in most animal forms. At least two of them were large clan types. He knew firsthand that half-frozen snowbanks didn’t hold much weight.
He turned and walked toward Rhogue. “We just need to watch this side for now.”
When she turned to look at him, the fear was plain to see in her eyes. “They’re close.” She said it so quietly, like she was afraid to speak too loud.
Webb nodded. “They won’t get this far. We have good people making sure of it.”
“Outer perimeter sweep complete. We’re taking a few and then going back out again.”
She looked at the walkie. “That’s Bane.”
Webb wanted to make her smile, but he knew there was nothing he could do to make that happen right now. “We’ve got this, Rhogue. Everyone will be safe.” The idea of her being safe or being afraid made every muscle in his body tense.
“Camera installations at the houses complete,” Fallan said through the walkie. “We’ll see if anyone goes near them from any direction.”
Rhogue held his gaze for a moment, then raised the binoculars to her face again and looked through them.
His bear stirred. He wasn’t sure if it was from the tense vibes coming from her or because he was just standing there looking at her when he needed to be watching the area around them. Blowing out a long, steady breath, he turned and lifted the cold metal to his face. He did it a little too forcefully, and he slammed the metal into his face. It wouldn’t surprise him if he had just given himself two black eyes.
A few minutes later. Rhogue gasped, and he spun around. “Webb, are those your people?”
He looked where she was pointing and then smiled. “That’s Gia and Deacon.”
“I’ve never seen—what clan is he?”
“Maned wolf.”
“She’s a fox.”
“Yes. He's part fox, but mostly maned wolf.” He looked to see the shock on her face.
“They’re mated.”
He nodded.
“And that’s okay with the Alliance?”
He didn’t blame her for being so surprised. “A lot has changed in the last few years. They made him an Alpha, and they’ve been rescuing maned wolves from other continents.”
“Rescued?”
He checked to see if his friends were still visible. “As bad as it gets here in North America, it’s worse in some parts of the world for our kind.”
“The Alliance is helping them too?”
“Mostly, it’s Taggart’s team that is. Once they get here, the Alliance protects them.”
“I’m so glad they’re getting help. “
Webb was having trouble thinking of what to say next. The way she looked at him was very distracting. What caused him more issues was how she would look at him, and then guilt flashed in her eyes, and she’d look away from him. He needed to think of something to say. “I hear your friend is possibly sea clan.”
Her eyes widened as she nodded. “I didn’t even know there were clans in the sea still. I’ve always heard they were all gone.”
He glanced at the area behind her, not sure whether they were still to keep watch or not. “Even Konner didn’t know they were still around. As far as anyone knew, they had all transitioned to land.”
The smile reached her eyes before her mouth formed one. “It makes me feel hopeful that there are more clans out there that no one knew about.”
Webb nodded and then had to drag his gaze away from her mouth. “I totally agree, although I don’t think I want to have a game of hide and seek with a clan that’s so good at hiding.”
She laughed, and his animal rolled through him at the sound of it. When she wasn’t constantly looking over her shoulder, she was breathtaking. Of course, when she was scared or experiencing any other emotion, she was still beautiful, but he was too busy wanting to replace the look.
“Are we still to watch?”
He looked around them. “We'd better stay until we hear otherwise. Even with the others going out, someone has been parked on this roof since we found out about Pike’s crew being in the area.”
Rhogue nodded and turned around to look into the trees.
Webb didn’t realize he’d moved until he was standing close enough behind her and inhaling the scent of her hair. He forced the arm he wasn’t holding the binoculars behind his back, so he wouldn’t wrap his arm around her and pull her back into his chest. That’s all he wanted to do, bury his face in her hair, and in her neck to breathe her in.
His bear urged him to move closer. He took a step back instead. Why wasn’t his animal objecting to being close to her? She was marked. Even though Webb couldn’t pick up a trace of her mate’s scent, the mark was there. He didn’t understand it. Even when separated, mates carried each other’s scent. He wasn’t picking up any trace of a masculine scent from her at all.
Slowly, he turned around and looked at the back of the property. None of this was making sense. He’d checked the records and there was no mate listed for her. She didn’t speak of any of the males in her group and one thing he had observed with the others was they mentioned their other half in conversation often.
“The birds are back.”
He turned and looked back at her. “Sorry?”
She glanced over her shoulder and smiled at him. Just like that, the inner turmoil from seconds ago faded. “The birds are back. It confirms spring will be staying.”
Webb looked at the trees and saw a few sparrows on a branch. He watched the birds take flight.
“I wish I could fly. It must be freeing.” She wished.
Webb grinned. “I love startling a group of them and watching them scatter.”
She smiled and then sobered. It took him a second to understand why. “I don’t eat them. My bear and I aren’t fans of feathers.” He touched his throat. “They hurt going down.”
She laughed. “I guess it's good I can’t shift. The idea of eating anything raw makes my stomach churn.
He shrugged. “It's weird at first, but once your animal takes over, it doesn’t bother you.”
“Good to know.” She looked around. “We’re not very good at doing what we’re up here to do.”