Chapter 887 Chapter 887
Madison came down the stairs. “The girls will be ready in a few minutes.” She stopped and looked at Piers. “I want to check the dressing on your neck before we go.”
Foster looked at the stairs and wondered if he should go check on Ena and Orson.
“They both got a little sleep.”
He looked at Madison.
“I guess she needed it as much as he did.”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
Andi came in with a case in her hand. She held it out to him. “Jesse knows how to hook this up. I’m going with Madison to HQ before heading to the next location.”
Foster took the case and looked at it.
“It will give them more signal for phones.”
Deacon came in from the garage. He was smiling.
“What’s happened?” Gia set a bag beside the door.
“Walker decked one of them when he got mouthy.” He chuckled. “Maybe he is the man to work with rogues after all.”
Kevan came in behind him. “Trash is gone.”
Madison went over to Piers. “Good. I wanted them gone before we headed out.”
Foster put the case with his run pack and looked at the kitchen. It would be a shame to leave the perishables here. Before he could ask Gia what the plans were for them, Ena came down the stairs. Her hair was mussed up, and her eyes had that sleepy fog. Their gazes connected, and it felt like someone hit him in the gut.
“Foster?”
He realized Gia was speaking to him. “There’s fresh coffee in the kitchen and some snacks.” She looked around. “Are Morley and the others coming back here after they’re done?”
“Negative.” Deacon came out of the kitchen. “Everyone is off to the next location when they’re finished.”
“Oh. Okay. I’m going to pack up any food that can spoil, and we’ll take it to Ena’s clan.”
Deacon nodded and then looked at Foster. “We’re staying there until the delivery comes and the help arrives.”
Foster nodded and then turned and went into the kitchen. He hadn’t received any new instructions yet. His coyote was alert and anxious. Without looking, he knew Ena had come in after him. What was he going to do if Jesse sent him somewhere? He’d have to leave Ena with her clan. He glanced to see her putting the dried dishes away. His whole body was tense. He didn’t think he could just leave her behind and go somewhere she wasn’t.
Going over, he reached around her, got out a cup, and then went over to the coffee pot. “How’s Orson?”
“Very sore. He says sleep made it worse.”
He poured the coffee and then stared at the cup. “It usually does. I think it’s because you stop moving.”
“He’s anxious to go home.” She turned around, leaned against the counter, and clasped her hands in front of her. He could see her squeezing them together.
“We’ll be going shortly. I was going to help Gia clean up the house so it’s ready when someone else needs it.”
She nodded. “Who’s house is it?”
Foster put the coffee pot back before he spilled it on himself. “I’m not sure. The Alliance has places all over for teams to stay at or as safe houses.”
She looked around. “I’ve been by here many times. Other shifters could have been here and we never knew.”
“I think that’s the idea. That no one know.”
She turned back around and opened another cupboard. “Are you going to the next place?”
Her voice was so quiet he barely caught what she said. “Uh. I don’t think so. Jesse is going to need a hand when the others get to your lands.” Now, he was going to have to beg Jesse to let him stay and help otherwise she would see him as a liar.
“Okay.” He watched her shoulders slump. She was relieved. “I know we need to talk, but I’m just-just-there’s been so much…”
“Hey.”
She turned and looked at him.
“Let’s get Orson back home and start working on getting your clan back on their feet, and then we’ll worry about other things.” His animal objected to that. He’d done it again. Put off talking about the fact that they were mates. He looked at the cup because now he was wondering if this would be an appropriate time to hug her. When she had done that at Waylon’s he felt like his heart was going to explode, in a good way, of course, not a bad one.
“Thank you for understanding, Foster.” She came over and put her hand on his arm for an all of three seconds and then walked toward the door. “I’m going to see if Orson needs help coming down.”
Foster closed his eyes and leaned forward until his head was resting on the cupboard in front of him.
“I know that stance.”
Lifting his head, he turned to see Deacon grinning at him. “Yeah? Do you have any words of wisdom?”
Deacon snorted. “No. Just keep any axes away from her.” His brow furrowed. “And bats. The flying one, not baseball.” He nodded and walked back out of the room.
Foster opened his mouth and then snapped it shut. What did axes and flying rodents have to do with anything? He needed to talk to someone about this. Picking up the cup, he went over and sat at the table.
There had to be someone on his team he could talk to. Webb wouldn’t be any help; he didn’t have a mate. Zain wasn’t great at that sort of talk. Give him a list and he was a specialist, but emotions, he didn’t do those. Then again, he’d been in hiding most of his life, so keeping emotions locked down probably kept him alive.
He grinned. Calling Amari was out. Yes, she had a mate, but Tripp scared him. Not as much as she did, but he knew advice from her about mate issues would probably involve violence and blood. He cringed. Yeah, Amari was amazing if you needed backup, but the chatting part, not so much.
Taking a sip, he burned the tip of his tongue. He doubted Deva’s advice would be helpful, she was mate to Taggart, and just understanding him sometimes was a chore. How had she managed to bridge the communication barrier to understand him? He had no idea but calling her was out.
Asher barely did conversation before he had a mate, so chances of that being any different now was slim. What he and Journee had been through and finding each other all those years later, however, that had all gone down, they deserved nothing but happiness.
Taking another sip, he thought of Jesse. On a scale of one to impossible, he had no idea how his boss had navigated the turmoil of mates. He had not one, but three if you counted Minn, versions of his mate. He probably deserved some kind of award for the most patient, understanding man ever, but knowing him, he’d shrug it off.
Looking into his cup, he realized that was the whole team he’d just checked off as not possible to talk to. That wasn’t helpful at all.
“Foster, can you give me a hand loading up my gear?”
He looked to see Andi sticking her head around the doorframe. “Sure.”
“Thanks. Everyone else is busy, and I know Madison wants to get on the road soon.”
He took one more sip and stood up. He’d think about who to talk to later. Surely, with all the mates of late, someone would have an easy story and situation and could put it into perspective for him. Calum, even the prince were options. He just didn’t know about calling either out of the blue and asking for advice along those lines.