Chapter 29
Risa
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Kara chuckles as Addiecomes up sputtering, wiping water from her face before slipping a hand under her stomach to help her stay steady. She and a few other kids have spent the last couple of hours teaching Hunter and Addie to swim, though they’re going to have to call it a day soon as the sun starts setting. Devin and Aiden hover a few steps away from their mate like they’re afraid she’ll be swept away, though the benefit of staying in chest deep water means the risk of her falling and getting hurt is minimal.
I lean back against Bane’s chest while he uses the base of the tree for his own support, the two of us content to watch everyone having fun from a distance, where it’s easier to breathe. Mason and Stryker snagged enough bottles of beer for the four of us, giving as wide of a berth as they can to all of the people scattered across the beach. About three dozen of them turned out tonight, currently busy drinking, tending the bonfires, or simply celebrating finally not having to wear a mask anymore now that my blood’s been deemed safe.
“We should head out soon. The longer we stay, the harder it’s going to be on them when we leave.”
Stryker pops the cap off of mine, crouching down to pass it over with confusion. “What are you talking about, angel?”
Taking a drink, I gesture with my free hand to the way Mason’s scratching at his arm again, developing the nervous tick over the past two weeks whenever we’re too close to a crowd. The lack of decent sleep isn’t doing us any favors to curb the social anxiety, either, but he’s taking it the hardest.
“Depending on how much effort you guys are willing to put in, because full disclosure, the closest I’ve come to building a house is with Legos, I was thinking maybe we settle somewhere between here and the nearest town? We could reap the benefits of being known as the creepy people in a cottage in the woods that parents use to scare their kids into behaving, a first line of defense to ward off people from the area. We can utilize the shifters’ efforts to keep this place a secret, while still being close enough that Hunter and Addie can visit their friends.”
Mason and Stryker share a glance while Bane gently urges me forward so he can get up. “Caleb!” he hollers, the wolf excusing himself from his conversation by the bonfire.
Taking a drink of his beer as he approaches, he lifts an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
Bane grabs my hand, already starting to walk away. “Keep an eye on the kids? If it gets too late, we’ll grab them from your house.”
Rolling his eyes, he snorts. “So plan on feeding them breakfast tomorrow, got it. Sure, why the hell not? Worst-case scenario they drown a little, but I’m sure it’ll be fine. Probably,” he teases, joining his family at the water to fill them in.
“Where are we going?”
Stryker flicks one of the chains on the back of my hand. “Somewhere that allows us to actually have an honest conversation without eavesdroppers.”
***
Over an hour passesbefore the small boat bumps into the dock, Bane hopping out to tie it off to the faded, wooden post. Stryker helps me out, Mason following behind us as we walk across the short pier on the farthest island from the mainland, at the tip of the crescent islands. Stretching out my senses, I don’t pick up anyone nearby, not that I expected to, or the guys wouldn’t have brought us out here.
“Where’d everybody go?”
While this tiny island isn’t popular for much more than harvesting the plants at the base of the mountain forest, it still has a small village, about thirty people living out here. And by the lack of activity in the houses ahead of us, just inside the tree line, it seems nobody’s home.
“Bribed them to start relocating a few days ago,” Bane announces, and my head whips in his direction.
