I stepped a little closer. “You did good coming out here again. It was a brave thing to do,” I told him.
His head jerked slightly, like he hadn’t expected that.
“I… it’s nothing,” he muttered.
“It’s not nothing,” I said. “The fact you’re willing to help us out, that matters.”
For a second, something flickered across his face. Not quite relief or disbelief, but something softer. Then it vanished fast, and he nodded once.
“We’re done here. Nothing new,” I finally decided.
There was no point staying out here much longer. Nonetheless, I did one final sweep out of habit, then called it a day.
As we started back toward the trucks, an uneasy, cold feeling crawled up the back of my neck again. It felt like we were being watched. I stopped mid-step.
Mason bumped lightly into my shoulder. “Levi?” Mason asked.
I didn’t answer right away. My gaze swept the tree line, sharp and slow.
My wolf surged forward, senses stretching. I felt the wind, smelled pine. A distant squirrel clambered up a tree branch. It was nothing, but still my skin prickled.
You’re jumping at ghosts, I told myself. The pack was all keyed up. Missing shifters. Anti-shifter rumors spreading like rot under the bark. My nerves were wound tighter than usual.
Still, I took one more slow look around before forcing myself to move again. Probably nothing. Probably.
The drive back was awfully quiet. I kept one hand loose on the wheel, the other resting near the console, senses half-tuned to the road and half to the passenger seat beside me.
Mason sat stiffly, hands folded in his lap, staring down at them like they held the secrets of the universe. He hadn’t spoken in ten minutes. My wolf didn’t like it.
“You okay over there?” I asked finally.
He blinked like he’d forgotten I was in the truck.
“Yeah. I’m fine,” he said.
Lie. Not a big one nor a malicious one.
“You’ve been quiet,” I said.
His shoulders lifted in a small shrug. “Just thinking,” he said.
About the deer shifters? Or something else? I drummed my fingers lightly on the steering wheel, then made a decision.
“You eaten yet today?”
Mason glanced up, startled. “What?”
“Food,” I said, shooting him a sideways look. “You know. That thing people need to survive.”
His mouth twitched faintly despite himself.
“Not really,” he admitted. “I was too nervous.”
“Figures,” I muttered.
By the time we crossed back into pack lands, the decision had already settled in my bones. I pulled into the gravel drive near my cabin and cut the engine.
Mason blinked at me again. “This isn’t Nico and Tony’s place. Where are we?”
