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Hayden nodded, quickly making his way in the direction of the old freeway, the one he and Anna had traveled on for days. It was a short walk from the camp, quickly coming into view through the bare trees.
He crept forward, glancing in both directions and finding a group of four men, as Kent had described, all with multiple weapons strapped to them. Not that it mattered, because Hayden quickly saw who led the group, and relief washed over him.
Stepping out of the trees and onto the paved road, Hayden raised a hand in greeting. “Brother.”
Sawyer grinned wide, jogging forward and pulling Hayden in for a hug that he did not return. “I knew I’d find you out here,” Sawyer said.
“What are you doing here, brother?” He’d told Sawyer he would return in time, and it seemed quite reckless for the leader of their entire group to be out wandering aimlessly with only three men as backup.
“Looking for you, of course.” When Hayden’s eyes narrowed on him, not believing a word he said, Sawyer sighed. He turned to the men behind him, Ben, Jaxon, and William, and then pulled Hayden aside. “Okay, so Kayla kissed me.”
Hayden raised a brow. “And?” That was nothing new, nothing surprising. Hayden had seen Sawyer and Kayla together multiple times, he was fairly certain they were together, for all intents and purposes.
“She’s grieving. And I’m… misleading her by being there every day.” Sawyer’s face contorted, guilt written all over it. Hayden simply waited. “I have a job to do,” he muttered. “I have to… fuck, it doesn’t matter. What are you doing out here? You’ve been gone for weeks.”
Hayden sighed, remembering again how unhinged his brother had seemed lately. In all fairness to him, Sawyer had never liked the idea of his brothers getting distracted by women. He’d gotten into a fist fight with Hunter over his falling for Rain, after all. Him holding himself to the same standard was predictable, expected. This, though… this was different. His emotions were more volatile lately, more chaotic. Almost as if he’d been taking something that was altering him. Hayden meant to address it weeks ago, but he seemed to dial it down while helping Kayla through the loss of her father, and then Hayden had become distracted himself… damn.
There was much work to be done at home, and Hayden had been gone too long. “Come, brother, let me introduce some new friends.”
Sawyer threw an arm over his shoulders. Normally Hayden would shrug him off, but he allowed it, for now, and led him toward camp to meet the others.
Chapter Ten
SNOWFLAKES DRIFTED TO THE ground until a thin coat of white covered all the land around them. Hayden had woken to snowflakes falling on his face, a warm, peaceful Anna tucked into his chest. His bones felt frozen, warmth of Anna and both their many layers of clothing being the only thing that stood between them and hypothermia. They wouldn’t be able to stay another night in the snow. It must have begun within the last hour or so, because it definitely wasn’t there when they’d fallen asleep.
Anna hadn’t seemed thrilled the night before, coming home from her scouting mission to see his brother there. Ben, she seemed fine with, along with Jaxon and William. But Sawyer? She seemed less enthusiastic.
He couldn’t blame her. She’d seen Sawyer at his worst, when he thought Derek was in danger, and he’d grilled her far more than necessary. All of his brothers, himself included, tended to overreact when one of them was in trouble. Still, Hayden had a lingering feeling that wasn’t the only thing going on.
After talking with the group, they’d all retired to sleep, Hayden urging Anna to do the same. There were too many people around, and they were getting knowing looks already. He didn’t need those same looks from his brother. Who knew how Sawyer would handle that news.
It turned out, she hadn’t listened, because he’d woken up with her mouth on his cock, just like the dream she’d described to him so many nights ago. Somehow, they’d both managed to keep quiet…er.
Now, though, they all sat around the camp’s high fire, keeping warm and sharing hot food and drinks. There was no use scouting on a day like today– most civilians would be inside their homes, which would draw more attention to Anna and the others. Little work could get done in the snow, anyway, so they settled into talking strategy around the fire.
Beside him, Anna huddled close. Possibly for warmth, possibly for more. He found himself hoping for the latter, not caring one bit what his brother thought about it.
“When do you think the snow will stop?”
“It should stop by tomorrow,” Rachel murmured. “It’s so light already, I doubt it will last longer. Probably melt just as quickly.”
Mason leaned forward. “That’s when we should attack. We’ve been training, scouting. It’s time.”
Sawyer shook his head, still chewing a big bite of meat. “Definitely not,” he said once he swallowed. “We either attack during the snow, or a night or two after it’s already gone.”
Mason’s eyes narrowed on him. “Attack in the snow? You can’t be serious.”
“I’m very serious,” Sawyer grunted. “They’d never suspect an attack now. Most of their civilians are indoors, I’d bet most of their guards are, too. They wouldn’t be on alert in general, not this far east, and then you add the weather?” He shook his head once more, taking a swig of the fermented drink Austin had offered him. “They’d be at a great disadvantage.”
Mason only scoffed. “Yeah, and we’d be at a great disadvantage. Running, blending, not leaving a path of where we’re going? Did you even bother to factor all of that into your plan?”
Sawyer’s jaw tensed, a look Hayden had seen one too many times.
He cleared his throat. “Let me remind you that we’re all friends here,” he murmured. “We’re all on the same side, fighting the same fight.” Both men looked to him, and he couldn’t help but notice the way Sawyer’s eyes caught on the way Anna huddled against him.
Sawyer was arguing for the sake of arguing. Hayden could see it written all over his face. He was testing the waters, seeing where the men around him stood, who their allegiance was to. Hayden could name at least twenty more effective ways of doing that, but Sawyer was Sawyer.
“Mason is right, we need to wait until the snow is clear. We can’t be leaving footprints on the ground, and the white would make it impossible to conceal ourselves.” He turned from his brother, toward Mason. “Sawyer is also right that we shouldn’t go the first day the snow clears. It needs more time.”
