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While he was relieved to see the kids, he was also well aware of the danger they were all in. The smell of fear hung in the air.
“Boys,” he said as he checked each face to gauge their states, and then to Clint and Dax, “Did something else happen? Or did you bring them just as a precaution?”
“Well, a little bit of both. As soon as you called, I checked around and called Clint specifically. Asked him to do a quick check of the grounds, and sure enough, Frederick had been there, Rollo. Most likely before he visited you here.”
“Yeah,” added Clint. “And he’d left a particularly bloody souvenir on the front door. I took care of the animal’s carcass, and the kids never saw it. But I just didn’t have time to clean up all the blood. I know they saw that. I’m sorry, man.”
Rollo felt anger shoot through him. Not at Clint. At Frederick.
“Not a problem, man. The important thing is that they are okay. Thank you for being there. At least you cleaned up the body.”
Dax’s hand came down on his shoulder. “Your place is not safe, high walls or not.”
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.” His chest tightened even as he contemplated the situation.
“I think I have a solution,” Dax said.
“You sure you want us all crashing at your place?” Rollo said.
“Hardly. No, I have a better idea.”
“Oh shit, you want us to go stay at the Tree, don’t you?”
Winona had been consoling the boys, but with that her head spun around, “The Tree? Really?”
“No, even better. Bloom has had a sort of country house in her family and we had already been thinking of using it as a sort of ‘safe house’ if the need ever arose. Well, it’s arisen.”
Rollo heard him, but his mind was still on his own failings.
“Dammit. I thought I had been so careful. How the hell did he find us?” His wolf was seething. And now more vigilant than ever.
“Who knows? Besides none of that matters now,” Dax quickly said.
Right. All that mattered was keeping them safe, and then destroying the threat.
Rollo tussled the hair on the heads of the boys as they gathered around him. They seemed subdued, like they’d all been crying. Jaye grabbed his hand shakily, holding on.
“There was blood, Dad. All over the steps.”
Rollo felt anger threatening to rise up again. It was his job to keep the boys safe. His brother’s boys. His boys.
Winona edged closer. Even though he could only imagine how jarring all this must have been for her, she was still doing her best to comfort Bucky and Jaye by taking them each by a shoulder and pulling them in close to her. Well, she definitely deserved that money now.
Mate.His wolf was practically screaming it.
Fuck. Okay, get a grip.He tried to push it away, but something about the way Bucky and Jaye folded their little bodies into her embrace was affecting him.He clamped down.Or at least tried to.But he realized he didn’t want to wipe her memory. Never really had.
He looked up to give himself a minute to think.Frederick. Right.Shit.Butthinkingwas not in the cards. At the moment, all he knew was the rage he was feeling. His brain knew it was a mix of fear and the need to protect his own, but it took everything he had to contain his need to rip flesh with his wolf teeth, and there was only one enemy he was thinking of.
That would have to wait. First things first, the safe house was the logical choice. Especially now. He needed to get them all to safety.
“Boys, Winona, we’re going on a little trip.” He turned to face her. “You want to fight me about it?”
“Not particularly. I actually don’t feel like I have a whole lot of great options at the moment,” she said candidly, hands on hips.
“Thank God for small favors. I’m glad we are in agreement, ‘cause there’s nothing for it, Frederick has seen you and now I am sorry to tell you, but you’re vulnerable as well. In fact, from what I can tell, you might be his number one target at this point. So, you’re going to need to come with us.” He had not meant to, but his voice had gone a shade toward the icy side.
Winona seemed to pull Bucky a little tighter into her slight frame.
