7. CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 7
“There’s got to be something wrong or they would have been back by now.” Yeah, Leandro might have been panicking a bit, but those knots in his stomach were growing by the second. He had a really bad feeling about what was happening in that town, and everything within him was telling him they needed to get the hell out of there.
“You’re just nervous because Weston is down there.” Oxley had a point, but it didn’t discount the need to flee.
“I think we need to load the truck back up,” Leandro told them. “If I’m wrong, it won’t take us long to unload it all again.” It might be a pain in the ass, but it wasn’t as if they had much but tents and sleeping bags. “But if I’m right, it might be the few minutes we need to get away before we’re surrounded.”
This time, no one argued; they just started tossing everything into the trucks. By the time they had everything put away, they all stood there staring intently down the mountain as if by watching something would happen. But just like trying to get water to boil, it wasn’t working.
“Maybe we should start the vehicles,” Oxley suggested.
He had only just gotten behind the wheel, with Griggs in the other truck, when the pounding hooves of horses headed their way. “Get in the truck,” he yelled to Basel, who was already running for the passenger door of the second truck.
By the time they’d slammed their doors, Weston and Kelce broke through the tree line. Weston came right up to Leandro’s window while Kelce was at Oxley’s. As soon as his window was down, Weston told them their plan. “Take the truck up over the mountain. A service road to a watch tower was about a mile from there. Kelce and I will meet you there.”
He was about to take off, but Leandro grabbed his calf to stop him. “What are you two going to do?” He may have phrased it as a question, but it was a demand because there was no way he was about to let Weston get himself killed.
“Since you’re going north, Kelce and I will split up and head east and west to draw them away.” Even as Weston spoke, Leandro was shaking his head, as he was not about to let them get away with their crazy plan.
Yet, even he knew it would be nearly impossible to stop them. If there was one thing he’d learned about the two men, they were as stubborn as they come.
Before he could protest, Weston covered his hand with his own. “Look, we don’t even know if they can follow us. We searched almost every single building, and there were no horses. Several boats along the lake could get them out of Sandpoint fairly easily. If we can hole up for a day or two, I imagine they will leave instead of risking us finding out whatever they are up to.”
It made sense. It really did. But it didn’t make it any easier to accept. What Leandro knew was that if someone was coming after them, they had little time.
Nodding, he squeezed Weston’s calf. “Fine. But you better meet us completely intact, you understand me?”
Weston grinned down at him. “I will, kitten. I swear it.”
He was gone before Leandro could tell him to stop calling him that. He was no kitten. He’d struggled for years to get where he was now, and he was damn well not about to let anyone belittle his progress with taking care of himself and not allowing anyone to bully him around as his family had.
Sighing when he realized there was very little he could say to Weston at the moment, he glanced over at Oxley. “Go.”
They went as quickly as they darted between the debris and deep potholes. Thankfully, they made good time and were turning off the service road. When they got to the watchtower, Basel quickly climbed the stairs and kept watch over them all. With his vantage point, they should be able to see if the enemy was coming. The only real question was whether Basel would have the time it would take to get back down the stairs.
But they needed to cover their backs until Weston and Kelce returned to them. “We need to set up patrols while still communicating with each other. It will help with Basel watching over us, but it won’t be foolproof.”
Unfortunately, without the walkie-talkies hooked into the trucks, they didn’t work. And they couldn’t just yell to each other without giving out their positions.
“Bird calls,” Oxley said randomly. Griggs grinned and nodded so, apparently, it was only Leandro who had no clue what that was supposed to mean.
“We used to learn how to whistle like certain birds to let others know if we were safe, in trouble, or in position,” Griggs told Leandro.
That was great, but he had no clue how to do that. “Uhm, I don’t want to put a damper on the idea, but I can’t whistle.”
“I guess that’s out,” Oxley muttered. “Since you’re the only one who can’t communicate, we’ll have to rotate, so you are always in eyesight of one of us.”
By far, it wasn’t ideal, but hopefully, they wouldn’t have to do it for long. “Fine. But at the first sign of trouble, we have to get out of there.” He stared at each of them for several moments. “Promise.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement.
When they both nodded, Leandro gave them a nod and said, “Good. Let’s get in position.”
As they surrounded the tower and two vehicles in order to protect them, they started making their rounds, scanning every inch of the woods and listening for anyone approaching. Thirty minutes later, they were still doing the same thing. His nerves weren’t as on edge as they had been when Weston and Kelce were down the mountain. That said, they were still razor sharp for him to completely lose it.
A bird sang from somewhere west of them, which was the direction he’d seen Weston head earlier. Briggs stilled about fifty feet from where Leandro was standing. He was staring hard into the trees and foliage before giving his own answering whistle.
Minutes later, Weston was walking the horse toward them. His eyes never wavered once they landed on Leandro. There was worry and heat in his eyes that caused a shiver to race up and down Leandro’s spine.
“Anyone heard from Kelce?” Weston asked, without once looking away from Leandro.
“No,” Oxley told him. “Did you see anyone following you out there, or even headed our way?”
Handing the reins to Oakley, Weston kept walking until he was standing before Leandro. Without saying another word, one of those muscular arms wrapped around Leandro’s waist, while Weston’s other hand cupped Leandro’s cheek. Leandro hadn’t even hesitate to meet those firm lips when his head dipped down.
The kiss started gentle, and that made his heart melt, but when Leandro’s lips parted, Weston took total advantage and deepened it until all Leandro knew was the Alpha holding him as if Leandro mattered. Pushing closer until their bodies were practically fused together, Leandro wanted so much more than just a kiss. For the first time in his life, he wanted it all.
An Alpha to call his own. Love, romance, intimacy, and an all-consuming need to be as close to another person as possible. How was any of that even possible? He had no clue, but Leandro had to admit he was having a hard time coming up with a reason it wasn’t a good idea.
In fact, all Leandro could do was burrow even closer and sink into the kiss with everything he had.