He didn’t know if he could keep his hands off her dainty neck so he neglected to climb down the steps behind her. He now understood why Vulcan got so upset with Wisteria when she’d run off. Damn women had a way of riling a man’s blood in a derogatory way as quickly as in a positive way. But in no way would he step foot in the hideout with her in this state. Three others took the stairs ahead of her and he didn’t need anyone to witness the verbal lashing he was about to give. He was so damn mad he could’ve thrown her over his knee and spanked her without a second thought. Actions spoke louder than words, so yeah, it’d be better to address his anger on her ass.
Once she was secured inside, he closed the door and ran back to the camp. Vulcan and Zypher stood at the end of Zypher’s hut near the clearing. Vulcan had his Barrett aimed at the head of a dinosaur that stood on the outside of the forest wall, eating leaves off the top of a conifer tree. Zypher was equipped with his M16 but held it so the barrel pointed to the ground. Tyran was nowhere in sight. Where the hell did he go?
Unarmed, Bronto felt naked but it was better than feeling like an idiot had he grabbed his bow or knife to fend off the humongous creature. Unless he was positive it was a shifter he found no reason to poke it with an arrow just to hurt it anyway. Despite the ineffectiveness of those types of weapons against the true-blooded animals, he should’ve been armed with something. The rifle he’d taken from the weapons shelter the other day was tucked in his hut inside the crate. Nice place for it. If the dinosaur showed aggression he wouldn’t have time to get to it. Vulcan would and could take it down with his Barrett. Hopefully. The damn monster was bigger than the T-Rex. How in the hell could they tell the difference between a shifter and the real thing?
“Do you think it’s a shifter?” Zypher asked as if reading Bronto’s thoughts.
“I’m not sure,” Vulcan replied. “But I doubt a shifter on a mission would stop to eat before obliterating the camp.”
Good point.
Twice now Bronto had been caught empty-handed. He needed to get his head out of his ass regarding Ivy and act more responsibly to protect his people. Vulcan had assigned him second-in-charge for a reason. If he failed in his obligations as a fighter he might as well reside with the families on the other side.
He ran a stiff hand through his hair and watched as a second dinosaur joined the first. It wasn’t as tall, and rather than eat the leaves that were within its reach, it stood up on its hind legs and placed its front feet on a tree. It pushed and pushed until the tree uprooted and toppled to the ground.
“Hell, we could’ve used them twenty minutes ago,” Zypher said under his breath. “They would’ve saved us a lot of trouble.” He looked at Vulcan then at Bronto. “What, no smart-ass comments from either of you?”
Not from Bronto. He currently was not in the mood for humor or sarcasm. Now if someone issued an order to take those monsters down with their bare hands, he was their guy.
Another tree dropped with a ground-shaking thud. He wasn’t thinking about the additional wood they’d just inherited. He was wondering if Ivy felt the vibration and imagining her scared expression if she had.
A third dinosaur avoided the trees and found interest in the huts. Its long neck stretched right in front of Vulcan to sniff Zypher’s dwelling. Vulcan and Zypher both backed up while it investigated the pelt-covered structure. Some of the horses whinnied and reared and others backed up as far as their tethers allowed, stomping their hooves.
The dinosaur wasn’t threatened by the loud commotion or by the armed men because it turned around as if it couldn’t care less and headed in the direction it came, its feet thundering across the dirt. The vibration actually knocked the men off balance. Zypher teetered into Vulcan and Bronto sat down.
The other two creatures fell into step behind it, apparently having had their fill of leaves. Vulcan stood silently until they were far enough way to remove any threat. “Zypher, go ahead and release the people. Bronto, help me gather those trees.”
Bronto nodded and headed for the forest. He was still pissed enough that he could’ve stacked them and pulled all twelve at once. One-handed. By himself.
“Feeling a little deceived?” Vulcan had the gumption to ask.
Apparently he’d seen Ivy with Grunt. Seriously, who hadn’t? “A little.”
Vulcan gave Bronto’s shoulder a squeeze. “Don’t be too hard on her.”
“Smart-ass,” Bronto grumbled.
“Hey, I’m only giving you a piece of your own advice.”
“You were pissed enough to murder Wisteria for running away. You overreacted a bit.”
“Ivy hasn’t done anything but hand Grunt some yarrow,” Vulcan presumably tried to reason.
Bronto glared at him over his nose. “Exactly. I busted my knuckles on his face in her honor and she offers to nurse his wounds?”
“You can’t hold it against her.”
“Like hell I can’t,” Bronto growled.
“Their instinct is to nurture. Leave her alone.”
“How about I give Wisteria a reason to nurture you?”
Vulcan laughed and slapped Bronto on the back. “I wouldn’t mind.”
“Yeah, I bet you wouldn’t.”
“Realistically, Bronto, Ivy didn’t offer to nurse his wounds. She just offered a remedy.”
“Same damn difference.”
Vulcan smirked. “Then look at it this way.”
Great. Can’t wait to hear it.
“She’s only nursing the wounds instilled by Rocko, not you.”