Reno took off my backpack and handed me a bottle of water while I took a seat on a flat stone. “Take a load off, and don’t worry about this. I’ll carry it the rest of the way.”
He sat beside me and wiped his sweaty forehead with a rag, removing some of the already-faded paint that made him look creepy when he smiled with his white teeth.
“This is a walk in the park compared to what I’ve been through,” he said absently.
I could imagine. Reno had fought in a number of wars, and it was something he rarely talked about with anyone.
After a few gulps of water, I set the bottle down and stretched out my sore legs. “How are things between you and April?”
“Good. Why, has she said something?”
I laughed. “Don’t be paranoid. It’s just that we haven’t had a real conversation since she became a Mage, and I’m curious what you think about everything. Are you… I know it’s none of my business, but are you really okay with it?”
He dug the heels of his boots into the ground and draped his arms over his knees. “I would have loved that woman until the day she died.”
We watched a brown squirrel stand on his hind legs before scurrying up a tree. “Yeah, but now she’s immortal, and that changes things. She might even outlive you.”
“Might?” he said through clenched teeth. “Takes a lot to kill a Mage. She’ll live a long life.”
I nibbled on my lip. “And most of it without you. I just wondered if you two have really talked about your future.”
He ran his hands through his short hair. “It’s all good. She wants to stay with the pack as long as this family will let her, even after Austin becomes an old man and someone takes his place. Just so long as the new Packmaster isn’t an ass.”
I smirked. “It might be our baby.”
He glanced over his shoulder at me, eyes smiling. “Might be. Or one of the twins. I think she’d like to see the kids grow up, and be a part of that. The pack would respect someone who carries our history and memories.”
“What about… men?”
He reclined against the tree and picked up a leaf, twirling the stem between two fingers. “She doesn’t want to talk about it. I told her that after I’m gone, she should find a good man who’ll take care of her. I think we’ve got a few hundred years before that’s even an issue, so maybe it’s too soon to lay out those kinds of plans. If you keep thinking ahead, you’ll never appreciate what’s in front of your face. We have more time together; that’s all that counts.”
“She’s pretty badass. You should have seen her fighting those men.”
“That’s my girl,” he said, a smile touching his thin lips.
I tossed a stick at a tree a few feet in front of us. “I feel pretty useless this time around.”
“You handled yourself like a pro yesterday. Stayed cool, kept the situation under control. Intelligence is the best weapon because not everyone has it.” Reno got up, not bothering to wipe the dirt off his pants. “It takes more than muscle when your packmate has a knife to her throat. If we hadn’t shown up, you still would have bought yourself some time. Those animals were ready to do you in.”
“How’s Lorenzo’s pack?”
Reno answered while doing a weapons check. “Caleb said they’re holding their own. Church’s pack split in two and is circling the property.” Reno put his gun back in its holster and scanned the woods. “I hear Lakota’s making quite an impression on Church. His adoptive parents came down to fight with the pack. A Chitah is a pretty badass token to have on your side, not to mention his mother’s a Mage. Church’s pack is in a better position than most.”
“Good. I’ve been thinking a lot about Ivy and Hope, wondering if they’re all right.” I stood up and lifted my pack. “The more control we have in our territory, the better our chances. We’re lucky to have Axel on our side.”
“Affirmative on that. Some of Judas’s men are bleeding through, but not half as many as we would have had to deal with otherwise. It looks like his strategy is to send four times as many men as there are in a pack to secure victory, but his men are inexperienced and don’t seem to have a clear leader within the unit.”
I lifted my shirt and fanned it to get some cool air circulating around my belly. “How will we know when it’s over?”
“When they’re all dead,” he said quietly. “Get up against that tree.”
I put my back to the trunk without question. Reno made a dove call—one long note followed by two more. That was our universal call for anyone in the area to reply.
The air stilled with silence. I considered our surroundings, realizing there was a tree stand within sight. It was a simple plank that circled around the tree, allowing the person to hide at any angle. What startled me was the arrow protruding from behind the tree and aiming to our left.
When I made Reno aware that Melody was on the hunt, he followed the direction of the archer’s intended target. Instead of reaching for his handgun, he pulled out the rifle.