“What makes you say that?” Reno interrupted.
“Because the leader of the Northern resistance crashed a peace party, and that’s the kind of thing rumors are made of. Lexi’s natural father—am I right, or was that an embellishment?”
Our silence was his answer.
The door creaked when Ivy returned. This time she had Melody following behind to help since Ivy could only make use of one arm. Axel chuckled when he got a look at Melody’s blue hair.
Melody carried a large tray of sandwiches, and Ivy held a cooler bag. When they reached the bottom of the steps, the twins scampered out the door with several bags of chips in their hands and between their teeth.
The men were appreciative and clapped, one of them dramatically falling to his knees and clasping his hands in prayer at the lovely (and very mated) woman who served them. The boys hurled the bags of chips at the men to catch and one of them mussed Lennon’s hair. It was easy to tell the twins apart because they dressed differently.
Hope peered out the door but not to help. She wasn’t as trusting with strangers, and with good reason after the attack. I reached out and pulled her to my side, noticing the small scars on her temple and chin had healed nicely. Despite her apprehension about strangers, she chose not to hide away in the house.
Reno chatted with Axel about his bike, and they fell into a friendly conversation.
Lakota stepped outside, shaking his long hair away from his shoulders. He had acquired more of a tan since temporarily moving down here for the summer. His black tank top had an interesting headshot of a wolf—black on one side and white on the other—with piercing blue eyes, just like his. His gaze traveled briefly to Axel and then to the men below. One of them was bowing dramatically in front of Melody, holding her tray above his head and making her reach for it.
“Show-off,” Lakota murmured, stalking down the steps.
Austin looked on, probably worried like I was that Lakota might start something.
“Hope, go inside,” I said.
Lakota put his arm around Melody and guided her back to the house, leaving the man to wave them off dismissively and fall back in the grass.
“A real man shouldn’t behave like a buffoon for a woman’s attention,” he said to her, nearing the house.
“I’m not exactly a woman,” she huffed out.
“No, but this is the age when you need to learn to turn your back on foolishness or else they’ll never learn. Speak up for yourself; you should have higher standards than that.”
They hiked up the porch steps, Melody swinging her tray as they went inside. Ivy remained down below, conversing with some of the women.
“Smart wolf,” Axel said about Lakota. “What a girl that age learns about men is what she’ll grow up to believe. What you let a wolf get away with is what they will teach their own children. My men are harmless, but they’re also childless and don’t understand how to treat a girl that age.”
“I’m sure they were just horsing around,” I said.
Axel chuckled. “That they were. But in my experience, I’ve discovered that teenagers brood a lot. They sit around interpreting every little action, dissecting it, and doing a lot of self-reflecting. I raised three girls of my own and had to sit down with them each time some idiot made a silly remark about their appearance, even if it was in jest. That’s what girls do. Everything means something because they’re at the age where they’re trying to figure out if who they are is good enough.”
Reno lifted the gun from his lap and set it down below the chair. “I think we’ve strayed from the topic.”
Axel locked eyes with Austin. “If this is ground zero, then count me in.”
Austin barely nodded, his voice low and rough. “I’ll accept your offer. Don’t let them wander on my property; I have traps set up.”
Axel stood up and whistled. “Nobody out of my sight!” Then he sat back down. “What’s the plan?”
“We have tree stands and bunkers in key areas of my territory. We plan to stay on the move. They’re going to come at us from the north since there’s a pack on the south side.”
“And if they come straight up the road?”
“Then that’ll make it easy for us.”