Page 10 of Sweetheart

Stopping on the front deck, he peered around, trying to figure out where the sound had come from. There was no fucking hunting in protected lands! Why couldn’t these assholes get that?

The silence in the forest was eerie.

The hunters would probably be long gone before Mason could catch up with them. It wasn’t safe for him to wander around the forest at night. Still…Mason couldn’t go back to sleep now. He needed to check on Levi. There was no way he’d be able to sleep until he saw for himself that Levi wasn’t hurt or worse. He stomped down the steps in the direction that was becoming quite familiar.

He’d just take a little peek and make sure everything was okay.

As he walked under the thick canopy of the trees with the darkness pressing in from every side, Mason regretted not grabbing a flashlight. If it wasn’t for his father’s torture, oh training—Mason meant training sessions—Mason wasn’t sure he would be able to push forward. His father had loved to drop Mason and his brother off in the middle of nowhere, telling them to make their way home on their own. For his father, it was a test to see if Mason and his twin could live up to the impossible expectations that his father held.

Using the tall oak trees as a guide, Mason was glad that he practically knew the path by memory. It wasn’t like he could see shit.

Making sure to keep his footsteps quiet, Mason made his way toward the man he had to make sure was safe. His heart thumped fast as his entire body remained tight and on edge.

Mason heard the voices first.

“There is a bullet in the tree,” someone said. His voice a barely there grumble.

“Adam’s going to be pissed,” someone else said.

“They went that way,” a third voice added.

“I can follow their trail.”

That! That was Levi. No way in hell was Mason letting Levi chase after anyone with a hunting rifle.

“No, not tonight. I’ll take my pack,” a fifth person said.

How many men were out here in the woods?

“It’ll be safer and we don’t know why someone would be this close to the house,” the fifth person added.

Stepping around a large trunk, Mason could finally see with the help of the moonlight coming from a small opening above them. Five men stood staring at one of the trees. Mason’s tree. The one he camped out at when he watched for Levi.

He hadn’t made a sound. Mason knew he didn’t. Years of walking on silent feet had taught him how to move without anyone being able to know he was there. That didn’t stop all five men from turning toward him when Mason stepped forward.

Not one of them looked friendly.

“I heard a gunshot,” he said as he raised the hand that didn’t hold his weapon.

“Are you hurt?” Levi demanded as he stalked forward. When he was close enough, Levi grabbed Mason by his upper arms tight.

Mason liked this turn of events. Levi might be wary of him but there was something deeper between the two of them. “I’m fine. I came running when I heard the shot,” Mason told him. Look at his man all growly and protective. Yummy!

“You ran toward the gunfire?” Levi asked. Oh, his man could scowl.

“It is sort of my job,” Mason said with a smile. Not that he found this situation amusing but he did like Levi’s reaction to him being there.

Levi grunted although he didn’t let Mason go.

“Find anything?” Mason asked. He at least needed to investigate this incident. He was the park ranger, and they were inside the state park property.

The man he recognized as Axel nodded. “Hunter.”

Mason shrugged, not sure what to believe. He didn’t let on that he’d heard the men talking. Mason hadn’t figured out how to tell Levi who he was. “I heard one shot?” He needed to verify.

“Same,” Axel agreed. “We were out here within minutes, but they were already gone.”

“You should go home,” Levi told him.

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