Page 39 of Gavin

“It’s not house arrest,” he said with a laugh.

“So I can leave?” she asked, her brow arched in challenge.

“No.”

She made ata-dahmotion.

He kissed her nose. “You’re so freaking adorable. We’re at this house for now because there’s safety in numbers. It’s onlybeen two days.” And he’d been thinking about taking her to his parents’ house and getting that kitted out with all kinds of safety equipment, but there weren’t round-the-clock patrols at his parents, which made him feel like they were too vulnerable. The reality was that until Victor and Brent were dealt with, they were going to have to stay where it was safe.

“Iamadorable,” she said. She tilted her face for a kiss. “But so are you. I love how protective you are.”

“Just for you.”

He lingered for a while longer, holding her and thinking wicked things, when Ryan cleared his throat loudly behind them.

Gavin stifled a growl and kissed Sadie. “Gotta go. We’ll probably be a couple hours.”

“Have fun.”

He stepped off the front porch and met Ryan on the grass. “Thanks for showing me everything.”

“You bet. I needed to do a perimeter sweep and check the new stuff, so it’ll be nice to have company. I totally understand you wanting to see them for yourself. Here.” He handed him a tablet that showed a map of Whisper Creek. “You can press the buttons on the side of the screen and toggle the views to show which security features are where, like the perimeter alarms, the motion detectors, and the cameras. We have some cameras that are triggered by the motion detectors and some that run twenty-four-seven and we have people watching them in the security office. If a motion detector or alarm goes off, it alerts me, Midas, and whoever is on patrol at the time through their walkie with the location. We can trigger an alarm so you can see what it looks like on the video feed. Let’s start from here and we’ll circle around.”

As they walked away from Midas’s house to head into the forest that made up a large portion of Whisper Creek, the frontdoor opened and he turned around to see if Sadie decided to try to come along anyway. Instead, it was Lila and her mate Hans. Lila had little Benjamin in a sling on her back.

“Hey, guys,” Hans said. He was young, only nineteen plus one, and he and Lila had grown up in the pride together.

“Where are you three off to?” Ryan asked.

“The wild blackberry bushes,” Lila said. “Maya mentioned she loved blackberry cobbler. When I told Hans I wanted to run out today, he said I couldn’t go alone because of the safety issues.”

“He’s right,” Gavin said. “Everyone needs a buddy.”

“We won’t be long,” Hans said.

“Good luck,” Ryan said.

The young couple headed off a few yards in the other direction. Gavin used to pick blackberries with his mom and Aeryn when he was a kid. It wasn’t his favorite thing to do because of the thorns, but the sweet fruit was worth the pricks and pokes.

As they walked, Ryan explained more about the security features.

There was suddenly a loud crack like thunder followed by a feminine scream.

Gavin and Ryan looked at each other and took off toward the sound.

“What the hell was that?” Ryan asked as they skirted around trees and made their way to the blackberry bushes.

“I don’t know, loud as hell though.”

They found Hans holding Lila, who was holding a wailing Benjamin near the blackberry bushes.

“Are you guys okay?” Ryan asked.

“Hold on!” Hans shouted. “Stop!”

Gavin and Ryan skidded to a halt. “What happened?” Gavin asked.

“There was a bear trap buried under some brush. Lila dropped her basket and it went off. It…was so close to getting her.” Hans shook his head and hugged his mate tighter. “I don’t know if there are others around. We’re too freaked out to move.”

---