Page 50 of Crew

He’d find a weakness and exploit it.

He’d take them out one by one.

His gaze flicked to his brother, who was perched on a rickety chair and staring out the window. He was young and made dumb choices, and while sometimes they worked out, Colton often had to clean up his messes. Silas was out of commission until nightfall, so he turned his attention to Levi and Asher, who were on the floor and leaning against the walls.

“We need a new plan,” Colton said.

“We had a good plan,” Levi said. “Divide and conquer. We just underestimated Zara’s ability to defend herself and Crew showing up. The other males can fight like hell too.” He winced a little, and Colton knew he’d taken a good beating as he’d been fighting with the other herd’s members.

“And?” Colton said.

“We need to watch them. Figure out their weaknesses. We can’t go rushing in again, they’ll be prepared,” Levi said.

Asher nodded. “If we give them time to settle so they’re relaxed, then we can strike. An opportunity will present itself.”

Colton was about to agree when Weston said, “Why can’t we just make a home here? Clear the land, build a couple houses?”

Colton growled. “It’s not our property. The cabin may be abandoned, but that doesn’t mean it’s a free-for-all. The last thing we need is for some human to show up and find us camped out here and building on their land. We need our own land, and the farm is the right place for us.”

“All right, geez, I was just asking.”

Colton ignored his brother. “So we watch them and figure out their weaknesses, wait for them to get comfortable, and then we go on the offense.”

“Yep,” Levi said. “It’s not easy to wait around, I get that. We’re all pissed Silas is hurt and that we didn’t get what we wanted out of today. But if we strike too soon, we might lose one of our people and the herd is small enough as it is.”

“You’re right,” Colton said. “Remember those little cameras they had? Maybe we can put some of our own up so we can watch them. They were pretty damn tiny.”

“I can pick some up,” Asher said.

“Do that,” Colton said. “But we won’t make a move to install them or start monitoring for a little while. Let them get comfortable first.”

Eventually, he knew that the Little River Herd would be gone and Colton and his males would take over the farm.Enjoy the peace while it lasts, Crew. You and your herd’s days are numbered.

* * *

It seemed like it took forever for Grey to return to the farm, but when he did, he didn’t look happy.

“What’s wrong?” Crew asked.

“They’re gone.”

Zara frowned. “Colton and his guys? Gone like how?”

“The campsite is empty. I would say it’s been a day or so that they’ve been out of there,” he said, dropping into a chair at the table where the entire herd was gathered.

“Damn,” Crew said. “So we don’t know where they went or what their plans are.”

Zara shivered. She didn’t like that at all. Crew put his arm around her and she smiled at him, grateful that he always seemed to know just what she needed.

“What do we do?” she asked, looking at her mate.

His brows lifted. “Well, I think we just have to keep living our lives. If they left the site and we didn’t have a chance to put trackers on them, then we have no way of knowing what their plans are. We can’t sit around waiting for them to attack. We have to keep doing what we were doing: running the farm, keeping each other safe, and monitoring the territory.”

Everyone nodded.

“I think we’ve bought ourselves some time,” Dexter said. “We’re safe for now, and we’ll keep improving the security for the farm, and also for our home and Khyle and Tris’s.”

“I’m relieved,” Nancy said. “I’m thankful that everyone in the herd is with us and no one was gravely injured during the fight. I have a suggestion for how we can use the time we have in this peaceful moment.”

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