Page 51 of Crew

“How’s that?” Zara asked.

“Let’s have the ceremony and party on Friday night. You and Crew becoming mates in truth and you being named as the official alpha female.”

“Oh yes, let’s!” Tris said. “A big party with good food and music and dancing! Like what we did last night but even better!”

Zara smiled at their enthusiasm. She glanced at Crew and he grinned at her.

“It sounds good to me,” she said.

“We don’t have much time to get things going,” Nancy said. “Us girls need to get planning.”

“Can I grill?” Dexter asked. “I saw a recipe on social media for a compound butter made with garlic and I was thinking about the wild garlic you all found. It would taste great on grilled steaks.”

“That works for me,” Crew said.

“I love a good party,” Zara said, “but I’m really more excited about officially being your mate.”

He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Me too.”

Zara, Nancy, and Tris left the table to check out the pantry and make a list of what they needed for the party, leaving the males to talk about upgrading security—because Grey reported he’d seen that the other herd had come right through the dead zones of the missing security cameras—and repairing the barn.

It would be a busy few days, but Zara loved it. It was a welcome distraction from thinking about Colton and what he might do.

While what she wanted was to know that their people were safe from whatever harm might come for them, she knew that they were safe now, here in this big farmhouse in Little River. They’d been attacked and survived, and they were stronger because of it.

“I can’t wait for Friday,” Zara said. “It’s going to be a great night.”

“It sure will be,” Nancy said with a smile. “The first of what I hope are many parties joining herd soulmates together.”

“I hope for that too,” Tris said. “I want all the guys to find their soulmates and the herd to grow.”

“Me too,” Zara said. “There’s nothing like finding the other half of your heart.”

Friday morning, Grey headed into town to grab supplies. Little River was a small farming town, but it had pretty much everything a farming community could need: the all-important feed store, a grocery store, a tiny library, a small gas station with a minimart.

Which was the first place he was headed.

Next to him on his phone playing some kind of online game was Avi, who’d come along because they’d all decided not to go anywhere alone for the foreseeable future. He could kick ass in a fight, but he didn’t want to be caught off guard alone in town and become a pawn in that sick fuck Colton’s plans.

His stallion whistled restlessly in his head.

He couldn’t figure out what was up with his inner-horse today, but he’d woken up thinking about going into town, and it wasn’t just because he was in the mood for fresh-baked sourdough bread from the grocery.

“All right, where’s the list?” Avi asked, putting his phone in the cup holder.

“Lists. Plural.”

“Damn,” he said with a laugh. Grey pulled down the visor and handed the slips of paper to his friend.

“There’s a list for the grocery, the feed store, the hardware store, and the truck needs gas too.”

Repairing the barn had taken up a lot of their supplies for the pasture’s expansion, so he had a pick-up order waiting for him. The females’ list for the grocery was for the party, and of course, his sourdough.

“Gas? Why do you have gas for the truck on the list?”

“Because once I get the sourdough at the grocery, I’m going to want to go home and have a big sandwich. I don’t want to forget.”

“Fair enough.”

---