Page 6 of Crew

Crew sat at the kitchen table with the herd. Tris and Nancy had shown up with their mates, set up a light lunch, and then joined the rest at the table.

He’d been surprised when Avi came to him to tell him about his second cousin’s request. Avi didn’t talk much about his former herd. He and his mom had left the herd and joined up with the herd she’d grown up in. Then she’d passed away and he hadn’t felt like staying in her herd without her was right, so he’d floundered a bit on his own and then found Dexter and joined the Little River Herd.

“All right,” Crew said, leaning on his forearms and clasping his hands. “Avi, tell everyone about your cousin’s call and then we’ll discuss.”

As Avi told the herd about his cousin Colton, Crew mused on the situation at hand.

“So,” Crew said when Avi was finished sharing what he could recall of the male who was now alpha of the Shenandoah Valley Herd, all of whom were currently homeless because of human poachers, “Colton has asked to meet with me to request what is essentially sanctuary so they can find a new territory for their herd.”

Ford hummed. “You didn’t say if this Colton is a good guy or not, Avi.”

Avi shrugged. “I was a teenager when my mom and I left and he’s older than me. I remember him as being pretty typical for a next-in-line alpha’s son, egotistical and charming, but I don’t recall anyone having a real problem with him.”

“We do have the storage barn,” Tris said. “Where I stayed when I first took the caretaking job.”

“It’s only a studio apartment, though,” Crew said. “Colton said there are six of them including a female.”

“A female stallion?” Nancy asked, her eyes wide. “She must feel so alone among all those males.”

“We could get cots for the others and set up in the main area of the barn,” Grey said. “We could give them a place to stay until they can get settled somewhere in their own territory.”

“We definitely don’t want to have them join us,” Crew said.

“If I can ask?” Tris said. “Why is that?”

“Because you can’t have two alphas and two combined herds,” Dexter said. “Herds run best when there is one alpha, and this Colton fellow just took over his herd after his father was killed, so I very much doubt he’d be willing to step down and defer to Crew. That means our herds need to stay separate.”

Crew looked at their only elder. “Do you think it’s wise to even help?”

“I think it behooves alphas to be kind to other herds, especially in a situation where they were displaced by humans. Imagine losing Little River and the farm because some poachers thought you were wild horses?”

Crew shivered internally. It would be a hell of a lot easier if humans knew shifters existed, but that was not the case. If he lost everything, he would hope another alpha would take pity on him and his people and give them a place to rest so they could figure things out.

Something tweaked in his chest like a little flutter as he thought about the six stallions headed their way.

He wasn’t sure what it meant, but he was curious about their people.

“Let’s vote,” Crew said.

“You’re alpha,” Grey said.

“I know that,” Crew said. “But this affects all of us. If Colton wanted to meet with me for a chat and wasn’t asking for sanctuary, I wouldn’t need to vote. But we’re talking about bringing six unknown stallions into our territory to live.”

“For how long?” Khyle asked, putting his arm around Tris and drawing her close.

“I don’t know,” Crew said. “Thoughts?”

“A week seems good, doesn’t it?” Dexter asked.

“Agreed,” Crew said. “We’ll share our food and supplies with them, and give them a firm date of a week before they have to head out and find their own territory. All in favor?”

He lifted his hand and watched as the rest of the herd did as well.

“Then we’ll invite them to stay with us in the barn,” he said. “Grey, you, Tris, and Nancy get the barn kitted out for them, then stand watch. The rest of us will go and meet with them.”

They parted ways to get ready to meet with Colton and his people in a park outside of Little River. Something in his gut churned and he wondered if this was a good idea.

He was intrigued by the female, but that could just be his loneliness piping up.

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