Rejected Mate's Second Chance (Banished Bears) by J. S. Striker

Author:J. S. Striker [Striker, J. S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-10-13T16:00:00+00:00

Allie led the way—or she led it as much as she could, going for the unconventional route as he led the clan to where she had directed earlier while she stayed lurking in the corners with the triplets. That Claudia was with her was the only consolation to not having her close, and the horror of the fire distracted everyone enough to not have the energy to question her presence. But he felt his father’s eyes lurking somewhere, sensed the old man’s resentment poking at his back a few times.

To Red’s relief, William kept his mouth shut as they marched to their destination, flanked by their strongest shifters while the more agile ones spread wider to call out threats. Rhys stayed somewhere at the back close to the younger boys, while Oscar joined Red at the front later. Close to three hours later, they reached their destination, and he stopped to let the others absorb the sight before he spoke.

“The area we passed an hour ago used to be our borders, but we can’t stay there anymore. So, we’re staying here.”

Murmurs rose. Then his father made his way to the front, parting the crowd with his impressive stature despite sitting the whole time in a makeshift chair carried by two male shifters. William’s lower half was covered by a blanket, and the old man’s sharp eyes took in the place before glancing at him.

“No cave?”

“There are a few interconnected caves, but they still need exploring.”

“So, is this how it goes?” William asked bitterly. “We just give it up to them?”

“No. We will continue patrolling that area and staking our claim. It’s still ours. But this is now ours, too.”

Silence.

“Take him to the biggest cave,” Red announced, to which William didn’t react.

No snide comments, not even a single question about the triplets, which gossip likely had reached the man by now even if it was just speculation. Not sure whether to be wary or glad, Red settled for giving directions, kickstarting everyone into motion as they followed the old man’s trail, then began exploring the new place until they found the most comfortable spots to put their stake in.

“This is smaller than our old forest,” Oscar said. There was no judgment in his tone. “More fields, though.”

“It’s closer to the mountain, too. Not the mountain we’re used to, but…” Red gestured. “This mountain leads to a cliff. It’s the perfect wall protection.”

Oscar nodded. “Right. No more enemies sneaking up on us.”

“Hmm. Let’s set up.”

Once everyone was in place and the kids were ushered into rest, Red and his men got to working on the traps, gathering resources to create enough for alerting and quick capture purposes.

“Is this going to be enough?” Oscar asked.

“Not in the long run,” was Red’s response, keeping his voice low. “We need to secure more, extend its coverage, and arrange the same setup for dousing fires in case something like that happens again.”

Oscar’s expression turned grim, matching Red’s ruminations.

“If we didn’t have the setup earlier...”

“We did, so there’s no point dwelling on it,” Red said firmly.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.