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Colton snarled at Weston as he hurried into the truck after letting a handful of chickens free on the roadside. Peeling away with a squeal of tires, Colton didn’t even let Weston get a chance to buckle up before he gunned it.

“What’s your problem?” Weston demanded.

“Why the hell would you steal the chickens?”

“Because it’s funny.”

“It’s dumb,” he said, resisting the urge to punch him in the mouth.

“Come on,” Weston said. “It wasn’t dumb, it was funny. You said we should do a bunch of stuff to throw them off balance and see how they react, so what’s funnier than them seeing there are chickens missing?”

Colton grumbled to himself and then let out a sigh.

His brother wasn’t entirely wrong.

While it might have seemed to an outsider that they’d just done a bunch of random things to mess with the herd, what he’d wanted to do was see how they reacted to dangerous situations. When he’d messed with the vehicles, he’d done it out of spite. How the hell dare Crew kick him and his herd out of their territory?

But they’d had help and supplies from friends and gotten things back to working order far sooner than should have been possible, which had only fanned the flames of Colton’s anger.

The pitfall traps hadn’t worked as he’d hoped; that other female had gotten help too fast.

But this…using paintball guns to cover the lenses of the security cameras so they could get close, and then setting the corn on fire?

He’d seen exactly what he needed to see: when there was danger, the entire herd abandoned everything to help. No one stayed as security to keep an eye on things, no one was watching over the farmhouse and the female who’d been inside.

Chicken-stealing aside, he knew what he needed to do now.

“You’re mad at me,” Weston said. “I’m sorry. About the chickens.”

“I’m not mad at you, I just think it wasn’t worth the effort, plus there are fucking chicken feathers everywhere in here, so you’re going to have to clean it up.”

“Why me?”

“Why you? Do you want a punch in the mouth?”

Weston folded his arms with a huff. “I’m not a caretaker.”

“You are now. Until we get some females in the herd who can do the work, you’re it.”

“Just bring Zara back. You can break her spirit.”

As if he’d trust her with a sharp knife anywhere near his throat or balls.

“Zara is the key, just not to rejoin our herd.”

He reached their campsite with the rest of the herd, and they gathered around the unlit cooking fire.

“I’ve got a plan,” Colton said.

“Which one is this?” Levi asked. “C? Or D?”

“Don’t be a smartass,” Silas warned.

“Yeah, don’t,” Colton said. “But after witnessing everything today, I now know our next step. Go after Zara and take out her and Crew. Once their alphas are dead, the others will run and we’ll get control of the farm.”

“What about the older male and his son?” Asher asked.

“They’re not on the farm and the herd will be disbanded once the alphas are dead, so I’m not worried about them. They can try to come after us in retribution, but we’ll be victorious.”

His males nodded.

Asher cleared his throat. “What’s the plan?”

* * *

Crew located the security camera on the tree and set the ladder against the trunk. He climbed up, stopping as he reached the camera, which had been set seven feet off the ground but angled down to catch anyone approaching. He lifted it from the mounting and grimaced. Looking down at Ford, who was holding the bottom of the ladder, he said, “This one’s screen is cracked.”

“That makes three so far that aren’t just covered with paintball paint but are actually ruined.”

They’d been cleaning the lenses of the cameras, starting with the ones closest to the farmhouse and barns, but they would have to order replacements, which left them with some vulnerabilities in their security system.

He dropped the camera to Ford, who put it into a bucket and then held the ladder as Crew made his way back down.

“Tell me why we’re even bothering with these cameras when they clearly didn’t stop Colton or his people from getting close?”

“Because it’s better than nothing. The cameras along with our patrols are all we can do. Our territory is simply too large and we don’t have enough people in the herd to do serious, long-term security patrols.”

“It’s not enough by a long shot,” Ford muttered. “We’re sitting ducks.”

Crew marked the tree so they’d know easily which units needed to be replaced and then moved to the next tree. “We’re not sitting ducks.”

“Feels like it.” His frustration was evident, and Crew shared it.

“Our options are pretty limited,” Crew said. “I understand how you feel, but I’m doing the best I can to keep us safe. I know that they can take out the cameras, I know they can set fire to the fields, or worse. But doing nothing isn’t the answer either. If you have any ideas that would work better than what we’re doing now—which I agree is not enough—then let me know.”

Ford didn’t answer right away. He set the ladder on the next tree and moved up himself, cleaning off the lens and then making his way back down.

“We could hit them first. Before they come back at us again.”

“I can’t risk it,” Crew said. “We weren’t able to keep cameras on them to know their whereabouts, so we could be walking into a trap. Plus, Colton is unhinged as hell and, from what Zara’s told me about the ones loyal to him, they’re just as bad or worse than him. You and I are trained fighters—hell, Grey and Avi could hold their own—but what are four of us against five who seem bound and determined to get to us?”

“I’m just…” Ford let out a grunt. “We just keep reacting. They set a fire, we put it out. They mess with the cameras, we’re spending hours cleaning and replacing them. What’s next? What if they come for Zara or Tris or Nancy? What if instead of the fields, they set the farmhouse on fire while we’re sleeping?”

Crew’s jaw tightened as everything he worried about was laid bare by his friend. “We can’t afford to act without a plan. What I hope is that they’ll get tired of this and move on. I don’t believe that will happen, but it’s the best-case scenario. But we will keep the patrols going and we’ll have each other’s backs. They can’t keep this up forever.”

Ford looked like he wanted to argue, but instead, he nodded. They finished checking the cameras around the farmhouse and buildings and then headed inside to check on the feed and order replacements.

Crew kissed Zara on the cheek when he found her in the den watching the security footage. “It looks good,” she said, pointing to the feed showing the cameras they’d cleaned. “Even with the ones that are missing, we don’t have many dark spots in what we can see.”

“Okay,” Crew said, looking at his friends. They’d all gathered in the den, even Dexter and Khyle. “We will keep up with the patrols, focusing on the immediate area. Avi finished the harvest of the corn, so at least that’s out of the way. You two”—he pointed to Dexter and Khyle—“don’t need to worry about patrols since you have your own homes to keep safe. But hopefully, if Colton and his herd try anything, we’ll catch them in the act.”

“I’ll take the next shift,” Ford said, rising to his feet.

“If anyone is going anywhere outside of the immediate area,” Crew said, “don’t go alone. Keep your phone and a walkie on you at all times, and if you see anything, call it in.”

“What if I see a raccoon?” Avi asked, raising his hand like he was in school, a goofy smile on his face.

The tension broke as Crew laughed and the others joined in. “Yes, let us know if you see raccoons.”

“Agreed,” Dexter said.

“Really?” Avi asked.

Dexter snorted. “No, I mean I agree that we need to be vigilant. The last thing we need is a false sense of security. We all need to stay sharp, whether we’re at our homes or here.”

Crew wanted to reassure his herd that there would be a light at the end of the tunnel with this soon and they wouldn’t be doing around-the-clock patrols, waiting for Colton and his herd to come after them again in increasingly dangerous ways, but he couldn’t say that in all honesty.

All he could do was tell his people to be safe and careful, and that felt woefully inadequate against the kind of danger that lurked beyond their territory.

* * *

Later that night, Crew was on patrol after taking over for Ford. Although the day had been boiling hot, the setting sun had brought a cool evening. He looked at the tablet that showed the camera views and saw nothing out of the ordinary. He hoped it would be a quiet night, but he was ready if it wasn’t.

The farmhouse was dark and quiet, and the animals were in for the night. These were the kinds of nights that he’d loved when they first moved into the farmhouse several years ago, when the sky was lit with stars and the whole world seemed to shut down with the sunset.

Now, it just set him on edge.

What, if anything, was Colton planning?

When could they get back to normal and stop constantly looking over their shoulders?

He caught Zara’s sweet scent before he saw her.

“I brought you some coffee,” she said, handing him a mug.

“Thank you, sweetheart,” he said. He kissed her and took the mug. “I thought you were asleep.”

“Who needs sleep?”

He chuckled. “Well, you were a little grumpy at breakfast this morning.”

“Avi ate all the chocolate chip waffles. Anyone would be pissed.”

“So it wasn’t because you’ve been burning the candle at both ends?”

She pursed her lips, then smiled. “Probably. But I’m going to blame the waffles. I was not made to be a night owl; I’m an early bird at heart.”

He took a drink of coffee and stared into the darkness toward the field that had been on fire earlier that day.

“Do you think Ford’s right? That we’re just waiting for the next attack?”

“He’s not wrong to be worried. I sure as hell am. But running ourselves ragged trying to figure out what Colton will do next isn’t going to do any good.”

Zara tilted her head, studying him. “So what’s the plan?”

“The plan is to keep doing what we’re doing—stay vigilant, make good choices, and be as ready for whatever they might throw at us as we can.”

“It’s hard not to feel like we’re being watched,” she said, staring out into the fields. “But I always feel safe with you.”

For a moment, the weight of the day lifted, and it was just the two of them.

He put the mug and tablet on a picnic table and pulled her close. “I’m always going to do everything in my power to keep you safe.”

“What about raccoons?” she asked.

“What is it with raccoons lately?”

“Well, what if we recruit them to our security team? Imagine it, a bunch of cute raccoons armed with tasers, ready to take out Colton and his herd at the drop of a hat.”

“Why would you give raccoons tasers?”

“Their hands are small,” she said with a shrug. “I don’t think they can fire guns.”

He chuckled. “Maybe we can get the chickens to help too.”

She laughed softly, the sound like a balm to his frayed nerves.

“Chickens and raccoons,” she said quietly. “I think we’ve stumbled onto an unbeatable security force.”

As the night stretched on, they stayed side by side. He encouraged her to go to bed, but she was determined to stay with him, and he loved her for it. His early bird would be grumpy in the morning, but he didn’t mind her grumblings when it meant they could head to bed after Grey took the next shift and he could drive her wild.

They would keep each other safe, and the herd too.

Colton could fuck all the way off. The farm belonged to the Little River Herd, and damn anyone who thought they could take it over.