“I was thinking we could take the kids out for the day tomorrow,” said Tao.
Riley frowned. “You sure that’s a good idea? I know things have been quiet, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe.”
“We’re in constant contact with your uncles. They’re helping Hugh and Sage keep note of everyone’s whereabouts. The moment anyone in the flock can’t be accounted for, they’ll call us. So far everything’s been as quiet there as it has been here.”
“Which makes it look like I was in fact behind the shootings.”
“I don’t think that’s why the shooter’s keeping a low profile. They can’t act while everyone’s being so closely watched.” He nuzzled her. “I know you’re reluctant to take any chances, but they’ll lose their little minds if they’re cooped up too long.”
She sighed. “You’re right. It’s not good for them.” She really should have thought of that and was annoyed with herself for not having considered it. “I’ll call my uncles in the morning. If they say everyone in the flock can still be accounted for, we’ll take the kids out for the day. I don’t want them to feel suffocated and bored.”
“They’re not bored. They had fun this morning playing with our animals. But they’ll become bored if confined to their territory.”
“They did have fun, didn’t they? I like your wolf.”
Tao smiled. “He likes you.” That was an understatement, really. His wolf adored her. He’d be with her twenty-four/seven if it were possible. “He likes playing with your raven.”
“He’s much more patient than you are, so she doesn’t find him as much fun to torment, but she loves that he plays with her.” Riley took another bite of her half-eaten cookie. “Savannah’s warming to you.”
Yeah, he’d noticed. “I switched sides, in her eyes.” Tao rubbed her thigh. “You know, on an honest note, I think Greta actually likes the kids.”
Doubtful, Riley asked, “Then why does she give Savannah a hard time?”
“Most likely because Savannah stands up to her so often. Greta’s probably just trying to knock her down a peg or two.”
Well, that would be pointless. “Savannah’s fearless.”
“She gets that from you.”
Frowning at Tao for taking a big chunk out of her cookie, she said, “She was that way before I met her.”
“Not according to Makenna. She said that Savannah used to be very withdrawn and unsure. She didn’t trust people or form attachments to anyone other than Dexter. Makenna said both of them seemed drawn to you, like they somehow sensed you’re a natural protector.”
“Maybe they heard that ravens vigorously protect kids.”
“Or maybe they saw in you what we see—someone tough, strong, and resilient who’ll stand between them and danger.”
“You didn’t see that when we first met,” she contradicted.
“My judgment was clouded by how badly I deal with change and outsiders.”
Riley sighed, admitting, “I love them.”
His mouth curved. “I know you do.” If she’d thought she’d been fooling anybody about it, she was totally wrong. It was written all over her in neon colors.
Done with her cookie, she wiped the crumbs from her hands. “Do you think they know?”
“Hell yeah. They love you right back. You’re their hero.”
“Their hero?” she echoed.
“You’ve stood over them like a sentry. They know you’ll always protect them and keep them safe. Not because you swore it—kids sense bullshit. They know it because they see that you’re bone-deep loyal. They trust you.” He curled her hair behind her ear. “I trust you.”
She scowled. “Stop reducing me to mush.”
His mouth quirked. “Mush?”
“You do it every time you blurt out something nice.” She was a dominant female; she wasn’t supposed to be mush. But for Tao, someone unduly suspicious by nature, to say that he trusted her . . . that was no small thing. Her raven was rather smug about it.
“It’s only the truth.” He closed his eyes as she began sifting her fingers through his hair. He knew she was trying to distract him from talking about anything that made her “mush,” but it was seriously hard to care when her fingers were massaging his scalp.
Riley ran her finger along the scar beneath his ear. “I remember when you got that.” Shifters scarred only if a wound was very bad. Tao had almost died that night. Her lungs burned at the memory.
“You were worried,” he sensed.
“Yeah, I was worried. Have you ever been that badly injured before?”
“I’ve had plenty of broken bones, even had some internal bleeding, but I’ve never been that close to death before.”
“When Wade came toward me with that gun, I thought I was going to die. My life didn’t flash before my eyes, but it made me realize how much I wanted to live, who I’d miss and stuff.”
Tao linked his fingers with hers. “I thought of you. Seriously. I was lying there for a good few minutes before someone noticed me. I didn’t have the strength to call out to anyone. I knew I was dying; I could feel it happening. I literally thought, ‘This is it. This is the end. Everything is over.’ And I looked at my life and all the things I never did. And then you popped into my head. I wondered if you’d be okay, if you’d run or if you’d stay with the pack. I didn’t like the idea that you’d only ever remember me as the guy who was an asshole to you.”
“You’re reducing me to mush again.”
He chuckled. “I made the decision there and then to act on how much I wanted you if I lived through it, but I knew it wouldn’t be that simple. I knew I couldn’t let you see how much I wanted you or even that I liked you. I had to seem like I was no threat.”
“You tricked me.” And she still rather admired the deviousness of his plan.
“I did what I had to do to get what I wanted. And now I have it.” He kissed her, flicking her tongue with his, coaxing her to play.
“Kissy, kissy, kissy.”
Tao pulled back to scowl at Kye, who was now making kissing noises that Lilah tried to replicate.
Savannah’s upper lip was curled as she stared at Riley and Tao. “Yuck.”