Autumn Feast - Charlie Richards Page 0,61

been thinking about it.

“I don’t know if that will be enough. It’s not just the children, Fin. It’s the human authorities. If they store illegal contraband of any kind here, and it’s raided?” Eryk shook his head. “We’ll go to jail. Shifters do not do well in human jails. Worse. Donner will lose this property. We’ll be left with no sanctuary.”

Rory cleared his throat. “Right, and we can’t trust the wolves wouldn’t load us up with drugs or whatever then call the authorities themselves. It would end us quicker than Prichard ever could have.”

Donner conceded the point. How smart was it to have contracted Prichard’s death, after all? He still hadn’t heard from the vulture. There might be time to stop it. Not that he wanted Prichard back, but...

“I don’t like being blackmailed. Held hostage. Ultimately, the long-term risks of losing everything and being under the wolves’ control is not worth it. I would rather fight, and there are other ways to do this.” Donner looked to Emma and Rocco who hadn’t said anything. “Does anyone have a pro to this? Something positive to make me change my mind?”

Emma looked sad. “I don’t know. I’m tired of this conflict and hoped a new leader would help, but it only changed their tactics. I want more children.” She glanced over at Rocco. “But it was hard bringing Maja into this world.” That was true for many reasons. She had been left alone with the death of her mate before they had found her, and she had birthed her child into a chaotic and unsafe world. She must have hoped for a safer place to raise Maja.

“Rocco?” Donner asked.

He shrugged. “I don’t have children yet. I’ve never had an opportunity to mate. Emma is one of the very few hinds I’ve even known.” He winked at her. “Donner, you and Rory have already given me more than I ever believed I’d have.” He reached out and took Emma’s hand. “I stick with you. No matter what.”

Donner expected a snicker or comment from Alana and Maja with Rocco’s show of affection, but thankfully, there was none. For once, they were both acting like mature adults. “Girls? Do you have anything to add?”

Maja shook her head, but Alana tilted hers. “What are our tactics? What will we do to fight the wolves? So far we’ve hidden and let Martin come in with his guns.” Alana knew the taboo of guns for shifters. They’d been taught the important things. “Is that how we continue? I don’t think it’s going to work.”

Donner nodded. “Good point. I agree. We have to protect this sanctuary first. We need to do it on our own. We look weak to Brayton and the others by relying on Martin and the council. It’s a big property, and a lot of people have been coming and going from the woods. We need to do something about that.”

Finley chuckled. “Should have asked me sooner. You need some modern tech, papa.”

“Care to elaborate?” Donner asked.

“We need to fence the outer perimeter with an electrified barrier, and we need cameras set up throughout the property with a monitoring station. We’ll be able to see what’s going on. And have the fence alarmed, in case someone tries to get around it or through it.”

Rory bumped his shoulder into Finley’s. “Pretty smart, Fin.”

Finley blushed and glanced away. He was right about everything. Donner would implement his suggestions immediately. “Easy enough. That’s done.”

“Okay, better protection, but what about fighting?” Alana asked, eyes flashing with passion. “We need to fight claw with claw.”

Deer didn’t have claws. Or fangs. They were generally gentle but not without defense. But this called for more than defense. Alana was right. They needed to find some claws. “Do you have something in mind?”

Alana smiled, obviously happy to be listened to. “I might. I don’t know what kind of resources we have. But to me, if we want to show them that we’re not backing down, we need to do two things. First, we need more friends on our side. And not the council, I mean other shifter groups. Others who have been targeted like we have, who feel alone in this fight.”

“You spied on the meeting?” Rory asked, narrowing his eyes.

She side-eyed Maja. “Maybe...”

Donner chuckled. They hadn’t even suspected, but he was glad they had been listening in. Those kids are fucking smart. “What’s number two?”

Alana practically beamed then. “We need to attack them where it hurts. Didn’t Brayton say something about commerce? We