The devices were brutal, designed to ensure a slow and painful end for their enemies. Addison, however, remained blissfully unaware of the details. No one shared the specifics with her, only letting her believe that her mates had set up extra defenses to keep rogues out and ease her worries.
While the warriors at the border waited like hunters for their prey to stumble into their traps in the forest, Zion often broke away for patrols.
From time to time, he would run the perimeter, not only covering his own section but also venturing into the others’ areas to check. To him, if even one section fell, Addison would be in danger, and he refused to let that happen.
That was why his patrols were diligent and meticulous, his senses sharpened to every detail of the surroundings. Now that he knew Greg was involved in this mess, along with the Grey Wolf he had clashed with, Zion kept his guard higher than ever.
Then Zion suddenly froze in his tracks.
’Shit! I forgot to tell Addison!’
The realization hit him hard. When he’d first returned, he had been so agitated and aggressive, as he was so consumed by what he walked into, that everything else slipped from his mind. Only now, while thinking about that bastard Greg, did it strike him that he truly hadn’t mentioned it to Addison at all.
"Shura, see? I lost my focus because you’re always getting jealous!" Zion growled, even as his mind raced for a way to reach Addison.
He could patrol the perimeter, but he couldn’t just abandon the border to go find her himself. More importantly, he couldn’t risk sending anyone else as a messenger. They still didn’t know if there was a mole among them, or if one even existed, and carelessness could expose what they knew.
That meant every word had to be chosen carefully. If the wrong information slipped out, it could fall straight into the ears of a spy. After all, as the saying went, walls had ears.
"The fuck?! You’re putting this all on me? Weren’t you just as agitated? You wanted to tear that bastard apart with your own hands! And don’t act like you’re any less jealous. You nearly lost your head when we found out Maxwell was mating with our woman while we were away. So quit throwing all the blame on me."
Shura grumbled, refusing to give Zion much attention. Its mood was already sour; being stuck at the border meant it couldn’t even see its mate, and that frustration was eating at it.
"Sigh... alright, fine. We’re both at fault. But what should we do? Can this even wait before we tell Addison?" Zion asked. He was still a little shaken by the mistakes of his past, how keeping things to himself had led to painful misunderstandings.
Now, he felt he had to be open with Addison, to let her know everything he thought or discovered.
"Aren’t you the smart one? Then use that brain of yours and figure it out," Shura muttered, curling up and deliberately turning its back so its rear faced Zion’s mind’s eye, a clear sign that it was dumping all the stress on him and wanted nothing to do with the matter. After all, Shura couldn’t see Addison anyway.
"Alright..." Zion exhaled heavily, resigning himself to the weight of it all. Then he pushed forward, picking up his pace as he continued his patrol along the perimeter.
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