Page 46 of My Boyfriend Marks Trees

“What are you thinking?” Ares asked.

“Now that the storm’s eased, what are the chances he goes back to your place, looking to cause trouble?”

“Depends on if he thinks I was lying before.”

“We could head over to check on things,” Derek suggested.

“The roads are shit and will be for hours.” Which worked against and for them, as it meant Barry would have difficulty getting around.

“As if we’d drive anything with wheels,” Derek scoffed.

“You mean take some snowmobiles?” Ares rubbed his chin. “Going cross country, we’d get there in decent time. The question is, should we both go? I hate leaving the girls unprotected.”

Derek snorted. “You want to say that to Athena’s face? With her hormones running wild, she’s more dangerous than both of us put together. Not to mention, Grams might shoot you for even implying they can’t handle a threat.”

A rueful grin twisted Ares’ lips. “Good point. Wanna head out after lunch? Gives us plenty of time to get there, see if anyone’s been poking around, and be back in time for dinner.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Hot chocolate awaited when they went inside, the homemade kind topped with marshmallows. The power failure hadn’t impeded Grams’ ability to cook with her gas stove. The toasty house didn’t make the decision to go for a cold snowy ride easy, especially after he filled his belly with a savory soup and grilled cheese.

Nap time, his wolf suggested.

Not yet.

Ares wanted to see if Barry had returned to the farm and lay in wait. What if the fucker had and trashed his home? Hopefully,the asshole wouldn’t go near the animals. That had been the one stumbling block with the plan to head to Grams and Gramps’ to hunker down. Things could be replaced, but the animals they were responsible for had no defense.

He pulled Charly aside to let her know of his and Derek’s plan to visit the farm, but he framed it as them checking on the livestock and not seeing if Barry had returned.

Her lips pursed. “Is it safe? There’s another storm system heading our way.”

“It’s not supposed to hit until after dinner. Plenty of time for us to get out there, check on things, and come back.”

She brought up Barry. “What ifhe’sthere?”

“Doubtful. His rental didn’t have all-wheel drive. If he even tried, he’d get stuck since our road is one the last plowed.” Country living did have its drawbacks. “And before you wonder, he has no clue we’re here. But even if by some weird chance he shows, just get into the bunker. Ain’t no way he’s getting to you in there. Leave him to stew and we’ll handle him soon as we’re back.” The bomb shelter, once sealed, couldn’t be opened from the outside without some serious metal-cutting tools.

Charly threw her arms around his neck. “Be careful.”

“Don’t you worry about me. I’ll be fine. You go have some fun with the princess. I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Grams said I could be the co-assistant to the sous chef. I can’t believe my kid ranks higher than me in the kitchen.” Charly grimaced.

Ares grinned. “Count yourself lucky Grams even let you in her domain. I told you she likes you.”

“If you say so.” She kissed him, a soft lingering embrace where she murmured, “Come back to me.”

“Always.”

Just as they were suiting up to go, Ares’ phone rang.

Selene called.

“Hey, little sis. How’s the tropics treating you?”

“We never even made it off the ground,” she announced.

“What?”