Page 84 of Havoc's Fox

“Bye, Daddy,” Analise called.

Havoc looked up at them a rumble in his throat.

Analise realized how her attempt to tease him must have sounded. “Sorry,” she mouthed at him.

His eyes were alight, clearly his Wolf was looking out at her.

“We’re going to walk for a while. Shouldn’t be more than an hour-and-a-half or two at the most,” Analise said, her voice giving away her nervousness.

He didn’t even try to answer, he just went back to work.

~~~

Analise and Harley decided to walk up the highway instead of just sticking to their property on either side of the highway. And while they walked Harley talked about puppies and butterflies, and her Aunt Maia, and her many aunts and uncles and cousins from Missouri. She asked about Analise’s job and why she had to go back to it, and along the way several cars went zooming past. One in particular, an older model Pontiac with dark windows and a rusted quarter panel drove slowly past them twice. Thankfully, they were almost back to Brandt’s property.

“Feel like cutting through the woods?” Analise asked Harley, looking down at her to see if she’d noticed the vehicle.

“Sure! My daddy practiced with me so I’d know where I was going in the woods. I can find my way back home. I’ll show you.”

“You think? I’m not sure. I think I do need you to show me.” Analise picked up Harley and jumped a ditch, then quickly stepped into the woods so if the car came back there would be no trace of them. She just had a bad feeling about it. But she had a bad feeling about most things lately. Havoc being near her again had her senses all in a tizzy.

Fifteen minutes later they approached Havoc’s home from behind.

“See? That’s my house!”

“It sure is! I am so proud of you! You knew exactly where we were going,” Analise said.

“Yep. I’m a good tracker. I know where I’m going.”

“You sure do!”

“Y’all hiking the woods now?” Havoc asked, picking up his tools and putting them on the picnic table beneath the raised house.

“Yep! Analise said she wasn’t sure I could find my way in the woods, so I had to show her.”

“My girl can do that. She’s got more skill than we had at that age,” Havoc said.

“I don’t know. We were pretty good at tracking thanks to our fathers.”

“True, but I wanted to be extra sure with Harley,” he said meaningfully.

“Thank you so much for taking a walk with me, Ms. Harley,” Analise said.

“You’re welcome! Do you want to go in the morning, too?”

“Maybe. You like walking in the mornings, don’t you?”

“It’s the birds! They’re all out flying around and having breakfast and they sing so many songs!”

“Maybe we’ll do that, then.”

“Leave Analise alone. She just took you for a walk,” Havoc said.

“No, it’s okay. I’ll come over tomorrow morning and we can enjoy a quick walk. Would you like that?”

“So much!” Harley said excitedly.

“That’s what we’ll do then.”