by Katie Reus
Page 22
As they stepped outside the crisp, clean morning air rolled over her. A light fog had descended across the ranch. Patches of ice littered the ground and icicles hung from the outside of the barn. They’d melt off once the sun was fully up, but for now they created an icy decoration.
“Why am I surprised you like Bear?” Ana shook her head as Connor opened the stall door to the hulking Irish Draught stallion.
“I didn’t pick him. He picked me. ” Connor slowly entered and led him out.
She nervously waited while he saddled and mounted him. The stallion was a well muscled, beautiful animal. In the sunlight his coat gleamed a shiny black. The stubborn thing usually bucked men, but by his submissive trot, it seemed he’d picked a new owner. Interesting. Bear hadn’t even let her father ride him.
Ana strode down a few gates and opened Adalita’s door. She always rode the same purebred Andalusian, and the chestnut animal rarely let anyone else touch her. Ana murmured soothingly to her as she petted her soft coat and saddled her.
Once they were past the first two gated fields, the grassy hills stretched out before them for miles. She pushed her feet into the stirrups and squeezed her legs together. Her horse responded immediately and increased its gait to a faster walk. She didn’t have to say anything to Connor, as he sped up and kept pace with her.
She was thankful he didn’t seem to want to chat this morning. Riding Adalita was usually her only alone time on the crowded ranch, but Connor was a good riding companion. The man never made idle chitchat. She shot him a quick glance. “Are you okay if we go faster?”
He raised an insulted eyebrow. Before she could signal her horse, Connor pushed his into a trot.
It was easy to feel like they were the only two people on the planet on such a quiet morning. With the exception of their horses, everything was eerily silent as they headed across the property. Her thighs were starting to burn when Connor abruptly stopped.
Pulling tight on the reins, she stopped and turned around. “What is it?”
“Do you smell that?”
She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. She only scented typical earthy smells. “What do you smell?”
“Danger. ”
The one word answer sent a chill skittering up her spine. Her father had been the same way. He’d often scented things the rest of the pack couldn’t. It usually wasn’t something tangible in the air, but more of a feeling he had. Maybe it was an Alpha thing. And it wasn’t something Connor would joke around about.
He held a finger to his lips and pointed toward a cluster of trees. Quietly she followed as he turned Bear around and headed for the woods. They dismounted and tethered the horses to a fallen log.
“What’s going on?” She kept her voice low.
“It could be nothing. Something in the air just smells … off. ” His green eyes had nearly turned black, and she knew he was ready to shift to his wolf form at a moment’s notice.
“We’re close to Taggart’s property line. Maybe that’s what you’re scenting. ”
“Maybe … Stay here,” he ordered. Without giving her a chance to respond, he stalked back toward the thinnest cluster of trees.
Ana looked at the horses, then at Connor’s retreating back. Adalita whinnied quietly, but neither animal seemed bothered by anything. Still, she didn’t like the thought of Connor heading into something without any backup. Shedding her jacket, she draped it across her saddle, then pulled a silver dagger from her pack.
There weren’t many things she feared in life except her own kind and maybe faeries—and the fae didn’t venture into North America often unless they had a damn good reason. They lived mainly in Scotland and Ireland. If she ever thought about feeling sorry for herself in regard to shifter rules, she reminded herself she was glad she wasn’t part of the fae. Talk about draconian rules. If it was a human Connor scented, then she wasn’t really worried. It was difficult for humans and even vampires to hurt shifters. Vamps were fast, but unless they were ancient, they usually weren’t fast enough. And it’s not as if they came out during daylight hours. No, if Connor really had scented something, it was likely another shifter.
Probably lupine, but maybe feline or ursine. Though she doubted it. The majority of feline shifters lived in South America, and ursine shifters usually congregated farther up north. Of course, it could be a coyote shifter. There weren’t any of their packs in at least a hundred-mile radius of the ranch, and if they tried to encroach on their land without announcing their presence first, the coyotes’ council would be harsher on them than her own Council. Ana glanced around and tried to calm her nerves. She could stand there all day wondering what if? but it wouldn’t do Connor any good.
Trailing after him, she paused when she reached the open field. He was gone but his sweater, boots and jeans were discarded by a tree. Her fingers tightened around her dagger as she took a few steps out into the open. Inhaling deeply, she scented something foreign. He’d been right.
Inhaling again, she tried to focus on the new scent. It was to her left.
Walking along the line of trees, she moved closer and closer to the edge of her property and Taggart’s. She still had a couple hundred yards to go but that knowledge alone made her heart beat faster. She didn’t want to get anywhere near that bastard. Connor didn’t know Taggart’s pack the way she did. Taggart was ruthless and didn’t care about the Council’s laws. If he challenged Connor, he’d fight dirty. The thought of him hurting Connor had her tightening her grip on her dagger.
Sudden movement from the trees made her pause. She crouched down next to one of the longleaf pine trees, and as soon as she did a squirrel let out a loud chirp. Glancing up, she spotted a gray squirrel and cringed. His tail twitched wildly as he continued chirping. The territorial alert was either directed at her or something else. Either way, he was likely to give away her position. Before she had a chance to move, a mangy, pale-gray lupine shifter emerged from the woods about twenty feet in front of her. It was skinny but still huge, almost her human height on all fours.
It jerked to a halt, then narrowed its glowing crimson eyes in her direction.
Her heart thumped erratically. Red eyes meant one thing.
It was feral.
By its wild eyes, she guessed it was diseased. Probably recently. Unless it had once been a human and turned against its will. She dismissed that thought as quickly as it entered her brain. Shifters didn’t turn humans for sport. Most didn’t undergo the change well and it was too dangerous anyway.
Clutching the weapon tightly, she took a wide step to the side. If she didn’t provoke it, it might not attack. But she wasn’t counting on that and was going to protect herself.
It growled deep in its throat. An eerie, whiny sound that sent icy chills spooling through her. By the look of it, the deranged animal hadn’t eaten in a while either. Its ribs were visible and when it snapped at her, she got a view of nasty, sharp yellow teeth.
With her feet hip distance apart, she crouched and got ready for an attack. Normally she’d shift and run from such a large opponent. There wasn’t enough time, and she’d be able to take him on better in her human form.
If he hadn’t been feral, she wouldn’t try to fight. But feral wolves didn’t think like skilled hunters. They just wanted to kill and eat. Which made them weaker. All she had to do was stab him through the heart with her dagger.
Bracing herself, she waited for him to make the first move. He growled, then ran right at her. The thing had no strategy whatsoever. It just wanted to kill.
He was only a few feet away now. As he lunged, he bared his neck and underside to her. Dagger out, she leaned back, ready to strike. Before she could drive it into his chest, a mass of fur and muscle hurtled through the air.
“Connor!” Pure black fur and strong, muscular legs flew past her as he tackled the feral animal. When he stood on all fours, he was almost five feet tall. Terri
fying and majestic at once.
For a feral wolf, the gray one was surprisingly agile. He took the hit from Connor and rolled across the grass before pouncing back to all fours.
When it lunged at Connor, Ana knew the fight was over before it started. Snarling wildly, it came at him with no regard for protecting its neck.
Connor easily ducked the strike. As the animal sailed past him, Connor turned lightning fast and caught it from behind. In one giant bite, he snapped the gray wolf’s neck.
With a thud, it hit the soft earth. Still clutching her knife, Ana stared at the limp, lifeless animal. Its neck was bent at an awkward angle and blood pooled around its head, soaking the ground beneath it.
Before she could move, Connor shifted back to human form.
Connor could think of nothing else but Ana as he underwent the change. Pain ripped through him as his bones broke and his tendons and ligaments realigned. He tried to focus on the rush of rapture that would inevitably follow once he was back to his human form, but thoughts of Ana being hurt overrode everything. That was a special kind of agony all by itself.
Losing Ana … He cried out in pain as his bones shifted back into place. He blinked a few times as the world came into focus. His fingers dug into the earth beneath him.
“Connor, are you okay?” Ana crouched next to him and rubbed his back in soothing little circles.
Every part of him loved the feel of her hands on him. Still on his knees, he turned his head and stared at her. “Did he hurt you? What were you thinking?” Ignoring the dirt on his hand, he blindly reached for her and grasped one of her hands.
She raised a dark eyebrow and held up a silver dagger that gleamed wickedly under the rising sunlight. “I was thinking I’m almost seventy and know how to take care of myself. He was feral, not a warrior. I could have handled it. ”
“I told you to stay put…. ” He frowned as he stared at the dagger. “Is that what I think it is?”
“It was blessed by the fae hundreds of years ago. It belonged to my father. ” The rare dagger would have plunged the feral wolf into a comalike state almost immediately. Fae magic was incredibly powerful and rarely used, and it surprised him she had something like this.
