“Sam, someone’s been here recently, and look at the mess. No one who was supposed to be here would have left this kind of mess, they’re too careful about who uses these lands,” Julie said, a shiver running down her spine. They were a long way away from any kind of help and if she guessed right, this was evidence of the poachers.
“Are you thinking what I am?” Sam asked, picking up an empty shotgun shell.
“Yes, and I think we better get a hold of Scott right away,” Julie said, looking around her at the mess. “Do you think they’ll be back any time soon?”
Sam looked around him, his stomach muscles clenching as the anger began to build. “No, I think we might have scared them off, but they will be back,” he said, pointing to a stack of supplies under a tarp.
After taking what they needed of the food and water they’d found under the tarp, they destroyed the rest, about the only thing they could do to fight back at that point. It had solved their food supply problem, but not the problem of the poachers, still they both knew that it was a step forward that their camp had finally been found. On the way back to camp, they picked the rabbit traps back up, glad that they hadn’t had to use them.
Once Scott heard what they’d found, he promised to send some men up to investigate the camp and clean up the mess. “Do you think they were there when you got up there? Did you see or hear anything?” Scott asked.
“We didn’t hear or see anything, it was almost dark and we were focused on the moose. Someone could have been watching us and we wouldn’t have known. There definitely wasn’t any kind of motorized vehicle though, that we would have heard,” Sam answered, wishing they’d paid more attention.
“Okay, I’m sending Joe and a few other men up there to check it out. They’re the best hunters in the canyon, they’ll be able to figure out something from the camp,” Scott reassured them. “But I want you to keep your eyes and ears open, don’t get caught unaware. You do have some weapons with you, don’t you?”
“I’m armed and Julie’s got her tranquilizer gun,” Sam assured Scott then signed off.
Sam and Julie were both on edge for the rest of the day. Sam carried his gun with him everywhere he went and Julie couldn’t help but look up the mountain to where the poacher’s camp was every so often. The moose kept them distracted some of the time, but the danger they were in was never far from either of their minds. When the sun finally began to set, they both breathed a sigh of relief, although it was possible, it was very unlikely that the poachers would come sneaking back in at night in the dark.
Sam had situated camp so that they could see the moose from the fire and they decided rather than take turns staying up, it would be a good idea to sleep out by the fire. It was a clear night and the temperature had dropped but they were nice and warm wrapped together in the sleeping bag. Although the night was quiet, several times they were woken by sounds in the forest, they took turns getting up to explore the sounds, but found nothing.
When the sun finally came up, they were both relieved that another night was over. The moose was restless when Julie gave her breakfast, the wound looked clean and wasn’t infected so they decided it was time to begin moving her down the mountain. They packed up camp and started out at once knowing that it would take several days to get to the ranch, but it proved to be more difficult than they’d imagined herding a wild moose down the side of a mountain.
Frank pulled into the shabby motel parking lot cursing his luck, he’d only gone up to the mountain to test the new pheromone trap he’d gotten in the mail, it was supposed to be a quick trip up and back. Instead he’d done something so stupid and the trip had turned into a disaster. He’d figured out how to set off the trap no problem, then waited for a long twelve hours before it worked. He had, in fact, been just about to give up when the moose, a cow, walked into the clearing. The urge to shout for joy had come over him, but instead he’d picked up his rifle and fired a shot at her, realizing just a moment too late that he wasn’t there to hunt.
He pulled his arm up but the shot still hit the cow in the shoulder, cursing he threw the gun aside and approached the moose. Her shoulder was bleeding but she still had some fight in her, charging at him when he got to close. But he could see that she wouldn’t last long. Stepping back away from her far enough that she wouldn’t flee, he thought about his choices, how he could get himself out of this situation without getting caught. He flat out disregarded shooting her again, it was nearly sunset and few hunters would be out this time of day, if he just went off and left her predators might take care of the problem, but if she made it to people that would be bad.
Then the perfect solution had come to him, he’d wait until she was too weak to fight him and cut her throat. Then he could take the head for a trophy, cut up the rest of the carcass and spread it around the forest, it would just look like a predator kill if anyone found the pieces. He settled down in the trees to wait, but just as he was getting comfortable a huge bull moose came into the clearing and stood over the cow who had laid down.
His heart began to pound in his chest, here was the object of his obsession and he couldn’t do a thing about it. He’d sold the right to shoot the big moose to the highest bidder, promising consolation animals for the rest of his investors. When he heard more rustling in the trees he was instantly on his guard, the smell of blood could have easily attracted the wolves he knew lived in the area but to his horror it had been the people from town all those weeks ago.
Knowing that he was in big trouble, he’d felt before they spotted him, he put out his fire and hiked out of the canyon to his truck. Things hadn’t been completely ruined, but he suddenly had problems that he hadn’t had before. If they discovered his camp, he’d have to find a new one, and they’d be even more on guard than they had been before. The big hunt had just gotten a little more complicated, but nothing was going to stop him from getting his big score, he’d just have to come up with a new plan.
Chapter 9
The wolf had been flying through the forest, his vision at night so acute that he never had to hesitate, dodging around trees and bushes with no hesitation. He was on his way to the den to help move the cubs to a lower location since the nights had grown cold, but out of the night came the scent of blood. Stopping his forward flight, he stood nose in the air and sniffed, filtering through the normal smells of the forest to single out what he’d detected moments ago.
Then it was there again, subtle but unmistakable to him. Pointing his nose to the air, he howled a signal to his pack, as the alpha they’d respond no matter where they were. With one final yip, he began to follow the scent, stopping every now and then to sniff the air. As night turned to day, the scent grew stronger and he continued to follow, stopping occasionally now to signal the rest of the pack.
By night fall the scent had grown strong enough that he knew he was close, and when his pack mates joined him they followed him silently through the forest. Each knew that soon they’d have a meal that would sustain them for weeks, the salvia beginning to run in anticipation of the taste of warm flesh. When they finally came to the source of the scent, the wolf stopped and paced in the woods assessing the situation.
The fire glowing brightly scared him, but the temptation of fresh meat was more tempting, and with a silent signal to his pack, began to move in on the moose. Moving silently on the pads of his feet, he used the forest for cover, sticking to the trees until the last possible moment, then sprang out, his pack behind him snarling loudly. He went straight for the moose but suddenly there was a human standing in his way, and then everything went black for a moment.
Julie swung the branch at the wolf screaming for Sam to shoot it, while the moose fought the restraints they’d put on her to keep her with them for the night. She felt the branch connect with his head, but as soon as he went down there were more wolves silently moving toward her. Their eyes were glinting in the firelight and for a moment her terror was so great that she couldn’t move, couldn’t think.
&n
bsp; Then Sam yelled, “Julie, catch!”
She came abruptly to her senses and caught the pistol he’d thrown to her. She fired a shot in the air hoping that it would scare the wolves off, but they continued to close in on her and she knew she’d have to shoot one of them. Bringing the gun up, she scanned the wolves, unable to decide which to shoot, but before she could fire a shot the biggest wolf was on his feet again and lunging for her, his teeth gleaming in the firelight.
Just as his teeth came down on her arm, she fired the gun and the wolf fell to the ground with a whimper. The rest of the wolves, seeing their leader fall, scattered into the woods like ghosts into the night making Julie wonder briefly if she’d been dreaming. But the body of the big wolf was heaped at her feet, and the searing pain in her arm told her that it was real. Staggering a few steps away from the wolf’s body, she sank to her knees, cradling her injured arm against her body.
Sam was there then, wrapping his arms around her and rocking her. As the adrenaline drained from her body she began to shake, each tremor making the pain in her arm worse. “It’s okay, you’re okay,” Sam said, over and over until she began to calm down, the sobs that had suddenly come leaving just as suddenly.
“I didn’t even hear them…They were just suddenly there…” She tried to tell Sam what had happened but was still too shaken up.
Sam took her face in his hands. “Julie, look at me,” he said forcefully enough to get her attention. When she finally looked at him, the tears running down her cheeks, he kissed her. “You’re fine and the moose is fine.”
“But the wolf,” she sobbed, horrified that she’d killed it.
“It would have killed you, if it hadn’t, one of the other ones would have. You did what you had to,” Sam said, pulling her to him so her head rested on his chest.
Julie listened to Sam’s heart beating in his chest and began to calm down. “Now let me see your arm,” he said when she’d stopped sobbing and hiccupping.
Julie held out her arm which now that the adrenaline had drained away felt like it was on fire. Sam tried to roll up her sleeve but it was too tight, so he helped her out of her leather jacket and shirt then gently held her arm up to the light from the fire. “The skin’s broken but I don’t think it’s very deep, the bruising is going to be the worst part as long as it doesn’t get infected. Let’s get you to the tent and I’ll clean this up and put a bandage on it, you need to see the doctor as soon as we get home,” he said, helping her to her feet.
Julie took one last look at the wolf’s body, then let Sam help her to the tent. She laid down on their sleeping bag, the throbbing in her arm beginning to recede since she’d stopped moving. When Sam put antiseptic on the wound it was all she could do not to scream in pain, it felt like her arm was on fire, but she gritted her teeth as the tears streamed down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry, I know this stuff hurts, but it’s all I have. Hang on, it’ll be over in a minute,” Sam said, gently patting the wound dry with gauze.
As the pain began to recede, Julie began to shake again, her body rocked with tremors that she couldn’t control. Embarrassed, she tried to wrap her arms around her knees but realized that even moving her arm made it hurt as a fresh wave of pain washed over her. “I’ll be right back.” Sam said, then waited until she nodded her head, speech impossible through her chattering teeth.
When he came back he had a cup of coffee, when she took a sip it burned all the way down, and she smiled gratefully at him because he’d laced the coffee with a generous shot of whisky. After a few more sips of the hot brew, the shaking stopped and she could finally speak.
“I’m sorry, Sam. I didn’t mean to fall apart. It doesn’t hurt so much anymore,” she said, realizing that her words sounded slurred. “What did you put in that?”
“A big shot of whisky and a painkiller,” Sam said, gathering her to him on her good side.
“I think I should be upset that you mixed the two but right now I don’t care,” she said, as her eyes drifted to closed.
When she awoke the next morning her arm was throbbing, making her want to cry, but Sam was there with a painkiller and soon she drifted off to sleep again. She slept through the day, waking only to eat and go to the bathroom, which Sam had to help her with, much to her embarrassment. But on the second day when she woke up her arm didn’t hurt as much and she was able to get up on her own.
Hearing a big commotion in camp, she hurried out of the tent. Her arm throbbed every time she moved it, and she was a little unsteady on her feet, but she managed to push through it and emerged from the trees to find Jake, Owen, and Flynn just arriving. Sam must have called them for help, and she was glad because the way her arm felt right now, she wasn’t sure she’d even be able to ride, let alone help with the moose.
Her eyes immediately went to the moose who was happily grazing in the marshy area where she’d been pinned, looking at the moose brought back memories of the wolf attack, and her eyes went to where the body had last laid. Sitting down in a chair heavily, she tried to slow her breathing, it had happened but it was over, she’d done what she’d had to.
Sam came rushing over, having just seen her sitting by the fire, her face drained of all color. “Julie, what are you doing up? How’s your arm? You look really pale.” Sam was fussing over her like a mother hen.
Jake, Owen, and Flynn came over and sat down with her. “I hear you had quite a scare the other night,” Jake said, giving her an opening to tell them what happened.
Julie hesitated, but Sam squeezed her hand, and she began to tell the story. Not even Sam had heard what had happened, having woken up only in the end, just in time to throw her the gun. It had been driving him crazy the whole time she’d been sleeping, but he’d known not to push her, she’d talk when she was ready. He hoped that she was ready now, the longer she held it in the harder it would be to talk about it.
Taking a deep breath every now and again, Julie recounted the story of her encounter with the wolf, the telling easing some of the fear she still felt. It would be a long time before she was completely comfortable in the woods again, that she was sure of, but the wolf was quickly changing from a monster to an animal doing what came natural. And that was when the guilt set in, she’d killed an animal, one that had only been doing what instinct told him to do.
Sam had her head pressed against his chest and didn’t see her face, but Jake did. “Hey, don’t start feeling guilty now. That wolf would have killed you, the person responsible for all this is the one who shot that moose,” Jake said, pointing to the cow who was calmly eating.
“I know what you say makes sense, but I just can’t help it. Where is he?”
“I moved him. We’ll take him back to the lab, maybe we can learn something from him,” Sam said, gently.
“He’s not the only wolf in the canyon, I know for a fact that there are pups,” Jake said, with a shrug.
Julie perked up, “How do you know?”
“We’ve been watching that one for a few years, he takes about three sheep a year, but I figure that’s not enough to mess with him,” Jake explained to Julie and Sam’s astonishment.
“I’ve never met a rancher with that kind of attitude,” Sam said, respect in his voice.
Jake looked up at him as if he’d forgotten Sam was there, then said, “Our father taught us to respect the land and all its creatures,” putting more emphasis on the word father than was necessary.
Sam winced a little bit, but Jake was the only one to notice since he was watching Sam carefully. “He also taught us that there’s a fragile balance out here and our being here can upset that balance. Letting the wolf take a few of the sheep helps put things back in balance, I figure it’s a small price to pay to keep what we have here.”
Jake’s little speech resonated through the forest and Julie immediately felt better. “I wish I hadn’t had to kill the wolf, but it’s good to know there are more.” Then she took Jake’s hand in hers. “Thank you, Jake. With people like you and your
brothers in this world we might just have a chance to save it.”
“I’m glad we can help, but right now I think we better see about getting you and your moose home. Do you think you could ride with Sam?” Jake said, getting to his feet, the softness in his voice gone as quickly as it had come.
Sam didn’t hear Julie’s answer, his mind was on the words his brother had just spoken, words that had been for Julie’s benefit as well as his. The more he got to know his brothers the more he wanted to tell them who he was, the lure of finally having a family almost more than he could resist. But telling them was a risk, if they rejected him how would he ever be able to stay in the canyon with them not only living a few miles from him, but as members of the board of directors and his bosses.
It could be a complete disaster to tell them, maybe it was better to just enjoy being their friend, a role that would be easy enough to play. But then he ran the risk of them finding out on their own which could be even worse, the options kept swirling in his brain, until Julie got his attention.
“Sam. Are you okay?” she asked, for the second time, concern in her voice.
“What? I’m sorry. I guess I’m still in a little off kilter,” he said, to cover his silence.
Julie laced her fingers through his and squeezed. “Hey, I’m okay, the moose is okay and we’ve been rescued.”
Sam let out the breath he’d been holding, her words soothing at least part of the stress he’d been feeling. The truth was that he was exhausted, taking care of both the moose and Julie had worn him out, he knew that he couldn’t go on much longer without some sleep.
“You’re right, I guess I just needed to hear that. Let’s go home,” Sam said, picking her up and carrying her over to his horse.
Have My Child: BWWM Romance (Brothers From Money Book 14) Page 9
