by Marla Monroe
“You’re going to have to come help me. She’s shy of me and has a calf, as well. Grab the rope out of the bag I was carrying. It might be long enough to go around her neck. The calf will follow wherever she goes, I think,” he said.
Travis pulled in his empty hook and stashed it inside the bag after pulling out the rope. There wasn’t much to it, but it should be enough to wrap around the cow’s neck and tug on it. At least he hoped it would be. Getting a cow would be wonderful with Gail and the baby. They’d have fresh milk every day. Their child would need milk to grow up strong.
He pulled off his boots and waded into the still warm water and crossed to where Benton stood holding out his hand to help him up the bank. He followed his friend to find the cow and its calf grazing on grass in a small open area between towering trees. When Benton moved in its direction, it moved a few feet in the opposite direction.
“See what I mean?”
“I’ll circle around to the other side and we’ll box it in. One of us should be able to grab hold of it until the other can help rope it.”
Benton nodded. “I’ll wait on you before I move again. We sure don’t want to spook it into running.”
Travis walked wide of the cow to the other side then started to inch his way toward the animal in hopes it wouldn’t notice until he’d made it closer. Benton didn’t move for several moments then followed suit.
Together they managed to nearly reach the cow before it looked up. They froze and looked at the ground, waiting for the heifer to go back to eating grass. The calf didn’t give them a single glance as it ate. It was at least five or six months old. A good age to follow its mom wherever she went.
Travis reached the cow when it looked over at Benton. He tossed the rope over its neck having already worked into a loose noose. When it started to walk away, it stopped with the slight tug of the rope and looked at Travis as if he’d done something strange. The fact that it didn’t fight the rope gave him some hope that they’d manage to return to the house without a struggle.
It all went fine until they reached the stream that was washing loudly over the rocks. The cow balked. Benton and Travis had to yell at each other to be heard over the den of the mooing cow and the noise of the water. Finally, they managed to get both the cow and the calf across the stream, though both he and Benton ended up soaked to the bone from head to toe. When they reached the other side, they took turns holding the cow by the rope while they put on their boots. Despite their socks being wet, they couldn’t walk back to the house without them.
“Fucking cow. I hope she makes a lot of milk after all of this,” Benton grumbled.
“For fresh milk for Gracie, it’s all worth it,” Travis said.
“Yeah. You’re right.” Benton followed them as Travis tugged on the rope to get the cow going again.
Benton had to walk behind the calf to be sure it didn’t wander off as they neared the house. It was then that they heard the most spine-ripping screams he’d ever heard. Travis dropped the rope of the cow and sprinted off toward the house with Benton close behind him.
When they reached the garden, they could hear the wolves growling and yapping with Gail’s screeches and the sounds of a wild animal bellowing at the top of its lungs. Travis couldn’t tell what was going on. He shoved his way through the garden, jumping over plants and pushing through others. What he saw when he broke free was enough to send his heart into spasms.
Gail stood with Max and Sasha on one side and Wolfie on the other side of a huge grizzly. They were all lashing out at it, Gail with a hoe. She had blood all over her, but he couldn’t tell whose it was since all of them were covered in blood, including the bear.
He and Benton grabbed weapons that lay around the garden. He had the digging fork, and Benton grabbed a shovel. The three of them beat at the bear, tearing into it until he didn’t know how it was standing.
Gail broke free and ran for the house. He prayed that Gracie was inside since he didn’t see the baby in the playpen. By the time they had the bear beat back, it turned and limped away with the wolves chasing it into the woods, leaving Travis and Benton frantic to find Gail and Gracie.
When they burst inside, Gail was on the floor hugging the baby to her, and Gigi stood between them growling until she realized it was them. Then she returned to Gail, rubbing her chin all over her head making little nipping sounds.
“Oh, honey.” Benton dropped to his knees next to her. “Are you okay? What about Grace?”
Gail’s crying got even louder as she tried to talk through it. “I’m fine. Grace is fine.”
She gulped then broke into loud wails again. Travis didn’t know what to do other than hug her with Benton.
“If it wasn’t for the wolves, we’d all be dead. The bear came out of nowhere and got between me and Grace.” She sniffed and swallowed as if trying to control her breathing. “I couldn’t get to Grace, and the bear turned toward her. I grabbed the first thing I saw and attacked it. The wolves all jumped in and helped me.”
“Easy, babe. We’ve got you and Grace is fine. Are you sure you’re not hurt?”
“I don’t think so. The wolves kept between me and the bear as much as they could. I know they’re hurt. Where are they?” She looked around then down at Gigi. “Gigi jumped in the playpen and grabbed Grace by her clothes then carried her in the house. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, then all I could do was fight the bear. It wouldn’t let me get to the house.”
“It’s all over now, babe. Try to catch your breath and let us look over you and Grace.” Travis pulled back and felt her face then down each arm as Benton pulled a wailing Grace from her mother’s arms.
“You’ve got some cuts on your hands and arms, Gail. Come on and stand up so I can check the rest of you.” Travis tugged at her until she stood.
“Benton? Is Grace really okay? Did you check her?” Gail asked.
“She’s fine. She has a tiny cut on the back of her shoulder. I’m sure one of Gigi’s teeth nipped it by accident. I’m surprised she doesn’t have a lot of them. That damn wolf is a hero.” Benton rubbed the wolf’s fur. “Hell, they all are. I’ll never complain about them again.”
“I don’t see anything else other than what’s on your hands and arms. The bear got you pretty good there, babe. We need to clean you up and take care of them so they don’t get infected.” Travis eased her over to a chair and urged her to sit.
“The wolves. Where are they?” she asked, looking around.
“I’ll check on them later,” Travis told her.
“No. I need them here with me. They saved our lives,” she insisted.
Grace had settled down now that Gail had stopped crying. Benton looked at Travis and nodded then settled the baby in her seat.
“I’ll go check on them and be right back.” Benton walked out of the door after getting an ax to carry with him.
“I’m so sorry we didn’t hear you, babe.” Travis got a wet cloth and began to clean the worst of her cuts.
“Where were you?”
“The stream is really loud now that it’s rushing over the rocks since the water level’s gotten so low. Then we heard what sounded like a cow and crossed to the other side to find out it was a cow. That’s why we didn’t hear you. I’m so sorry, babe. It will never happen again. We won’t ever leave you alone like that again. One of us will always be near you.” Travis couldn’t believe they’d nearly lost their woman and baby over a stupid cow.
He shook his head. Even now that cow was probably wandering off with the rope around its neck. Travis rinsed out the cloth, pink with her blood, and started on the other arm.
“None of these are too deep, but you’ve got two that really need stitches, Gail. Once I’ve got them all clean, we’re going to have to sew those two up. They won’t heal well if we don’t.”
“After having a child and fighting a bear, I think I can handle a few stitches,” she said with a watery smile. She shifted to look over at Grace again.
“
She’s sleeping. After all that’s happened, she’s sleeping like an angel,” Travis assured her.
“I couldn’t get to her, Travis. What would have happened if Gigi hadn’t saved her?”
“Don’t think about it. It didn’t happen and won’t happen. We’ll make sure of it.”
“How? You can’t protect us twenty-four hours a day. We have to work, and that means we’re separated sometimes. I wish we still had guns with bullets. I know what I need. I need some spears. That would help.” Gail looked up at him with a determined glint in her eye. “We can make spears, right? Like how you made those arrows.”
“We can do that. It will give you some protection just in case something happens that separates us again. We’ll teach you how to throw them, too,” he said.
“I don’t ever want to feel helpless like that again.”
“We won’t let you. We’ll make sure you know how to use the spear and how to shoot the bow and arrow. Then you can protect yourself and the baby.”
“When the Grace gets old enough, we’re teaching her, too,” she demanded.
“We’ll teach her, too.”
The door opened, and the wolves all poured in, circling around them, sniffing Gail then Gracie then Gail again. They whined and yipped but appeared mostly unscathed.
“Are they okay?” Gail asked Benton.
“Yeah. Wolfie has a good-sized scratch on his side, but it doesn’t look too bad. If he’ll let us, we’ll try sewing it, but it might do better without stitches. Sasha has a few scratches across her back quarters, but they aren’t even as deep as Wolfie’s. Max seemed to get the least of the wounds with some scratches across his nose and one side of his neck.” Benton looked her over. “You need stitches, too.”
“Yeah, Travis told me. Is the bear gone?”
“Actually, it’s dead. The wolves finished it off. They were guarding the body, I think. I guess we should try and cut up some of it and put it in the fridge for food for them and us.”
“You do that. I want to eat that damn bear even if it doesn’t taste good,” Gail said with enough anger in her voice to widen Benton’s eyes.
“Why don’t you look for that cow first? Just in case it’s still around somewhere,” Travis suggested. “Milk would taste good with bear.”
Benton snorted. “I wish we’d never heard that damn cow. We might have heard Grace screaming if we hadn’t been across the river.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. I hadn’t realized just how loud it was down there until we started trying to listen for the noise we heard.” Travis shook his head as he cleaned the last scratch on her hand.
“I’ll check for the cow first then see about that bear. Don’t leave them for anything while I’m gone,” Benton said.
“You don’t have to tell me. I’m glued to her side until you get back. I’ve got to sew up these cuts so they’ll stop bleeding. We’ll attempt to sew up Wolfie’s when you get back.”
“I’m really looking forward to that,” Benton said with a wince.
“Be careful, Benton. Don’t look for the cow too long. I’d rather you came back here where you’re safe,” Gail said.
She reached out and squeezed the other man’s hand before laying her head against Travis’s shoulder. He’d protect her and the baby with his life. He’d nearly lost them. Nothing would ever erase the sight of her fighting that grizzly for as long as he lived.
Chapter Twelve
Gail lay on the couch with her head in Benton’s lap and her feet on Travis’s. Her arms ached where Travis had sewn them up the day before, but they weren’t bad. Mostly she was sore from hitting the tough old bear with the garden hoe. It had sounded all the way up her arms into her shoulder each time she’d made contact. Now she felt as if her entire body had taken a beating.
Baby Grace was asleep, lying on her chest, and the wolves were all lying around the floor in front of the couch. They’d eaten bear the night before, and despite her determination to hate the taste of it, the beast hadn’t been all that bad. They had roast simmering in the Dutch oven on the fire now. She’d added potatoes, onions, and a fourth of a clove of garlic to season it some.
Benton had managed to find the stupid cow and her calf wandering around on the other side of the garden, and they were now living inside the shed. They planned to build a lean-to next to the shed to house most of the garden tools, so the entire shed could house the cow and her calf. They’d need to enlarge it after winter to accommodate two full-grown cows. That wouldn’t be easy with planting a garden to do, as well.
Gail knew their lives were about to get even more complicated now that they had a baby, two cows, the garden, and the need to trap or kill for meat. Where once there’d only been the three of them, now there was much more. The wolves figured into the mix as mostly self-sufficient, but an integral part of their safety as well as their lives.
“Whatcha thinking about, babe?” Travis asked as he massaged her feet.
“Just thinking about how much our lives have changed and will change over the winter,” she said.
“What do you mean?” Benton asked as he twirled her hair around his finger.
“Well, we have a growing baby girl now as well as the four wolves. Add to that a cow and her calf and growing a garden and harvesting it and killing for meat, and there’s not a lot of room for times like this,” she told them.
“We’ll always make times for this, hon. This is what makes it all worthwhile,” he said.
Travis squeezed her foot. “We’ll make time even when it seems like we don’t have it to take.”
“I hope so. I love laying here between the two of you with Grace. We almost lost us yesterday. I don’t want to ever take any of us for granted. Okay?” She looked from one to the other.
“Never, babe.”
“Never.” Benton brushed a kiss across her forehead.
“I think supper’s ready if you guys are,” she said. “I just need to set the table and get it off the fire.”
“We’ll set the table and take it all into the kitchen for you. Just lie here for a little while longer with Grace. Then we’ll put her in her seat and eat,” Travis said.
She nodded and lifted her feet so he could get up then sat up a little bit so that Benton could, as well. He shoved a pillow behind her head so she would be comfortable before he walked over to the fire to lift the heavy Dutch oven off the pole with the heavy-duty oven mitts. Once he’d left the bear roast in the kitchen, he returned for the boiler of peas. She watched him walk back into the kitchen and couldn’t help but admire his tight ass. Her men had hot hard bodies from all the work they did outside.
Gail was surprised she’d feel the way she did right then. She hadn’t been able to sleep the night before, wanting to check on Grace every few minutes, but she’d had several nice naps during the day and was feeling strongly the need to have her men.
Together.
In bed.
Nearly losing everything had made it clear to her that she had to take what she wanted every chance she got. She would savor the little moments and paste them to her heart so that she’d never forget them. Not just Grace’s first moments, but all of their moments together, the three of them. They all mattered when everything could be swept away with a storm, a fire, or a bear.
“Supper’s on the table, babe. I’ll take Grace.” He reached and picked up the sleeping baby then held out one hand to help her up.
Grace yawned and opened her eyes to peer into Travis’s. She cooed then made a popping sound with her mouth. Gail couldn’t help but giggle at the cute little trick she’d taught herself. She’d been making popping noises for several days now. Each time she did it, little Grace grinned and did it again.
“She’s so damn cute,” Travis said.
“Language.”
“Oops. Sorry. But she is.”
“I know.”
Benton took Grace from Travis’s arms and cooed to her before settling her in her seat at the table. She lay there looking up at the mak
eshift mobile Benton had fashioned and hung from the ceiling just for her. It held feathers, a bear claw, some pretty pieces of cloth, and a small antler from one of the younger deer they’d killed last winter. She waved her arms at it then farted and giggled again.
“That’s a lovely sound to eat supper over,” Travis said with a chuckle.
“Just pray there’s no smell with it, or the wolves will drive us crazy until we change her,” Benton said.
Gail couldn’t help but laugh at them. This was her family and they were all perfect.
* * * *
“Someone’s horny,” Travis said with a snort when Gail reached around him from the back and grasped his cock with both hands.
“Umhum.”
“Sure you feel up to a little hanky-panky?” he asked.
“I wouldn’t be hinting if I weren’t.”
“Hinting at what?” Benton walked out of the bathroom after switching off the light.
“At needing both of you. Inside me. Now.” Gail let go of Travis and sauntered over to Benton. She rubbed against his chest with hers then stroked his engorged cock with one hand and gently rolled his balls with the other. “Understand?”
“I think I’ve got the picture.”
“Good. I hate having to spell it out. Makes me think you don’t want me if I have to do that.” Gail released her hold on Benton and walked over to the bed where she crawled up the middle, putting an extra sway to her hips as she did.
“Fuck. Look at that ass,” Benton said.
“I’m looking, I’m looking.” Travis walked over to his side of the bed and sat.
“I’ve got her sweet ass this time,” Benton said.
“No problem. I want inside that wet pussy,” Travis said.
“Boys, boys. Stop talking and start playing.” Gail lifted her ass as she held herself up on her knees and hands.
Travis rolled over to slip beneath her so that she was hovering over his hard body. She loved running her hands up and down her men’s chests and abdomens. While they had good definition, they weren’t bodybuilders. They were hard workers. She loved every square inch of their sexy bodies. She especially loved squeezing their asses every chance she got. They were tight and round, just like she liked them.
