Page 10 of Rekindled Heart

The glaring beast in front of me snuffles and his head shakes back and forth, spittle coming from his lips as he keeps his eyes on me. He shuffles closer and closer and I back away, keeping my lasso in my hand. I have no idea what the fuck I’m going to do with a lasso instead of a rifle but right now it’s all I got.

The big brown bear shuffles closer and I can see his sharp teeth now. The stench of rotting flesh fouls the air and my stomach lurches as I stumble back. The bear limps, dragging his left hind leg behind him. It looks like another bear got him good and he’s mighty pissed about it. And hungry to boot.

Buck dances further away and I see the bear’s glaring eyes focus on him again. “Oh shit! Hold still, Buck. Don’t move,” I whisper.

But Buck is half out of his head and he rears up, tossing his ebony mane and tail wildly.

The bear lunches towards him and I groan, shaking out the loop of my lasso. I let it fly as the heifers and Buck leap around like they’re in some kind of weird ballet. The bear keeps snapping and I whirl the loop over my head, praying under my breath. The claws and teeth are getting fucking closer to Buck as the bear lunges closer, completely ignoring me.

I let the rope fly and it wraps around the injured back leg of the beast. As I pull it taut, he roars in pain and falls backwards. I race forwards and grab the rifle off the back of the saddle and lift it up. The bear’s pain-filled, angry gaze locks on mine and he swipes out a paw that tears into my shoulder and drops me to my knees.

“Shit, fuck!” I swear under my breath as I finally squeeze the trigger. The shot finally ends the beast’s pain and I fall back on my ass, carefully setting the rifle down and reaching a hand up to my shoulder.

I pull my hand away and glare at the blood on my glove. “Just what I don’t need.”

But I stumble to my feet, waves of pain washing over me. I grab the rifle and stow it back on Buck. He nuzzles into me and his ears perk up.

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks for the warning, dude. I got it. Just wish you hadn’t been so far away when he showed up.”

It wasn’t his fault. I should have known better than to move so far away from him. Especially when I knew there was an animal out here.

I should have taken better care of the animals I was watching over and that’s my fault, dammit.

I pull my tired ass up in the saddle and groan, reaching my hand up to touch my throbbing shoulder.

“Sebastian is gonna be an absolute ass about this,” I mutter under my breath.

I knock my heels into Buck’s side and then we gather up the loose heifers and drive them back to the closer pasture that they were supposed to be in.

Each step of my horse has pain ripping up my arm so bad that I’m gritting my teeth hard by the time I make it back to the ranch.

Sebastian swears when he sees me. He runs up and helps me down even though I’m pushing at him. “Dammit, I’m fine. Stop pulling at me.”

“You are not fine, buddy. I’m gonna call Doc Travers.” He helps me inside and I shrug out of his hold. “I don’t need a damn doctor. I just need to clean it out and it will all be fine.”

“Fuck no! I’m calling the damn doctor. And if you’ve got even a lick of sense, you’ll sit down there and let Misty get you something to drink.”

I lift a brow. “I hope you mean something with a little more strength to it than a glass of water.”

He grins at me. “How about a glass of whiskey?”

I lean back. “Sounds good to me.”

“Do not move. I’ll be right back with your drink. After I call for the doc.”

“Fine,” I huff. I lean back and close my eyes, waves of pain tugging and pulling at me like the tide coming in with the moon.

I should get up but fuck it. I’m too damn tired. I’ll get up in just a second. Or maybe a minute.

FIVE

Caro

Nobody really knowsthat this time I’ve moved here for good so far except the doc. Doctor Monroe was looking for a new nurse at the clinic when I walked in the door and basically it was fate. He hired me on the spot as soon as he called my previous employer. The man’s not an idiot.

Lord knows I’m happy with my career, but there’s something about this little town. I love the quiet, small-town feel of it.

And then there’s Ricky.