Hunter Moon (Lupine Moon Series) (22 page)

“Look, why don’t you do us both a favor and leave me the heck alone?” A rich chuckle rolled out of him.

“I would, Shelby, but I’m new here and you are one of the most attractive women I’ve ever laid eyes on. I can’t seem to help myself.”

Lightning flashed in those stormy eyes of his but he picked the wrong day to try to get in my pants. I groaned in disgust and tossed a fiver on the bar. I stalked out with the infuriating man on my heels.
This is starting to get creepy.

I unlocked my Blazer and nearly slammed his fingers in the door when he tried to stop me from getting in.

 “Haven’t you heard the phrase ‘no means no’?” I yelled out the window as I revved the engine and peeled out of the parking lot.

The man stood in my rear view mirror with a puzzled grin on his pretty face and I wondered,
why me? Why today?

“Hey Billy! It’s that time of year again.”

I was talking to one of my favorite cowboys. Billy Thompson was a roper friend of mine and he was always up for helping me cut the calves out for sale. He was a header, meaning he threw his loop of rope around the calf’s head. Plus, he loved practicing on cows that hadn’t been roped before. They were more unpredictable than the practice calves which knew to run straight out of the chute.

Harris Ranch had come through with their offer to buy everything I had. And six hundred dollars a head, times 135 calves equaled a good year. I was thrilled. I still had to pay the broker commission and taxes, but I’d have a nice chunk of change to live on the rest of the year. They were sending two semi-trailers for me to load up so I needed to organize my helpers and fast.

“Hey Shelby! I wondered if I was going to hear from you this month! When do you need me?”

 I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I held. I could cut the calves by myself if I absolutely needed to, but it would’ve taken. Harris Ranch wouldn’t let me hang on to their trailers for that long, so if he couldn’t help me I’d have been shit out of luck.

 “Oh thank heavens! The Harris trucks are coming tomorrow, so if you could round up a few of the boys to help, that’d be great! I got a good price, so there’s a USDA Prime rib-eye and beer in it for you too.”

“That sounds great!” The way to any man’s heart was food, especially good beef. I chuckled to myself. “I know of a few guys that would jump on a chance of a steak. See you at seven?”

“Sounds good, Billy. Thanks a lot.” I hung up the phone with a huge smile.
Is it just me or is my life looking up?
I had a hot man who seemed to like me,
maybe more.
Now I have my next year’s salary lined up.

I spent the next day checking fence line and finding my cattle, still fighting my anger with my cousins from the afternoon before. It was soothing, getting back into my routine, and I finally stopped feeling furious. I rode for miles and still saw no sign of a marijuana grove, but I had a lot of land and I didn’t expect the perp to be out in plain sight. Still, I couldn’t help scanning the trees for the man. I was armed to the teeth and ready in case he made himself known, but no such luck.

Jesse had invited Jack and me over for dinner that night. It was a lot of fun having the gang back together. We sat outside around her outdoor fireplace under the stars and drank beer, laughing and cracking jokes, until past midnight. Jack had to drive my Blazer home for me, but in spite of our late night reveling, the next morning I was bright eyed, bushy tailed and hangover free.

I whistled and made myself an omelet when Jack walked into the kitchen, blearily rubbing his eyes. His hair laid flat against his head on one side from where he’d slept which made it look like he’d gotten hit with a frying pan. I grinned at him.

“Good mornin’, good mornin’!” I sang.

Jack froze when he heard the upbeat cheerfulness in my voice. I couldn’t blame him. Usually I wasn’t a morning person and
I
was the one with the drool marks on my face. He raised an eyebrow and gave me a flat look until I explained myself.

“I got lots of good news this morning. Bart called and said Reggie was out of the woods. He’s got to keep him for a couple more days for observation just to be safe. Seems gettin’ him drunk did the trick.” I laughed to myself. “Sometimes alcohol
is
the answer!”

Jack rolled his eyes.

“Oh!
And
Harris is taking my calves and I’m gonna be sittin’ pretty for the rest of the year!” I did a little jig in front of the stove. His eyes popped wide in disbelief.

“Who are you, and what have you done with my friend Shelby?”

I stuck my tongue out at him as I flipped the omelet. “You know, that’s the second time I’ve heard that lately.”

He sat down heavily at the kitchen table and I chuckled at our role reversal. I plunked down a cup of coffee in front of him and he took a sip, letting out a groan of pleasure I assumed he normally only employed with members of the opposite sex.

“You’re friend Shelby is right here and wondering if you wanna help round up some calves tomorrow.” I gave him a hopeful look, but it faded as his face filled up with regret.

“I’m sorry, Shelby. My parents have been bugging me about going home. Since you’ve got Mr. Psycho here to protect you, I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal. I hope you don’t mind.”

As much as I would miss having him around, I couldn’t begrudge his parents the few days Jack had at home. I sighed, but nodded.

“Yeah, I guess you’ve got permission to go.”

“You better not be that way in front of your new paramour. He’s the jealous type.” His accusing look added to the hand meaningfully rubbing his neck had me laughing again. I felt a twinge of pain from my own neck.
Must be sympathy pains...

I grimaced. “Yeah, he is a little jealous, but it’s growing on me.”

My eyes glazed over as I remembered what he looked like holding Jack up against the wall with one arm.
Take away his shirt, envision his rippling abs and BINGO! You’re horny.

“Well, if he gets out of hand you let me know. Sometimes jealousy can go too far.” I knew what he was referring to. I’d seen the women so controlled by their husbands that they didn’t have their own car, didn’t have any money but what their men gave them, and the occasional shiners on their faces. I frowned.

“You don’t know me that well, Jack Anderson, if you think I’d let someone treat me that way. I’m far too well armed for that crap,” I said, all sternness.

 He grinned. I wasn’t quite like normal girls. My favorite Christmas gift I’d ever gotten was from Grandpa: my SIG 9.

“Cash just knows how wonderful I am.” I winked and sat next to him, forking eggs into my mouth.

“I want you to call me as soon as the warden catches that trespassing bastard.”

 I nudged him with my shoulder. “I’m gonna miss you ‘round here.”

He nudged me back. “Oh, I’ll be back home before you know it. And if our good warden breaks your heart, I’ll break something of his off. I’ll show him the
meaning
of the word psycho.”

Jack’s gruff brotherly affection made me tear up and I gave him a big hug. He gave me a noogie and the affection lost its welcome.

I kicked open my front door. My arms were full of groceries and USDA Prime rib-eye steaks. The trip to Costco was uneventful if a little pricier than usual. It wasn’t often I splurged and bought a hundred dollars’ worth of meat, but it was the price I paid for quality help. I plopped down the armful I had and walked back outside to grab the case of beer and the rest of the food.

I skipped down the steps to my Blazer whistling tunelessly to myself and was almost there before I noticed the huge wolf sitting next to it. I yelped. It was sitting nonchalantly on its haunches by the back tire of the Blazer.
That’s
not
my
wolf!
This wolf looked completely different than
my
wolf. It was midnight black and had cool, grey eyes.

On instinct, I knew not to turn my back on the animal.
Where the hell are all these wolves coming from?
My brain screamed.
If I ever found the tree hugger that brought them over they’d be in for a world of hurt. I backed toward my trailer with my eyes glued on the beast. Calling Cash was my first priority. I couldn’t have an apex predator hanging around while I’m trying to sell calves.

It wasn’t until my heel struck the porch steps that the wolf stood and stalked forward. I cursed at myself for not having my pistol. I spun and ran for the door. I slammed it hard behind me and locked it, even though I knew wolves didn’t have thumbs, but the intelligence I saw in its eyes and its expression made me do it.
Just in case…

I struggled to catch my breath while I dialed Cash’s number and, miracle of miracles, he answered.

“Newcomb.” His deep voice barked.

 Even though there was a huge beast on my porch and I could hear its toenails clicking on the wood boards as he stalked back and forth in front of the door, the sound of Cash’s husky voice sent little tingles buzzing through my body.

“Cash, get your ass over here. There’s another wolf.” The dead silence on the line worried me. “Are you there? Cash?”

“What does it look like?”

 Not understanding what difference it made, I answered. “It’s black. Black with grey eyes. And big. And it’s looking straight at me through my front window. I could ask it what its idea of a perfect first date is if you think it’d help.”

“Shit.”

I heard a click so I gathered Cash would be on his way over. I walked over to the window and looked out on the porch. Sure enough, the beast sat in front of my door giving me one of those wolfy grins Fang gave me. I studied it through the glass. I didn’t think this one was as handsome as Fang. His fur is shimmery and silver as opposed to the flat black of this one. Plus, I liked his blue eyes better than the colorless grey that seemed way too knowing.

I flinched as I realized that the wolf was less than a foot away and the only thing separating us was a thin pane of glass. The thing could bust through the window in a heartbeat and get at me if it was so inclined. I stepped back and loaded my shotgun just in case.
You never know…

Cash’s truck pulled down the gravel driveway and I allowed myself to relax. The wolf ran down off of my porch and approached him. I opened the door, leading with the barrel of my Benelli pointed at the wolf. Cash got out and eyed me.

“Don’t shoot at me, Shells. I’ve had enough of that for one lifetime.” I threw him a dirty look, but it was wasted. He had turned and all of his focus was aimed straight at the animal.

“I’m not going to shoot at you. I brought it out for him.” I gestured at the beast with the end of the barrel, not lowering it for a second. “Be careful, this one’s different from my wolf.”