I thought of a different human, much smaller and curvier. Sweeter and not an asshole. Audrey, my wolf whispered, missing her. I was going to do as Rob commanded and stick to her like fucking glue, but I knew she’d need some time. I’d got her off real good and needed to be patient for the chance to do it again.
I still didn’t understand how it could be that my wolf had picked a human for us to mate, but the message was undeniable. Audrey Ames was mine.
“You found a carcass?” Rob demanded, stirring me from my thoughts. For once, I was thankful for his gruffness because it did a damned good job of killing the hard-on the thoughts of Audrey had brought about.
“No, but I’m missing one head.”
“Probably wandered off.”
Levi and I nodded our agreement.
No fucking way a wolf killed one of his cattle. There weren’t any lesser wolves—what we called the plain wolves, the non-shifting variety—in the area because our pack had marked its territory. Sure, there were plain wolves in Montana, especially now since the rangers had released some in Yellowstone National Park, but not on Wolf Ranch. Not anywhere near Cooper Valley.
Shifter wolves were the dominants in the species. Lesser wolves would never hunt on our grounds. And a shifter would never kill a cow. We liked to eat beef, but on a roll with some cheese and ketchup like everyone else. Most of the pack were ranchers like us, and they knew better than to cause trouble with the locals that way. They might go out hunting, but they’d be killing deer or rabbits, not cattle.
The asshole was lying.
“It did not wander off,” Markle snapped and his horse sidestepped in fear. He tugged on the reins which yanked at the bit in the animal’s mouth. I had to stop the growl in my throat. None of us liked to see a horse mistreated, even through ignorance.
“I’ve never seen a wolf in these parts,” Levi drawled, his outright lie bonding the rest of us to him. It was always us against them as far as pack policy with humans, and right now, we were very much against Markle. I couldn’t see the city slicker out there on the range counting head every day. Unless he had three cows, I doubted he’d be able to tell one was gone.
“Yeah, me neither,” Johnny said, the youngest of our pack, as he strode over from the stable. With him were two other guys, Clint and Joe. They must’ve heard the approach, heard some of the conversation, or at least their alpha’s anger, from wherever they’d been working.
Markle glanced down at the twenty-year old and spluttered in anger. “I saw prints on my ride over here.”
“On your property?” Levi asked in disbelief because none of us would’ve run on a human’s land.
Rob shot Levi a look because his question was the wrong one to ask. Our story was that there were no wolves not that wolves hadn’t been on Markle’s property.
“Probably a dog’s,” I offered, to cover the mistake. “Our border collie might have ventured over your way. I think there’s a bitch in heat down the road he’s been howling to get at.”
Markle shook his head. “It’s a wolf. I came here to let you know because you have cattle, too. We need to organize a party and hunt the thing, or he’s going to cull both our herds.”
Levi let out a low growl beside me. I elbowed him in the ribs.
“I don’t think that’s necessary.” I jumped off the fence and sauntered over to the asshole, turning on my charm. I tipped my hat back and looked up at him, absently patting his animal’s sweaty neck. “But we’ll keep an eye out. If we see any signs of wolf, we’ll let you know.”
Markle frowned at me. “Who are you?”
“That’s Boyd, my younger brother,” Rob said, stalking over to stand beside me. Even though I’d grown up and left the ranch, stood shoulder to shoulder in height, he still thought he needed to protect me.
“The rodeo champ,” Markle commented, studying me in a different light. It was as if I had value, if only for being famous. “I’ve heard of you.”
I wasn’t surprised. It was a small town, and there wasn't much to talk about. The fact that the nation’s champion bull rider came from Cooper Valley was a source of pride for the human locals. The ones who didn’t know there was no real reason to be impressed because I had nothing to fear from a pissed off bull. I actually had to hold myself back, or I’d give away that there was something very different about me. I’d been fine with it for a while, back when I was young and cocky. Well, cockier than I was now. It lost its appeal pretty fast when there was no goal besides having fun. Sure, the money was great, but my life had been… shallow. Just like the women I’d fucked.