Chapter 3
Cruz
I yawned and stretched, willing the coffee maker to brew a little faster. Four o’clock came much too early. It didn’t help that I’d been up till after midnight helping bring the new calves in. Such was the life of a cowboy. It was always never-ending fun around here.
The brewing stopped, and I didn’t even wait for the final drips to finish before grabbing my cup and taking a long, hot sip. It scorched my mouth as the warmth travelling down my throat.
“Hmm,” I hummed, happily.
I was going to need a lot more of that to get through this day, but it was a start. I put on another cup before hitting the shower. That helped some too, but because I’d slept as long as possible, I didn’t have time to truly enjoy it.
My day started the second my feet hit the floor, and I was go, go, go from there, though today was a struggle. I felt like I was going in slow motion. I was going to have to pick it up soon.
I grabbed the fresh cup of coffee and my keys and walked out the door.
Most people around here rarely locked their house up, but I always did.
I understood that for the most part people around here left others’ stuff alone, but I wasn’t that trusting of people.
I locked the house door before walking over and unlocking my truck to drive to the ranch.
It was still dark, but I didn’t mind. With my wolf sight, I didn’t technically need to turn on the lights, but I did anyway. I couldn’t help it. We had been conditioned since birth not to stand out as different from humans. It was engrained in me.
Unlike the Collier wolves growing up, Larken wolves attended human schools.
There hadn’t been enough of us to have a school of our own, and our Alpha couldn’t have cared less.
It hadn’t been easy going, but we all survived it.
I was grateful that future generations wouldn’t have to go through that. Luke Larken had seen to that.
I arrived five minutes early to the ranch. That was late for me. I preferred to be there at least fifteen minutes before anyone expected me. And because I was later than usual, I didn’t have enough time to stop in and check on the babies. That would have to wait until later.
So, I went straight to the hay barn, grabbed one of the UTVs, and loaded the back with bales of hay. It was certainly a great workout to start my day.
Once it was loaded as much as I dared, I drove it out to the corralled cattle and began unloading it into the livestock feeders. By the time I got back to reload, a few of the younger guys were there, just getting started for the day.
“You’re late,” I told Will. He was our youngest cowboy at the moment and a really good kid. “And what are you doing here, Kenneth?”
The kid huffed. “Brady said I was being too cocky and had me assigned to the feed team for the rest of the week. Said I needed to learn my place with some hard work.”
“Farming is hard work too.”
“That’s what I told him.”
“Were you being cocky and trying to take over again?”
He scowled at me. “Maybe.”
I chuckled. “Your turn to lead that group will come, Kenneth. Brady’s heart is in ranching.
He’s a cowboy through and through. But he’s got a solid head and good leadership.
You’d do well to pay attention and listen to him, even if you might know what’s best. Nobody likes a smartass.
Pay your time and you’ll be running the farm in no time. ”
His eyes brightened. “You really think so?”
It dawned on me that no one had bothered to explain the plan to him. Maybe that was on purpose. I shouldn’t have said anything.
“Anything is possible,” I told him, watching his excitement shrivel just a bit. “But for now, you’re all mine. Farming uses a lot different muscles than ranching, so try to keep up and don’t complain. I hate whining.”
Will sniggered. “He’s not joking.”
“Wanna show him the ropes?”
“Really?”
Will ran over to the wall of harnesses, and I barked out a laugh.
“Figuratively, fool.”
“Oh.”
“I got the front coral finished. Guess you two are huffing out to the field.”
I supposed using ranching metaphors on a ranch probably wasn’t the best idea, but it sure made for some fun at times.
It was best for me to hang out for a bit, just to make sure they had things under control, but I was more interested in checking on the new calves.
“Tell me you’ve got this under control, Will.”
“Yes sir. I can show him what to do. You can count on me.”
I smirked. That boy would work himself to death to prove he could, too.
“I’ll be at the nursery if you need me.”
His face lit up once more. “You mean the calves arrived?”
“Last night.”
“Awesome. Can I come?”
“Not until all the morning chores are done. I won’t be long. Once everyone is fed, you two can start mucking the horse stalls.”
Kenneth groaned then muttered, “Shit.”
“Exactly. We’re gonna turn you into a cowboy yet, Kenneth.”
He groaned again, but Will was already taking command before I even made it to the door. If I wasn’t careful, that boy was gonna be taking over my job soon. I’d never seen a kid with such determination. He was only eighteen years old and already knew exactly what he wanted in life.
When I was his age, all I wanted was to not wind up a drugged-out loser like most of the adults in my Pack. So far, I felt like I was doing pretty well with that goal.
I’d been nice enough to leave the boys with the UTV as I walked over to the nursery.
Before the dairy started prospering, Ruby would keep the calves in there with the mamas, but now we’d grown so big that it had become necessary for a nursery to be created.
The moms stayed there with them for the first forty-eight hours, which was longer than most commercial dairies.
Then a crew would bottle feed them until they were ready to wean.
After that the males were separated from the females and moved to one of the front pastures.
They didn’t roam free out on the range the way my beef cattle did, but they did have a substantial pasture.
Females who weren’t currently nursing also stayed out in one of the pastures until they were ready to be bred.
To keep the family lines clean, Ruby and Clay had a whole system of tracking the genealogy of each calf, complete with color-coded ear tags. I used to joke they had created the first Tinder for cows. It worked though, and they produced healthy, high producing dairy cows.
When I first came to Collier, even before the Pack merger, I was helping with the expansion of the dairy.
I’d learned all I could from Clay and Ruby, then took that knowledge to develop safer practices of our beef production.
So far things were working out well. Our herds were strong and growing quickly in numbers.
“I knew you wouldn’t stay away long,” Ruby teased.
I yawned and stretched out my tired muscles.
“I’m stuck with the boys today, so figured I’d pull rank for once and let them finish feeding rounds this morning.”
“About damn time you used some of that privilege. You never do.”
I shrugged. “Guess I just like leading by example. Plus, I like the physical labor. Keeps me in prime condition.”
“For all the ladies you like to woo?” she teased.
Ruby knew damn well that I rarely, if ever, dated. I didn’t have time for that foolishness, though it never stopped her from trying to set me up.
“So are you free this . . .”
“No.”
“But you didn’t even let me finish.”
“Don’t care when it is, who it is, or how hot she is.
I don’t have time for a woman right now, Rubes.
I have to make sure the nursery field is tightened down and ready.
I already know there’s at least one fence post that needs some attention.
Plus, I’m about to head out on the range for a few days. So, my answer is no.”
She shook her head. “You really need to get a life.”
“I have a life—a damn good one too. I love being a cowboy.”
“I know you do. Best thing Thomas ever did was bring you on.”
“You know I have Oliver to thank for that.”
“Really? My brother-in-law Oliver?”
“Yeah. He could have taken and kept the job for himself but instead recommended me.”
“I’d almost forgotten he worked around here for a bit before opening his shop.”
“I will always be indebted to him for that. I’d just lost my job when they closed the plant and had no idea what I was going to do. He didn’t just save me, but the others too when Thomas agreed to let me bring my guys on with me.”
They’d all scattered around the Pack now. Some I rarely even saw anymore. Many had stayed on at the ranch, but it was a big place requiring a lot of hands. Only a few of them were still on my team.
We were too small in Larken Pack to have a proper hierarchy, so everyone hung out with everyone, and everyone knew everyone and their business.
But in Collier Pack things were very different.
There was much more of a Pack mentality.
That meant the Alpha was on top and the replaceable worker bees were on the bottom.
There were various levels of informal classifications between them, and I somehow landed much closer to the Alpha.
I wouldn’t consider myself quite as high-ranking as Ruby, seeing how she was the sister of the Alpha, but I was close, and we were equal in ranch rank. I struggled to wrap my mind around that—the fact that I had climbed from my low status to where I am now—so mostly I didn’t think about it.
“When are you heading out?” she asked me.
“Later today.”
“How long?”
I shrugged. “A few days probably. I’ve got a list of things needing done. Got a team of ten going to help.”
“That’s it?”
“It’s enough for now. Some of what we’re doing is identifying work for the spring run. Plus, I want to check that patch we did on the eastern ridge if it’s accessible. Want to make sure it’s holding.”
“Before that snowstorm blows through? Can’t it wait until after?”
“Nah. It’s still a week out. We should be back in plenty of time. I already have teams securing things around here in preparation. I’m not worried about it.”
“Promise me you won’t get stuck out there.”
“I promise. If the storm comes in early, we’ll turn back at first snowflake.”
She sighed. “Just be careful out there.”
“Stop being such a mom. I’ve got this.”
She hugged me. I shouldn’t be surprised, but it always caught me off guard when she did that.
Wolves craved community and touch, but I certainly hadn’t grown up that way.
It didn’t make me uncomfortable as long as I didn’t think about it. You’d think after working closely with her these last few years that I’d be used to it by now. Even my cowboys were touchier than I was used to.
“I can’t help it. Having Opal made me a mom for life. I can’t seem to leave it with just her.”
I smiled. “That’s cause you’re a damn good mother.”
She dismissed my compliment and redirected the conversation. “Just promise me you’ll be careful out there. You never know what a storm like this will bring in.”
I smirked. “I am a wolf, too. There’s little out there I’m not prepared for or don’t know how to handle.”