Chapter 6
Cruz
“Cruz, that storms gonna roll in faster than we expected,” Ridge warned.
“I feel it too,” I agreed.
“I love a good snow,” Will chimed in.
“Not out here you don’t, little cowboy. After the snowfall is fine, but you do not want to be caught out here during it. A total white out would be the worst. Makes you disoriented,” Ridge explained.
“He’s right. Plus, the wind cuts right through you and there’s not a whole lot of shelter out here on the range,” Brady said.
He hadn’t been out with us in ages since he was now overseeing the farm side of things. But I’d pulled some of the less experienced cowboys and brought in the best of the best instead.
We had the original gang who had been doing this long before the expansion projects began—Wyatt, Austin, Emmett, and even Clay.
Then a few of my guys—Brady, Ridge, and Travis. We’d let the kid come along too. Will was far better than any of us gave him credit for. Plus, he was fast on a horse, and I needed that in the event we would need to haul ass back.
“So we’re just heading back then?” Will asked.
“Nah,” Emmett spoke up at the same time I said, “Yes.”
“It’s probably a good twenty-four to forty-eight hours out yet.”
“But it took us a day’s ride to get here, dumbass,” Austin said.
“We’ll be sacrificing the horses and running back in our fur if we wait much longer,” Wyatt agreed.
“I want you all to start making your way back. We got nearly everything checked off the list in a really short period of time. I really appreciate everything y’all did.”
“But you’re not coming with us?” Clay asked.
“I have to check and possibly repair that fence, and it’s a few hours ride to it.
I do not want any of the cows getting out on my watch.
But I also don’t want any of you getting stuck out here if that storm comes in early.
I’ll be okay. It’s easier to find shelter and ride it out alone then risk all of us getting stuck out here. ”
“They’re already hunkering down to ride out the storm. They feel it too,” Brady protested.
“I know, but I can’t risk it. Plus, there’s a den there near the fence line. Worst case scenario, I’ll ride out the worst of the storm there and head back as soon as I can.”
“It’s a really bad idea, boss,” Ridge said.
“You might be right, but I have to try.”
“Can I have it witnessed that if it doesn’t go well and you don’t make it back, that I’m next in line for your job?” Brady asked. “I’m doing fine with the farm for now, but you know my heart is in cattle ranching. I love being out on the range.”
“I know you, but how’s Tricia feel about it?”
He cringed. “She’s very supportive.”
We all laughed.
Tricia was great. We all liked her. She was from the New York Pack and tough as nails. She’s also a witch with a hefty bounty on her head. She was running away for fear of her life when she happened to stumble into Collier Pack territory.
Her witchy skills caused quite the exciting confusion for Brady. At least the rest of us got a good laugh at it. At one point, she had him convinced he was mated to a horse. Poor Clementine.
Of course, as Brady’s mate, she’s got the full Pack behind her. No one would be dumb enough to hunt her here. They’d have to answer to every single one of us.
I may not have been born into Collier Pack, but Thomas had my full allegiance now. I was a Collier wolf through and through. My past still had an us and them, but my present, and certainly my future, was a hundred percent Collier.
“I don’t like this plan,” Will argued. “Come on guys, we can’t leave him alone out here.”
“He’ll be fine,” Wyatt assured him.
“Cruz has a surprisingly good head on his shoulders. If he thinks he can get there, fix it, and beat the storm getting back, then I say let him,” Emmett agreed.
“None of you are worried about this?” Will pressed.
“I have a mate and four kids to look after. I need to get back and secure the house and prep for the worst. Thomas radioed in that this storm is growing. It’s bigger, stronger, and coming faster than we predicted. Cruz is a big boy. He’ll be fine,” Wyatt told him honestly.
“Yeah, same here. Angel and Atlas need me home more than this asshole needs an assist with a broken fence,” Austin said.
“Same for me. Skylar has been stubborn lately. She takes after her mother, but I think her Aunt Esme has taught her some attitude. God help me. She might not be talking more than a few words yet, but they all come out with sass, and I could have sworn I saw her roll her eyes the other day,” Emmett said.
“Isn’t she like eight months old?” Clay asked him.
“She’s not really talking yet. Atlas is almost a year and only says a few words,” Austin insisted.
“Well, she babbles in attitude and makes it perfectly clear what she’s saying. Plus, when she says ‘dada’ I cringe every damn time because I know she’s about to wrap me around that little finger even tighter, and I’m telling you, she knows it too.”
“That’s how it goes with daughters,” Wyatt assured him.
“I’m so happy I have a son,” Clay muttered.
I just shook my head.
Kids? No thank you.
I didn’t have time to even date, let alone consider a mate, or settle down with a pup. Besides, I knew I’d make a shitty father. I didn’t exactly have a good role model in that department.
Like a lot of the old Larken wolves, mine drank himself into an early grave when he wrapped himself around a telephone pole when I was seven.
My mother hadn’t been too far behind him with a drug overdose.
Not exactly shining examples of parenthood.
For the most part, I’d raised myself. Old Jedidiah, my former Alpha before Luke and now Thomas, hadn’t given a shit.
I was allowed to stay in my trailer and basically raised myself.
I’d have sworn he didn’t even realize they were gone if not for the fact that he’d personally sat me down and told me when they each died.
Not everyone in the Pack was that screwed up. There’d been a few genuinely good wolves. They looked after me. I supposed in a way they kept me out of trouble too. If not for old Sid Parker, who knew where I’d be right now—probably dead.
Most of the kids I grew up with didn’t have parents either. Whether by drugs, an accident, or suicide, they all passed by the time we merged back into Collier. One screwed up generation was all Larken Pack had lasted. And unfortunately, I was that screwed up generation.
An upbringing like that really screws with a guy. I definitely had no business trying to raise a family of my own.
I didn’t particularly want to be a lone wolf either, not even one with a large Pack and people I cared about. Someday I’d consider taking a mate, but not any time soon. I had enough on my hands managing my team.
“You’re losing daylight, and that storm isn’t gonna wait for you to get home. So get moving,” I told them. “I don’t particularly want to get stuck and have to ride it out either.”
“You’re sure about this?” Brady asked me.
“I’m sure.”
“Watch yourself, and if it’s too much to handle, get your ass home and we’ll deal with it after the storm,” Emmett said.
I nodded. “Yes, sir.”
I didn’t always understand Emmett and his friends.
While everyone in the Pack seemed to know and like them, there were six of them that just did life together.
Supposedly, it had been that way since they were in diapers.
They were always doing stuff together: Emmett, Clay, Wyatt, and Austin along with our Sheriff, James, and Thomas, our Alpha.
They were so close that the Pack called them the “Six Pack.” I couldn’t even imagine having friends like that in my life, but then I knew I kept those I grew up with at arm’s length.
I just couldn’t risk being dragged back into where I’d come from. I never wanted to live like that again.
Was it possible to be a lone wolf within a wolf Pack? Because sometimes, that’s just how life felt here. Well, maybe not entirely alone. After parting ways with the others, I climbed onto my horse and took off at a full sprint towards my destination.
I loved being out here with just me and my horse and no signs of civilization in any direction. There was nothing else like it.
I breathed in the fresh air, letting the cold burn through my lungs as we galloped across an open field before the hills began again.
It was like that out here, flat ground before hills that didn’t really feel like hills until you crested the top and realized there was a whole unseen world on the other side.
I was in awe of it all. And the peace that I felt out here was truly indescribable.
It was a few hours of riding until I reached the area I was headed to.
It wasn’t the furthest point of Collier land, but pretty damn close.
Plus, it butted up to even more BLM land.
It wasn’t the end of the world if the cows got out and roamed into that section, but it sure was a pain in the ass to find them and bring them back.
For that reason, we’d run miles and miles of barbed wire and post fences along our property edge.
Much of that was done well before my time here, but there were sections on this back end that were more recently installed to better keep our cattle on Collier land without any potential crossover with the humans. It just kept things neater that way.
So while the guys were probably still questioning my sanity for insisting on trying, I did understand. The Six Pack guys often told stories of growing up and coming out here with the cowboys as young kids, wrangling our cows off the BLM land.
I looked around me with a smile on my face.
Pure peace and quiet.
This was my idea of heaven.