Chapter 8
Cruz
I stared down in shock, and then my entire body shook as I burst out laughing.
I hadn’t pissed in hours, and I wasn’t sure I was going to make it to the bathroom now.
“Oh shit,” I yelled.
“That’s what I’m talking about!” she cried.
“Are you okay?” Will asked as he helped Daisy up.
“Do I look okay? I’m covered in shit.”
I laughed even harder. “Oh no.”
I grabbed my dick and took off running, abandoning her to meet the guys on her own. I barely made it to the bathroom in time to relieve myself. It hadn’t even dawned on me that she may need to go too.
This mating stuff didn’t seem to be coming quite so naturally to me.
I washed up and hurried back to her.
“So what do we have here?” Austin asked.
“Leave her alone, dickhead,” I warned. “Come on. You can wash up in the bathroom.”
I pulled her away from the guys and showed her the way.
“Sorry about that. I had to take a piss and your little fall was not helping any. You can clean up some here and then I’ll get you home for a real shower.”
“And sleep?” she asked.
“Definitely sleep.”
She disappeared into the small bathroom in the barn. When I turned away, several guys were staring at me.
“So that’s why you so desperately had to go mend that fence?” Austin asked with a grin.
“Shut the hell up. I found her holed up in the den out there. I couldn’t just leave her with this storm rolling in.”
“What are you gonna do with her?” Will asked.
I sighed. “Take her back to my place and get her cleaned up.”
“Is she human?” Kenneth asked. He was still stuck on morning chores, compliments of Brady.
“Nope.”
“A Collier wolf? It was hard to tell on account of the shit,” Austin said.
I punched his arm.
“No, she’s not from Collier.”
“How the blazes did she get all the way out there then?” he asked.
I shrugged. “No idea. I didn’t have time for a lot of small talk.
But before I forget about it, a tree came down on the fence just a few yards up from the weak spot.
I managed to fix the fence as planned, but it’ll take a lot longer to cut up that tree and repair the downed section.
I think it’ll be alright for now. No sign of anything out there recently, and in this storm I’m not too worried about it. ”
Emmett joined us just in time to hear my update.
“You did good, son. I’m still amazed you made it back in time.”
“Old Clementine will need some attention. She was the real hero.”
“Riding two all through the night?”
“Yeah. It was a rough one. A hot shower and bed is calling my name.”
“And her?” he asked as the door to the bathroom opened and Daisy stepped out with her head downcast and her hair cascading over her face.
“She’s coming with me.”
I left no room for argument. And if that wasn’t enough, I marched over to her and took her arm to guide her to the truck and settled her into my passenger seat. I might as well have peed on her. There was no way it had gone unnoticed.
“I’m taking the day off. Maybe tomorrow too,” I informed them as I walked around the truck and climbed in.
As soon as I started up the truck, Daisy cracked the window.
“I stink so bad,” she whined.
I bit back a smile. Something told me that my little mate would not be happy if I started laughing.
“That’s what happens when you roll in shit.”
“I thought it was a puddle.”
I laughed even harder and damn near pissed myself.
“Honey, the ground is frozen. It’s already snowing. There aren’t any puddles around here, just mushy shit.”
“Well, I know that now.”
She was a fiery little thing when she wasn’t trying to be invisible.
Overall, it had been a really long night. I was exhausted and could feel myself becoming irritable. What the hell was I supposed to do with a mate?
For the moment, I didn’t even want to think about it. I just needed to get home, get her showered because she really did stink, and pass out for some much needed sleep. At this point food wasn’t even a priority, but sleep was.
How I’d managed to keep us both on that horse was beyond me.
Feeling dead on my feet, I pushed myself just a little bit harder.
Just get us home safely, was all I could think about.
“Watch out!” Daisy screamed.
I hadn’t realized I was starting to swerve. I nearly hit a car head on, but at the last second I jolted awake and turned to avoid a collision.
My heart was pounding, suddenly wide awake.
“Thanks. We’re almost there.”
A siren came on and I saw flashing lights behind me as the car I’d nearly hit busted a U-turn and came after me.
“Shit!”
This was the last thing I needed right now.
I slowly pulled to the edge of the road and watched through my rearview mirror as James pulled in behind me, got out of his car, and walked up next to me. He was frowning, then motioned for me to roll down my window. Of course I did.
“Cruz? You okay, buddy?”
The snow was starting to really fall now. I was surprised to find I hadn’t even realized it.
“I’m really sorry, James. I’m just trying to get home safely and apparently doing poorly at that.”
“Heard you stayed behind out there?”
“Yeah. I had to finish up, but since the snow came in quicker than expected, it was a long all-nighter to get back.”
He peeked his head in when he noticed Daisy.
“This is Daisy. Daisy, this is James, our sheriff.”
He gave me an inquisitive look.
I scowled. “She’s my mate.”
He genuinely looked surprised to hear that.
It shocked me, knowing how quickly gossip spread around Collier.
I assumed everyone would know by now. I hadn’t made any grand announcement, so maybe not that she was my mate, but then I hadn’t hidden the fact either.
And they all knew I wasn’t in the habit of picking up mysterious strangers out on the range and taking them home with me.
Surely the guys suspected she was something more
“Did you just find her out on the range?” He snorted, thinking he was being funny.
“Yeah, I did. It’s not like I could just leave her out there. We’re cold and tired. Plus, she fell in shit.”
He leaned in for a closer look, caught a whiff of her, and immediately stepped back.
“I see. How about I escort you back just to be sure you get home safe and sound.”
“Sure. I’d appreciate that.”
He got back into his car and followed me all the way home. Of course, by then I was wide awake with no chance of falling asleep.
I pulled up into the driveway and parked.
“Home sweet home,” I told her.
I could already see her craning her neck for a better look.
“Wow. It’s big.”
“I know. Too big for just me, but it’s what I was given when I moved here.
I haven’t bothered to furnish most of it.
Don’t really need all that space. But anyway, 1028# is the door code.
Take the stairs up to the second floor, turn left, and at the end of the hall is my room.
There’s a bathroom in there with everything you’ll need to clean up.
Just leave your clothes on the floor and I’ll find something you can wear until we can get you some new clothes that actually fit. ”
She looked a little shocked, but also exhausted. I wasn’t really sure which emotion was clouding her face as she got out and walked into the house. She hesitated at the door.
“1028#?” she asked.
“Yup. That’s it.”
“Like October twenty-eighth?”
I thought about that for a minute. “Yeah, I guess it is. Why?”
She smirked. “That’s my birthday.”
My jaw opened in surprise. As she walked inside, a part of me wanted to follow her just to see what she thought of my space, but I also knew James was watching and waiting.
Sure enough, as soon as Daisy was safely inside, he got out of his cruiser and walked over. I went ahead and got out of my truck to meet him at my tailgate.
“So you just found a woman out on the range?”
“Something like that.”
“Who is she? What do you know about her?”
The snow was starting to fall a little heavier and all I wanted to do was get inside and warm up.
“I know everything I need to know about her.”
“What’s that?”
“She’s my mate.”
“Oh shit. You’re serious?”
“Do you really think I’d joke about something like that?”
“No, I suppose you wouldn’t. Have you told Thomas yet?”
“I literally just got home. And it’s snowing, if you hadn’t noticed. All I want to do is get cleaned up and crash for several hours, maybe even a few days. I’m cold and exhausted.”
“I noticed, and I’ll let you off the hook this time. Get some sleep. We’ll talk later.”
I wasn’t sure if that was a threat or a promise.
“Oh, hey, do you need anything for her?”
“Uh, yeah. She has nothing but the clothes on her back.”
He nodded. “I’ll see what I can round up.”
“Thanks, man.”
Before he could press for anything more, I left him standing there and went inside. After kicking off my shoes, I walked upstairs.
Daisy was already in the shower, and I could hear her singing at the top of her lungs. I was braced to cringe, but she actually sounded pretty damn good. I was impressed.
I stepped into the bathroom just long enough to grab her clothes and immediately took them to the washer before returning and rummaging up something for her to wear.
It took a while, but I finally settled on a pair of drawstring sweatpants and one of my T-shirts.
She was going to swim in it, but at least it wouldn’t fall off.
Somehow, I managed to stay awake long enough for her to be done.
I was right. The clothes were ridiculously big on her, but she looked adorable. And if I was being honest with myself, I liked seeing her in my clothes, knowing she was now covered in my scent.
“Make yourself at home,” I told her.
Then I grabbed a similar outfit and walked into the shower for my turn.
I was too tired for more than a quick wipe down to warm up my bones and scrub off the funk of the trip. I couldn’t have been more than about ten minutes. Yet, when I stepped out of the bathroom, I found Daisy curled up into a ball on one side of my bed.
It was the only one of the bedrooms I’d bothered to furnish.
There was no other place for me to sleep, and I damn well wasn’t taking the couch or the floor.
Instead, I slid into my bed on the opposite side.
It was a king size with plenty of room for the two of us.
She wouldn’t even know, and I was far too tired to care.
The weight of the last few days hit me hard, and I quickly drifted off to sleep, dreaming of her.