Chapter 41
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
REID
The fence posts had been ripped out of the ground like they were nothing.
I stood at the edge of the north pasture, surveying the damage with a cold fury that burned in my chest like acid.
Twenty posts. Nearly a quarter mile of fencing.
All destroyed overnight while we slept, while I slept, while I failed to protect what was mine.
"This wasn't just cutting wire." Sawyer crouched beside one of the posts, his pale eyes tracking the splintered wood, his voice low and rough with barely contained anger. "Someone used a truck. Hooked chains to the posts and pulled them straight out of the ground."
"Tire tracks?" My voice came out flat, controlled, even as my hands curled into fists at my sides, my knuckles going white with the effort of holding myself together.
"Rained last night." He stood, brushing dirt from his knees, his jaw tight with frustration. "Washed everything away. Convenient timing."
Convenient. Right. Nothing about this was convenient. It was calculated. Deliberate. A message. I can touch anything you have. Anytime I want.
"How many cattle got out?" I turned to face him fully, forcing my voice to remain steady, forcing myself to think like a rancher instead of an Alpha who wanted to tear Easton apart with his bare hands.
"Sixteen head." Sawyer's expression was grim, his scent carrying sharp notes of aggression that matched my own. "We found most of them scattered across the back forty. Still missing three."
Three cattle. At current prices, that was nearly fifteen thousand dollars. On top of the fencing costs. On top of the equipment repairs. On top of everything else Easton had cost us in the past two weeks.
"Get the fencing crew out here." I turned away from the destruction, unable to look at it anymore without doing something I'd regret. "Temporary repairs first, then we'll rebuild properly once we—"
"Reid." Sawyer's voice stopped me mid-stride, something in his tone making me turn back. He stood with his arms crossed over his broad chest, his pale eyes fixed on me with an intensity that bordered on challenging. "We're running out of crew to call."
The words hit me like a punch to the gut.
"What do you mean?" I asked, even though I already knew. Even though I'd been watching our workforce shrink for days, one by one, always with the same vague excuses.
"Martinez quit this morning." Sawyer's voice was flat, emotionless, but I could see the tension in his shoulders, the way his hands had curled into fists. "Said he got a better offer somewhere else. Wouldn't say where. That's the fourth one this week."
Fourth. We'd started with twelve full-time hands. Now we were down to eight. And I knew exactly where those "better offers" were coming from.
"He's poaching our workers." The realization tasted like ash in my mouth, bitter and choking. "Easton's paying them to leave."
"Probably paying them more than we can afford to match." Sawyer's jaw tightened, a muscle jumping beneath his skin. "He's got deeper pockets than we do, Reid. He can bleed us dry and barely feel it."
I knew that. I'd known it since the first piece of equipment mysteriously broke, since the first shipment went missing, since Easton first set his sights on Longhorn Ranch. He had money. Power. Connections. He had no conscience, no limit to what he was willing to do to get what he wanted.
What he wanted was my land…and from how he is acting…my omega as well. The thought of Aster made something dark and primal surge through my veins. Mine. She was mine. Ours. I would burn this entire county to the ground before I let him touch her.
"We'll figure it out." The words sounded hollow even to my own ears, but I said them anyway because that was my job. Head Alpha. Leader. The one who held everything together even when it was falling apart. "We always do."
Sawyer didn't argue, but I could see the doubt in his eyes. The same doubt that had been gnawing at my own chest for days.
I headed back to the house with heavy steps, my mind churning through problems I didn't have solutions for. The morning sun was warm on my face, but I couldn't feel it. Couldn't feel anything except the weight pressing down on my shoulders, the responsibility crushing me slowly from the inside out.
Nolan met me on the porch, his hazel eyes tight with concern, a stack of papers clutched in his hands.
"These came this morning." He held them out to me, his voice carefully neutral in a way that told me the news wasn't good. "Certified mail. From Easton's lawyers." I took the papers, scanning the first page with growing dread. Legal language. Property surveys. Boundary disputes.
"He's challenging our property lines." The words came out cold, dead, my eyes still moving across the text even as my brain struggled to process what I was reading. "Claiming the eastern boundary was improperly surveyed fifty years ago. Says we've been encroaching on his land for decades."
"Can he do that?" Nolan's voice was sharp, his scent spiking with anxiety. "Is there any truth to it?"
"No." I flipped through the pages, my jaw so tight it ached. "My grandfather had these boundaries surveyed three times. Everything is documented. This is bullshit, and Easton knows it."
"Then why—"
"Because it doesn't matter if he wins." I cut him off, understanding finally clicking into place, cold and horrible.
"He just has to make us fight. Legal fees.
Court dates. Time spent dealing with lawyers instead of running the ranch.
He's not trying to take our land through the courts — he's trying to drown us in paperwork until we can't afford to keep going. "
Nolan was quiet for a long moment, his face pale, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.
"What do we do?" His voice was soft, uncertain — looking to me for answers the way they all did. The way they always did. I didn't have answers. For the first time in years, I didn't know what to do. Couldn't see a path forward that didn't end in disaster.
I couldn't tell him that. Couldn't let him see how close I was to breaking.
"We fight." I stuffed the papers into my back pocket, my voice harder than I intended, sharp with the rage I was barely containing. "We document everything. We talk to our own lawyers. And we don't let him see us sweat."
Nolan nodded, but I could see the worry still lurking in his eyes. Could smell it in his scent — pine and eucalyptus tinged with fear.
"Reid." His hand caught my arm as I moved to step past him, his grip gentle but firm. "When's the last time you slept? Really slept?"
I couldn't remember. The nights had blurred together into an endless cycle of patrol routes and security checks and lying awake in the dark, listening for sounds that didn't belong, watching shadows for movements that weren't there.
"I'm fine." The lie came out automatic, practiced. "I'll sleep when this is over."
"You can't protect anyone if you run yourself into the ground." His voice was soft but insistent, his healer's instincts overriding his deference to my authority. "Let us help carry this. That's what pack is for."
I wanted to argue. Wanted to tell him that this was my burden, my responsibility, my failure if things went wrong. But the exhaustion was a physical thing now, dragging at my limbs, fogging my thoughts.
"Tonight." I finally conceded, pulling my arm free gently. "I'll try to rest tonight. But right now, I need to deal with this."
He let me go, but I could feel his eyes on my back as I walked into the house.
Could feel the weight of his concern pressing against me like another burden to carry.
Inside, I found Kol and Aster at the kitchen table, their heads bent together over something I couldn't see.
They looked up as I entered, and I watched the worry bloom across both their faces as they took in whatever expression I was wearing.
"What happened?" Aster was on her feet immediately, crossing the room to stand in front of me, her honey-brown eyes searching my face with an intensity that made my chest ache. "Reid, what is it?"
"More sabotage." I couldn't soften it for her, couldn't pretend things were better than they were. She deserved the truth. "And legal papers. Easton's coming at us from every angle."
Her jaw tightened, something fierce and angry flashing in her eyes. "What can I do?" I reached out without thinking, my hand cupping her cheek, my thumb stroking across her cheekbone. Her skin was soft beneath my fingers, warm, alive. The physical reminder that she was here, safe, with me.
"Just..." My voice cracked slightly, exhaustion and fear breaking through my carefully maintained control. "Just stay close. Stay safe. That's all I need right now."
She turned her head, pressing a kiss to my palm, her eyes never leaving mine.
"I'm not going anywhere." Her voice was soft but certain, a promise that settled something jagged in my chest. "Whatever this is, we face it together."
Together. The word echoed in my head, foreign and familiar all at once. I'd spent so long being the one who carried everything alone. The Head Alpha. The leader. The one who couldn't show weakness, couldn't ask for help, couldn't let anyone see how heavy the burden really was.
As I looking at her — at this fierce, feral, incredible woman who had crashed into my life and refused to leave — I wondered if maybe I'd been doing it wrong all along.
"I need to make some calls." I pulled away reluctantly, already missing the warmth of her touch. "Tom Bradley, some of the other ranchers. If Easton's doing this to us, he's probably doing it to them too. We need to present a united front."
"I'll start lunch." Kol's voice was softer than usual, his golden eyes serious as he watched me from the table. "You need to eat, Reid. All of us do."
I nodded, grateful for his steady presence even as guilt gnawed at me. They shouldn't have to worry about taking care of me. I was supposed to be the one taking care of them.