Taking the Bull by the Horns

by Chant, Zoe

  “No,” Wyatt said.

  “Then I don’t think you can tell us what to do.” The guy who’d been filming with his phone spoke up now, walking over to stand with the girl. “You just don’t want the truth about what’s going on here getting out. But we’re here to show the world what’s happening.”

  “Believe me, I’d like nothing better than to know what’s really going on here,” Wyatt said, and Tora couldn’t help but marvel at the patience of his tone. “I’m just not sure that traipsing around here leaving gates open and wandering around potentially dangerous places is going to achieve that.”

  “It’s just a field,” the girl said. “What’s dangerous about it?”

  “Well, snakes for one thing,” Wyatt said. “And charging bulls for another. Plenty of ranches around here have breeding bulls. They can get pretty aggressive without much warning. I wouldn’t want any of you to get hurt.”

  “We can be careful,” the girl said, raising her chin. “We’re just filming. And if you don’t even own this land, then…”

  She cocked her head, her implication clear: Then you can’t tell us to get off it, either.

  Tora bristled. Who did this woman think she was to talk to Wyatt like that, who was trying to help them and hadn’t been anything other than courteous and polite?!

  “Well, your decisions are your decisions,” Wyatt said evenly. “I just think you should be aware of the potential consequences.”

  “You can’t hide the truth about the aliens,” another one of the group spoke up, another young man. “We’ll be the ones to show everyone what’s happening here, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

  Wyatt shook his head. Clearly he’d realized that this was going nowhere.

  “Okay, sure,” he said. “Whatever you think is happening, I’m sure it is. But in the meantime, be careful when climbing over fences, and please close gates if you open them, all right? This little fella got out today because of an open gate, and I’d rather not have to chase my sheep all over the countryside, all right?”

  “Oh,” the girl said, her eyes falling on the lamb where it was cradled in Wyatt’s arm, and Tora saw something close to remorse glimmering in her eyes. “Sorry. Okay. We’ll try to be more careful.”

  “Thank you,” Wyatt said peaceably. “Please do.”

  Perhaps sensing he wasn’t going to get any more out of them than that, Wyatt nodded to them and turned away. Tora followed after him.

  “I don’t know how you kept your cool so well,” she said quietly, glancing over her shoulder at the alien hunters. “I wouldn’t have.”

  “I guess it’s a learned skill,” Wyatt said after a moment. “I was a bit of a hothead as a teen, I guess, and it never really got me anywhere. So I had to learn patience instead. It’s not just for their benefit, but mine as well. It’s a nicer life when you can keep your head and try not to let things bother you.”

  “I can’t imagine you as a hothead, after watching that,” Tora laughed. “You were like calm personified.”

  Wyatt joined in her laughter. “Well, I guess that’s good to know! But I think those kids are going to get it in the neck once I call Lori and let her know she better look out for some YouTubers filming on her land. She’ll be mad enough about the crop circles squashing her barley, she won’t have any patience left over for them.”

  “Probably fair enough,” Tora said.

  “One or two small groups would probably be fine,” Wyatt said. “But the place has been absolutely crawling with these guys for a month now. It’s hard to stay patient after a certain point.”

  “Well, hopefully the aliens will pack up their flashing lights and their crop circle-making equipment and fly back home soon,” Tora said, flashing him a grin. “I just wish I knew what was really making them.”

  “You and me both, believe me.”

  They walked on in silence for the next little while. Tora simply took the time to enjoy the freshness of the air and the beauty of the surroundings. This was why she’d wanted to come out here, after all – she loved these rolling hills.

  “Here we go – we’re on the home stretch now.” Wyatt pointed over to a large shed, standing in the midst of a field filled with grass and scrub. “That’s where this little fella’s mom is waiting for him. I got the sheep in, but a headcount showed one missing.”

  “Lucky he has such an attentive person looking after him,” Tora said. “And one who didn’t mind going out in the rain to look for him.”

  “Well, I know you would’ve figured out a way to get him back to the cabin eventually, so he would’ve been all right in the end,” Wyatt laughed as they came to the shed. It had a low gate, and inside, Tora could see about twenty sheep milling around, baa-ing softly when they saw Wyatt.

  Wyatt opened the gate, placing the lamb down on the straw-covered floor. “There you go, little guy,” he said, as the lamb pranced on its springy legs, running to find its mother.

  The mommy sheep trotted forward to meet her lamb, sniffing him carefully all over, as if checking he was unhurt. Then she raised her head and baaa-ed in Wyatt’s direction, and was it just Tora’s imagination, or did she sound a little… grateful?

  No, that’s definitely your imagination, Tora told herself, shaking her head a little. I’m not sure sheep feel gratitude?

  “All’s well that ends well,” Wyatt said, as they watched the little lamb and his mom rejoin the rest of the sheep. “I’ll leave the gate open and they can come out when they’re ready.” He glanced at her. “Did you really want to come help me with a few little odd jobs I have to do around the place?”

  “Of course I do!” Tora burst out, before thinking that maybe, she ought to put just the smallest lid on her enthusiasm – she didn’t want to come on too strong, after all.

  But then again Wyatt was the one who’d invited her out here – and Tora was sure the attraction she could feel simmering between them wasn’t just on her side. Every time Wyatt looked at her she could see the heat in his eyes.

  He likes me too, she thought, biting her lip. I haven’t had a lot of time for boyfriends or romance over the past few years, but he said it was a date, right? That means it’s a date!

  She wasn’t going to waste her time second-guessing herself or wondering if Wyatt was playing games. Everything she’d seen of him told her that he was an honest, straightforward kind of guy. And he clearly wanted to get to know her better, while being respectful of her boundaries and paying attention to things she may not want to talk too much about, like her lost future in sports.

  “I’d love to,” Tora reiterated sincerely, looking up into Wyatt’s olive-colored eyes. “I don’t really know much about running a place like this, but I’d like to learn.”

  The grin that spread across Wyatt’s face was like the dawn breaking over the horizon, and Tora felt her heartbeat kicking up a notch just looking at it.

  “That’s great – I mean, really, really great,” he said, unable to cover up his happiness at her answer. “It’s chicken-feeding time, if you want to help out with that – and I need to patch up a bit of their coop before nightfall. Then after that rainstorm I’ll need to go check the stream to make sure it hasn’t got clogged up with debris that’ll stop it flowing to the pond. Then there’s some manure that needs spreading on the garden beds…” Wyatt trailed off, glancing at her. “I’m not really selling this as a glamorous lifestyle, am I?”

  “I wasn’t expecting glamor,” Tora said truthfully. “But I’ve never really been one for glitz and glamor. I mainly just want a sense of purpose, and a job to do. That’s really why I came out here in the first place – to try to get my head on straight, and figure out where to go from here. Maybe this’ll give me some ideas.”

  Okay, that might be coming on a little too strong, Tora thought. Wyatt just wanted to get to know her! He hadn’t asked her to move in and help him run his animal sanctuary!

  But Wyatt didn’t seem at all perturbed by what she’d said – in fact, his sm
ile just got even wider, as if that were even possible.

  “Great,” he said, nodding. “That’s… yeah, that’s great.”

  If anything, he seemed so pleased by her answer that he was a little lost for words, Tora thought as she followed him across the small field away from the sheep shelter. She could see a relatively modest stone house as they crested a low hill, surrounded by garden beds. There were a few small outbuildings and a chicken coop surrounding it, and as they got closer, Tora could hear the chickens clucking as they scratched around in the muddy hay that had been soaked by the rainstorm.

  “We’ll put some fresh hay down for them as well,” Wyatt said. “They’re delicate little ladies, they need to keep their feet dry.”

  Tora laughed, but her heart felt warmed by the obvious affection in Wyatt’s voice. “You clearly care a lot about looking after your ladies,” she said, watching him from beneath her eyelashes.

  “Hard not to when they keep me in breakfast eggs,” Wyatt said. “I look after them, they look after me.”

  “Well, when you put it that way,” Tora agreed.

  Wyatt fetched two rakes from a nearby shed, and together they raked up the wet hay, scraping it up into a corner by the door before Wyatt scooped it up in his huge hands and tossed it on the compost heap by the garden beds. He disappeared again into the shed, returning after a moment with some pliers and wire.

  “I’ll get to work patching up this bit of torn wire, if you’d like to throw the ladies some grain,” Wyatt said. “They’re not shy – if you have food for them, they’ll peck it right out of your hands, though it can sting a little!”

  Tora laughed. “No, scattering it works just fine for me.”

  She grabbed the box of grain from where it hung by the door of the coop, opening it and reaching inside. The grain felt almost silky against her hands, and Tora relished the feeling of plunging her fingers down into it before tossing it over the ground, sending the chickens scratching and pecking in every direction. She’d never really considered that chickens could be pretty before, but watching these ones, Tora found herself charmed – they were plump and fluffy, some with soft-looking gray feathers, others brown, and others black, shining iridescently.

  The chickens weren’t the only thing Tora watched. She also kept a close eye on Wyatt where he was standing on a small stepladder, patching up the wire in the top corner of the coop. But it wasn’t just to gaze longingly at the way his muscles shifted beneath his shirt – she liked to watch people who knew what they were doing doing what they knew how to do. There was something very attractive about competence – and watching Wyatt doing his seemingly mundane farm work, efficiently and economically, was something Tora very much appreciated.

  “All done,” Wyatt announced once he’d finished fixing up the small hole in the wire. “No big deal, but you can’t be too careful – I like to think of my chicken coops as fortresses, but sometimes you get something that’s really determined to get in.”

  “Of course not,” Tora said, smiling as she hung the grain box back up on its hook. “You can’t have anything getting in and hurting your ladies.”

  “You got that right,” Wyatt laughed. “Well, now that the chickens are taken care of – would you do me the honor of coming and raking some sludge out of the stream out back?”

  “That would make me the happiest woman on earth,” Tora laughed – and just at this moment, she really kind of meant it.

  Chapter 4

  “Man, that was some thirsty work!” Tora laughed, pausing to wipe the sweat from her brow. She glanced at Wyatt. “I must look kind of a mess.”

  Well, Wyatt supposed, strictly speaking, Tora did look a mess. Her short hair was sticking up in tufts with sweat, she’d taken off the sweater she’d put on when they’d returned to the cabin after the rainstorm and was wearing a sleeveless shirt, and her track pants were rolled up over her knees but had muddy water on them anyway.

  She looked a mess all right… and she also looked completely smoking hot.

  It helped, Wyatt supposed, that Tora had taken to the task of raking algae and sticks out of the rushing stream with gusto. It was a task that was boring at best and pretty gross at worst, but Tora hadn’t minded it one bit. Once he’d shown her what to do in terms of raking out bits of debris washed downstream in the torrential rains, she’d helped him clear the stream easily, laughing and chatting with him as they went.

  She truly is perfect, Wyatt thought wistfully as he watched her reach down to pick up a piece of wood too big for the rake to easily move, tossing it down on the riverbank. She’s everything I ever could have wanted. But is this the kind of life she wants to live full-time?

  Tora had hold him she was looking for something new in her life, now that it seemed she wouldn’t be able to pursue her dreams of becoming a pro athlete. He wanted to be able to offer her that something new. He knew he could, if he could only find a way to explain to her what he was – what they were to each other. He just needed to pick the right moment.

  We should shift in front of her, his bull snorted, tossing its head. We are magnificent –she will see how strong we are, and how well we will protect her. She will know she need never fear a single thing, as long as we are by her side.

  That might have been true, but Wyatt had sincere doubts that simply shifting in front of Tora would do the trick in terms of convincing her to stay by his side, rather than simply taking to the hills.

  No, he told the bull. No, I need to tell her first. And she hasn’t even seen my home properly – she hasn’t even seen what I could give her, aside from some eggs and a mucky stream.

  The bull, for once, actually seemed satisfied with that explanation – it did think that showing their mate what they could offer was important, after all.

  “We’re pretty much done here, if you want to come back to the house with me for some refreshments,” Wyatt said. “Now that the rain has passed, it’s pretty warm. We should make sure we get something good and nourishing to eat and drink.”

  “I’d love to,” Tora said, her eyes shining. “But… it’s no trouble for you? I mean, I’m guessing you didn’t plan on having a plus one around today.”

  “I didn’t, but it’s no problem,” Wyatt said, before, with one stride, he joined Tora on the other side of the stream. “C’mon. Let’s get something good into you.”

  Okay, that came out all wrong, Wyatt thought, internally grimacing. Or maybe it’s just me…?

  One glance at Tora and the blush that was slowly spreading across her face clearly told him he wasn’t the only one who’d caught his unintentional innuendo, though. Still, she shot him a tiny little wicked grin, raising one eyebrow.

  “Okay,” she said. “Let’s do that then.”

  Wyatt’s bull stamped its feet, raising its head to bellow triumphantly.

  Our mate has accepted us! She has accepted our invitation to our home!!

  Yes, but we still need to tell her about you, Wyatt told it, as he and Tora began making their way back to the house. That’s going to need a little bit of explaining.

  Wyatt knew he wanted to make the situation plain to Tora before he took things any further with her. Maybe it was his bull, but he’d always been one to speak his mind plainly, and he didn’t have much – or any – time for talking around a subject, or not just getting straight to the point if he had something to say.

  It’d meant he’d been way too blunt when he was younger, since he’d often mistaken what he’d thought was plain speaking for being too direct when more tact had been required. Over time, he’d learned the difference, and now he hoped he’d learned how to temper his instincts to just say what he thought. But he had to admit, not being able to just blurt it all out to Tora – I’m a bull shifter, you’re my mate, stay with me here and let me help you find your new purpose in life – was giving him a serious case of ants in his pants.

  She’d think I was nuts, though, Wyatt thought, his chest tightening as he looked at Tora. I need to think abo
ut this.

  It wasn’t long before they were back at his home – it might have been modest, but Wyatt wouldn’t have had it any other way. It had been virtually tumbling down when he’d inherited it from his uncle, and he’d put a lot of time and care into getting it fixed up. He loved living here, and he loved the life he’d made for himself and his animals.

  The only thing missing is Tora.

  Wyatt glanced at her, a little apprehensive, as he opened the rough-hewn front door and led Tora inside. She’d said she wasn’t into glitz and glamor, but would she approve of his home, rough and ready as it was?

  “Wow,” Tora murmured, looking around. “It really looks like something out of a rustic living magazine.”

  “Is that a good thing?” Wyatt asked, glancing around, Tora’s presence now making him reassess his home with fresh eyes. He wasn’t big on decorating, so the walls, made of stone and wood, were largely bare. But the massive fireplace kept the place toasty warm in winter, and most of the furniture had been handmade by his family over the years, mostly by his aunt and uncle. His uncle had built the wooden chairs and the frames for the couch, while his aunt had sewn the cushions and covers – and they all meant something special to Wyatt.

  “Yeah, it’s a great thing,” Tora said. “It’s really, like, cozy and homey. I’ve lived in dorms a lot recently, so there wasn’t a lot we could do to give them character or make them our own. It was all pretty impersonal, you know? But this place looks like somewhere you could live.”

  Wyatt’s heart swelled at Tora’s words – as did his bull’s chest.

  Don’t say it, Wyatt warned it. I heard it too, and we still need to make sure we do this right.

  The bull didn’t seem actually subdued in any way, but it confined itself to a little stomping prance rather than urging Wyatt to sweep Tora up in his arms and kiss her to show her just how much he would like her to live here.

  “I like it here,” Wyatt said, nodding. “The place is pretty special to me. I used to come out here a lot when I was a kid, so it has a lot of memories for me.”