Taking the Bull by the Horns

by Chant, Zoe

  “I know, but it’s something I wanted to tell you about myself from the first moment I saw you,” Wyatt said softly. He gazed into her eyes, and for the first time, Tora realized just how close they were standing to each other. She could feel the heat radiating off his bare skin, see the dark flecks in his olive-colored eyes. She swallowed.

  “Why?” she asked, knowing she sounded breathless.

  “Because, Tora, you’re my –” Wyatt began to say, before he was cut off by the sound of a blood-curdling scream, rending the peace of the early morning air.

  Chapter 6

  Wyatt’s bull snapped its head up, instantly alert.

  There’s danger – it could be something that could harm our mate –

  The bull’s blood surged in outrage at the idea that anyone or anything could try to harm their mate, but Wyatt did his best to keep a steady head on his shoulders. Still, he could feel his stomach clenching as, temporarily forgetting he was naked, he turned and looked in the direction of the scream, bringing his bull’s senses forward to try to find out where it had come from and what it might mean.

  “Stay here a moment,” he told Tora, who was looking up at him with wide eyes.

  It wasn’t as if accidents on farms were unusual. One momentary lapse of attention could mean even a seasoned rancher could get seriously injured – or worse. But Wyatt’s bull couldn’t smell any blood in the air, so he had to hope that whatever had happened, it wasn’t that serious, even though some injuries could still be deadly even without a drop of blood being spilled.

  Wyatt’s heightened senses could still pick up something, though – some tension in the air, something that just wasn’t right.

  As he reached the gate overlooking the fields, he saw what it was right away: one of the alien hunters from yesterday, the girl, was running through the fields at a full belt, just cresting a hill as he watched. She was clearly out of her mind with panic, and after a moment it became obvious why.

  Hot on her heels were her YouTuber friends, all of them running as fast as they could – and following them was Sally Gunn’s prize bull, George, stampeding across the field with a rumble of hooves and a snort of furious breath. Clearly, whatever they’d done had riled him up good.

  And here I am, kind of, uh, naked, Wyatt thought, as the girl sprinted toward the gate, her sobbing, heaving breath becoming audible.

  He grimaced. He knew this would happen – that sooner or later the alien hunters were going to land themselves in some kind of trouble. He wasn’t sure what they’d done to get poor George so angry, but clearly he wasn’t about to let them get off lightly for it. George was a massive creature, too – there wasn’t much that could stop 2,300 pounds of muscle and rage once it got going.

  Except maybe another 2,300 pounds of muscle, Wyatt thought – though in fact, he was aware that his bull weighed quite a lot more than that, since he’d gotten curious one time and stood in his cattle-weighing station in bull form, just to find out.

  Whatever the case, he knew he had to act quickly. The girl’s friends didn’t seem to be quite as spry as her, and it was clear George was gaining on them – and fast.

  “Tora,” Wyatt called out over his shoulder. Tora was with him in a moment.

  “What is it?” she asked, a moment before she followed his gaze and saw what was happening. “Oh. Oh, shit. That’s not very good.”

  “I’m going to go head him off,” Wyatt said. “Give him a distraction and hopefully get him to stand down.”

  “Isn’t that dangerous?” Tora blurted out, before she must have realized what he meant. “Oh. But. But you’re a bull too, so…”

  “It’s still not risk-free, but I can’t just let them get trampled,” Wyatt said. “I’ll be back quickly. But in the meantime, could you, uh, open the gate for me?”

  Tora nodded, and Wyatt thought he could see just a hint of excitement in her eyes. “Sure thing.”

  He shifted as she unlatched the gate and threw it wide open. Wyatt had shifted enough times by now that it took him no time at all to get used to the feeling of suddenly being on four feet rather than two, the weight of his horns on his head, or the sudden change in his size.

  He took off at a run, knowing there was no time to waste – but still, he managed to catch sight of Tora’s face as he thundered past her. He’d been worried that he’d see an expression of fear there, but instead, he saw only a look of amazement, and maybe even a hint of wonder.

  Of course you did, his bull chided him, seeming exasperated. We are magnificent. What else would she think upon seeing our powerful form?

  Wyatt had to roll his eyes internally. Of course the bull wouldn’t understand – it saw only that it was large, strong and mighty. It had no idea why the things that were impressive to a bull wouldn’t also be appealing to a human.

  But Tora seemed to accept it, Wyatt told himself as he raced across the field to where he’d last seen George. She didn’t pull away from me, or act like she didn’t want anything else to do with me. We still have a lot to talk about, but it’s a promising start, isn’t it?

  Wyatt knew he couldn’t focus too much of his attention on figuring out exactly how Tora might feel about being mated to a bull shifter right now, though. First, he had to stop George from trampling a bunch of hapless alien-hunting YouTubers into the ground.

  He heard an enraged lowing off to his left, and he wheeled around – his turning circle as a bull was not excellent – and took in the sight before him. George was still thundering across the field, enraged, while the alien hunters had managed to find a tree that stood in the middle of the field – one of the ones that Wyatt had left alone so it would provide shade for his cows in summer – and were frantically attempting to climb it.

  Three of the four of them had managed to make it up into the lower branches, but the last one, presumably without anyone to give him a boost, had been left on the ground, screaming at the others to pull him to safety as George bore down upon him.

  I’ve got to move quickly, Wyatt thought, putting on a renewed burst of speed. He was built for power more than speed, but he was capable of moving quickly when it was needed – and it was more than needed now. But there was still no way he was going to reach George before he reached the alien hunters.

  Thinking quickly, Wyatt let out a low, furious-sounding bellow as he drew closer.

  That certainly got everyone’s attention – both George’s and the frantic alien hunters’. George swung his heavy head around to stare at whoever this intruder was – while the alien hunters, confronted with yet another massive bull bearing swiftly down on them, seemed to enter some kind of catatonic despair, the one who still wasn’t in the tree sinking down to his knees, while the others stopped even trying to lift him up and just stared at Wyatt in silence.

  Good thing I’m not a regular bull! Wyatt thought, internally shaking his head.

  Well, at least he had George’s attention now. The bull’s charge slowed, his enormous hooves slowing to a trot as he gauged this new challenge to his authority. Wyatt bellowed again, making it clear he was challenging George.

  George came to a slow halt, his eyes fixed firmly on Wyatt. Then, he began to trot in his direction, clearly unhappy.

  Now, notice how much bigger I am than you, Wyatt thought. It’s not worth a fight. Just charge on home to Sally’s.

  It was clear, however, that George wasn’t willing to put his pride aside as quickly as all that.

  He let out a low, challenging bellow of his own, lowering his head dangerously.

  Wyatt did not want to fight George. George wasn’t normally this bad-tempered – the alien hunters had to have done something to get him this riled up. Not to mention, the idea of hurting him didn’t sit well with Wyatt at all – George was just an animal doing what an animal did, and besides which, Wyatt knew Sally Gunn doted on him.

  So instead, he returned George’s bellow, lowering his own head and showing off his horns. He splayed his front legs, showing how willing he
was to charge, as well as showing off just how much bigger and heavier he was – trying to show George that it simply wasn’t worth his while to have a fight. There were no cows around here to fight over, and this wasn’t even George’s normal territory. The best thing for him to do right now would be to turn and make his way home.

  Hopefully, I can rely on George’s common sense, Wyatt thought as he snorted twin jets of hot air from his nostrils.

  But it seemed George wasn’t interested in common sense.

  He lowed dangerously, one of his massive front hooves scraping the ground in front of him in a show that he meant to charge.

  Wyatt cursed. Go home, George!

  There was nothing for it: he’d have to charge, and hope that George was bluffing and would tuck tail and run as soon as he saw Wyatt’s superior form racing toward him.

  It was a risk, but right now, Wyatt wasn’t sure what else to do.

  Lowering his head, Wyatt charged.

  He could hear the thunder of his own hooves as he picked up speed, tearing up clods of rain-softened earth as he went. But the bull’s cloven hooves were perfect for fast movement over wet earth, so it cost him very little speed.

  He roared again, swinging his head to show off his horns.

  And George – George, finally realizing he’d met his match, turned away, skittishly jumping aside and cantering off up the hill, clearly trying to look like he’d simply decided he was bored of this and was heading back home of his own free will. Wyatt pursued him far enough over the hill to make sure he really was clearing off, but no farther. He watched as George trotted off across the fields, his tail swinging, hopefully to somewhere where he couldn’t do any damage.

  I really need to call Sally, Wyatt thought as he watched him go. Tell her her bull’s out and about.

  With any luck, Nate and Ash would see George capering around where he shouldn’t be and take him home themselves.

  Right now, Wyatt had to deal with the alien hunters. Though that was going to be trickier than it looked: if he shifted right now, he’d be naked. Although shifters tended to be less self-conscious about that kind of thing than humans, he wasn’t exactly keen on the idea of showing up to tell them off with his junk on show.

  Sighing, he trotted back the way he’d come, hoping they wouldn’t see him as he passed. He’d just have to circle back to the cabin, shift, get dressed, and then hotfoot it out to the alien hunters’ tree, and hope they were still there.

  “Wyatt!”

  Wyatt looked up at the sound of Tora’s voice, only to see her making her way across the field toward him, a bundle wrapped in her arms.

  “I’m sorry, I know you told me to stay put,” Tora said when she drew closer. Her breath was a little heavy, and she’d clearly been running. “But when I saw that other bull run off, I thought it would be better to come and give you these.” She held out her arms – the bundle she held was his clothes. “I was worried the alien hunters might see you shift, and I wouldn’t want them trying to make a YouTube series on you instead and make an even bigger nuisance of themselves.”

  Wyatt’s heart swelled.

  Our mate is so kind and thoughtful, his bull said, as if it were telling him something new. We should thank her.

  Wyatt wanted to tell the bull it didn’t need to school him on manners, but instead, he simply shifted, smiling at Tora’s face as she watched. It was clear it’d still take some time for her to get used to it – but she wasn’t scared, she simply seemed a little over-awed.

  “Thank you,” Wyatt said, reaching out to grab his jeans and underwear. “You’re right – I really wouldn’t like those guys poking around my private business.”

  He got dressed quickly, and together they hurried across the field to the tree the alien hunters had gotten stuck up. Most of them were still up there, Wyatt could see – though one of them, the girl he’d spoken to yesterday, had climbed down and seemed to be holding a water bottle up to her friend’s mouth, forcing him to drink.

  That’s probably a good idea, Wyatt thought, resisting the urge to shake his head. The poor guy looked red in the face and was still puffing hard – clearly they’d had quite the run, and quite the scare.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, when he and Tora drew near, beneath the shade of the large tree. “We saw what happened.”

  The girl looked up at him, her eyes wide. “That bull chased us!”

  “They tend to do that,” Wyatt said evenly. “Well, if something gets ’em mad enough, anyway. I did try to warn you yesterday that wandering around here willy-nilly could be dangerous.”

  “I thought as long as we didn’t, you know, wave a red flag or anything it’d be okay,” the boy gasped, still looking sweaty and red-faced.

  Next to them, their two remaining friends who’d stayed in the tree dropped to the ground, staggering a little.

  “Is it really gone?” one of them asked. “Did that other bull really chase it off?”

  “Yeah, he did, luckily for you,” Tora said, raising an eyebrow. “How’d you get into this mess?”

  “We didn’t do anything!” the red-faced boy said hotly. “We were just trying to film the crop circles from higher up with our drone –”

  “You were flying a drone around?” Wyatt asked sharply. He knew drones were usually harmless, but used incorrectly, they could be dangerous.

  “Uh… yeah,” the boy said, suddenly shifty. “A little bit.”

  “Where did it go?” Wyatt asked. “Is it still flying around, or did it crash when you ran away from the bull?”

  “No, it –” The boy was turning redder by the second.

  “Don’t tell him, Kasey,” the other, slightly younger boy muttered. “We’ll just get into trouble.”

  “Oh, you’d better tell me,” Wyatt said sternly, pulling himself up to his full height and looking down at the sheepish kids in front of him. “If you’ve caused any more problems, it’s better they get found out now, believe me.”

  The red-faced boy, Kasey, shifted uncomfortably where he sat. “I crashed it,” he said finally. “Into the bull.”

  “But he wasn’t hurt!” the girl who’d been giving him water burst out. “We checked! The drone still worked, so we flew it around him a bit, checking to see if he got cut or anything –”

  Wyatt let out a long, tired sigh. Well, that explains what got poor George’s dander up, then.

  “So… you crashed the drone into the bull, and then flew it around him to check if he was hurt – which was nice, I guess – but seriously, did you really not think about how much that might freak him out?”

  The kids shuffled their feet, glancing at each other.

  Evidently not, Wyatt thought.

  “It was worth it, though!” the girl said, raising her head and lifting her chin defiantly. “We finally got proof of the aliens! We filmed one of them!”

  Wyatt couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at that. “You filmed an alien?”

  “Yeah,” the girl said, nodding enthusiastically. “We’re the only ones, so we’re gonna be famous!”

  “What do you mean?” Tora asked. “You actually saw an alien? You mean the flashing lights last night, right?”

  The girl shook her head. “No! Everyone has footage of that. I mean we saw an actual alien. In the flesh!”

  Wyatt exchanged a glance with Tora. This was making him feel kind of uneasy for some reason. He still didn’t believe in aliens, but the girl seemed insistent that they’d really filmed one. It probably didn’t mean anything, since it seemed like all four of these kids had overactive imaginations. But the last thing he wanted was more footage of Robson Hills getting around, and even more alien hunters showing up.

  “Can I see the footage?” he asked, trying not to sound tense. He could feel his bull’s temper rising within him, and he pushed it aside again. These kids hadn’t actually hurt anyone – aside from themselves – and he wasn’t looking to frighten or upset them.

  The four kids were glancing at each ot
her, as if communing.

  “You shouldn’t have said anything, Mikaela,” the boy named Kasey chided her. “That was supposed to be a secret.”

  “I know, but…” Mikaela bit her lip. “I want someone else’s opinion about it. And maybe we could interview you about what you think is going on?” She looked hopefully up into Wyatt’s face, but his immediate reaction to her suggestion was Nope. No way.

  “Sorry, I don’t really do interviews,” he said easily. “But I’m sure there’s plenty of others in town who’d be very happy to tell you all about what they think of what’s going on.”

  “Oh. Okay.” Mikaela looked a little downcast. “Still, I think we should show him the footage.”

  Kasey sighed, but beneath his apparent exasperation he was apparently just as eager as Mikaela was to show off what they’d captured. He pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket, opening his photos app and then swiping through to a video.

  “Okay,” he said, passing the phone to Wyatt. “Check this out.”

  Wyatt held the phone so that Tora, leaning forward, could also see the screen, and then hit Play.

  At first, nothing really happened – the video must’ve been taken at dawn, judging by the direction of the low light, but it was just a film of some of the fields. Then, finally, Wyatt saw it: a spark of light amongst the crops, followed by a rising puff of smoke. He heard some whispered voices from behind the camera before they were quickly shushed.

  The video was shaky, and the angle dropped to the ground, filming Kasey’s feet for a moment before he evidently climbed up onto a fence to get a better view of what was going on in the field. But even then, it was pretty hard to make out in the dim light: a dark shape was rustling around in the crops. It was indistinct, but from the size and the way it was moving, Wyatt could tell it was a human.

  Until, suddenly, it wasn’t.

  With a shudder of its body, the dark figure suddenly leapt up, growing smaller and sprouting wings. A lick of flame seemed to descend from its mouth, but then it seemed to sense it was being watched and paused.