by Chant, Zoe
“Yes,” said Waylon, straightening up. “My cup. Cracked it right in half. Thank God I wore one. Talk about Shitland ponies!”
Raelynn burst into giggles. “Language, Dad!”
“I’ll get Katrina,” said Judy.
Curstaidh followed Katrina out of the trailer with complete docility, looking like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. As she passed Waylon, the little pony blew her mane out of her eyes and gave him a distinctly smug glance.
The ornery Shetland was the last of the herd to be unloaded. Once she was settled in her stall, the trailers departed and Waylon, Judy, and Raelynn were left alone.
They waited a while to give the horses a chance to get used to their stalls and for Black Flame to be sure the strangers and their big, noisy trailers were gone. Then Raelynn declaimed, “Release the herd!”
“Let’s do it. If it doesn’t work out today, we’ll try again tomorrow.” But Judy hoped it would work the first time. They’d gotten so close with Black Flame already, this just might be the last thing that was needed.
They went into the stable and began leading the horses into the corral. Katrina went first, led by Judy, with Raelynn leading the gentle Carry On and Waylon taking the hot-tempered bay mare Beauty Queen. Tucker and Midnight, the elderly geldings, were followed by the donkeys Little Bit and Buddy. Then the Molly the mule, and Dakota and Bay Rum and Valentine and Bonnie and Pioneer and the rest. Finally Judy took firm hold of Curstaidh and led her out into the corral, neatly ducking the Shetland’s attempt to eat her hair.
In the corral, Katrina was still sniffing around in an alpha mare’s safety check. Finally she bent to nip up a choice tuft of clover. Following her lead, the others began to graze.
“Go for it, Rae,” said Waylon.
Raelynn gave a whistle. “Black Flame! Come along, Black Flame! Your new friends are here!”
Black Flame emerged from the trees. He stopped and sniffed the air, his bright eyes intent on the herd in the corral.
“Reassure him,” Judy said softly. “Coax him closer.”
Raelynn coaxed Black Flame with her voice and a handful of coals as bribes, until the hellcolt was near the corral. He stood wary, ready to bolt, sparks dancing in his mane.
“Katrina,” Judy called softly. “Come and meet the new colt.”
This was the make or break moment. Katrina had been watching Black Flame with curiosity in her wise old eyes. She could accept him or reject him, and the herd would follow her lead.
Katrina gave a whicker, an inviting sound. Judy relaxed. Now it was up to Black Flame.
Moving slowly, she opened the corral gate.
“Go on in, Rae,” said Waylon.
Raelynn stepped inside. Standing near Katrina, she held out the coals in her open palm. Katrina lipped at a coal, then gave a disgusted snort and returned to grazing.
“Come on, Black Flame,” Raelynn coaxed. “Delicious coals and new friends, what more can a hellhorse want?”
Stepping delicately, sparks and the occasional brief flame flickering around him, Black Flame entered the corral.
One by one, he ate the coals from Raelynn’s palm. Katrina sniffed at him, then gave a snort like she had at the coal. Black Flame’s ears swiveled, but the sparks died. Despite being surrounded by sixteen horses, two donkeys, and a mule, he seemed calmer than usual.
“Hellhorses have herd instincts,” Waylon murmured. “And the herd doesn’t have to be other hellhorses.”
“I’d wondered about that too,” Judy admitted, keeping her voice pitched low as well. “I was crossing my fingers that it would work. I thought it would, but I didn’t know.”
Raelynn stayed in the corral until Black Flame wandered away from her and began to graze. When he and Curstaidh went for the same patch of lush green grass, the ornery Shetland nipped him. Black Flame stamped a hoof, and flames rippled along his mane.
“Uh-oh,” murmured Waylon, reaching for the fire extinguisher. They’d watered the corral thoroughly so the grass grew green and the earth was moist. A few sparks or a lick of flame wouldn’t start a fire there, but a blast of flame might.
“Wait,” said Judy.
Black Flame bent again for the patch of grass, his mane and tail and fetlocks burning yellow against his black coat. Curstaidh jerked her head upward, smacking him right under the jaw. His teeth knocked together with an audible clack. Black Flame leaped away with a squeal. He stood glaring at her, literally sparking and smoking with anger.
Curstaidh ignored him, ripping up the grass in smug little yanks. Black Flame’s fires died. He trotted away to the opposite end of the corral and began to graze.
“Wise of him,” Waylon remarked.
“She’s horrible, but I love her,” said Judy.
When they were sure there would be no more horse drama, Waylon went to his truck and fetched a bottle of sparkling cider and three plastic glasses with stems. Raelynn came out to take one, her face glowing with happiness. When their glasses were filled, they lifted them in a toast.
“To sixteen horses, two donkeys, a mule, and a hellhorse,” said Raelynn. “And their new home.”
“To the girl who dared to tame the hellhorse,” said Judy. “And the man who dared to face the Shi—Shetland.”
“Never again,” muttered Waylon as Raelynn giggled, then raised his glass high. “To us. To family.”
They clicked their glasses together and drank. Judy’s heart was overflowing with happiness. She was in love with a brave, sexy, funny man who loved her back and had the best daughter in the whole wide world, her horses were safe, and Black Flame had joined the herd.
It isn’t too good to be true, she told the part of herself that still didn’t believe she could be a part of a family. It isn’t!
At the end of the day, they dropped Raelynn off at a friend’s house for a sleepover, and had dinner at Waylon’s house. He grilled steaks and she made a salad, and they talked about horses and music and hopes and dreams.
As the sun set, their conversation got slower, more and more punctuated by long pauses in which they just looked into each other’s eyes. The events of the day slipped from her mind, replaced by a purely sensual awareness. Waylon’s eyes were darker in the fading light, a deep ocean blue rather than the summer sky blue they were in daylight. His hair and beard glowed in the last rays of the sun like molten gold. And all his attention was on her. Without him saying a word, she knew that he was watching her the way she was watching him, glorying in her beauty and her presence.
Judy had never before felt so utterly in tune with another human being, and she longed to do more than just sit and talk, or even just sit and kiss. She wanted him to take her hand and lead her away to some magical realm where they could leave all their cares and responsibilities behind them. Or just to his bedroom. His bedroom would be fine.
“Waylon,” she said. Her voice startled her; they’d been sitting in silence for longer than she realized. “You wanted to take it slow. Has this been slow enough? Are you ready now?”
She watched him take a breath, that massive chest moving. When he spoke, the intensity of longing and desire in his voice took her own breath away. “I want you, Judy. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my entire life. And I want you now.”
They did go to his bedroom, but he didn’t take her hand and lead her away. He picked her up and carried her over the threshold, like a bride.
Chapter Twelve
The time after Judy’s herd arrived, and he and Judy first made love, was eventful and wonderful, but Waylon’s secret hung over his head like a horse trailer suspended by a single rope.
Black Flame settled down under the leadership of Katrina, the bossing of Curstaidh, the knowledgeable hand of Judy, and the love of Raelynn. He settled into a stall at night and the corral in the day, and got trained to walk on a lead. Though sparks often danced around his mane and tail, and sometimes fire rippled along his coat, he no longer burst into full flame, and Waylon stopped worrying that he’d
burn down the ranch.
The biggest trouble he caused was the inexplicable collapse of his feed bin. Day after day, Judy would arrive and find nothing but a pile of boards. They didn’t figure it out until she showed up early and found the wooden feed bin again dismantled, a few boards fallen from his stall, and Black Flame setting his teeth into a nail, pulling it from a board like a farmer might pull a carrot from damp earth, chewing it, and swallowing.
Judy put him in the horse trailer and rushed him to Vets For All Pets. Several X-Rays and a few phone calls later, they learned that the nails were not only not doing him any harm, but were an essential part of his diet. The X-Rays revealed that his bones were partly made of metal, strong and unbreakable. Though he was still growing, it was perfectly safe for Raelynn to ride him. Safe for him, at least.
A gleeful Raelynn promptly began training him to accept a saddle and bridle. With Judy supervising at his side, Waylon was able to let Raelynn go ahead, and even admire her sure hand with the training. His little girl was growing up, and though it was scary, it was beautiful, too.
Unfortunately, the two areas where she wasn’t growing up both involved her bear. He talked her into shifting, in the woods when Judy was off tending the horses, to see if she’d gained control. He had high hopes, as for all of Raelynn’s conviction that she’d never learn, the fact was that shifter children who couldn’t control their beasts often gained that control after puberty. She was at the right age for a breakthrough.
Raelynn shifted, and her bear promptly rampaged through the woods, all the way back to his truck, and was about to rip the door off before Waylon caught up with her and dragged her away by the scruff of the neck. She bit and clawed at him, wild to get at the tasty smoked meat she scented inside the truck. Only his thick coat of fur protected him from harm.
Afterward, she tearfully vowed that she would never shift again, and refused to release him from his promise not to tell anyone she was a shifter unless she gave him permission. Waylon, who felt extremely guilty after both putting her in that position and discovering that the cause of the rampage was a Slim Jim that he’d accidentally dropped between the seats, agreed.
They were both so subdued at dinner that Judy insisted that they had to be coming down with something, and left early.
It was a Friday night, and he drove Rae to the city for a weekend sleepover early the next morning. She was staying with her friend Caro, whose father was a cave bear shifter and knew her whole story, so she could at least be properly consoled.
When he came back, he’d barely gotten inside when Judy dropped by to see if he and Rae were all right. He assured her they were fine, which made her look distinctly suspicious. His bear was growling at him to tell her everything, he hadn’t had a chance to have breakfast, and when he opened his mouth to say something, anything, what he blurted out was what he’d been wanting to say for months.
One of the things he’d been wanting to say, anyway.
The next day, Waylon cornered Angel and Bryan in the Vets For All Pets break room to ask their advice. At least, that was the idea. But it all went south before he even got to the stickiest part.
“You still haven’t told Judy you’re a shifter?” Angel asked incredulously. “What are you waiting for?”
“For Rae to agree to telling her she’s a shifter,” Waylon replied. “Like I said.”
“Yeah, I get that,” said Angel. “You’re being a good dad. But something’s got to give. How is your relationship supposed to move forward when your mate has no idea that you turn into a bear?”
“I’ll tell her,” Waylon said. “Just not yet. So don’t mention shifters.”
Bryan looked up from the X-Rays he was reading. “You haven’t told her that shifters exist?”
“No!” Waylon was feeling distinctly cornered.
“Why don’t you start there?” suggested Angel. “Tell her about Bryan and me. Get her used to the idea.”
“If I tell her I have one colleague who turns into a unicorn and one who turns into a wolf, she’s going to ask me if I turn into something too or how I got the job when I don’t turn into anything or what it’s like being the only vet who can’t turn into anything or something like that,” said Waylon. “Anyway, getting Judy used to the idea isn’t the problem.”
“Well, you have to tell her eventually,” Angel pointed out. “It’s not like you can ask her to move in with you when she still doesn’t know you’re a shifter.”
“Ummm,” said Waylon.
Bryan put down the X-Rays. “Did you ask her to move in with you?”
“Yeah.”
“And she said yes?”
“Yeah.”
“And she still has no idea?” Angel asked.
“Yeah.”
Angel shook his head in disbelief and said nothing, clearly communicating that no words could convey the colossal bad idea that was Waylon’s entire life.
“I’d better get home. Bye!” As Waylon fled Vets For All Pets, he was followed by the sounds of laughter and Angel calling after him, “Try not to turn into a bear in the middle of the night!”
Chapter Thirteen
“I can’t believe I’m talking to you again,” Raelynn sighed into Bruiser’s presumably sympathetic ear.
She kept her voice low, for she wasn’t the only one in the house. It had been a month since Judy had moved in with them. Dad was back from Vets For All Pets and Judy was back from Horse Hope Rescue, and soon Raelynn would be called out to help with dinner. But for now, it was just her and Bruiser.
Bruiser chewed absently on her sleeve, adding dog slobber to the horse hair, charcoal smudges, and bits of straw that already decorated it.
“I mean, I love talking to you,” she said quickly. “Don’t get me wrong! It’s just that I ought to be telling you how happy I am—and I am happy, I’m not saying I’m not! I have Black Flame and Judy’s herd and the magical animals and you and Oscar and Felix and Dad and Judy and Mom and Angel and Bryan and Everly and—well, I have everything. But there’s this one thing hanging over my head like a giant boulder suspended by a rope. If I tell Judy, the rope snaps and it squashes me flat. If I don’t tell, it just keeps on hanging. It’s the most awful feeling.”
Bruiser turned around, his little legs waving frustratedly as he tried his best to lick his butt.
“You’re lucky you’re a dog,” Raelynn concluded. “I wish my worst problem was that my legs were too short.”
“Rae!” Dad shouted. “Come on out!”
She scrambled off her bed and ran into the living room, where she gave Dad a snappy salute. “Reporting to chop salad greens, sir!”
He chuckled and shook his head. Judy was standing right beside him, smiling like they shared a secret. A nice secret, not an awful embarrassing one like she had.
“Dinner’s postponed,” Dad said. “Come on, we’re going to Vets For All Pets.”
“Ooh!” Raelynn eagerly followed them into the truck. They’d obviously found some kind of amazing magical animal, and she couldn’t wait to meet it. “Is it another baby pegasus? A baby unicorn? No, wait. Is it a FLYING RAINBOW UNICORN?”
“You’ll see,” said Dad, and that was all she could get out of him.
They came in through the lobby at Vets For All Pets. It was after hours, so Raelynn was taken aback to see a stranger present. A short, curvy woman with chin-length hair and three cat carriers at her feet stood talking to Angel, Everly and Bryan.
The woman turned and stuck out her hand. “Hi! I’m Catalina Mendez from Protection, Inc. The west coast branch.”
“Oh!” Raelynn exclaimed.
Protection, Inc. was a private security agency in which all the bodyguards were shifters. She knew everyone at the east coast branch, Protection, Inc: Defenders, as they came to Vets For All Pets to get care for their magical pets. That was how she’d met and befriended Caro. Her dad Pete had an adorable cactus kitten named Spike, and his fiancée Tirzah also had a magical kitten. And his daughter Caro had a b
eautiful miniature pegasus who could become big enough to ride under the light of the moon.
Raelynn had never met anyone from the west coast branch, which was unsurprising as it was all the way across the country, but she knew that all its bodyguards had magical pets. Now she understood why she’d been called in. It wasn’t to meet a magical wild animal that had come through the portal, but to meet Catalina’s magical pets.
“Are they sick?” Raelynn asked anxiously. “For you to bring them all this way…”
“Just getting their shots,” came a male voice she didn’t recognize.
Raelynn almost jumped out of her skin. A tall man was standing right next to Catalina but, impossibly, she hadn’t noticed him before.
Apparently, neither had anyone else, because with two exceptions, everyone in the room rushed to put themselves between him and Raelynn. One of the exceptions was Catalina, who merely glanced at the strange man with a kind of fond annoyance. The other was Bryan, who leaped at him with wolf-like speed. An even more wolf-life snarl erupted from his throat as he slammed the stranger up against the wall.
It all happened so fast that Raelynn hadn’t been scared, only startled. One moment she was looking forward to seeing some magical pets, the next moment a man appeared out of thin air and Dad, Judy, Angel, Everly, and even Rock had formed a protective wall of bodies around her.
The man didn’t fight back at all. He simply stood against the wall as if he was casually leaning there, totally unperturbed with Bryan’s forearm across his throat.
“Nice reflexes,” he observed.
Catalina gave an exasperated sigh. “Shane, of all the times…” To everyone else, she said, “This is my husband, Shane Garrity.”
“Pleased to meet you,” said Shane from behind Bryan’s armlock.
“That’s just a… a thing he does,” Catalina went on. “You see, he and I met when—”
Raelynn knew the beginning of a shifter true mates story when she heard one. Quickly, she said, “It’s fine! I’m fine! I’m not scared. You can all stand down or whatever it is, come on, let me through, I want to see whatever your pets are.”