Riskin didn't listen. He caught his balance and rushed Mattox with a wild roar. He swung his fist to smash Mattox's face in when Mattox made a quick side step. Riskin charged straight past him.
Mattox caught him by the back of the neck and shoved him forward hard. Riskin's momentum carried him on past Mattox. Mattox gave his neck a jerk, and Riskin dove forward. His chest hit the floor, and Mattox planted his face in a pile of cow manure.
He kept Riskin face down for one agonizing moment. When he let him go, Riskin popped up with a gasp and a groan. Mattox stepped clear. He walked in a circle around his fallen foe. He wrinkled up his nose at the smell.
Riskin rolled over on his elbow. “Look what you did, man. Look what you did to me.”
Mattox pursed his lips. He put out his foot and shoved Riskin in the shoulder with his boot heel. He knocked the fallen man flat on his back. In a flash, Mattox leapt over the cow manure and landed in a crouch next to Riskin. He caught him by the collar and dragged him to his feet.
Mattox hissed in his face through gritted teeth. “Get around back to the pig trough and clean yourself up. Wash your hair and your face, and let me see you putting on your best manners when you come up to the house. Do you hear me?”
Riskin stared up into his burning eyes. He opened his mouth to say something when Mattox shook him by the collar. He thundered in Riskin's face loud enough to rattle the rafters. “Do you hear me?”
Riskin voice squeaked. “Yes, sir.”
Mattox yanked him close and growled low in his ear. “You put a sock in your temper from now on, boy. Do you hear me? Don't you ever challenge me again if you want to walk out of here on your legs. You get on with doing your job and don't let me catch you shirking. I'll be watching you and checking up to make sure you don't step out of line. Do you hear me?”
Riskin stared up at him with wide eyes. “Yes, sir.”
Mattox pushed him away. He let go of Riskin's collar and sent him staggering away. “You're a guest in this house, the same way I am. You have a duty to the Mackenzie tribe. As long as you're under their roof, you won't do anything to jeopardize the ranch. If you do anything to harm the ranch or interfere with its smooth operation, you'll answer to me. Do you hear me?”
Riskin dropped his eyes to the floor. “Yes, sir.”
“Now, get out of here, and don't let me see your face until you're ready to behave yourself.” Mattox gave a kick in the pants to hustle him away.
Riskin slunk away, and a moment later, Mattox heard water splashing in the pig trough behind the barn. He gazed through the empty open door. The house hovered not far away in the waving heat outside. Lyric was over there, in the house, right now.
Her delicious kiss still drifted its distinctive Bruin perfume into his nose. Nothing in his life compared with it. He kissed a fair number of Bruin girls in his time. Every red-blooded Bruin guy had. None of them came anywhere close to Lyric.
He still felt her body pressed against him. Her breasts squished against his chest. His hands clasped around her back. Her legs bumped against his thighs. Her tongue darted into his mouth to taste and tickle his senses.
Her kiss flooded his mind with all sorts of ideas and fantasies, not all of them about what he could do with her in private. She inspired him to rise and conquer the world. He could do anything with a bunch of scrappy, underfed cows and a bull too old to see. He could do it all. He would do it for her.
Whatever anybody said about romance and fairy tales, he knew one thing for certain sure. Lyric was his life's mate. He would never have another, and he would stop at nothing to win her. Riskin would never stand in his way again. Mattox would smash any man who looked sideways at her.
Rex must have been right. Mattox would build this new pedigree and dominate the ranch. He would marry Lyric and inherit her share of the Mackenzies’ cattle empire. He would take over as Alpha of the whole Mackenzie tribe.
When Rex first told Mattox he would replace him, the idea sounded too fantastic to believe. Alpha—of someone else's tribe? Impossible! Now, though, Mattox wore the mantle easily. It fit him. It belonged to him. He owned it, and he would never set it aside again for the rest of his life.
It would happen. In Mattox's heart and soul, it already had.
Chapter 12
Lyric ran into the house. She slammed her back against the door and gasped for breath. She did NOT just kiss Mattox Farrell in the tack room.
She couldn't deny the evidence of her senses. Her head spun in dizzy excitement. His sheer size filled her awareness. His smoky presence intoxicated her beyond comprehension. He owned her and possessed her as Riskin never could.
He wiped Riskin right out of her mind and her life. Riskin no longer existed. Her whole self belonged to Mattox, forever. She would never love another man. She would never worship another man the way she worshiped him. So all that storybook stuff about finding your one true love turned out to be true after all.
In answer to her thoughts, Melody came downstairs with a bridal magazine under her arm. She raised her eyebrows at Lyric leaning against the door. “What's going on, Lyric?”
Lyric shook her head and raced past her. “Nothing's going on.”
Melody sat down on the couch. “Then you won't mind deciding on the color combination for the flower arrangements. I made dinner while you were out, so all the guys have to do is come inside and sit down and eat. We’ve got the rest of the afternoon to…”
Lyric called back over her shoulder, “I told you to make all the decisions. I'm going to see Papa now.”
“You can't do this!” Melody cried. “You can't leave everything to me. How am I supposed to…?”
Lyric answered her with the click of her father's door latch. She shut herself into the silent room and slipped over to the arm chair. She just got herself into a comfortable position when she noticed her father's open eyes looking at her. “Papa! You're awake!”
He grinned at her. “I wasn't asleep, sweetheart. I've been awake all day. I think tomorrow I'll get up and take a walk out to the front porch.”
Lyric threw herself across the bed and rested her head on her father's chest. She hugged him while he stroked her hair. “Oh, Papa, I've been so worried about you.”
He chuckled and pushed her back. “Come on and tell me all about it. Tell me everything that's happened around here since I've been gone. I want to know everything.”
Lyric resumed her chair. “Nothing's happened around here since you left, but everything's happened since you came back. I just don't know…” She stopped.
He studied her with his head on one side. “You just don't know what?”
She knit her fingers in her lap and shook her head. “I just don't know how to make head or tail of it all. It all seems too amazing to believe.”
His eyes sparkled the way she remembered. He could look right through her with those eyes. He hadn't looked at her like that since she was a little girl. His skin glowed with health. “You still haven't told me what's going on.”
She started talking faster, but she couldn't look at him. “Well, Riskin checked your bank records, and he said you hadn't been to the casino in four weeks, and you hadn't been to the liquor store in five weeks, and we thought something terrible must have happened to you—that is, until Mattox found you in the barn and brought you here. We all thought you were dead in a ditch somewhere, and we were all so happy you were alive and safe and right here on the Homestead. We've been going out of our minds with worry.”
“Is that all?” Rex snorted. “I'll bet Azer hasn't been out of his mind with worry. I'll bet he isn't happy I'm alive and safe and right here on the Homestead. Is he?”
Lyric shifted in her seat. “Well, you know how Azer is. He's more worried about the ranch than anything, and now…”
He waited, but she didn't finish. His eyes bored into her soul. He could uncover a secret like no one else. “You better go ahead and tell me what it is, sweetheart. I'm gonna find out one of these days, anyway, and you'll
hurt yourself hiding it.”
She held back as long as she could, but she couldn't escape those eyes. “Oh, Papa!”
“If you can’t tell me, who can you tell?”
She hung her head. All of a sudden, she couldn’t keep it to herself anymore. She sat at her father’s side on the bed. “I’m sorry, Papa. I’m really, really sorry, but I just don’t think I can marry Riskin. I know I’m letting the ranch down and everything. I know everyone’s depending on me to bale the ranch out, but I just can’t go through with it. He’s a nice guy and I’ve cared about him all my life, but he’s not the right man for me. I know you’ll be disappointed and everything. Can you ever forgive me? Please just tell me you forgive me, please, Papa.”
She managed to steal a sidelong glance at his face and found him smiling at her. “Is that what this is all about? You don’t want to marry Riskin?”
She stared down at her hands and nodded.
He regarded her a long time in silence. He sat there so long without saying anything Lyric started to lose hope. He would never forgive her. He would cast her out of the tribe. She would wander Bruins’ Peak alone forever.
A lump stuck in her throat. She gathered her courage to leave the room when his voice touched her with loving care. “It’s Mattox, isn’t it?
Lyric’s eyes flew to his face and she gasped out loud. “Mattox! You know about Mattox?”
“I’ve known about Mattox for a long time. A man like Mattox can’t keep his light hidden under a bushel basket forever. Azer and Riskin and the rest of you might not have seen it, but I did.”
“How did you know? How did you find out?”
“He came to me when he first showed up here. I suppose it must have been about five months ago. I just got back from my last tear. Maybe he thought I was too drunk to understand what he was talking about. He asked me about the old pedigree line. He asked me a lot of very pointed questions about the work I did to develop the herd.”
“Did you tell him?”
Rex nodded. “I did my best to preserve the illusion I was drunk out of my mind, but I told him what he wanted to know. He didn’t ask me anything about you kids or the running of the ranch or anything really useful like that. He only asked me about the old genetics. He asked me about Pompey and some of the crosses I created. He asked me about individual cows and their progeny.”
“What happened? What did he say when you told him?”
“Nothing. He disappeared. I started thinking, and I came to the conclusion he was putting the puzzle pieces together. He wanted to get his hands on the old genetics I developed. I figured he was laying the stepping stones to develop his own pedigree or bring mine back—one or the other.”
Lyric shook her head, but she couldn’t answer. So her father knew all along what Mattox had planned. He went along with it and gave Mattox crucial information to build his new breeding line. How serendipitous, that these two men—these two Alphas, these giants among Bruins—should find each other against all odds.
Lyric took her father’s hand. “Are you sure you weren’t drunk when it happened? Are you sure you didn’t just imagine that conversation?”
He laid his other hand over hers. “Think about it, Sweetie. I haven’t had a drink in four weeks, and the liquor I bought before that I tipped down the motel sink. I’ve been sobering up for three months. I just….”
Lyric cut him off with a broken cry. “You what? Why didn’t you tell us? Don’t you know what this means to us?”
He stared down at their clasped hands with misty eyes. “I couldn’t tell you. Azer hates me with a passion, and I don’t blame him. I couldn’t come crawling to you and beg you to forgive and forget all the things I’d done. It was easier to pretend things were the same. I know what it means to you. Believe me, but you don’t know what it means to me. Facing you and Azer and Melody without a skinful of booze under my belt is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
She clutched his hands to her heart. “Don’t ever leave again, Papa. Don’t tear this family apart. Let us take you back in. Let us love you. That’s all we ever wanted.”
“I know, baby.” His voice choked in his throat. “It’s just so hard to face every day without your Mama. You don’t know how hard it is.”
“I understand now, Papa,” Lyric replied. “I understand better than you know. I’m in love with Mattox Farrell, Papa. I feel that way about him. I would rather die than face the world without him. I just don’t know how to break the news to Riskin.”
He folded her into his arms and held her to his heart. “I’m happy for you. I’m so happy you found a man who deserves you. Riskin is a nice boy, but he’ll never be the man Mattox is. He’ll never lead this family the way Mattox can.”
She peered into his damp eyes. “You don’t mind, Papa? You don’t mind a stranger taking over our tribe? He’s a Farrell.”
“And Riskin is a Dodd. You can’t exactly marry another Mackenzie.”
“I was thinking about Azer. He’s supposed to take over as Alpha after you.”
Rex shook his head. “The strongest Bruin takes over as Alpha, and that’s not Azer. If he was strong enough to take over as Alpha, he wouldn’t need Riskin around to back him up all the time.”
“Every Alpha needs a second to back him up. Every Alpha on this mountain has a brother or some relative as his right-hand man. So, Azer has Riskin.”
“Azer will never be Alpha. If I had to guess, I would say Mattox has already shown Azer his stripes. Azer will bow to Mattox’s authority. I only wish I could say the same for Riskin.”
“So what should I tell him?”
“If you really find it so hard to tell him, don’t say anything. Let Mattox deliver that message. Mattox will put Riskin in his place, if he hasn’t done it already. Riskin will learn the truth, and he’ll disappear out of your life. Mattox will take over, and you’ll marry him.”
“And you don’t mind if I do?”
He petted her cheek. “Honey, I want you to. I couldn’t be happier for you.”
She let her head fall on his chest. “Oh, Papa! Thank you!”
He stroked her hair. “You better get up. It’s long past dark, and I hear voices out in the kitchen. It sounds like dinner’s on the table.”
“Why don’t you come out and join us? You’re strong enough.”
“Not yet. Soon, but not yet. You go ahead, and take my blessing with you.”
Chapter 13
Lyric closed her father's bedroom door and listened, but she didn't hear any voices. Night darkened the windows. Dinner must be over. She lingered longer than she realized in her father's comforting presence. At least one person in the world understood why she had to split from Riskin. Her father understood, and he gave her his blessing. She could carry that with her to bolster her courage for the job ahead.
She crept out to the living room. The kitchen stood empty and spotlessly clean. Maybe Melody really could take over the household duties to take the load off Lyric's shoulders. Everyone treated Melody like a shrinking violet, but maybe she just needed more responsibility to bring her out of her shell.
Nothing remained for Lyric to do for the rest of the night. Instead of doing dishes and putting away the leftovers, she could…what could she do? She never considered doing any hobbies or projects of her own. Her duties in the house took up all her time. She never did anything for herself since she took over the housework.
She stopped in the living room door and looked right and left. That's when she saw him. Mattox sat alone in the couch corner. The lamp shone over his shoulder on piles of file folders, loose papers, and that tell-tale book open on top of it all. He flipped the pages and wrote notes in the margins.
He smiled up at Lyric. “There you are.”
“Where is everybody? I guess I missed dinner.”
“Melody left a plate in the oven for you. She said you were talking to your father. It must have been about something important.”
“It was.” Lyric migrated over nex
t to him and sat down. She made sure to leave a respectable gap between them. “I was talking to him about you.”
He closed the book. “And what did he say about me?”
“He said he's known what you were up to for months, that you came and asked him a bunch of pointed questions about his pedigree, and he put the pieces together that you were trying to go out on your own. He's been sobering up all this time and never told anybody.”
Mattox nodded. “I wondered about that. He made a lot more sense than he should have for someone too drunk to hold up his head.”
Lyric nodded down at the papers in his lap. “Let me guess. You're working on your breeding program.”
He shifted the book to the bottom of his stack and brought out the loose papers. “Actually, I'm working on a business plan for the bank. I'm working out my budget projections for the next five years of running the ranch with my new pedigree.”
“What are you doing that for? I'm sure Riskin has that worked out.”
“He has it worked out for the current pedigree. Anyway, this is all mine. I'm applying for a loan so I can expand my operation.”
Lyric's eyes widened. “Wow! You've really got it all figured out, haven't you?”
“That's what keeping your eyes on the far horizon is all about. You can't fly blind and expect to hit your target. You'll never get where you want to go if you don't know where that is.”
She stared down at the papers. Why hadn't she bothered to learn any of that stuff? Why hadn't she kept her eyes on the far horizon instead of giving up? If Mattox could spend nights and weekends studying the ranch's operations, so could she.
“How are your cattle doing?”
“They're doing fine. That bull isn't near as old as Azer and Riskin led me to believe. I had him checked out by the vet. He's got lots of good years left in him, and half those calves are bulls, too.”
Lyric closed her eyes and shook her head. “It's hard to believe all of this is happening. I never would have believed it.”
Mattox rifled his papers into a stack. “I find it hard to believe, too. I'm still amazed all this fell into my lap.”
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