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“Shhh,” she murmured. His shirt was staining with red, and was tattered in places. Dear God! “Why didn’t you unhitch the mules, you ridiculous man?”
Roy tried to smile. “Don’t boss me around.” His voice was full of pain.
“I don’t know what to do. What do I do?” she whispered.
“Get Garret.”
She threw a terrified glance at the distance from here to the house. She wasn’t strong. She wasn’t strong enough! “Okay, I’m going to go get help, Roy.” She ripped off a length of her petticoats and put it onto his stomach, placed his hand firmly over it. “Hold that tightly on.”
“If it’s too late—”
“No! Don’t you say that. This isn’t all I get with you. You’re going to be around for a long time. Hold that tight. Tighter! I’ll bring help.”
“If it’s too late…don’t let Garret get ahold of me.”
His words made no sense. No sense at all. He just asked her to get Garret. Garret could help him.
“Don’t let him bite me, Eliza,” he gritted out.
What? Eliza didn’t understand. Why on earth would Garret bite him? He would help him, not hurt him!
Frantic, Eliza scrambled up on Buck and kicked him until she could barely hold on, and rode like the wind. Tree branches whipped at her skin and reached for her like clawed hands as they flew toward the main road. Her breath stayed caught and stifled the lump of fear that filled her throat. Every thundering hoofbeat brought her closer to help, but what if Garret was out with the cattle or in town on an errand? What if she couldn’t find anyone while Roy lay there hurt and alone?
Wilderness blurred by in a messy canvas of greens and browns, and Buck’s labored breathing picked up as the old horse slowed down.
“Come on, Buck. Can’t slow down now,” she chanted. He held steady, possibly at the sound of her panicked voice. Whatever the reason for his effort, she was grateful.
She pulled him through the woods to avoid the corner at the road and raced for the dusty trail that led to Garret’s house. She’d ridden this road a hundred times in her youth, but none of them held such terror as it did now. Every minute was an hour as she pounded toward the house. As it came into view, a great shuddering relief took her. Now, if only she could remember how to stop the horse when in a panicked state like this!
By the time she reached the house, Buck was beyond her control. The old horse had reacted to her fear, and she couldn’t seem to slow him down now that he’d gotten going. Garret was loading supplies into a flatbed wagon with two other men in front of the house, but it was Cookie who noticed her first. He waved his hands and brought the frenzied horse skidding to a stop to avoid him.
“Whoa! Easy there, fella. Easy,” he crooned as he grabbed the reins of the rearing horse.
It was enough to dump her on her rear, extracting a scream as her tailbone felt like it crashed through her body. The wind was knocked cleanly out of her. Was her back broken? The ground had hurt her so badly!
Cookie led the still-panicked horse away from her, and Garret barreled down on her, grabbed her shoulder and lifted her into a sitting position. “Have you gone mad, woman? You could have killed someone comin’ in like that!” His voice sounded strange. It was as if he was growling, and he spoke with the tone of a demon. It was terrifying.
His narrowed eyes widened and his jaw clenched. “What has happened?”
She tried to drag a breath into her constricted lungs, but couldn’t. Then fear for Roy spurred the winded words out. “Roy…hurt bad.”
His impossibly blue eyes widened, and there was a spark for a moment where she could see his mind working.
“Burke, ride for the doc,” Garret said. “Cookie, you’re with me.” He didn’t wait for the men or make sure his orders were followed. “Stay here,” he barked at her. He jumped on Buck and tore off for Roy’s homestead, whipping her horse on both flanks with the reins.
He’s going to kill my horse, was her last thought before everything went black.
****
“Damned woman!” Garret roared as he kicked the buckskin gelding again to no improved speed. Eliza had brought in a nearly-spent horse for him to get back to Roy’s place on. He’d tried to convince Roy to sell the blasted nag years ago, but the old man had refused. “Keepin’ him for sentimental reasons,” Roy had said. Damn fool. In this country, riding old horses was a death wish.
Hoofbeats thundered behind him. Cookie, catching up quickly on a fresh horse. A newfangled wave of annoyance with the woman rushed through Garret all over again. At the helm of his frustration was the sheer amount of times he had thought about her since meeting her yesterday. Her fair skin, bright-green eyes, dark auburn hair, and freckles had served quite the contrast when she stood next to Roy with his dark, leathery skin. She would have been a right pretty woman if it weren’t for the ridiculous full skirts and the snooty little hat she was wearing. That, and she stood like she had a fence post for a spine. She looked like she was going to a damned ball in the middle of the Texas desert.
That woman was responsible for whatever had happened. She’d been here one day and he was already hurt. Roy knew better than to have a highfalutin lady out in the wilderness, and now he was paying for it. Well-bred women didn’t belong out on a struggling cattle ranch in the middle of nowhere.
Was she a mail-order bride?
The wolf inside of him let off a long snarl. He’d been at war with the beast about the mail-order shit. Women didn’t belong out here, where Packs of werewolves fought ruthlessly over territory.
