“Motherfucker!”
I flinch. “Oh my God.”
Royce’s voice rings out. “You okay, Ax?”
Axle grabs the back of his head and straightens. “Yeah.”
I stare at him.
No way that didn’t hurt.
“Back him up again,” Axle shouts, like he wasn’t just hit by a swinging steel gate.
The men reposition themselves. The bull keeps fighting. The ropes stretch tight once more. The animal becomes more frustrated. Eventually, the pressure does exactly what they want. The bull begins to back up. One hesitant step at a time. Up the ramp. Into the trailer.
Finally.
The moment all four hooves clear the opening, Axle slams the gate shut, the metal clang echoing across the pasture.
Everyone exhales, including me.
Axle looks at Royce. “I’ll drive him in. You got my horse?”
Royce nods and retrieves Axle’s horse’s reins. Bryce secures their ropes, and Axle walks toward the truck.
I’m still staring at the back of his head, trying to assess whether he’s bleeding.
He opens the driver’s door and climbs inside.
“Are you okay?”
He glances over. “What?”
“Don’twhatme. That hit looked bad.”
A grin appears on his face. “I was hoping you didn’t see that.”
“Well, I did.”
He turns the key in the ignition, and the truck roars to life.
“It was just a tap,” he says as he slams the truck in gear.
I stare at him. “A tap?”
“Yep.”
I shake my head. “You always say it was just a tap.”
The truck starts moving.
We follow Bryce and Royce back toward the academy. A few minutes later, they open the pasture gate for us.
Then we head toward the Wildhaven Storm Ranch bullpens.
Cabe spots us coming and meets us at the fence.
Axle explains everything. “The panel’s destroyed. We need a place to isolate him until we reinforce it.”
