Page 13 of The Coyote's Veterinarian Omega

“Oh,” I said, eyes widening.

Vern nodded grimly. “Minnie, their mother, she was something else. But she got cancer, oh, ten, fifteen years ago? I can’t remember. The boys were still in school, at any rate. Carl, he did his best for them after that. He’s been gone five years now—heart attack.”

I grimaced. “That’s rough.”

Vern nodded. “Cal’s done his best, but it’s tough when you’ve got a pack of feral boys.”

I swallowed a sip of my own coffee. “I’ve only met Cal and Cam. Where are the rest of them?”

Vern’s eyes got wide. “Oh, gosh, let’s see here. So you know Cal and Cam, and the next is Carter, the real troublemaker of the bunch. Pretty sure he shipped out to the army. Then there’s Cash. I think he’s gone up to Canada to help out on some relative’s ranch—maybe a cousin or something? Chip, he’s the smart one, so he’s gone off to school—not sure what for, Cal’d know better than me. And then there’s the twins, Connor and Cody. I think Cal sent them to live with their aunt while theyfinish up school. They were doing really bad with their grades, so Cal figured they needed someone who could look after ’em more than he could.”

I nodded silently. Vern stabbed at his eggs. “Anyway, it’s just Cal and Cam there right now, and trust me, you’re lucky. The whole pack of them is a lot to deal with.”

I pushed eggs around on my plate. That was the second or third time Vern had referred to the Carlyles as apack. I tilted my head, considering. “Forgive me asking,” I said, “but since I’ve been up there a couple of times, I’m getting to know them a bit, and … I can’t shake the feeling there’s something weird going on at Rocky Ridge.”

Vern looked me dead in the eye. Then he smiled and snorted before he took another sip of his coffee. “You’re keen, huh? Well, I’ll tell you this, Wyatt: you’re not wrong.”

My heart leapt into my throat. “I knew it. What’s going on?”

Vern tapped the table and shook his head. “That ain’t my secret to tell,” he said. He took another swig of his coffee and tossed an amused look my way. Then his good humor faded. “Just be careful about getting mixed up with the Carlyle boys, okay?”

I hesitated, then said, slowly, “Why do you assume I’m getting mixed up with them?”

Vern lifted his brows as he lifted his coffee mug back to his lips. His gaze ran up and down me, almost critically. “You think I don’t know one when I see one?” he asked, and I felt my ears turn red.

“I—”

Vern shook his head. “Would’ve landed myself in a whole lot more hot water ’round these parts if I wasn’t able to recognize my own,” he said.

I blinked a couple of times as puzzle pieces fell into place. “Oh,” I said.

“Yeah,oh,” Vern chuckled.

I frowned at him. “Who—”

Vern gave me a cool look. “I told you, it ain’t any of my business who you decide to bring to bed, and please you to be doing the same with respect to my business, hm?”

I stared at him for a second or two. “Uh. Sure. Sorry.”

“No harm,” Vern said. “But it’s better that way—or maybe it’s not, but it’s the way we’ve survived in this part of the country, so it’s the way we do things.”

“Right,” I said.

Vern took a final sip of his coffee, draining the mug, then heaved himself up. “Right,” he said, “now, those cows over at the Falklands’ ain’t gonna calve themselves.”

Cam

He’s here,” cal called from the front room. i dropped the dish i was trying to put away.

“Who?”

“Who d’ya think,” Cal replied, just as tires stopped crunching on the gravel of the driveway.

“That’s early,” I grumbled. Cal loomed in the doorway, glowering at me.

“Get,” he said, and I glanced at the dish on the floor, then scrambled to get into my fur and into my pen at the same time.

I winced as my paws landed on the floor, sending shudders of pain through my injured shoulder. I turned myself around three times and curled up on the blanket, listening to Cal greet Wyatt at the door.