Page 5 of Highland Heat

He seemed to perk up at that, so maybe he had been someone’s pet after all.

I untied the rope and gave him a gentle tug. He was more than happy to keep moving as I led him out of the pen and down the alleyway toward the trailer. Something caught his attention, and he began nibbling on my front pocket.

“Hey there,” I said. “What are you looking for?” I pulled out the pack of mints that I kept there. Every so often I liked to give my animals a special treat, and so I was in the habit of carrying the tin around with me.

“You want one of these?” I said, holding out my hand. He gobbled it up, and I laughed when this tongue flicked over my palm. “You’re going to do just fine,” I said, even though on the inside I was screaming. What had I been thinking? I was not equipped to have a bull on my property. Bulls got out and looked for lady friends. I didn’t have any cows, and I really didn’t want to get one.

I was a glutton for punishment, and I would need to put in the work to keep this guy contained. Guess I was building a new pen.

“Come on, buddy.” He let out a loud moo at that. “Okay, okay, you don’t like buddy. How about cutie? May I can call you cutie?” He stopped for a moment and tilted his head as if pondering that idea. “Cutie it is. Let’s go.”

Chapter 5

Ewan

Well, this was something.

What the fuck was I going to do now? Graham, the name they called him when he picked me up, was now my owner, and I was being taken gods knew where. There had been no mention of me being dinner, so technically it wasn’t worst-case scenario, but it was far from the best-case scenario.

The trip to my new “home” was better than the one to the auction. It still sucked being trapped as my beast and going anywhere but my place for a hot shower and bed, but it didn’t feel unsafe. I was nodding off as we finally arrived at his farm.

Graham didn’t mess around, immediately moving to unload us when he’d parked, and apologizing for the ride being so long. I didn’t think it was bad, but my sense of time was off when I was in my hooves. The goats didn’t seem to mind either. I didn’t know a ton about goats, but these ones seemed nice and like he’d made the right choice with them.

The pen that Graham had put me in was nice enough, albeit a little small. From what I’d seen of him, he was a happy guy. Or at least he was happy about his purchases at the auction. Based on what he’d told me, which was pretty much every single thing he was doing and why, he’d come to the auction for the goats. I was an afterthought. He hadn’t used that word. He said I was a “bonus,” but same difference.

It was sweet that he kept trying to reassure me by explaining each step he was doing. I could tell he was the type of man that took good care of his animals. That didn’t mean he didn’t end up eating them, but that was the circle of life and all that. I couldn’t hold it against him if they were. Heck, I ate meat.

He put the goats away in a pasture not far from my pen, and despite his focus being on settling them in, he spoke loud enough for me to hear what he was saying. If he consistently talked at that volume, I’d have assumed it was how he was, but he definitely got louder as he walked away. He was talking to me, and I liked that a little too much. He was a human, and to him, I was a bull. There was no reason for his attention to give me all these feels.

The goats all seemed content in their new setting. Either they were happy-go-lucky or this place was a lot better than where they had been. They all gathered together in their little group, not rushing to the hay like I’d have done. They had friends. Lucky bastards.

A big livestock guardian dog, the ones with the long hair, kept a close eye on the place, including a close eye on me. The poor creature didn’t seem to know what to do with me. He could tell I wasn’t one of his charges, but he didn’t seem to know why. That could’ve gone a whole lot worse. I’d had dogs think I was a threat before, and that never ended well. Curious I could deal with.

I was in a stall with an adequate amount of straw, but not enough that I was going to actually enjoy sleeping in my hooved form. Most bulls would’ve been fine with it, but I was spoiled. I liked having a bed. If I was going to sleep as a bull, I would want piles of straw, an entire round bale, just for me to rest in.

I couldn’t exactly tell that to Graham. He had no idea that he had bought himself a bougie bull who wanted the best of the best. This pen would be perfectly fine if I weren’t a shifter.

Once the last light in the house turned off, I let myself relax. Now was the time for me to escape. But how the heck was I going to do it without alerting the livestock dog? He might’ve been chill when I was bigger than him and he was confused. I suspected that wouldn’t be the case if I was a buck-ass naked man where my bull once stood. Him attacking me while my balls were hanging out would not end well.

I could make a run for it, but I doubted I could run faster than him. I doubted I’d make it around the barn. Fuck, this was so much more complicated than I thought it would be. My cousin was probably worried sick about me. My clothes and cell phone were in the corner of the field I had been scoping out, and he’d know something happened to me. Knowing him, he felt guilty, and while I wanted to blame him for the mess, it was me who hadn’t paid attention to my surroundings.

No new ideas came to me. The dog was going to continue to be here. It wasn’t like if I was only waiting until Graham left, because if that was the case, it would happen eventually. I had no choice. I just had to go for it.

I was hungry. I wanted actual food, and not just the very delicious hay that my mate had given me.

That caught me off guard. There was no denying I’d felt comfortable with him in a way I shouldn’t have given the circumstances, but that was the first time the word mate had slipped into my consciousness, and it felt right.

Graham was my mate.

Ours. My bull agreed with me.

So much started to make sense. That was why he brought me despite coming for the goats. That was why I liked listening to him narrate his chores. That was why my nerves shot up after he went to bed.

I needed to meet him in my human form, preferably dressed. We didn’t have to stay clothed long, but a naked meeting might freak him out. My cousin always said that fate didn’t make mistakes, and I was going to trust that to mean that fate would make sure I found a way to explain to him that I was the bull he purchased, and also reimburse him the money that he spent. Maybe. I wasn’t actually flush with cash these days. My cousins and I had saved up for the land we wanted to purchase, and that was where most of my cash was.

They’d be cool with me using the money for this. Probably. They might make fun of me for being a kept man first. Because cousins.

I finally bit the bullet and closed my eyes and pictured myself in my human form. My horns disappeared, and along with it went my long hair and cloven hooves. All that was left was the sandy-brown hair that covered the top of my head. It was long, but not quite as long as my Highland hair.