AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“And we’re not going to let you,” Tanner said. “Your job will be to gather up the chunks me and Logan knock loose and stuff ’em in those saddlebags.”
“Fair enough,” Shannon said.
They set to work, the alphas swinging the pickaxes, Shannon gathering up what fell. As she put the pieces of firestone safely into the saddle bags, she tried to mentally calculate how much it was worth. She didn’t care at all about getting rich, she just wanted to have enough to save the ranch and pay the alphas their share.
Perhaps she wouldn’t even have to pay her debts after this, she thought. Once Flarity saw how much firestone was available here, he probably wouldn’t even care about her measly little ranch anymore. God, with all this firestone, the man would be rich enough to buy the entire Arizona Territory if he wanted.
That thought made her stomach squirm.
She didn’t like to think about what a man like Flarity would do with such a vast empire.
Then there was the problem of her omega status to think about. Flarity would already know about that by now. His alpha would have told him. When they got back to Lamentation, Flarity might try to expose her out of spite for turning down his marriage proposal.
But Shannon would be getting back to Lamentation first. If Dr. Widdershins was still in town, she could get a fresh bottle of suppressant. If not, she knew the circuit of towns the man traveled, and she would have no trouble tracking him down.
The suppressant would hide her scent, but there was still her omega sign to think about. if Flarity made a formal accusation, then the sheriff of Lamentation might force her to submit to a physical examination. That meant she would have to hide her sign somehow. Maybe she could burn it off? Hell, she would chop her entire damned arm off if she had to. Whatever it took to keep from losing the ranch and the hucows.
Shannon felt a prickle at the base of her neck. She had that uneasy feeling again. The feeling of being observed, studied. She whirled around with her arms full of firestone and looked at the metal dome.
Nothing.
No signs of life at all.
Shannon’s eyes went back to that rent in the metal and the strange machinery inside. Her desire to explore inside the dome came surging back.
Maybe they would have time for a quick peek? The packs were almost full of firestone now. Too much more, and the horses would have a hard time hauling it back across the desert.
There was a sound from the entrance of the crater. Both alphas stopped working and turned to look, and Shannon looked too. Rufus had shifted into his human form, and he was waving his arms high over his head.
“They must be coming,” Tanner said.
“Shit,” Shannon said. “I thought it would take them longer to get up that trail.”
“Me too, but it’s alright. We got what we need, now it’s time for us to get out of here.”
“Let’s go,” Shannon said reluctantly.
She knew her curiosity about the metal dome would probably bother her for the rest of her life, but if she stuck around and Flarity’s men caught her here, she wouldn’t have a life to spend worrying about it. The choice was pretty simple.
They stashed the tools and started leading the horses toward the exit. Rufus shifted back into his wolf form and raced across the crater to join them.
Shannon figured it would take Flarity’s men a few minutes to figure out about the mirage, but sooner or later one of them would touch the rock wall and realize it wasn’t solid.
As she was coming up the slope of the crater, she took one last look back at the huge formations of firestone and the strange metal dome. It seemed like a shame to leave all this for Ned Flarity, but there was nothing else they could do. She wasn’t about to risk her life for it, and she didn’t want her companions to risk their lives either.
She needed them to get her back to Lamentation.
And she needed them in other ways too.
They reached the edge of the crater, and Shannon moved toward the opening that would lead them down the easy trail, the one Flarity and his men didn’t know about yet. She stepped forward and started to pass through the mirage, but suddenly Logan’s hand was on her shoulder, tugging her back inside.
Something hit the rock next to where she’d just been standing, sending up a spray of stone shards. A second later, the bark of a rifle split the air.
CHAPTER 35
Shannon’s heart climbed into her throat as Logan’s arm swept her behind him, shielding her with his body. She stumbled backward, and for a moment she thought she might fall over, but her back connected with Stormy’s shoulder, and the horse’s weight kept her upright.
Shannon watched as Logan moved forward until his face was right at the edge of the mirage, but not passing through.
