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“I do,” I told her, but she still didn’t look one hundred percent sure. I could see that it was affecting her, and that was because she cared. The fact that she took it so personally and blamed herself told me she was a good person. I felt bad that she took it upon herself at all.
“You know we all love you, Eliza, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” she said hesitantly. “But that’s just because you and Eddie like having sex with me.”
“I want you to know that it is so much more than that, Eliza. Eddie and I would have mated you in a heartbeat, if that’s what you wanted. You mean so much to us. Being with you physically is great, but it’s not the best part. The best part is just being around you and being close to you. I know I can comfortably say that’s how we both feel. We are both head over heels in love with you, and it has very little to do with getting in your panties.”
“You know, I believe you, but it’s still crazy to hear. I never thought anybody would ever want me. After Amos decided I wasn’t good enough, I didn’t think I would ever be good enough for anyone else. He really had me convinced that I would always be alone. I’m glad he was wrong.”
We were about to get close and cozy, probably have some fun together, but then Sterling came up and the mood changed immediately. I wanted to tell him to fuck off because he was ruining the moment, but I could see by the look on his face that something was going on.
“What’s wrong, Sterling?” I asked.
He looked to be debating if he wanted to say anything in front of Eliza, but finally decided he would. “Amos is willing to give up Eliza for four farms.”
I immediately knew Sterling was never going to go for it. He was not going to give an inch, there was just no way. If for some reason he did, though, then it was going to be even more difficult to convince Eliza that this great loss wasn’t her fault.
“Maybe you should let me try to talk to him,” Eliza said.
“No way in hell was are you going to see Amos."
She didn’t seem too happy with my refusal, but I didn’t really care. Amos was not someone who was honorable or someone we could trust. There was no way that I was going to let her deal with him alone.
19
EDDIE
When I heard about the deal was Amos had proposed, Eliza for four of Sterling’s ranches, my first thought was it wasn’t a bad price to pay. Every ranch in exchange for Eliza would have been worth it to me, but no one else would even entertain the idea of it.
Eliza was ready to turn herself in, but I knew there was a way we could get out of this without fighting. I just couldn’t see any other way of it working out. There was also a big part of me that wanted to personally get my hands on the man and the people who were so hard on Eliza and left those marks that she didn’t deserve. I wanted to hurt them, needed to, and then I’d be able to breathe again.
Since I was the one who was so adamant about it, I was given the opportunity to be the one to tell Amos that we would rather go to war than to bow down to them and give them anything. It felt good to tell him to fuck off, even if I knew what would happen because of it. I was ready for the fight, the one that had been building up for so long.
We all knew they were going to attack as soon as it got dark. They might have said that they wanted to meet up and have a proper fight with the best of each side, but Sterling saw right through him and reminded that Amos was not an honorable man, so everybody knew that we had to be prepared. As soon as the sun started to go down, they would attack, thinking they had a small advantage.
Because it had been days of waiting, everyone was all worked up and ready to go. I didn’t know why Amos all of a sudden wanted to make a deal, maybe he started to realize that his chances of winning weren’t as good as he would have liked. Whatever it was, we were finally going to fight this out, and I knew I wasn’t the only one that was a little relieved. While I never looked forward to a fight, not usually, there was a part of me that craved since someone I loved was hurt.
Eliza was a ball of nerves. I could tell that the last thing she wanted was to be in the middle of it all. As soon as they gave her option of paying with her life, she was thinking about it. I wasn’t going to let her even entertain the idea. Sterling wasn’t going to take the deal, but she wanted to. She didn’t want to be a problem. That just made me more hateful towards all of the Bransom Country pack. It made me truly believe that none of them were worth saving. They all deserved what they were going to get.
Sterling and his mate waited with us, ready for the fight. His mate was still mad about losing all those horses. It wasn’t just about the money either; the Dark Riders had a connection to the animals, and to lose so many in such a way was cold and cruel. To lose so many, one might mistake them for their family and want true revenge. I’m pretty sure that’s where Sterling’s mate was. Because she was so worked up, he was as well. He would do anything for her, there love was practically a fairy tale.
Calvin seemed about as ready to fight as I was. He was not a calm person in general, but he was smart, and he thought things through more often than not. He didn’t look like he was thinking much now, though. We shared a reason for revenge.
As the light started to wane in the sky, most of us shifted to our stronger true forms. The few that weren’t as strong stayed in their human form and had loaded shotguns at the ready. The Dark Riders were a large pack, and when we all came together, we were a formidable foe. Even though I worried we were going to lose some people tonight, I knew we would win.
I knew that all we had to do was take out the Bransom Country pack and we would finally be done. The bickering and fighting we had been doing for centuries could finally be over. Maybe that peace we thought we wouldn’t have for another century would be worth the body count. I was willing to be one of those bodies if that’s what it came to. I wasn’t alone in that feeling either. I looked around me and saw people who had resigned their soul to whatever fate had in store for them.
While there were a few people at every farm just in case, most Dark Riders were at Mystic Falls Ranch. It was the ranch Calvin and I knew every nook and cranny of, and we’d be best able to protect it.
We had a lot going for us, but I didn’t even think it was homefield advantage that was the best. The best advantage we had was a desire to get into this fight to begin with. Most of the people we were about to fight did not want to be here. They were here for the glory of their prick of a king and alpha. They were here because they didn’t have a choice. Our side was different, as was our motivation, which made a difference. Everyone was fighting to defend their homes and their loved ones. That, in my opinion, would make us fight harder. We weren’t just here to fight for our ranches, we were here to fight for our very survival and existence. There was no way to imagine how far we were all willing to go to preserve our way of life. It was just another reason why we would be the victors.
* * *
A little after dark,there was a bright light about a mile away from where we lay hidden. Someone had started a fire, a fast-moving forest fire. Several people wanted to rush out and put it out, but we couldn’t take the obvious bait. It was a pretty good tactic because we were attached to all the animals in the area, and when they were distressed and in pain, we could feel it almost as if it was our own.
Those awful feelings started to overcome us and we weren’t sure what to do. We knew the Bransom Country pack were going to do something dirty, but we never thought that they would destroy the very nature around us.
Rage was clear on Sterling’s face. “I am going to go find Amos and end it once and for all.” The man was a force of nature, and in beast mode, he was even scarier.
