Page 49 of Cowboy Wolf's Secret Baby

Beth had already arrived, so they ate lunch and walked around for a while before they went back to the rodeo grounds.

Conner looked around and noticed that Matilda was in the stands, sitting away from Beth so she couldn’t see her mother. Matilda caught her looking at him and grinned.

Great. I’m going to need a crash helmet or something. There has to be something I can do to protect myself.

Taryn did well as usual. She came in first in barrel racing and second to Jenna in the breakaway roping. The announcers stated that the two young ladies were people to watch because they were dominating the field in the junior categories. Once they graduated to the regular categories, they would be a force to be reckoned with.

He caught Taryn eyeing the bull riders again. Conner knew that Taryn was dying to try it, but he didn’t want to upset her mother. He felt bad for her because he knew exactly what it felt like to be caught between two boulders. However, since Taryn really was a lot like him, Conner had a sneaking suspicion that she would give in. If Conner was a betting man, he would guess that Taryn would end up bull riding by next season.

Conner had to force himself to focus when it was time for the bull riding. He wasn’t afraid to get on the bull because of what the bull might do to him. He was more worried about Matilda.

You cannot let that witch control your life.

With that mantra playing in his head, he got on the bull and rode for the full eight seconds without any issues. Feeling a little better, he did the bronc riding events with confidence. He won first in the saddled and second in the unsaddled events.

It was time for his final event -- steer wrestling. He looked up in the stands and saw Matilda. She stared down at him, as though she were in a trance. She had a blank look on her face.

“Not a good sign,” he muttered as he walked toward Zephyr.

The horse seemed to be a little nervous. Conner petted him and talked to him softly until their name was called. The hazer was a man he had worked with on multiple occasions and was very talented. Conner trusted him implicitly.

“Ready?” Conner asked.

“Yep.” The man grinned.

“Let’s do it.” Conner nodded and the gate was opened. The steer shot out. Conner and the hazer waited until the steer had reached the designated spot and they shot after him. Conner was about to slide off of Zephyr when the huge horse stumbled, going down to his knees.

The crowd gasped.

“What the hell?” the hazer asked, pointing to the ground in front of Conner. A huge rock was embedded in the ground in front of Zephyr.

Conner looks up in the stands where Matilda sat. She gave a little wave and then disappeared into the crowd.

The clowns herded the steer back into the chute while the rodeo manager hurried over to see what the problem was.

“How did that get into the arena. It is combed every day before the events start to make sure there is nothing in the arena.”

You wouldn’t believe me if I told you that it was a witch with a personal vendetta against me, Conner thought.

Rage built up inside of him as he petted Zephyr, assuring the horse that he didn’t do anything wrong. It was one thing to go after him. It was entirely different to do something that could hurt his horse.

17

Beth

“What did you do?” Beth demanded.

“Who? Me?” Matilda asked, putting on an innocent façade.

“Yeah, you. I know that you did something to Conner’s horse.”

“I didn’t do anything to his horse. That beast hasn’t done anything to annoy me. However, I might have put a little surprise in the arena for him.”

“Knock it off and leave Conner alone.”

“I’ll leave him alone when he leaves town. Or…” Matilda said calculatingly.

“Or what.”

---