Page 69 of Fierce Protector

“Doc! We need to call it quits!”

She looked up to see Jeff silhouetted by fire.

Oh god. How had the wall of flame come so close, creating a circle around them?

They were trapped.

Chapter Fifteen

Ledger planted his hands on the side of the Davidsons’ steer and gave it a hard shove toward the other end of the pasture. “Yaw! Get!”

It lowed in protest before lumbering a few feet and stopping.

“Goddammit!” He ran up to it and slapped it again, sending the beast into a slow jog. He watched it go for a moment, expecting it to stop again, but to his relief, it continued toward safety.

Colton pushed several more past Ledger. The heat of the fire had sweat pouring down him as much as the urgency of the situation. Davidson had a hundred head of cattle all around the field. Who knew how many they’d gotten to safety—or how many had panicked and run into the wall of flames.

Ledger’s phone buzzed three times before he realized he was getting a call. With an eye fixed on the wildfire, he brought the phone up to his ear.

“Bell.”

“It’s Webb. How are things? Do you need me?”

“Of course we do. There are a lot of fucking cows in this field. But we needed you to protect the ranger and her daughter more. Someone took out their loved one in the most brutal of ways, and they could be next.”

For a long heartbeat, Zach was silent. Then in a low voice filled with gravity, he said, “I won’t let you down.”

His phone beeped twice with an incoming call. “Look, I gotta go. It’s Meadow.”

Without saying goodbye, he answered Meadow. “What’s going on? Is Demi okay?”

“Ledger! Thank god you answered your phone. I called Colton four times!”

Fear froze in his veins. “What’s the matter?”

“We just heard over the police scanner that the wind shifted. The Peterson ranch is on fire. Demi is there!”

His stomach bottomed out. “What?” He barely choked out the word. “When? What for?”

He told her to stay put. For her safety and that of their child. She’d agreed. Yet she’d gone to help the rancher with his cattle?

Meadow answered his question in her next breath. “There’s a breech calf. But you need to get to her. I know she’s having your baby!”

That galvanized him. Those two lives were far more important than any cattle left in the pasture. He took off at a dead run.

As he sprinted, his feet pounded the earth. He no longer heard the crackle of fire razing everything in its path. He couldn’t hear his own heart slamming against his ribs.

He only felt the love for Demi and their child throbbing in his core. When he lost his best friend and most of his SEAL team, he forced away all those emotions. He hoped he’d never feel again for fear of being hurt.

Then Demi stormed into his life like a mini tornado made of steel and passion. She breathed life back into him, and made him feel.

Reaching the truck, he threw himself behind the wheel. Colton had left the key in the ignition, and he cranked the engine. Before it fully rolled over, he slammed it into gear and raced off the ranch.

Part of him regretted leaving his brother-in-arms behind, but Colton was smart. Resourceful. He wouldn’t let the fire circle him—he’d get the hell out of there and save himself first. And he’d understand why Ledger had to go.

He couldn’t drive fast enough. And all his calls to Demi went straight to her voicemail.

Again, he’d fucked up by allowing duty to his brothers and to the ranch cloud his decisions. Every damn time he and Demi were apart, the world went up in flames. In this case, literally.

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