Page 45 of Protected Hearts

They both shoved to their feet and rushed out of the office. By the time Oaks made it outside, he already knew something happened.

He swept the area in front of the barn. A cat slinked around the corner on the hunt, but there wasn’t anything else in sight. Hurrying down the front steps, he rushed around the paddock where the trail that Colt and Shiloh had taken began.

A step behind him, Carson let out a low growl at what they were both looking at.

The trail began at the paddock and circled the property, most of it a scenic route through the woods. In the distance, Oaks saw two riders, Colt and Shiloh, pushing their mounts to reach the house faster.

Oaks stared at Shiloh. She sat stiffly as poor old Dusty was pushed to the limit of his ability.

Oaks was never the fastest man on his SEAL team, but he was fast enough. He took off running toward her, boots thumping on the hard-packed dirt track. As soon as she saw him, relief rippled over her face, wiping away some of the strain.

“What happened? What’s going on?” he demanded of Colt.

He reached up and caught Shiloh’s reins. She clung to the leather with a death grip.

“I’ve got you, honey. Let go.” He took the reins and pulled back to bring the horse to a halt.

Colt dismounted in a smooth swing of his leg over the side of the horse. In his arms, he had what looked to be a broken black device. Carson strode over to their brother to inspect it.

Oaks’s first concern was his ward. His wife.

He drew her off the horse’s back and into his arms. With her arms crossed over her chest protectively, she shivered in his hold but not from the temperature.

“Are you hurt?”

“No. Just scared. Oaks, someone sent a drone out and Colt shot it out of the sky!”

Over her shoulder, he looked up sharply at his brothers.

Colt tossed him a glance. “She okay?”

“Yeah.” He cupped her head against his shoulder. “She’ll be all right.”

“Good. I’m taking this inside so we can see if there’s a recording device attached to it.”

“Oh god…” A full shudder rolled through Shiloh, causing Oaks to tighten his grip on her.

Gently, he drew back to search Shiloh’s face, gauging if she was capable of walking or if he needed to carry her into the house. Those gray-blue eyes were steady on his.

Ahead of them, Colt and Carson hurried to the house. Oaks grabbed both horses and brought them to the paddock. A sharp whistle brought one of the vets out of the barn.

He nodded at the man dressed in faded jeans and a Black Heart Ranch T-shirt. “Can you take care of them?”

“Of course.” He moved forward swiftly and took the horses from him.

Oaks turned back to Shiloh. She stood waiting for him, head held high and a composed expression on her face. In the few heartbeats it took him to pass off the horses to the care of the ranch hand on duty, Shiloh had done a turnaround.

He’d seen her do it once before—freak out. But before a single tear could fall, she stuffed down her emotions like a switch flipped.

There wasn’t time for discussing this phenomenon right now. He needed to get her inside, safe, and find out what the hell happened, though her behavior was a jab in the back of his mind, urging him to address it. He couldn’t be part of the veterans’ therapy and not understand that what she was doing was probably hurting her more than she knew.

He wrapped an arm around her and led her swiftly across the yard. All the way, he kept an eye out for danger.

He never should have let her go off with Colt on that ride, whether it was for her own mental health or not.

He had plenty to say now, but it wasn’t the time. They had other matters to worry about.

Once they were in the house, Oaks guided her straight to the conference room. Colt and Carson were already there, and Willow had come running at one of their calls. A sheet was spread on the table, and Colt set down the drone on top of it.

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