Page 83 of Wrangling the Orc Cowboy

I leaned low, squeezing my thighs tight, letting my body sync with Castree’s movements.

The car loomed ahead. We were gaining on it.

The town vanished behind us, swallowed by dust. All that mattered was the shrinking gap between me and that cursed metal box. That fragile, flimsy human cage holding my Gracie.

The wind howled against my ears, tugging my hat loose, sending it flying. I didn’t care.

Faster. Faster.

My pulse kept pace with Castree’s pounding hooves.

Closer now.

The back bumper bobbed within reach, the vehicle jolting as it hit a rough patch in the dirt road. My grip tightened on Castree’s hide.

One wrong move, one mistimed leap, and I'd go flying. I didn't care. Gracie was inside, and I would save her.

I guided Castree alongside the car, my eyes locked onto my target.

“Fly, Sharga,” I bellowed, and he lifted off me, his wings flapping furiously.

Now. I sucked in a deep breath and coaxed Castree with a nudge of my heels into one last powerful stride?—

And I leaped.

The world blurred, time stretching. A heartbeat of weightlessness, and I made impact, my body smacking down on the flat front of the vehicle, the metal crunching beneath me.

The car bucked, swerving in one direction then the next. I braced my legs, gripping the edges of the frame. The humans inside screamed.

Good. I wanted them scared.

I peeled my lips back, baring my tusks in a snarl. My fingers dug into the metal, denting it like soft clay.

They had seconds to let her go or I’d tear this thing apart with my bare hands.

I dug my fingers into the car’s hood, holding on as the vehicle lurched from side to side. The beast inside the metal below my belly whined. The rubber wheels ground against the dirt road.

I twisted, bracing my boots against the crumpled metal, and slammed my fist down. The glass between us cracked. My instincts screamed at me to rip it clean off, yank them both from their seats, and grind their bones into the dust.

Gracie’s face appeared behind the glass, her eyes wide, her hands holding the back of the seat tight. She shouted something I couldn’t hear through the wind, the roaring blood in my ears, and Sharga’s squawks nearby.

The car surged. I slid sideways, gripping the frame as the vehicle spun a wild turn down a narrow path I knew led nowhere, nearly clipping a fence post.

A hard slam from the brakes jolted me forward. I dug my heels in and clung.

With a bellow, I reared back my fist and struck the glass again. More cracks appeared in the surface. Another punch, and the glass gave way, showering the people inside.

The man I took for Gracie’s father barked something to her mother. My eyes burned as I caught his expression—panicked,furious, desperate. He yanked the wheel, sending the vehicle skidding out into the deep grass on the side of the sorhox trail.

The woman screamed.

“Tark, hold on,” Gracie cried, her hands tightening, her arms bracing.

I'd barely registered the words before the car plunged into a ditch we'd dug for drainage.

My body launched forward, and a bone-rattling jolt slammed through me. Then I was flying through the air, bucked off the metal beast.

I twisted, my body snapping into a hard roll as I hit the dirt. The impact sent me skidding through the grass, but I stayed loose, absorbing the fall. My momentum slowed, and I dug my hands into the ground, flipping onto my feet.

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