Page 70 of Buck Wild Orc Cowboy
He swept the door wide and urged me inside, nudging his wolf, Tressa, to the side. She whined and nuzzled my hand when she caught my scent. He’d found her in the woods, abandoned by her pack, though we didn’t know why. Maybe because her fur was pure white. Or for some other reason we couldn’t explain. He’d raised her. Trained her. And she was amazing.
“I won’t stay long,” I said as he shut the door. “I had a request to make and knew you were the best to ask.”
He nodded. “Drink?”
I shook my head, and we strode from the kitchen, down the hall to his small living room on the left. We settled, him on his sofa, me taking the big chair across from it. He put his feet up on the low table between us and said nothing, just watched me. Waited for me to speak.
While visiting wasn’t that uncommon between us, Hail must be wondering why I’d come by specifically tonight.
Tressa sat beside my chair and rested her chin on my leg, gazing up at me with her entire soul in her eyes. I scratched behind her ears, and she groaned. Flopping on the floor, she rolled onto her back and thrust her paws into the air, begging for belly pats, which I gave her. This wolf was precious and loved, and she sure knew it.
“It’s about Holly and Max.” As I continued to stroke Tressa’s belly, I gave my brother brief details about her past and mentioned the woman who’d stopped by the bakery today. “If images of Holly are showing up on Instaplug, it’s only a matter of time before Holly’s ex figures out where she is. I’m worried he’ll come for her. Hurt her or Max.”
Hail dropped his boots to the floor.
Tressa, seeing him move, rolled to her belly and rose, peering around for threats. Finding none, she dropped to the floor again, this time remaining on high alert.
Hail sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “What can I do?”
“I want you to be around the house. Not all day, but often enough Max won’t notice it’s for him. He’s training a youngling sorhox and it’s the first time he’s done anything like it. Maybe you could stop by, check on his progress, give suggestions. So far, he’s learned to harness the youngling and lead it around inside the barn. Under your guidance, he could lead her along the side of the pasture. You could show him how to acclimate her to a saddle. I have a small one in the barn for training. Or have lunch with him sometimes.”
Hail nodded. “I could do that.”
“You could also show him how to check the fencing or work with him on self-defense. I’ve been teaching him and Holly most evenings.” Not tonight, but I’d needed to speak with Hail. “It doesn’t matter as long as you’re there. I need to know he’s safe when I’m at the bakery.”
“I’m happy…to help. I’ll protect him.” He pressed his fist against his chest. “You can trust me.”
“Always, Hail. You’re the best.” Relief slid down my spine like water after a long, hot ride. “Thank you.”
He scratched his jaw, thinking. “Your barn needs paint.”
I blinked. “Does it?” It hadn’t the last time I’d looked but sun and the weather could be hard on a wooden structure. Orcs built everything from stone, but there wasn’t as much cut stone here as there was in the orc kingdom.
“Maybe not.” His mouth twitched. “It could. I can paint slow. Take days to do it. Max could help.”
“That’s a great idea. He’d like that. I know he wants to prove himself.”
“Let him,” Hail said. “I’ll make it fun. Talk to him about sorhoxes. Share stories. Maybe he’ll talk more than me.”
I grinned. “I imagine he will.” There was no sting in my words. I loved my brother, and he knew it. He also knew I’d never do or say anything mean to him. It was like that for all of us. We didn’t ignore each other’s flaws. We used them to our advantage. And we gave our whole hearts to each other. “He’s quiet sometimes, but he watches everything.”
“So do I.” Hail grinned right back at me. “We’ll get along fine.”
I exhaled and leaned back in the chair. “You’ve always known how to help.”
“The fewer words you use, the more you mean them.” He shrugged one shoulder. “If you want, I could bring Tressa over and leave her when I’m not there.”
“Even better.” She’d watch out for the boy in a way no one else ever could.
“He can help me feed her.” My brother’s dark eyes sparkled. “She eats a lot.” His head cocked. “Want to see what I’ve been working on?”
“Always.”
He stood, and Tressa followed at his heels as we headed down the hall and out the back door, into the dark. The stars overhead stretched wide across the sky, unbroken by city lights. The kind of quiet that filled the night air—just wind, the creak of wood, the distant shuffle of livestock.
We reached the barn, and Hail pushed open the big doors. He turned on the light, and warm gold flickered over his workspace. Hail had his own sorhoxes, though no young, but he used at least half of his barn for his studio.
Shelves lined the right wall, filled with pottery in all stages of completion, from bowls, to vases, to mugs, all hand-shaped with the kind of care that only someone like Hail could give.
