Page 18 of Country and Clove
Waylin was a few years younger than Clove and had worked on the ranch since he was a teenager. Grandpa considered him family and even left him some money in the will. Waylin continued to work the ranch even after his passing.
Lying on her back, Clove peered up at him. Waylin had spent most of his life as the tall, lanky kid. With soft blond hair and stark blue eyes. But in his twenties his muscles had filled in and now he had the body of a hard laborer. Clove ogled his shirtless form.
“Just admiring the view.” She waggled her eyebrows at him suggestively. Of course there had never been anything romantic between the two. She and Waylin were like siblings. He was the closest thing she had to an annoying but oh-so-lovable little brother.
“Oh hush.” He threw his hat at her, nailing her square in the face. “Now are you ever going to tell me who broke your heart so I can beat their ass?”
“Not this again.” She jumped to her feet, wiping the dirt from her jeans. “No one broke my heart.”
“Liar. I can smell bullshit from a mile away. That might work on your city friends but don’t try that with me.”
“I told you, nothing happened. I meant it.” She kicked at a bale of hay before stomping off into the pasture. She was halfway across the field when Waylin called out to her.
“If everything’s fine, then why are all the damn animals following you again?”
She turned and her stomach clenched. Horses, goats, cattle, and even some local squirrels and birds had made a beeline in her direction.Not this again.
Clove stopped and took a deep breath. Closing her eyes, she searched within, locating that flickering golden flame and gently snuffing it out. The magic protested, but she’d had enough practice at this to know how to contain it.
Her emotional turbulence quelled, and the magic dissipated back into the hidden parts of her subconscious. She opened her eyes, sighing in relief as the animals returned to their usual habits. Waylin was jogging toward her, a worried expression on his angular features.
“Don’t—”
“Clove.” His voice turned serious. “I haven’t seen you struggle with your Chosen gifts since we were teenagers. And if you think I haven’t noticed the number of times the horses have suddenly run in your direction, or the crows have formed a circle around the spot where you’re standing lately, you’re wrong. I know something’s up.” He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently.
Clove set her jaw and forced back the tears threatening to spill over. Waylin was one of the only people who knew about her Chosen abilities. Chosen wolves were uncommon, but her mom had been a Chosen, so the chances of her and Ginger manifesting powers were higher. Clove’s abilities emerged when she was thirteen. Ginger’s never did. Clove watched as her growing powers alienated her twin. Every time Clove exhibited some control over the animal gifts, Ginger pulled away. She tried to console Gigi, but she would just cry and cry, wondering why she hadn’t been chosen to be special.
It broke Clove’s heart to see her so sad. So she made a choice. She stuffed her powers deep down and told Ginger they’d disappeared. That it must have been a fluke.
Eventually she even convinced herself it was true. Keeping her powers locked away had been easier than she expected. But ever since that night in the woods with Aaron…
“Fine, something happened,” she admitted. “But I don’t need to talk about it, I just need to keep busy.” Waylin pulled her in for a hug. “You are sweaty as hell.” He just squeezed her tighter and she squealed, fighting him off and ducking out of his hold. “Dick.” She laughed.
“Yeah, I’m getting pretty bored of things here lately, too,” Waylin confessed. “You heard about the new squad of trainees they’re putting together up at the complex?”
Clove nodded, her voice going soft. “The last group was killed when those shadow creatures attacked.” She shuddered. The halls of the complex had been filled with grieving mothers and wives for weeks.
“Word is they’re looking for new recruits. I think I’m going to join them. You should, too.”
“Me? Why?”
“You need a good outlet for all that aggression you’ve got pent up. I recommended you go have yourself some hate sex but considering your current grumpy-ass demeanor I’m fairly certain you didn’t take my advice.”
“What do the recruits even do?” Unlike most of her friends, Clove didn’t work inside the complex. Her time had always been spent at the restaurant.
“Going off what I’ve read, they either join the lycan search and recovery teams, get a job working for one of the Alpha’s private security branches, or become permanent security within the complex.”
Clove looked at him sidelong. “What makes you think I’d make a decent recruit?”
“Come on, Clove. You’re scrappy as hell and fight as well as any guy I know. You might even have fun.”
It was true. She had grown up as one of the guys and could hold her own when she needed to. She’d made a fair bit of money participating in underground fight rings. The human males tended to underestimate her. She was able to clean house for over a year.
Unfortunately a group of lycans had started fighting there too and word got back to her dad. Earl had been more than furious when he found out. Clove was only fifteen at the time and had been sneaking out each night to fight.
He lightened up on her after she turned eighteen. When money was tight, she just headed to the ring and watched the cash stack up. It was like a secret second life. Sometimes Waylin came with her. He was a hell of a fighter too. She hadn’t been recently. The thrill of the fight had been missing for months. The thrill of everything had been missing.
Maybe joining the recruit training wasn’t such a bad idea. A new purpose could be just what she needed to move forward with her life, let go of the past. Getting to beat the shit out of a bunch of dudes was a bonus. She would pretend they were Aaron and make them wish they’d never been born.
