Page 58 of Cowgirl Omega

“You don’t mind, do you?” she asked.

Rufus happily beat the ground with his tail to let her know he didn’t mind at all. Shannon smiled, and rubbed the crevice behind his ears, which felt amazing. He could scratch himself there with his hind claws, but the woman’s gentle massage was so much nicer.

Rufus whined in gratitude and nuzzled his face against Shannon’s leg. Her heat-scent had been weaker during the day, but now it was starting to return, and it made Rufus’ blood pump a little faster.

Suddenly he wasn’t quite so tired anymore.

Tanner came over and handed Shannon a metal plate with a piece of roasted rabbit, some beans, and a couple pieces of hardtack. The cowboy handed the second plate to Logan, then he prepared a third for himself.

“God, this smells amazing,” Shannon said. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. The wolf’s the one who caught it.”

“Good boy,” she said in a teasing voice that made Rufus’ blood pump even faster. “Don’t you want any?”

She offered him her plate, but he nudged it away with his snout and whined.

“I believe Rufus already wolfed down supper earlier,” Logan said, and then with a grin he added, “At least that’s what it smells like, judging from his breath.”

Rufus growled at this, but playfully. Around this time yesterday, he’d thought he and Logan were going to be mortal enemies. Now he was actually starting to like the alpha quite a bit. He was particularly impressed with the way he’d handled the centaurs earlier. Yes, they’d handed over Blaylocke’s horse, but they hadn’t been forced to give up any of their own belongings, and more importantly, they’d avoided unnecessary violence.

Of course, Rufus had been ready to fight the centaurs if necessary, but it was better to avoid violence if possible, especially when Shannon’s safety was at stake.

“What’s the matter?” Tanner said from across the fire. “My cooking no good?”

At first, Rufus wasn’t sure who the alpha was talking to. Then he realized he was talking to Shannon. Rufus looked up and saw that the woman was staring at her plate with a pensive expression.

“No, it’s really good,” she said. “I was just thinking about Gilbert Blaylocke’s horse. Do you think it will be okay? They aren’t going to hurt it, are they?”

“The centaurs?” Logan said. “Hell, no! Centaurs love horses. Every band of centaurs has their own herd of horses. They feed and protect them. You could even say they revere their horses, almost like gods.”

Rufus knew this. Today was not the first time he’d seen centaurs. In his younger days, when he’d traveled more frequently, he’d often seen the majestic creatures tending to their beloved herds.

“Is that why they wanted all our horses?” Shannon asked.

Logan took a bite of meat. “Partly. But there’s more to it than that. Of all the new species to come out of the Occurrence, centaurs are kind of special. There aren’t any female centaurs, only males.”

“Kind of like how harpies are all females?” Shannon asked.

“Yeah, kind of like that. Only, nobody’s really sure where new harpies come from. But we do know where new centaurs come from. Every now and then, a horse will randomly give birth to a centaur foal. The centaurs believe if they do a good job protecting and caring for their herd, then the horses will bless them with new centaurs. Who knows, maybe it works. Seems like most centaurs are born to the wild or semi-wild herds rather than to horses kept on farms or in towns.”

“So that’s why they wanted stallions,” Shannon said. “Their herd only has mares, so they need stallions to breed more centaurs.”

“Yup.”

“What about the leader?” Shannon asked. “He looked too old to have been born after the Occurrence. It’s only been forty years, and he looked a lot older than that.”

“You’re right,” Logan agreed. “He’s probably one of the originals. When the Occurrence happened, some adult horses were immediately mutated into centaurs, the same way some cows mutated into hucows, and some humans mutated into alphas and omegas.”

This information also rang true with Rufus. There were a few older shifters in his pack who’d been alive since before the Occurrence.

Rufus noticed that the woman had grown silent again. He turned his eyes to look at her. She was leaning back against his body, nibbling on her meat. Her own eyes were distant with thought. After a few bites, she looked across the fire at Logan again.

“If there aren’t any female centaurs, then who painted their hides? Those handprints were too small to be made by centaur males.”

“Human women made those prints,” Logan said.

Rufus felt Shannon’s body tense against his own.

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