“Bloody hell, you’re a dramatic fucker. I’m not gonna die. Have you forgotten I’m an Alpha? I heal fast. Really fucking fast.”
Doc’s stare doesn’t waver. “You can’t heal a snapped neck.”
If anyone can, it’s me. Besides, at the rate I’m losing myself to my aura sickness, it might not be the worst way to go. Out in a blaze of glory, ya know? Doing what I love rather than sitting in one of those aura sickness wards. No matter how much I might want a curvaceous Omega to hold close, it’s not like I’m gonna find an Omega who will put up with me.
I throw my saddle over Muddy and prepare to hit the arena, my adrenaline beginning to pump.
This is what I live for.
Three
Matilda
“June,dearie.Overhere!”Ida shouts over the hum of the crowd. In the last couple of minutes, the grandstand has filled up and is heaving with at least a hundred excited country folk. A sweet-looking Omega with darting eyes picks her way through the mass of bodies crammed onto the rickety stands. She settles on the other side of Ida.
“This is Matilda, my latest charge,” Ida chirps proudly.
“Hey,” I say, offering June a warm smile, my gaze friendly and open. I don’t need aura-enhanced empathy to figure out she’s shy and overwhelmed by the crowd. Her discomfort is clear in the way she averts her gaze and tucks her chin in closer to her chest, as if she’s trying to make herself invisible. Nevertheless, June returns a gentle smile with steady eye-contact.
The air is thick with the smell of sweat and perfume as we exchange pleasantries – a whiff of musk, a hint of lavender, and the pungent scent of animal dung.
“It’s nice to meet you, Matilda.”
“June here is my success story. Ben and her matched up a few months ago. All down to me and my little mail order mate idea,” Ida says with a giant prideful smile. June catches my eye behind Ida’s back and we both stifle giggles.
A man’s voice booms over the rigged up sound system. It crackles and is distorted, but his words are clear.
“Ladies and Gents. Next up is the Steer Wrestling competition. We have a special treat for you today. Local boy and PBR champion Murphy Myers is riding out with Cunningham Cattle owner Ben Cunningham.”
I look over at June and her lower lip is firmly wedged between her teeth. Ben must be her mate, judging by the spike in her aura at the mention of his name. Is she nervous about him taking part? Surely it’s not too dangerous; it’s an organised event with kids running around. No way the local authorities would give it the go ahead if there was going to be carnage. Right?
A buzzer sounds and out of a gate bolts a cow with horns. It runs across the arena like it’s being chased by the devil himself. On my next breath, a huge Alpha on a black horse barrels after it, flanking the cow and keeping it running straight. His strong jawline clenched in stoic determination. I’d run in the opposite direction too.
Half a second behind, another Alpha cowboy riding a chestnut coloured horse erupts into the arena. He’s big but, unlike the first hulking Alpha, is athletically lithe. The wind catches his tan hat and sends it sailing, leaving his golden locks to whip wildly around his face, eyes shining with enthusiasm and thrill.
If the other Alpha is the devil, then this one looks like an angel.
I slap a hand over my mouth to smother a gasp as the blonde cowboy launches himself off the back of his horse and onto the running cow below. His gloved hands wrap around the steer’s horns, and he digs his heels into the dirt below. In a spray of dust, the golden-haired cowboy wrestles the steer to the ground. The buzzer sounds again, and just as quickly, the steer is released. It trots off as if it hadn’t just been wrangled by a hot-blooded Alpha.
Hot is the right word. I can’t breathe. I can’t look away.
The cowboy is grinning widely at the stands, raising his hands in victory and laughing openly, as the crowd cheers in response.
“Murphy is always a crowd favourite,” Ida says beside me, but I barely hear her. I’m captivated by him. He pats his jeans down, puffs of dust dancing around him, as he strides over to his waiting horse. With a tender stroke on its neck, he effortlessly mounts the horse and trots through the gate and out of my line of sight behind the arena.
I feel like I was the one who hit the ground. I’m stunned. My primal Omega brain makes herself known.
Alpha. Find Alpha.
I clear my throat, shake my head, and turn to see June smiling at me with a knowing look. Oh dear, am I perfuming? I think I am.
Ida pats my thigh and her aura shifts from excited to positively euphoric.
“Damn, I’m good. Another match.”
“Excuse me?”
“You can’t hide a reaction likethat, sweetheart. Our Murphy’s caught your eye.”
