Wolf’s voice reverberates through his chest, right against my ear. “Killed one. I don’t know how many there were.”
“We’ll find out who it was.”
“The horse?” Wolf asks, and my heart skips a beat.
“Yeah. Someone’s taking her back to the stables. She wasn’t hurt.”
I sag against his body, relief washing over me. The footsteps walk by us, fading away.
When I feel my strength has returned, I pull back. “I was riding and then… there was a bullet, and…” I frown, confused, as my heart picks up again. “Wolf, what’s wrong?”
“I…” He exhales, closing his eyes for a second before opening them up again.
I press a palm to his heart, knowing just what I want to hear from his lips, encouraging him to say it, even if I haven’t said it tohim either. Maybe he doesn’t feel the same. Maybe I’m deluding myself.
Or maybe this is all real.
“You scared the shit out of me.” He sighs. “Never do that again.”
I offer a faint smile. He just saved my life. That should be proof enough he cares about me now. But then why do I need him to spell it out?
26
VICTORIA
Alaska eats her mix of timothy, orchard, and teff in silence in her stable. Wolf’s black stallion is here too now—he said he took it back from my father’s—bringing back memories from when I was failing to ride him. Both horses look unbothered as they enjoy each other’s company. I guess I’m the only one still rattled by yesterday’s events.
My husband came back to bed late at night, but only to check on me. He hasn’t slept at all and left pretty quickly. In fact, I haven’t even seen him around at all today. I don’t know where he disappeared, but I assume it has everything to do with the shooting.
Who was that? And were they trying to kill everyone on the property, or just me?
I poke around my Caesar salad with a fork, not having an appetite, then chew on a small piece of chicken, trying to stop myself from spiraling.
I haven’t gone riding again. Not because I didn’t want to, but because Alaska might not be ready yet. I don’t want to push her unnecessarily, so for now, I choose to give her some space. Besides, I have no idea if the grounds are safe. When Wolf comes back, I’ll ask him.
Gravel crunching under boots gets my attention.
“Is she okay?” Ekaterina asks, making her way to me.
I clear my throat, rotating my body to face her. “She seems okay. I just… don’t know.”
“If she wasn’t hurt, she’ll be fine. Horses are a lot tougher than we sometimes give them credit for.”
I sigh, forcing myself to smile. “Yeah.”
Her hand brushes my arm as she leans back against the wall, her lips pressing into a thin line as if to say she’s sorry. I let the corners of my mouth twitch upward, forming a genuine smile. We haven’t talked much, her and I, but every time we have, she’s been nothing but kind and supportive.
“I think I owe you an apology.”
Her brows rise. “Me? What for?”
“Misjudging you. When I came here, I thought I’d be surrounded by monsters. I thought everyone here was out to get me. I was wrong. You’ve been very kind to me, and I wanted to thank you.”
She waves a nonchalant hand in the air. “I don’t blame you one second for thinking we’re monsters. Because you might not be ready to accept it, but we’re not good people, Victoria. To be honest with you, I think we might be too far gone, and that’s why we’ve come to terms with it.”
“Bad people aren’t kind to strangers.”
She laughs, nodding. “I guess they’re not.”
