“Yeah,” he said, telling them about the lunch date earlier that day and what was going on with her brother.“I feel bad because she and I moving so fast because we’re soulmates has put her at odds with her brother.”
“You can’t help how he feels,” Dexter said.“You can only feel whatyoufeel and be there for Darcy.I’m sure her brother will figure out soon enough that you’re with her forever and not just trying to love her and leave her.”
“I hope so,” Ford said.Darcy had been pretty broken up talking about Cruz confronting her, and he hated that she was dealing with it.
“It’ll work out,” Tris said.“You and Darcy are soulmates, and whether she truly understands it yet or not, she would definitely be feeling the connection between you two.”
“Absolutely,” Tatum said.“I felt seriously connected to Grey when we first met.It felt fast, but it felt right too.”
Tatum and Nancy were the only humans in the herd.Zara had a stallion shifter father, and her mother had been the daughter of a stallion shifter too, but female descendants of stallions didn’t shift.
“Do you think she loves you?”Nancy asked, a soft smile on her face.
“Not yet,” Ford said.“But we’re both falling for each other.How could I not, anyway?She’s gorgeous and sweet and makes my stallion happy.And me too.”
“Now that’s worth toasting,” Crew said.“Whenever you’re ready to tell her the truth, we’re here for you.”
“Thanks, guys.”
Conversation flowed around the table as his friends shared how they’d known they were with their forever person and he knew he was lucky—not only to have such an amazing group of people who cared and supported him, but because he’d found his soulmate and she was falling for him as hard as he was falling for her.
Khyle took his mate Tris’s hand as they left the farm and began the half-mile walk home.It was a cool night, and normally they’d take the golf cart home and make quick work of the drive, but they’d left it for his parents to use as they hadn’t been ready to leave yet.Tris was tired and had to get up early to make breakfast for the herd, and they’d both been looking forward to a tumble in the sheets before they fell asleep.
Because there was nothing he loved more than driving his sweetheart crazy in bed and falling asleep with his arms around her.
“I’m so glad Ford found his soulmate,” Tris said.“It’s the best feeling in the world.”
“Definitely,” he said.“Finding you was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“Me too.”
He heard an engine behind them and looked over his shoulder.It wasn’t the golf cart, so he figured it to be one of the other farmers on the long stretch of road.While the herd’s farm didn’t have any direct neighbors, there were other farms around the area.
The engine roared as it accelerated, and the hairs on the back of Khyle’s neck tingled.His instincts screamed at him that they were in danger as the vehicle barreled down on them.It happened so fast—one moment the vehicle was far behind them, and the next it was right at their backs.Khyle pushed Tris off the road and jumped out of the way, but he wasn’t fast enough.
The bumper clipped him in the side, sending him flying away from Tris, landing hard in the ditch at the side of the road.
“Khyle!”Tris yelled.
“Are you okay?”he asked, groaning as he tried to get to his feet, the pain in his side driving the breath from his lungs.
“I hurt my ankle,” she said.“I can’t… I can’t get up.”
“I’m coming!”He pushed through the pain, getting to his feet and reaching for his phone in his pocket to call the herd for help.But it wasn’t in his pocket.“My phone’s gone!Do you have yours?”
“I don’t know,” Tris said.“Khyle!Watch out!”
Males appeared on the roadside, between Khyle and Tris.“Where’s your herd now?”Colton taunted, and Khyle’s blood went cold.
Khyle scrambled to get to Tris as the males hurried down the side of the ditch to where she was crying and trying to get away.Khyle leaped for her, putting himself between her and the males just as one of them kicked out.Khyle took the kick in the ribs, but didn’t move, using his body to shield her from their assault.
“You can’t keep her safe forever,” Colton said with a sneer.He grabbed Khyle’s shirt and pulled hard.Khyle kicked backward, twisting to nail the nearest male in the knee.He shouted in pain and dropped back, but Colton gripped Khyle’s shirt and pulled him harder.Tris rose from the ground with a snarl and swiped out with her hand tipped with the black claws of her wolf and cut Colton’s forearm.The male dropped his grip on Khyle’s shirt with a growl.
Just then, they heard the sound of an engine approaching, and Khyle knew it was the golf cart.
“This is a warning,” Colton said as he and his two herd members hurried to their vehicle.“Tell Crew that no one is safe.The farm will be mine and you willalldie at my hands unless you leave and don’t come back.You’re being watched.You’ll never be safe.”
The golf cart screeched to a halt as the truck sped off.
