Page 9 of The Cowboy and the Stray

The thing was, Sloane wasn't wrong. Having a human on the ranch, living and working among us, was a risk we couldn't afford. Not with what we were. The secret we protected. Still, it didn’t mean I had to treat her like a threat just because she was scared.

But my gut rebelled against flat-out turning this woman away. Beneath the fear and desperation, I sensed something else in her. Purpose. Resolve. A steely determination to survive, by any means necessary. It shone out of her like a beacon. She'd been knocked down. But she hadn't stayed there.

My mind flashed back to last night, in the room upstairs. The way her scent had hit me like a punch to the jaw. The visceral, baffling pull I'd felt. The novels Midge liked to read sometimes mentioned 'fated mates' and other sentimental shit. I didn't buy into any of that. But I couldn't deny this woman triggered something in me. An instinct to, what? Protect her? Claim her? I shook off the thought. Don’t be an idiot, Maddox.

Midge moved to stand behind Tess, a silent acknowledgment that she'd already accepted the woman. "I have a feeling Tess here will work out just fine." Damn Midge and her feelings, they weren't something I could ignore. I couldn't even ignore her request to be called Midge. She'd nipped all versions of grandma in the bud when I was a toddler.

"What kind of experience do you have?" I ignored the warning look Sloane shot me.

Tess shifted in her chair. "I've done a little of everything, I guess. Waitressing, retail, cleaning. Worked at a gas station for a while. But I'm not afraid of hard work, I learn fast, and I'll take anything." The words tumbled out, tinged with a hint of embarrassment. Clearly, this was a woman who prided herself on getting by on her own. Scrappy. I respected that.

I leaned back, considering. "You know anything about horses? Cows?"

She dropped her gaze to the table. "No. I've never even seen a cow up close, to be honest. And horses kind of terrify me." Well, that was just what we needed.

I met Sloane's eyes over the woman's head. She gave me a slow, exaggerated eye roll that said clear as day.

I sighed. Pushed to my feet. "I can't promise anything. But I'll talk to our foreman, see if there's any odd jobs we might need help with." I fixed her with a look. "You can stay a couple of days while you figure things out, we'll go from there."

Maybe it was reckless. But something in me said it was the right call.

Gratitude, raw and unfiltered, shone in her eyes. "Thank you. Really. I appreciate it. And I don't want to put y'all out any more than I already have..." She struggled to her feet, one arm wrapped protectively around her middle. "I think I might go lie back down for a bit, if that's all right?"

"Of course, hun, you need the rest." Midge stepped forward to take her arm. "Come on, let's get you settled."

I watched them go slowly up the stairs, the woman leaning into Midge like she hadn't let herself lean on anyone in a long time. Too damn proud. Too damn tired. Sloane waited until they were out of human earshot before rounding on me, arms crossed and eyes hard as flint. She'd been waiting to get me alone. I leaned against the counter and braced for impact.

"You want to tell me what the hell you're thinking?" She hissed. "Letting that woman stay here? On a ranch full of shifters?"

I sighed. "She needs help. She's got nowhere else to go." That should’ve been enough.

"And that's our problem how?" Sloane threw up her hands. "Dammit, Calder, I have a child to think about. We all have people to protect. Inviting a stranger, a human, into our lives is the height of recklessness."

Anger sparked in my chest. I tamped it down. "You think I don't know that? I'm damn well aware of what's at stake here."

"Could've fooled me." Her eyes flashed. "Because from where I'm standing, it looks like you're letting a pretty face cloud your judgment."

That stung, mostly because I'd been asking myself the same damn thing. But I'd been an alpha for a long time. I knew how to listen to my wolf. And every instinct I had said Tess wasn't a threat. "She's not a danger to us. To Noah. I'd stake my life on that." I gentled my tone, trying to make her understand. "She's just lost. Scared. Desperate. She doesn't mean us any harm."

Sloane scoffed. "Right. And you know this how? From her background check? Oh wait." She snapped her fingers like she'd just remembered something. "I couldn't run one because we didn't have her name because she had no ID in her bag."

"Well, now you know it. You can go run it to your heart's content."

Sloane shook her head sharply. "She's not a risk I'm willing to take."

We stared at each other, old hurts and new fears churning between us. I saw genuine terror in my sister's eyes, terror for her son. But I also saw the shadow of our shared history. We’d always had strays and strangers coming up to the ranch, looking for work. But they’d always been wolves. Never humans. Humans always got sent on their way.

"I'm not Dad," I said quietly. Even if sometimes I wished I could be. He took in every non-human stray that came our way.

"No, but you're the alpha." She stepped back, arms locked across her chest. "So I guess you can do whatever the hell you want. You could’ve told Midge no. You could’ve sent her away."

"Sloane—"

But she was already turning away. "It's on you. Whatever happens."

Then she was gone, screen door slamming in her wake.

Damn it.