Chapter 16
Lyric pillowed her head on Mattox's shoulder. He combed his fingers through her hair, and they watched the daylight creep over the window. Voices rose and fell in the house below them. The sun touched the curtains and refracted golden light into the room. A clear blue sky spread over Mackenzie Homestead outside.
Mattox murmured into her hair, “There's a storm coming.”
Lyric closed her eyes and buried her face in his chest. She understood every hill and valley in his burly frame now. She understood his smell with her Bruin soul. “I don't want to think about it.”
“The sooner it breaks, the better.”
“How can you say that? Riskin could kill you.”
“He can't kill me. I'm stronger, and I already beat him once. One more decisive confrontation, and he'll leave. We'll never see him again.”
“I don't even want to think about it.”
He hooked his free hand under her armpit and hoisted her up. He laid her across his chest and stroked the hair back from her face. “It's gonna be all right. Nothing can separate us now. We can face anything, as long as we face it together. Riskin knows that as well as we do, and we've got your father's blessing. We don't need anything more. The sooner we get all our cards on the table, the better for everybody. It's better for Riskin, too.”
She let her lips fall on his mouth. She tasted the sweet tenderness of his love in that kiss. He filled her soul with peace and rightness she never thought she'd ever experience. “I'm just glad you're here.”
“I'm here. I'll never be anywhere else. You'll never go back to that room of yours. You'll spend the rest of your life in this room, with me.”
She rose up to look him in the eye. “Do you promise?”
“I swear it. I'm doing this for you. None of this means anything if I don't have you. You're everything to me now. You're mother and father and sister and brother and home and family and life and death to me now.”
“It's not just me, though, is it?” she asked. “You're different.”
“You keep saying that. I'm still me. I'm still the me that fell in love with you. That will never change.”
She climbed off him with a shake of her head. “That's not what I mean. You changed even last night. You never flinched from facing Riskin. I can almost believe you're looking forward to facing him.”
Mattox studied her. Then, with a sweep of his legs, he swung out of bed and onto his feet. He slipped into his pants and buckled the buckle. “You're right. I am looking forward to it. He tried to challenge me yesterday, and I had to put him down. He won't leave until I answer that challenge, claw to claw.”
Lyric gazed up at him. His arms flexed and his obliques popped when he tightened his belt. “You're an Alpha now. Did you always know you would become one, even when Brody sent you away?”
“I never knew. First of all, Brody never sent me away. I agreed to go because I knew our tribe needed him as Alpha. I never thought I could be Alpha of anything. I didn't want to be. Now, I know I am an Alpha, whether I want to be one or not. I'm head of this family, no matter what. I'm where I ought to be, doing what I ought to be doing, and that includes getting rid of Riskin. Now that I've got you as my mate, nothing can stand in my way.”
Lyric nodded. “I can see it all around you. You've got this halo of vitality and confidence you never had before.”
He leaned over her and planted his hands on either side of her hips. He dove in to kiss her. “That's your sweet love working on me, baby. I can't wait to get out of this room and confront anything that tries to stop me.”
She pushed him back. “You're drunk on your own testosterone. Put your shirt on before you lose control of yourself.”
He tugged his shirt over his head. “Nothing will make me lose control, for the rest of my life. I'm master of the universe.”
Just then, Melody's voice echoed up the stairs. “Breakfast's on the table!”
Lyric leapt out of bed to grab her clothes. “I'll never live this down. She made breakfast while I rolled around in here with you.”
He handed her her dress. “You were busy with more important things. You can let her make breakfast once in a while. You need your own time, especially now.”
Lyric paused to study him. Then she shook her head. “I never should have taken over everything. I should have let her help me more before instead of controlling everything.”
“You know better now. Now, come on. I'm hungry.”
Lyric laughed. “I'll bet you are. We've been up all night.”
He took her hand, and they went downstairs together. Lyric didn't see Riskin anywhere. Melody looked up from the stove, and her eyes widened when Lyric entered holding Mattox's hand.
Azer stopped chewing his bagel and cream cheese to stare at them. The bedroom door opened under the stairs and Rex strode into the room. He cast a quick glance down at Mattox and Lyric's joined hands before he kept on walking to the breakfast table.
All three followed the couple from the base of the stairs, where they came down from Mattox's room, across the living room, to take their places side by side at the breakfast table. Everyone knew the truth now. Everyone knew Lyric spent the night in Mattox's room. They'd done it. They were mated for life.
Melody set out the steak and eggs and toast and bacon and sausage. She poured her father a cup of coffee while Lyric sat idle. She arranged everything on the table before she sat down next to her father.
Lyric sipped her orange juice. “Where's Riskin?”
“No one has seen him,” Azer replied. “I checked his room this morning. His bed hasn't been slept in.”
A shadow crossed Mattox's face and disappeared just as fast. Rex drank a gulp of coffee and set his cup down with a sigh. Everyone ate in silence for a while until Mattox turned to Azer. “If you don't mind, I have a favor to ask you.”
“What is it?”
“I want you to quit working on the fences and concentrate on selecting the best cows out of your herd. Nobody knows that herd better than you. You've followed every cow for years. You know which ones give the highest successful birth rate. You can sort them out better than anyone.”
“Riskin's the man you want for that job. He knows more about the ranch than I do.”
“Riskin's not here. I'm asking you, and this job is a lot more important than replacing some fence posts in a pasture you're not even using. We can leave the north pasture fallow for the rest of the summer and replace the fence posts over the winter.”
Azer swallowed his mouthful of sausage and stared at Mattox. “You're talking about running the round-up early. We aren't supposed to sort the cows for another six weeks.”
Mattox nodded. “Exactly.”
“We can't do that without Riskin. We need at least three men on horseback to sort the cows.”
“Lyric can help us. She can ride as well as any man, and with Melody helping out in the house, she'll have the time to ride out with us. What do you say?”
Azer glanced at his father. Rex and the sisters hung on every word. “Are you sure about that? We planned to move the cattle into the north pasture after the round-up. That's why we've been busting our humps for a month to get the fence finished in time.”
“I understand, but the eastern slope still has enough grass to get them through the season. Leaving the north pasture fallow will improve the soil fertility, and that means better weights next season. We need the cows sorted now so we can divide them into two herds before winter.”
Azer munched his bacon. “If you say so, we can start later today. If I didn't have to slave away on that fence, I could do all kinds of things. I could give the calves their annual vitamin supplement. I could treat the cows for lice. I could…”
Mattox held up his hand. “I have a different job for you this morning. If that goes well, we can ride out this afternoon and plan the round-up. I want those cows rounded up and sorted out by the end of the week.”
Azer's mouth fell open. “The end of the week! You're crazy.”
Mattox arched an eyebrow at him. “Do you have a problem with that?”
Azer lowered his eyes to his plate. “Of course not. If you say so, I'm sure we can do it. All we need is one more decent rider, and we can't do any better than Lyric.”
“Splendid.” Mattox helped himself to another sausage. “I'll show you exactly what I want you to do, and I'll double check you around ten o'clock to make sure you're managing on your own.”
Azer broke into a smile. “Thanks”
Mattox slapped him on the shoulder. “Sure thing. You deserve it.”
Azer ran his gaze around the table. His father and sisters heard every word. His gaze rested on Lyric for a fraction of a moment. His eyes shone and his countenance brightened more than she could remember since he was a little boy. The weight of running the ranch lifted off his shoulders, and he bowed to the new Alpha's authority.
A soft touch drew Lyric's attention away. She found Melody squeezing her hand and whispering in her ear. “I'm so happy for you.”
Lyric couldn't stop her face glowing. “Thanks.”
Melody jerked her head toward the stairs. “What do you say we go up to my room after breakfast? I found the most magnificent dress design you can imagine.”
Lyric stifled laughter. Melody was talking about her wedding—her wedding to Mattox Farrell, the man of her dreams. She never let herself get excited before about a big, beautiful fairy tale wedding to Riskin. A wedding with Mattox? She saw it all now—the dress, the cake, the flowers, the tears.
She was marrying Mattox Farrell, the man she spent last night with, the man who filled her days and nights with passion and promise. She would show the world how much she loved him. She would show the world on the outside what their love looked like on the inside. She would show them more beauty and magic and happiness than they'd ever seen.
For the first time, the sheer joy of her own happiness wiped out everything else. She could ignore her brother falling under the sway of another Alpha. She could forget Riskin lurking around somewhere, waiting to make trouble. She could look past the wrinkles in her father's exhausted face to the pleasure and approval in his eyes. She squeezed Melody's hand. “I can't wait to see it.”