Her scent is still on me as I check on the horses the next morning. I can’t stop thinking of Jessie as I rinse out the water troughs and refill them with fresh water. That body. Fuck, I missed it.

The thought of her leaving makes my chest ache.

Our newest horse, Ginger, comes limping over as I grab a few flakes of hay. She immediately starts bumping me with her nose, rooting around in my clothes for the fresh apple that I bring her every morning.

“Don’t worry, girl,” I say as I pull the apple out of my back pocket. “I got you covered.”

I hold it to her mouth, careful not to let her bite my fingers off, and she bites it in half. I smile as she chomps it, looking happier than ever.

“Good girl,” I say as she eats the rest of it. I gently stroke her long face as I gently sing to her.

Ginger is an old horse that we recently got from a traveling Circus. After twelve years of service, they no longer wanted her after she broke her ankle and could no longer perform her tricks anymore.

If we didn’t take her, they would have put her down, so we did.

She’s a good girl, but she gets nervous around the other horses. I seem to be the only one who can calm her down.

I smell Maximus coming before he walks into the stables. He’s holding his morning coffee as he leans against the door frame and watches me.

I nod to him and then continue gathering the hay, neither of us saying a word as he watches.

“Some people were saying there was a gunshot in town last night,” he finally says.

“Oh, yeah?”

I keep my eyes off of him as I walk over to Sporty’s stall and toss a few flakes of hay in. I can feel Maximus’ eyes on me as he takes a sip of his steaming coffee.

“You know something about that?”

A heavy sigh falls from my lips. I can’t lie to my alpha. I never could.

“Someone sent a goon to come and get her,” I say as I walk back to the hay with my body tensing up. Just the thought of someone trying to hurt Jessie is making my blood boil. “He took a shot at me. I took care of him.”

“You took care of him?” Maximus asks with his eyebrows raised. “The Sheriff found him with his skull cracked. He’s still in the hospital.”

“He should be in the morgue,” I mutter under my breath.

Maximus rubs his forehead like I’m giving him the beginning of a migraine. “Lachlan,” he says with a hint of unease in his voice. “We talked about this. You said you’d be careful.”

“I tried, Max, but he shot at me,” I say with a shrug. “What could I have done besides eating the bullet?”

He exhales long and hard as he watches me.

“Who sent this guy?” he asks after he takes a sip of coffee. “Her father, Emanuele?”

“I don’t think so,” I answer. “I think it was her fiancé.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Fiancé?”

I let out a sigh and then tell him the story of how she was used as a pawn to broker a deal between two criminals. It makes me sick that someone would treat that amazing girl like she was a piece of property. Like she was an object to be bargained with.

I want to kill them for what they did. Father or no, they both deserve to die.

“Great,” Maximus says when I’m finished. “Now we have two mob organizations to worry about.”

“I’ll deal with it,” I say. I don’t need any of them to get involved.

“That’s what I’m worried about,” Maximus says with a shake of his head. “You can’t turn this town into a warzone, Lachlan. The dragons will come down on us hard. You know that.”

I run my hand through my hair and sigh. “I know.”

He watches me feed more of the horses in silence as he sips his coffee.

“Seems like you and Jessie were getting close last night,” he says as I grab a curry and start combing out Ginger’s coat.

I keep grooming her in silence.

“Is she staying?” he asks after a long moment.

My back stiffens as I rub the horse a little harder. “With me?”

“Yeah, with you.”

“She’s not safe out there, and she’s not safe in here,” I say, feeling an ache in the back of my throat. “She’ll be going from one animal to another.”

He tilts his head. “Lachlan…”

“I don’t want to hear it,” I snap a little too abruptly.

So far, my bear has been calm around her, but that can change at any moment. I don’t trust him. My psychotic grizzly is capable of anything, even killing people close to me. It’s happened before.

“You have to stop blaming yourself for Carter,” he says, pushing off the door frame that he’s leaning on. “He chose his path, and it was the wrong one.”

“I told you I don’t want to talk about it,” I snap, feeling a pounding headache coming on like it always does when Max tries to bring this subject up.

“Fuck,” I mutter as I look around. I need a drink.

He steps forward, watching me closely. “I know he was close to you,” he says in a calm voice. “But he had it coming.”

His breathing picks up as his calm eyes and voice turn tight and bitter. “If you hadn’t done it, I would have. God, I wish I would have.”

“Why can’t you just let it go?” I snap, getting in his face. “Why do you always have to drag it back up?”

“You’re the one who hasn’t let it go,” he says, not moving an inch. “You haven’t dealt with it. You’re letting the guilt eat you away as you drink yourself into oblivion. You did the right thing.”

My eyes narrow on him as I squeeze my hands into fists. “How can killing my best friend be the right thing?”

His face softens as he stares into my eyes. “Sometimes the hardest thing to do is the right thing to do. I wish you could see that.”

“And I wish you would leave me the fuck alone.” I push past him, butting my shoulder into his as I walk back to the horse to finish grooming her.

Max lets out a long breath of air and then walks to the door. He stops at the entrance and turns. “I know it hurts, Lachlan,” he says in a soft voice. “I was hurt too that day. I lost the closest person to me too, if you forgot. Kennedy was the most precious thing in the world to me, and now she’s out of my life.” He takes a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves so he can continue.

“You have something to live for now,” he says, looking over his shoulder at my cabin. “Jessie needs you and she needs your bear, even if you don’t want to admit it. It’s time to keep that day in the past where it belongs. Stop letting it ruin the moment and poison your future. If you think losing Carter was hard, then wait until you lose the girl you’re meant to be with. That’s true hell. You can take it from me.”

I keep my eyes on the horse, brushing her shiny coat as he turns and leaves. I try to keep my mind on what I’m doing, but his words keep swirling in my head.

Will these feelings of guilt and shame ruin any chance of happiness I can have with Jessie?

Do I even deserve a chance at happiness after what I’ve done?

I’m in the middle of grooming the last horse when Jessie finally wakes up. She looks adorable with her messy silver-blonde hair as she walks into the stables, yawning and rubbing her eyes. She’s wearing a pair of jeans and a new top that I picked out yesterday.

“How long have you been up?” she asks as she walks over.

Her intoxicating scent hits my nose, and my bear lets out a low contented rumble. The horse I’m grooming takes a step back and snorts nervously.

“It’s okay,” I whisper to her, gently stroking her face until she calms back down.

“Was it something I said?” Jessie asks, looking at the horse with a cringing face.

“She’s just jealous,” I say, smiling as I continue brushing her. “She knows I like you.”

“Oh,” Jessie says as her cheeks turn pink. “Sorry, Mrs. Horse. I can make you a Tinder profile if you’re looking to date.”

I chuckle as I brush her. “To answer your question, I’ve been up since five.”

Jessie grins as she shakes her head, staring at me in disbelief. “You cowboys…”

She looks up at the horse in wonder as her hands fidget together.

“You want to brush her?”

She nods as a wide smile creeps across her face.

“Come.”

I take a deep inhale of her fruity scent as she steps in close. Our fingers touch as she takes the brush from my hand and warm waves of heat start flowing through me.

“What’s her name?” she asks as she starts brushing the horse’s coat.

“Posh.”

She laughs. “She does look pretty Posh. And the others?”

I list the names of each of them, pointing to each horse as I say their name.

“So?” Jessie says with a grin. “That’s Ginger. That’s Sporty. Scary. Baby. And this is Posh? I’m guessing you’re a big Spice Girls fan?”

Now it’s my turn to blush.

“My mom is,” I say. “It’s just a little homage to her.”

“That’s sweet,” she says with a laugh. “Does she live around here?”

“In town,” I answer. “She lives in a senior care facility. She has Alzheimer's.”

Jessie’s arm drops, and she turns to me with a sympathetic face. “I’m so sorry, Lachlan. That must be really hard.”

I just shrug. “It is what it is.”

I remember from the last time she was here that Jessie’s mother died shortly after she was born. Breast cancer, I believe it was.

I throw a saddle onto Posh’s back after we finish grooming her. “Want to go for a ride?”

Jessie’s jaw tenses as she looks up at me. “I should be going,” she says in a shaky voice. “There’s a bus leaving toward Chicago at eight-thirty.”

I turn away from her as my stomach drops, strapping the saddle on while I feel like I’m going to be sick.

“Can you give me a ride to the bus station?”

She can’t be saying these words. Not after last night.

“She’s a good horse,” I say with a nod. Those words didn’t just come out of her mouth. “She’s fast as the wind, but she goes easy on beginner riders.”

“Lachlan…”

“Just hold on tightly to the reins and she’ll do most of the work,” I say, quickly cutting her off. We’re not having this discussion. “I’ll lead with Chopin. He could use a good run.”

I can’t look at her and see that sad look on her face that I know is waiting for me. So I push past her and grab Chopin’s saddle.

“Lachlan,” she says as I place it on Chopin’s chestnut colored back. “I can’t stay here. They’re going to come for me.”

“I’m hoping for it,” I say through gritted teeth.

Poor Chopin. I’m yanking the straps a little too hard.

Jessie lets out a frustrated sigh. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

This is killing me, but I know how hard it must be for her too. I know she wants to stay, and I know how scared and how much dread she must be filled with at the thought of returning to Chicago. She’s sacrificing herself to keep us safe. She knows she might die if she returns, but she’s going anyway. To keep us safe.

“It’s my job to protect you,” I say. “It’s not your job to protect me.”

“It’s not my job to get you killed either,” she says with a sigh. “I shouldn’t have come here, Lachlan. It was selfish of me. You gave me an amazing night, and I’ll always be grateful for it. Truly, I will be. But it’s time for me to go.”

I turn and narrow my eyes on her, feeling hurt and betrayed. “You said you wouldn’t leave.”

She jerks her head back. “When?”

I cross my arms as I stare her down. “Last night.”

“But we were in the middle of… you know…” Her cheeks start blushing and her adorable big ears turn red. “That doesn’t count.”

“It does to me.”

She lets out a frustrated breath as she closes her eyes. “Lachlan…”

I turn back to Chopin and loosen the saddle straps. “We’ll ride out to the lake and go for a swim. The water is nice and warm. After that we can ride out to—”

“Lachlan, the bus leaves in an hour,” she says, interrupting me.

I drop my head, feeling dizzy like the world is spinning out of control.

“Is there a second bus?”

“What?”

I turn and look at her, pleading with my eyes. “Is there a second bus tonight?”

She sighs. “There’s also one at five.”

My heart starts beating hard. “Come for a ride with me,” I beg. “And then if you still want, I’ll bring you to the bus station by five.”

She looks hesitant as she stares at me.

“You promised,” I say.

After a huff of breath, she agrees. “Okay, fine. But for future reference, anything I say during sex cannot be held against me. I would have agreed to anything with the way you were moving your tongue.”

I raise my eyebrow as all of the tension leaves my body. “Anything?”

“Anything,” she says with a laugh. “I would have agreed to learn Japanese if you would have asked me to.”

I laugh, feeling lighter than ever. “Kinky.”

“So, remember that.”

“Noted,” I say. “The next time we have sex, I won’t hold you to any promises you make.”

Her ears turn red as she blushes again. Fuck, I love that.

“Next time?” she asks, looking at me with a shy grin.

I smile back. “We do have until five o’clock.”

She turns to Posh, looking up at the horse while her ears flame red. “Then we better hurry up. How do I get on this thing?”

I bring them both outside and then help hoist her onto the horse. “Hold on,” I say, grinning at her.

“Don’t leave me on this thing!” she shouts as I sprint back to the pickup truck. I open the door, grab her white cowboy hat off the seat, and run back.

She smiles as I reach up and put it on her head where it belongs.

“That’s better,” I say, smiling as I step back and look at her. She looks like she’s right where she belongs.

I grab my own cowboy hat from the stables, slide it on my head, jump on Chopin, and we ride off.