Chapter 2- New Hands

Owen    

   My Beta, Preston, and I had gone to the feed store this morning in search of Cat Wolfe, the woman that owned the three hundred acre property below ours. All ranches needed feed so if I was lucky we would catch her here in town this morning. 

   Several of my patrol guards had come up dead in recent weeks and I needed to know if it was her killing my pack members. I had already contacted the other two packs in the area to make sure it wasn’t one of them trying to start a fight. The other two packs said that they had members that were either dead or missing, so the last person to talk to was this human that lived right in the middle of all of our territories.   

   The guy at the feed store, Oscar, told us to find her at the general store and that we had just missed her. I was pleased that we were in town at the same time as her. Oscar also informed us that she was looking for ranch hands. I didn’t care that she was looking for workers. I needed to know if she was responsible for killing my people. How I was going to get that information out of a human, I don’t know, but I needed to talk to her. 

   We walked across the street and up to the general store then went inside. There I was met by the most enchanting woman that I had ever laid eyes on. She had me stopping dead in my tracks and shutting my mouth as I went to say something. My brain fogged over as I just stood there staring at her. 

   She had long wavy blond hair and captivating light green eyes. I stood there silently as Preston talked and I took a deep breath, unable to form words while looking at her. My heart was racing in my chest and I could feel the blood flowing through my body and straight to my cock. 

   I finally blinked and took another deep breath to calm down. I had never reacted this way to anyone so I knew what it could possibly mean. As I took a breath, I got her scent in my nose, sweet like a field of Lupine flowers. There was something else mixed into it though. There was something else on her. The different scents of two wolf pups. That’s odd. What is this human rancher doing with wolf pups? 

  "She’s our mate," Jet, my wolf, said in my head. 

   He didn't even need to tell me that. Something inside me already knew that she was mine. But this is all wrong. Why was fate being cruel? 

   "How can she be our mate? For one thing, she's human and for another, she’s the enemy. We have dead pack members that I have reason to believe she killed."

   "But you're drawn to her just like I am." 

   "Crap, how am I going to do this?" 

   I let Jet fall to the back of my mind when I heard Preston offer her our help on her ranch. What the hell was he thinking? Though it might be our best way of getting answers without scaring her to death. 

   I didn’t say anything as we stepped to the side and let Cat leave the store. I watched her retreat, still standing there in silence. I watched how her hips moved when she walked and admired her nice round ass in her tight blue jeans. She was gorgeous. 

   I watched her still as she got into her truck and drove out of town. Once she was gone, I looked at Preston and he smiled and shrugged his shoulders at me. I shook my head in irritation and turned to leave the store with Preston right behind me. We walked down the street to my truck and jumped in. I didn’t start my truck up but looked at him in irritation. 

   “We don’t know shit about ranching. What the hell are you thinking?” I yelled at Preston. 

   “We know how to ride horses,” he offered with a smile.

   “We don’t know much else,” I said in irritation.  

   “This is the best opportunity to learn if she’s the one killing our members,” he said. 

   I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the seat. I sighed before speaking, knowing I would need to tell him my thoughts and about the new situation I was now facing. 

   “I know that and I agree, but we don’t know how to really help her out on a ranch. Besides, now I don’t want her to be the damn killer.” 

   “The pretty face got you, didn’t it?” he asked with a huge smile on his face. 

   I let a growl out at him and said, “She’s my mate.” 

   “Oh, fuck!” he said in astonishment.  

   “Yeah.” 

   “Well, then we really do need to find out if she’s the killer now, don’t we?” 

   “Seems so. Though, I don’t want to and yet I do. I want to reject her and yet I don’t.” 

   “So conflicted,” he teased. 

   I growled at him and he laughed at me. What an asshole.  

   “Let’s go do our investigation and see where it lands us. I also want to know why she smelled like wolf pups,” I added. 

   “I smelled it too. It is odd,” he said while thinking about it and looking out the windshield of my truck.  

   I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called my Gamma, my third in command. Easton was back at the pack taking care of everything in mine and Preston’s absence. I informed him of everything that was going on and he laughed before telling me good luck. I wanted to go back home just to beat his ass, but that would be pointless and would use up valuable time we needed to use on investigating Cat.   

~

Cat

   I arrived back home and drove up to the barn to unload the feed. I parked and left my truck running as I started putting the feed in the barn where it went. As I unloaded the feed I had to step around the barn cat, Blinks, as he was always under my feet every time I was in here. He lived out here in the barn and made sure the mice and rats left the feed alone. I loved this cat even if he was a pain. 

   “Sir, you need to move before I step on you,” I told him. 

   He sat in the middle of the walkway and meowed at me. Probably telling me to go to hell, that he wasn’t in the way. I knew he wanted attention but I had work to get done first. 

   When I had all the feed unloaded, I drove back up to the house and parked where I always do. I took the groceries inside and put them away before getting my day of chores started. Just as I was getting ready to walk to the back of the barn where the chicken coop was, a truck I didn’t know came driving up to the house. I stopped and turned to see who it was and noticed it was the guys from the grocery store. 

   I stood there close to the front of the house and waited for them to get out and walk up to me. While waiting, I ran their faces through my head and realized what their names were. One was Owen West and the other was Preston Anderson. I was a freshman in high school while they were seniors. I’m sure they really had no idea who I was other than their new boss.    

   I stood there and watched as they both got out of the truck and walked up to me. Owen had been driving, so I assumed the brand new Chevy pickup was his. It looked nice. So why did they need work as ranch hands, which didn’t pay much of anything, if he had a brand new truck? 

   “I realized that we didn’t introduce ourselves earlier,” Owen said in his deep raspy voice. 

   His voice made a delightful shiver run over my body and I couldn’t understand why I reacted like that to him. I brushed it off quickly and started talking with him. 

   “I know who both of you are, Owen,” I told him. 

   He seemed surprised by that and nodded his head. Preston stood there grinning widely and I wondered why he was so happy. 

   “Why are you two looking for work?” I asked. 

   “We just wanted some ranch experience,” Preston spoke up.

   I nodded my head and said, “come on, I have a lot to teach the both of you then.” 

   I turned and started walking to the chicken coop with both of them quickly walking after me. I showed them everything I possibly could when it came to the chickens, the barn, the goat pen and then the stables.  All of it was conveniently located in one spot. The cattle were out in one of the large pastures for spring grazing, so there was no showing them off right now. 

   The dogs, Leah and Dozer, came running up to greet them. They completely ignored me and paid attention to the two men that they didn’t know, getting attention and pets while acting excited about seeing them.

   “So what all will you need done?” Owen asked, peeling his attention off Dozer. 

   “I need basic chores done each day along with repairs and simple building projects. Hank and I will need help with cattle and horses each day also. Fences have to be checked every day for holes or stuck animals,” I told them. 

   “Who’s Hank?” Owen asked in a tone I wasn’t sure I was able to recognize. 

   “My only other ranch hand. He was my dad's best friend and he’s getting slower in his old age. Don’t you dare tell him I said that,” I told them with raised eyebrows.  

   “How long have the two of you been doing all of this on your own?” Preston asked. 

   “Two years,” I answered.  

   They both nodded before Owen asked, “what do you need us to do first, Miss Wolfe?” 

   “Call me Cat and I need the two of you to muck out the stalls. Do either of you know how to do that?” I asked.  

   “Yes. We know how to work with horses and how to ride,” Owen told me. 

   I nodded my head and told them, “go ahead and get to it then. Meet me at the main house for lunch.” 

   They turned towards the stables and I went about going to the main house to my office to get paperwork done and pay bills. The joys of owning a ranch; bills, bookkeeping, scheduling the Ferrier for the horses, getting the vet out for all the animals and ordering supplies along with hay. 

   When lunchtime came around, I went to the kitchen and started getting stuff out for lunch. Lunch was always simple; we would either eat leftovers or make sandwiches. Today was sandwiches, so I was slicing bread and vegetables. I heard the back door open and in came Hank. I handed him his sandwich and he sat down at the table. 

   “Thank you, Cat,” he told me before he started eating. 

   “You’re welcome.”

   A few seconds went by and the door opened once more. Owen and Preston stepped inside and took their hats off before greeting Hank. I laughed at Hank’s expression. I knew he would be shocked to see that I had found help. 

   When everyone settled down, Hank went back to his food and I handed Preston and Owen both a plate with a sandwich and chips on it. 

   “Thank you,” they said at the same time. 

   “You’re both welcome,” I said with a smile. 

   They sat down and started eating while I got my food put together. When I was done, I had a seat at the table and started eating. I realized that I would have to get the extra chairs out and put the leaf in the table in order for all of us to fit at the next meal since the kids would be home. 

   “So what are you doing while these two are doing all of your chores?” Hank asked playfully. 

   “Oh, you know fun stuff. Like paying bills and calling to order hay,” I said sarcastically. 

   “Seems like an easy job. Can you help me with fences when you’re done?” He asked. 

   “I actually can. I just need to be back here at the house by five to meet the kids at the bus stop.”

   “Kids?” Owen asked in a shocked voice. 

   I looked over at him and saw a sour expression on his face. I wondered why that bothered him so much. He was acting oddly and I didn’t know what to think of it. 

   “Yeah. I have twins,” I told him. 

   “You’re raising them on your own?” he asked with frowning eyebrows. 

   “Yes.” 

   “Where’s their dad? If you don’t mind me asking,” he said, not trying to offend me.  

   “It’s ok. I just don’t want to be with that asshole anymore. Besides, we're better off without him,” I answered dryly.  

   He said nothing more but nodded his head. He didn’t finish eating his meal and I could tell that he honestly looked sick to his stomach and upset suddenly. 

   “Are you ok?” I asked him as I got up and dealt with the dishes. 

   “Yeah I’ll be fine,” Owen told me as he gave me a weak smile and turned to leave the house to go back to the stables with Preston right behind him. 

   Once I was done with the dishes, I followed Hank out of the house. He got on his horse that was tied to one of the porch pillars and headed out towards the East pasture to check fences. I walked into the stable and saw Owen and Preston cleaning the last of the stalls out. I walked over and opened up my gelding’s stall, Thunder. He had been my horse for the past ten years. He was good to me and knew how to read my moods and I knew how to read his. We were a team out on the ranch and worked long hard hours together. We were a part of each other at this point.  

   I took him out to the saddling area and started getting his tack on him. He stood there patiently as I got him ready to go. I looked over to see how well the guys were doing and knew I needed to give them a task to do after that. 

   “When you are done, go ahead and get to know the two horses you will be riding while you’re here. Bolt and Annie. Bolt actually doesn’t bolt away, it’s because of the marking on his forehead.” 

   “Ok,” Preston said with a smile. 

   Once I had Thunder ready to go, I walked him out of the stable and climbed on his back. I turned him towards the northeast corner of the property and dug my heels into him, sending him forward at a steady gallop. We were headed to check fences along the east, along the highway. I would end up at the front gate where the bus dropped the kids off, right as they arrived home for the day.