Page 11 of Alpha’s Vow (Copper Canyon Shifters #3)
CHAPTER 11
SABLE
T he secluded cabin was nestled deep within the Texas wilderness, surrounded by towering pines and the steady drone of cicadas. Sable stepped out of Bryce’s truck, her boots scuffling along the dirt path as she took in their new surroundings. He’d accompanied her back to Montana and let her go to her canyon so she could close it down and free the mustangs that had been holed up there. He’d arranged for Ghost to be transported back to Bryce’s family ranch.
The air was thick with the scent of sap and earth, and the faint glow of the setting sun cast long shadows across the cabin’s weathered exterior. “It’s not much,” Bryce said, his deep voice breaking the quiet. “But it’s safe.”
Sable didn’t respond, her eyes scanning the area with the sharp focus of a predator assessing a new territory. Her wolf stirred uneasily, restless in the stillness of the woods. She hated this—being here, being vulnerable, being handled . But she had agreed to follow Bryce’s lead, at least for now.
She crossed her arms, her posture stiff as she turned to face him. “How long do you plan on keeping me here?”
Bryce leaned against the truck, his eyes steady on hers. “As long as it takes for you to regroup. You’ve been running yourself ragged, Sable. You need a break.”
“A break?” she echoed, her voice dripping with disbelief. “I don’t need a vacation, Bryce. I need to finish what I started.”
“You won’t be finishing anything if you get yourself killed because you’ve burnt yourself out,” he said, his tone firm but not unkind. “You’ve been pushing too hard, taking too many risks. It’s time to take a step back.”
Sable’s jaw tightened, her fingers digging into her arms. He wasn’t wrong, but that didn’t make it any easier to hear. Since the death of her pack, her entire life had been consumed by her quest for revenge, every step driven by the need to make the hunters pay for what they’d done. Slowing down wasn’t part of the plan.
“Fine,” she said after a long pause, her voice clipped. “I’ll stay. For now.”
Bryce’s lips twitched into a faint grin, and she bristled at the quiet confidence in his expression. “I’ll hold you to that.”
The cabin’s interior was simple but comfortable, with sturdy wooden furniture and a fireplace that dominated the main room. Bryce moved with ease as he set down their bags and began unpacking supplies, his presence filling the space with a quiet strength that Sable found both irritating and… comforting.
She sank onto the edge of the couch, her hands gripping the butter-soft leather as she tried to ignore the growing feeling between them. The bond was a constant hum in the back of her mind, pulling her toward him in ways she couldn’t fully understand. It wasn’t just physical—though the heat of his gaze and the way he carried himself certainly didn’t help. It was deeper, more primal, like the universe itself was conspiring to keep them connected.
“I can feel you brooding,” Bryce said, his voice cutting through her thoughts. He stood in the kitchen, his broad shoulders framed by the soft glow of the firelight. “What’s on your mind?”
“Nothing,” she said too quickly, her tone sharp.
Bryce raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms as he leaned against the counter. “You’re a terrible liar, Sable.”
She scowled, her wolf bristling at his calm demeanor. “If you must know, I’m thinking about how much time we’re wasting here.”
His expression hardened slightly, though his voice remained steady. “You call this wasting time. I call it staying alive.”
“I’m not afraid of dying,” she snapped, rising to her feet.
“And that’s exactly why you need someone watching your back,” Bryce countered, his eyes locking onto hers. “You can’t keep running into danger without thinking about the consequences.”
“I’ve been doing just fine on my own,” she shot back, her hands clenching at her sides.
Bryce closed the distance between them in two long strides, his towering presence forcing her to tilt her head to meet his gaze. “You call running yourself into the ground fine? Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re barely holding it together.”
Sable’s breath caught, her heart pounding as the heat of his words washed over her. She wanted to argue, to shove him away and reclaim the control he seemed so determined to take. But a part of her—a small, infuriated part—knew he was right.
“This isn’t your fight,” she muttered because she could come up with nothing better, her voice trembling with both anger and something deeper. “You don’t understand what I’ve lost.”
Bryce’s expression softened, though his gaze remained intense. “You think I don’t understand loss because I’ve always had my brothers and the ranch? You’re right. Not having my family ripped away from me was a blessing, but it doesn’t mean I can’t imagine how that would feel. But running yourself into the ground won’t bring them back. It won’t fix what’s broken.”
Her throat tightened, the impact of his words cutting through her defenses. She looked away, her arms wrapping around herself as the memories of her pack flooded her mind. The laughter, the warmth, the love—it was all gone, replaced by the cold, unrelenting need for vengeance.
“I can’t stop,” she said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. “If I stop, I’ll lose them all over again, and then I’ll have nothing.”
Bryce reached out, his hand brushing her arm in a gesture that was both gentle and grounding. “You don’t have to stop. But you don’t have to do it alone, either. You have me, and you have my pack. They can be yours, too.”
Sable’s gaze snapped back to his, her eyes searching his face for something—anything—that could ease the storm inside her. But all she found was his steady resolve, his quiet strength wrapping around her like a lifeline.
“I don’t know how to let someone else in,” she admitted, her voice shaking.
Bryce’s lips quirked into a faint smile. “They say admitting you don’t know something is the first step in fixing it.” His eyes watched her face and then shrugged. “Yeah, I think that’s a load of crap, too, but you need to know there’s a whole ranch waiting to have you come home.”
The next few days were a battle of wills. Bryce insisted on rest and strategy, while Sable chafed against the constraints of their temporary sanctuary. She spent hours in the clearing behind the cabin, training her body and sharpening her mind, pushing herself to the brink in an effort to regain some semblance of control.
Each night, Sable found herself drawn into Bryce’s arms, where the world beyond their embrace seemed to vanish. Together, they explored the depths of their passion, every touch and whispered breath igniting a fire that neither could extinguish. His strength grounded her, his tenderness unraveled her defenses, and in the quiet hours before dawn, they lost themselves in the raw intimacy that bound them closer with every passing day.
Bryce watched her with a quiet intensity, offering both comfort and an unspoken reminder of the bond they shared. He didn’t push her, but he stood firm, his unwavering stance a challenge she couldn’t ignore.
One evening, as the sun dipped below the horizon and the sky blazed with hues of orange and purple, Bryce stepped into the clearing, his expression unreadable.
“You’re wearing yourself out,” he said, his voice cutting through the quiet.
Sable turned, sweat glistening on her brow as she tightened her grip on the blade she’d been practicing with. “I’m fine.”
“Fine doesn’t look like this,” Bryce said, crossing his arms as he studied her. “You need to slow down.”
She glared at him, her frustration bubbling over. “You don’t get to tell me what I need.”
Bryce stepped closer, his eyes locking onto hers. “Maybe not. But I’m not standing by while you destroy yourself.”
The heat of their emotions mingled with the unspoken pull of the bond. Sable’s breath hitched as Bryce reached out, his hand brushing a strand of hair from her face.
“You’re not alone, Sable,” he said, his voice low and rough. “No matter how much you want to be.”
Her heart pounded, her wolf stirring beneath her skin as she struggled to hold on to her defenses. But as Bryce’s gaze burned into hers, she realized she was losing the battle. The biggest problem was, she wasn’t sure she wanted to win.
The night sky above the cabin was an endless expanse of stars, their cold light spilling over the clearing like shards of glass. Sable stood alone at the edge of the tree line, her arms wrapped tightly around herself as she stared into the dark forest. The air was cool, the scent of pine and earth mingling with the faint trace of smoke from the cabin’s chimney. But the quiet didn’t soothe her. It only sharpened the edges of her thoughts.
Her mind was a battleground, a constant war between memories that brought warmth and those that froze her soul. The laughter of her pack echoed in her ears, a sound so vivid it felt as if they were just behind her, waiting to tease her for being too serious or too slow. She could almost see her brother’s mischievous grin, hear her father’s deep chuckle as he shared a story by the fire.
But the laughter always gave way to screams.
The crack of gunfire. The scent of blood thick in the air. Her mother’s desperate howl silenced mid-note. Her brother’s silver coat, streaked with crimson, as he fell at her side. The haunting images rose unbidden, consuming her until the burden of grief weighed down so hard she could barely breathe.
“Sable.” Bryce’s deep voice broke through the storm of her thoughts, grounding her in the present.
She didn’t turn. “I told you I wanted to be alone.”
“And I ignored you,” he said simply, his steady footsteps reducing the distance between them. He stopped just behind her, close enough that she could feel the heat of his presence, but he didn’t reach for her. Not yet. “You’ve been out here for hours.”
“I’m fine,” she said, the words flat and unconvincing even to her own ears.
“Liar,” Bryce said softly, his tone carrying neither judgment nor reproach. “You’re not fine, Sable. And you don’t have to be.”
She stiffened, her wolf bristling at the vulnerability his words threatened to expose. “What do you want, Bryce?”
“To help,” he said, his voice unwavering. “To understand.”
“There’s nothing to understand,” she snapped, finally turning to face him. Her eyes burned with anger and pain, her fists clenched at her sides. “They killed my pack. My family. And now they’re going to pay for it.”
Bryce studied her, his eyes piercing and steady. “I know. But carrying this alone is tearing you apart.”
“I don’t have a choice,” she said, her voice cracking. “If I let go, even for a second, it’ll all fall apart.”
He took a step closer, his broad frame towering over hers but his tone gentle. “What will fall apart, Sable? The plan? Or you?”
Her breath hitched, and she looked away, her jaw tightening. “Both.”
Bryce exhaled slowly, his gaze softening. “Then let me help you carry it. Let me be there for you.”
“You don’t get it,” she said, shaking her head. “You don’t know what it’s like to lose everything.”
“You’re wrong,” he said quietly, and the raw emotion in his voice made her look up at him. “I can well imagine what it’s like. There are other members of our pack that came to us when they’d lost everything.”
She searched his face, her heart pounding as she saw the truth in his eyes. He wasn’t just offering her empty words—he was sharing a part of himself she hadn’t seen before. The thought unsettled her, shaking the fragile walls she’d built around her grief.
For a moment, neither of them spoke, the silence stretching between them like a taut wire. Then, finally, Sable let out a shaky breath.
“I remember everything,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “Every sound. Every scent. Every face.”
Bryce didn’t interrupt, didn’t push. He simply waited, his presence steady and reassuring.
“They came at dawn,” she continued, her gaze distant as the memories spilled out. “We were moving wild mustangs off the range. It was cold, the kind of cold that cuts through your fur. My brother was complaining, like always, and my mother told him to stop whining. My father was ahead of us, leading the way.”
Her voice wavered, and she swallowed hard, forcing herself to continue. “I smelled them before I saw them. The hunters. There was something off in the air—metallic, wrong. I tried to warn the pack, but it was too late.”
Bryce’s fists clenched at his sides, his jaw tight, but he didn’t say a word, letting her speak.
“They opened fire,” Sable said, her voice cracking. “I saw my mother and father fall. My brother… he tried to protect me. There was no chance to fight, all we could do was run or die.”
Tears burned in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. “I ran. I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t stop myself. I was wounded, and I couldn’t save them.”
“You survived,” Bryce said, his voice rough with emotion. “Their deaths are not your fault. These hunters are showing up all over—there’s been some talk about hunter activity up in the mountains of Colorado. They seem determined to wipe out our kind.”
“People knew about this and said nothing to others?” she accused, her voice sharp.
“There have been rumors for years, it’s only most recently that packs have been talking and sharing information…”
“And you just kept what you found to yourselves?”
Bryce shook his head. “I get that you’re angry, but you know how most packs are—they keep to themselves. Before you try to take the moral high ground, answer me this—why didn’t you tell anyone that your pack had been slaughtered?”
Sable started to make a retort, but realized he was right. Whatever it was she was trying to accuse others of doing, she was guilty of the same thing. She had told no one about what had happened or of her plan to find the killers and make them pay. Pot? Meet kettle.
“Your pack would have wanted you to live, to add their song to that of Copper Canyon Ranch’s. As long as someone remembers you, you’re never truly gone.”
“I didn’t ask to be the survivor,” she said bitterly. “I didn’t want to be the one left behind.”
Bryce reached for her then, his hand resting gently on her shoulder. “But you are. And now you have a choice, Sable. You can keep running yourself into the ground, or you can let me help you finish this.”
Her gaze snapped to his, her eyes blazing with both anger and longing. “Why do you care so much? Why are you doing this?”
“Because you’re my mate,” Bryce said, his voice steady and certain. “And that means I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you. To fight with you. To make sure you don’t have to face this alone.”
Sable’s breath caught, the weight of his words crashing over her like a wave. She wanted to argue, to push him away, but the bond between them was undeniable, a thread that pulled her closer no matter how hard she tried to resist.
“You’re so damn stubborn,” she muttered, her voice trembling.
Bryce’s lips quirked into a faint smile. “Takes one to know one.”
The friction between them crackled, a mix of pain, anger, and something deeper that neither of them could ignore. Sable felt the pull of the bond, the quiet promise of safety and strength that Bryce offered, and for the first time, she let herself consider what it might mean to accept it.
“I don’t know how to do this,” she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper.
“You don’t have to,” Bryce said, his hand tightening gently on her shoulder. “We’ll figure it out. Together.”
Sable looked away, her heart pounding as the storm inside her began to settle. The memories of her pack were still raw, the pain still fresh, but for the first time, she felt something else—a spark of hope, fragile but real.