Page 9 of Fated to the Wolf Cowboy (Cowboys of Collier #1)

Brady

My wolf howled in pain as Sam reset my ribs.

Despite the agony I was in, my wolf was on edge in a different way. It didn’t feel like it had anything to do with being injured. Something was off. Maybe it was because we were away from Clementine, but he seemed even more aggressive all of a sudden.

The pain was excruciating as the bones locked back into place. I laid there whimpering in the aftermath. The only relief came from a heavy dose of her scent. It had to be my imagination, but it helped beyond comprehension and I appreciated that.

“Rest, Brady,” Sam finally said. “Rest and heal.”

That was easier said than done when my life was in turmoil. I needed to get back to my mate. What if Wyatt’s dumbass actually took her out for a ride? No one’s riding Clementine except me.

My wolf didn’t seem as irritated at the thought as I was. Shouldn’t he be just as pissed?

I was so confused.

Mostly I thought it would be best if I just packed up and left. I didn’t need this bullshit.

Mating sucks ass!

Even left alone in the small clinic room, I couldn’t sleep. My body was exhausted and healing, but I was not resting. If anything, I was growing more and more agitated the longer I laid there stuck in my wolf form when I should have been out there protecting Clementine.

Every time I thought about Wyatt on top of Clementine, I saw red and I was stuck laying there stewing in my own madness. This was insane.

It took several hours for the bones to set enough that Sam allowed me to shift back to my skin, but he still wouldn’t let me leave the clinic.

“You’re healed enough to shift, but give it a few more hours and then you can resume normal activities. If you’d stayed in your fur just one more hour it would have been better, but I can’t have you threatening my nurses every time they come in here to check on you.”

I hung my head in shame. He wasn’t wrong. I’d been a horrible patient.

“I’ll try to behave,” I promised.

It had been a long day already. In all the madness I hadn’t once thought about work.

Picking up my phone from the pile of my things they’d brought in with me, I called Tim.

“How are you feeling?”

“Is that Brady?” Kenneth yelled in the background.

“I guess you heard.”

“The whole Pack heard about it,” he admitted followed by an awkward silence.

“Great,” I muttered. The last thing I wanted was to be the center of Pack gossip. I could only imagine the jokes floating around. So a cowboy mates a horse and. . .

I groaned at the thought.

This was ridiculous.

“Don’t sweat it. It’s no one’s business but yours.”

“Great. You think I’m crazy too.”

“I’ll admit it’s a bit unusual, but I don’t think you’re crazy. Mating is very personal and unique for every couple.”

I snorted. “Stop being pragmatic. This is weird. She won’t even talk to me. What am I supposed to do with that?”

“I don’t know, man.”

There was a knock at the door and then Thomas poked his head in.

“Thomas is here. Let me go. Just tell me everything’s okay over there.”

“We’ve got your back. No problems whatsoever,” Kenneth yelled.

I should have reminded him we were not doing fall planting, but I had a sneaking suspicion I was going to return to a full crop load in the making.

“Keep him in check, please,” I begged Tim.

“I’ll try my best. You just get better soon.”

“Thanks.” I hung up with my brother and then addressed Thomas. “Well, come in.”

“You’re much more alert and irritable than I expected. I thought Sam would have you well drugged by now.”

“He tried. I didn’t want that shit.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Fine. I’ll be better when I can get the hell out of here. I need to make sure my mate’s okay and get back to work.”

“About that. . .”

“Don’t you start to.” Alpha or not, I was not going to have him disrespect my bond.

“Brady, it’s just that. . .”

I cut him off knowing what he was about to say. It didn’t make sense to me either, but I knew what my wolf was trying to tell me. It had to be her. There was no one else it could be.

I growled in frustration. “She’s mine!”

Thomas ran a hand through his hair. “Brady, I’m sorry.

I don’t know what’s happening here, but I was present when she came into this world.

Clementine is not a shifter. She has no humanity.

She was born to two horses that were bred right here in our stables.

I hear what you’re saying, but it’s simply not possible. ”

I knew what I felt, and I wasn’t going crazy.

“James is mated to a freaking human with no animal spirit whatsoever. You didn’t argue that. So why is it impossible that I’m mated to a horse? My wolf feels it the strongest when we’re with her. I know her scent. Maybe I’m meant to live in my fur with Clementine forever.”

Thomas sighed, but I could see the worry on his face. “Maybe,” he finally conceded.

Hearing him admit it was possible gave me great relief, but at the same time, I had zero desire to live in my fur out on the range with a horse—even if she might be my one true mate.

That dilemma was tearing me up inside.

“Tell me what’s happening?”

“Whenever I’m near her, whenever I smell her, my wolf alerts me to her presence. He just keeps saying mine. That’s a direct mating call, right?”

I wasn’t sure if I wanted his confirmation or to tell me that there was a better explanation that I was missing. And the fact that I knew an out on this would give me great relief also made me feel guilty as hell. I had to be the biggest asshole on the planet.

“That’s certainly a mating call. And when you look into her eyes does the entire world seem to shift on its axis?”

“What? No. There’s nothing like that. But I’ve only known her in her horse form.”

“Because she is a horse. That’s all she is.”

I shook my head. I just couldn’t believe that. There had to be more. God wouldn’t saddle me with just a horse. Something had to make her more special than that because she was my mate.

“I’m sorry man. She’s just a horse,” he repeated.

I growled at my Alpha. “You’re wrong. There has to be more.”

Normally growling at an Alpha could get a person killed. But he seemed to have sympathy for me. I hated his look of pity.

“Please just go away. This is something I have to face and deal with on my own. No one can help me with it. Not even you.”

He sighed. “Whatever you feel you need, just let me know, okay?”

“There is one think you can do for me,” I said as he got up to leave.

“Anything.”

“Keep Wyatt’s fat ass off my mate.”

The look on his face at my request was priceless as he tried not to laugh.

“Apparently Cruz has him assigned to Clementine. They’re due to be out for a few days or something like that. I don’t want him riding her anymore.”

Thomas nodded. “I’ll see what I can do. Take it easy and we’ll figure this all out.”

He still didn’t believe me. I could see it in his eyes. I didn’t bother arguing about it and was just glad that he left me alone.

Maybe this was what a midlife crisis looked like.

Nah, I was much too young for something like that.

That just meant I was having a higher probability of a nervous breakdown or something like that.

A big part of me wanted to just close my eyes, go to sleep, and wake up with the knowledge that this was just all one big crazy dream. But then the guilt set in because I should never feel this way about my mate.

I wasn’t sure how long I laid there tormenting myself about it, but eventually Oliver stopped in to check on me, too.

“What’s going on, Brady?” Oliver asked. “Everyone’s really worried about you.”

“Ollie, hey. Thanks for coming by. I’m okay. Sam says I should be fully healed soon and good to go.”

“That’s good, but not what I was talking about.”

Leave it to my brother to just cut to the chase.

“You want to know about what’s going on with me and the horse.

Have you met Clementine yet? She’s my mate.

So congratulations. You have a new sister and she’s a freaking horse that either can’t or won’t shift.

I’m not sure yet which. Thomas is convinced she’s just a horse.

But there has to be more, right? She’s my mate, so there has to be. ”

I wanted to beg him to explain it to me or somehow fix the mess I now found myself in. But I really didn’t think he could.

“A horse. Yeah. Funny, right?” I said, trying to lighten the tension between us.

He didn’t laugh or try to make light of it like others had, but he did look seriously worried about my sanity. Hell at this point I was questioning it too.

“Tell me what’s happening. Why do you think Clementine is your mate.”

I growled at my brother. “No one questioned you and Peyton.”

He silently watched me with concern etching his features and patiently waited for me to calm down and explain.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lash out at you.

I don’t even know, man. It’s like I can smell her.

And if I close my eyes, it’s so clear that she’s mine, but then I look at her and everything feels all wrong like something’s not right between us.

What’s wrong with my mate, Ollie? I’m not going crazy.

My wolf recognized her first. But there’s no strong connection either way.

But. . .” I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath letting her scent fill my lungs as a calm washed over me.

“But then it’s her. I know her scent, Ollie. It’s her.”