Page 67 of Fated to the Wolf Cowboy

“Hello Tricia. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I said before I realized it had been a female voice talking to me.

“What was that?” Brady asked.

“Huh?” I asked as I looked up.

Shit. We were in the barn and Clementine had been talking to me.

“This is nice,” I said, trying to cover my screw up.

“You’ve already been here before. Why are you acting like you haven’t?” Clementine asked me.

I glared at her trying to silently beg her to shut up.

Now was not the time.

“What’s going on?” another voice asked.

My eyes darted around until I saw a small foul two stalls down.

“So, this is Clementine, but then you already know her, right?” Brady asked.

“Uh, no. I don’t think so. Why?”

“Didn’t you ride her?”

“No,” I said before I realized what he was getting at.

“But your scent was all over her. It was so strong that my wolf mistook her for you.”

“Oh,” I said trying to stall as I figured out a valid excuse.

“Brady, can you come here for a minute?” Kenneth yelled through the barn. “Sorry, Tricia. He’ll just be a minute.”

I sighed in relief when he left. With any luck he’ll have moved on and forget what we were talking about before he returned.

I didn’t have to speak aloud to communicate with the animals. But it was natural to me that I didn’t always realize if I was speaking with them aloud or telepathically. One would think by now I’d have trained myself to never talk out loud to them. But their voices were as clear to me as any human’s so it felt unnatural not to respond as I would with anyone else.

“Is that your mate?” Clementine asked.

“Yes. He is.”

“He’s not too bright. He thought I was his mate at first.”

“I know. I didn’t mean for that to happen. What were the odds that you’d find him while under my command? It turned into such a mess. He can never find out about that.”

“Find out about what?” Brady asked from behind me. “Who are you talking to?”

“Nothing,” I assured him. “I didn’t hear you return.”

“Clearly. Who were you commanding, Tricia?”

“What? No.”

I was stuck. He was going to see right through me. I was horrible liar and I’d just been caught red handed talking to a horse.

“Tricia.” His tone left no room for argument. “Who were you talking to?”