Page 26 of Hoof It

Twenty Six

Chapter 25

Jimazu

M y mate and I both drift off, with her seated in my lap and our arms wrapped around one another. I don’t think we’ve been asleep long when my goat ears pick up the sounds of someone walking. The footsteps aren’t quite to the entrance of the caves, but they’re too close for my comfort.

I gently shake Darcy awake. Her eyes pop open. I quietly let her know that I hear someone walking outside. She shoots up off my lap and grabs for her bag. As I stand to my hooves, she pulls a pair of fresh pants out of the bag and quickly puts them on, then turns in a circle searching for her shirt. I see it first.

“There, near the hallway opening.”

She runs over, and I hear the footsteps outside growing close. They’re maybe a couple feet away from the entrance. I can hear voices now as well. My entire body relaxes as soon as I realize that it’s not just anyone; it’s Lexi and Frankie.

I call out to my mate, “No need to rush yourself or worry. It’s just your friends.”

“Oh, thank fuck.” I’m hit with her relief, which mirrors my own.

“I’m going to step out and meet them while you finish dressing.”

“Wait for me!”

I do as my mate asks, and wait quietly for her to step back into the room. She crosses the space and takes my hand in hers before we step out into the walkway together. We make it to the entrance just as her friends reach it. Lexi runs up to us, her light-colored hair flying behind her. She grabs my mate and pulls her into a crushing hug. Darcy’s arms hang at her sides, trapped by Lexi’s.

“Tell her I can’t breathe!”

“Lexi, my mate cannot breathe with you holding her like that.”

Lexi’s grip loosens somewhat, and Darcy draws in several deep breaths. I glance between them and Frankie, who’s a few feet behind Lexi. I notice that she appears worried.

“Something is wrong, little mate. Look at Frankie.”

Darcy’s head swivels and she takes in Frankie’s appearance. Her violet hair is in disarray, there are dirty streaks on her face indicating she’s been crying, and her left hand keeps rubbing her right shoulder. Her left cheek is red, and it looks as though a fresh bruise is blooming beneath the redness.

“Frankie, what’s happened?” Darcy rushes towards her other friend. Her hands land on Frankie’s upper arms and rub up and down.

Lexi answers for her partner. “Mat found us.”

Both of our heads snap to Lexi.

“What the fuck do you mean, ‘Mat found us?’ Lex?” Darcy stalks towards Lexi, dragging Frankie with her. Her mood shifts and then plummets; her anxiety ratchets up. My hands take on a mind of their own, and they reach out for my mate and pull her against my chest. She turns so that her back is against me and she’s facing her friends.

“Perhaps we should go inside where we won’t be seen or heard?” I suggest. I’m no longer comfortable with my mate being out in the open like this. Not until I know exactly what happened.

All three women nod their heads, and the four of us walk inside. I keep the three of them in front of me, and my ears perk as I listen for any sound that may indicate we’re being followed. By the time we reach the main room, I haven’t heard anything aside from our steps and breaths.

Darcy leads her friends near the fire while speaking to me in the bond. “Do we have anything that we can let them sit on? I doubt they’d appreciate sitting on the bed we’ve fucked in recently.”

I somehow manage to keep my snort in. “Near the bottom of the wood pile are stumps that aren’t yet split. I’ll grab those for you three to sit on.”

My mate nods quickly, and whispers, “Thank you”.

I pull the three cleanest stumps from the pile after digging around, and I wipe off the little bit of dirt that’s still on them. I carry them, one at a time, to where the women are standing. I place one behind each of them.

“I-I think I want to sit on your lap right now, if that’s alright?”

I don’t respond. Instead, I sit on the largest of the three stumps and pat my thigh. Darcy sits, then indicates for her friends to sit on the other two.

Out loud, she says, “Tell us what happened.”

Frankie drags in a ragged breath. “We had just gotten up. Lex was by our fire prepping breakfast while I was packing up our tent. We had planned to eat, then break down camp and wait for you. We hadn’t taken the cams down yet. My laptop beeped with an alert. I ignored it, thinking it was an animal or the two of you.” She pauses and wipes the first of the tears away.

“Lex whisper-yelled my name. I turned towards her, and she had this horrified look on her face before turning away from me. I followed her gaze and I saw Mat a short distance away, walking towards our camp along the car path from the guard shack. He looked pissed. And kind of, well, crazy. No– unhinged. He looked completely unhinged. And as though he was on a mission. He spotted us and began running. I told Lex to run, but her stubborn ass stayed planted in the chair.”

“I couldn’t leave you alone with him, babe,” Lexi cuts in.

“Then what?” Darcy asks.

This time, Lexi answers. “He reached Frankie first. Grabbed her by her arm and yanked her towards him. Started swinging. He landed a few punches, her body would be pushed away by the punch, and he’d yank her right back. That ended up pulling her shoulder out of place. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that scream.” Her voice breaks but she continues. “He dropped her arm and grabbed a handful of her hair, then punched her in the face, holding her in place by her hair.”

“Did he say anything, or was he just fully intent on hurting Frankie?”

Darcy’s anxiety has given way to full-fledged fear at this point. I hold her tighter and pull her body against my chest, placing a series of kisses in her hair.

Frankie attempts to smile, winces when the action moves her swelling cheek. “The entire time he was hitting me, he kept screaming ‘I know you had something to do with her leaving! This is your fault, stupid bitch!’ He also made it a point to throw some derogatory slurs in too.” Frankie actually rolls her eyes at that. “As if I’ve never been called any of those words by homophobes before in my life. Fucking twatwaffle.”

My mate snorts a laugh, then stops herself. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh right now.”

Lexi waves the apology off. “Nah, you’re fine. Laughter is supposed to help heal trauma, right?”

“Anything else?”

“While he was screaming profanities at Frankie, I picked up a rock from around the fire, and chucked it at his stupid face. It clocked him right on his nose. He screamed like a little bitch, and it started bleeding. Which made him scream more. He said something like, ‘tell that bitch she should have blocked me online. I saw her fucking post. I’ll be back,’ kicked at Frankie, then took off.”

Darcy is quiet for a long moment. I check in and sense a deep anger. It matches the absolute rage I’m feeling. Under that, she’s feeling disappointment. I stroke her arm to comfort and, maybe, ground her.

“Are you alright, Darcy?”

“Not at all. He was looking for me, and I wasn’t there. So, he took it out on Frankie.”

Her jaw tics over and over. The level of rage is overtaken by regret. She finally breaks and as the first tears fall, I rub her back and give her reassuring words.

“This is not on you, little mate. Not even a little. You heard Frankie. He was unhinged. He could have accepted that you left him and stayed home. He chose to come here. He chose to attack her. You did not force his hand. These were the actions of a deranged animal. Trust me, as a half-animal, I know these things.”

My mate laughs out loud. Both Lexi and Frankie’s heads turn towards us. Lexi’s eyes narrow at Darcy.

“What the fuck is so funny right now, Darce?”

My mate waves her hand in the air. “No, I’m not laughing at what happened. I’m laughing at something Zu said.”

Lexi’s head jerks backwards and she scoffs. “Darcy, he didn’t say a word.”

“Not out loud…” Frankie eyes the two of us and she speaks again. “He’s able to mind-speak with Darcy. How?”

“What the hell are you talking about? Mind-speak?”

“Darce, come here. Lexi, whisper something in her ear.”

Darcy leaves my lap and walks to her friend before leaning down. Lexi thinks for a second, then cups her hand behind my mate’s ear. She leans closer and whispers to her. I keep my eyes on them, and I open the bond wide.

“Frankie asked me to marry her last night.”

Frankie’s eyes grow wide as I speak the words that Lexi whispered to Darcy.

“Holy fuck. Does it work both ways?”

Darcy moves away from Lexi then holds her hand out towards me. Lexi stands up and nearly trips as she walks over to me. She leans down and holds her hand against her mouth and my ear. I keep my eyes on Frankie, and my lips sealed together. The bond is still wide open, and I know that my mate can hear what her friend says, within her own mind.

“Once, when we were sixteen, Darce had her first sex dream, while spending the night at my house.” My mate’s cheeks flush red as she recites the words.

I cock an eyebrow as my eyes meet hers. “And what was this dream about, little mate?”

Her cheeks flush a scarlet red. Her mouth opens and closes multiple times. Lexi stands upright and her gaze darts between the two of us.

“I’d just read my first smutty book about a woman and a monster. A demon with two cocks and a prehensile tail. The thought of being with something that wasn’t human intrigued me.”

My cocks stirs inside its pocket. I shift subtly in my seat, not wanting the other two to know that I’m aroused by this.

Frankie finally speaks. “See, Lex? They can mind-speak! How, though?” She tilts her head to the side and eyes us as Darcy returns to my lap. I wrap my arms around her and nuzzle my nose into her hair. She’s still angry, but she’s no longer feeling guilty. I drop a kiss on her hair. Lexi returns to her own seat next to her partner.

“Show them your mark, my beautiful little mate.”

Darcy pulls the neck of her shirt off to the side. Frankie zeros in on the mate mark immediately. Lexi takes a second, but when she sees it, she jumps up and rushes back over.

“Is this what I think it is?” Her eyes meet mine. I point towards the mark on my own shoulder.

“We leave you alone for two days, and you go and mate each other. Huh.” Lexi steps backwards and drops down onto her seat. Frankie has a huge grin on her face, despite the swelling and bruising.

“Yeah…we mated that same night I’d told you I wanted to stay longer. Don’t think my being mated to Zu means you get out of telling me that Frankie proposed, damn it!”

Lexi and Frankie both laugh. “I didn’t, actually. I think Lex just said that to say it. She’s been not-so-subtly dropping hints for weeks that she wants to get married.”

Lexi throws her head backwards and lets loose a long groan. Frankie holds her hand against her face and mouths I have a ring for her , then winks at us. My mate manages to keep her excitement contained.

Lexi’s head comes back up and Darcy immediately turns serious.

“I have the feeling that Mat was serious about coming back for me. So, we need to talk about my—no, our—plans for the future.” She takes a deep breath. I give her arm a reassuring squeeze. “Now that Zu and I are mated, I can’t imagine a life without him.