Steal Her Heart (Kaid Ranch Shifters #1)(32)

“You did?”

He ducked his chin to his chest once, then dismounted the saddle smoothly. He pulled something wrapped in thick brown paper out of his saddlebag. There was twine around it, tied in a bow.

Bryson handed it to her and then went back to his saddlebag and pulled out a hammer and a nail.

Maris untied the coarse twine and unwrapped an old horseshoe adorned with rust and dirt.

“You need one hung above the door for luck,” he murmured. “It’s gotta be used. And the ends have to be pointing up so the luck doesn’t run out. It ain’t much, but—”

“I love it,” she said fast before he could continue. “You thought of me, thought of giving me luck. It’s plenty for a girl like me.”

She handed it to him and stood up to watch him nail that old horseshoe above her front door. He had it done in a few seconds, then turned and scooped her and the sack of food up so fast she left her breath on the porch. He mounted Smoke, and then pulled her up easy behind him, then waited for her to settle right behind the saddle. He pulled her arms around his waist and patted her hands, then made a clicking sound behind his teeth and kicked Smoke gently, guiding him toward the gate.

“There’s no bones here anymore,” she murmured, hugging him tighter to stay on as they rode through to the second pasture. The Killing Pasture.

“I took ’em all out into the woods and burned ’em. Then I spread the ashes in the wind. I know you loved what you lost, Maris. They won’t haunt this place. The stink of the wolves is fading, too. Give it another week, and this place will forget about what was done to it. Places like this recover fast. You put so much good into it, the land doesn’t want to hold onto the bad.”

Huh. Smart man. Hearts were the same. Feed them good, and they didn’t want to drown in the bad.

“You’re an amazing woman, Maris. Tough as leather, built for this life. Built unbreakable. Funny and caring with that whiplash tongue that says you won’t get walked on again. Strong, but not in an abrasive way. The kind of strong where you would give your shirt off your back to someone in need, and you would barely feel the cold. I just watch you sometimes, hoping you give up parts of your secret self. And I know you ain’t ready to give yourself to a man, but that’s okay with me. I’m not goin’ anywhere. You take your time, and I’ll be here when you realize what I am.”

Maris had a feeling he wasn’t talking about being a bear shifter. “And what are you?” she asked softly, resting her cheek on his strong back.

“Nah, that’s too easy,” he murmured, a smile in his voice. “How about you tell me when you figure it out.”

Confused, she said, “Okay, I will.”

He pulled Smoke right up to the same fence where they’d first watched the sunset together. He gripped her arm as she slid off, his fingertips lingering on hers as she settled onto her feet. The saddle creaked as he dismounted, and when he’d unhooked a rolled blanket, they set out a makeshift picnic. Only neither of them dug into the food right away. Instead, Bryson sat down right behind her, encasing her in his powerful bent legs, providing his strong chest as her backrest. She tucked her head right in the curve under his chin. When he rested there, on top of her head, wrapping those strong arms around her, he melted the rest of the world away with a touch. And they watched that sinking sun together.

“We’re taking this place back, aren’t we?” she asked as the last few inches of sunlight disappeared on the horizon. “I’ll always remember the wolves, but this memory will weigh more.”

She swore he pressed a kiss against the top of her head. “We’ll keep taking it back until you don’t think on them wolves anymore, Maris.”

“Wolves will always exist, just in different forms.”

“Mm,” he grunted. “Maybe so. I can keep them away, though.”

What a beautiful thing to have such confidence. And she believed him. Bryson Locke was a man who was born to keep the wolves away from what he cared about. His protective instincts were too big, his character too wide, his heart could hold mountains, and his strength didn’t know limits.

Minutes passed like seconds here in the pasture, his arms around her, keeping her all safe and warm. Some people probably searched their whole lives for moments like these, and here she was…with Bryson. She felt lucky, and a man should hear when a woman thought such things. “I’m glad I met you,” she murmured softly, scared to drown out the magic of this night with the volume of her words.

“What if I tell you all the terrible things about me? What if you run someday?”

“Tell me now and let me choose to run or stay before we get too attached. Treat it like a confession.”

Bryson swallowed audibly and then he began, “I don’t feel enough. I went robot, and I’m just coming out of it. I’ve been in more fights than I can count. Left more people than I can name for the sake of the animal in me. I hurt them with my silence.”

“You had a need to move on quietly to protect them from what you are. There’s a difference.”

“You see the good in people.”

“Tell me more.”

“Sometimes when I’m the animal, I want to kill. Sometimes it’s hard to control that urge to hunt. I’ve killed some of the herds I’ve protected. The Kaids usually clean it up and don’t give me too much shit, but Hunter has shot me too often to get me off a kill.”