The Soldier and The Wolf

Chapter 1

Dixon, Wyoming was nothing more than a small town with just about a thousand souls depending on the graduating class of that year. A small town that was surrounded by farmland, ranches, dense forest, and mountains. The kind of town where everyone knows everyone, crime is nearly non-existent, and most stay on the family farm.

Not Cameron Henderson, son to the world-famous Lawyer, Hendrick Henderson.

The Hendersons were a particular breed. Late wife, Mrs. Joan Renee Henderson, was the best lawyer New York ever bolstered, and Mr. Henderson was right by her side. There were times where the pair were against each other in court, and it was a fight to behold. At times the cases were better than any pay per view boxing match.

Sadly, Mrs. Henderson couldn't handle the courtroom any longer. She'd been fighting cancer for a good part of a year before she wanted what time she had left spent with her family. The family packed their things and moved to Dixon, Wyoming, and set up roots there. They even started a small ranch that was kept alive for a good while.

After Mrs. Henderson passed, Cameron joined the military, and Mr. Henderson took more clients in other cities. When the two were home, there was nothing but hunting, fishing, beer, and college football.

Cameron blinked coming back to the present as he drove westward on the WY-230. The memory made him smile for some reason. His mother fought her cancer again and again until he graduated. She never let it show how it truly affected her. He got a lot of his fighting spirit from his mother his father would say. Cameron thought that he got it from both.

The phone on its holder suddenly rang to life with the Imperial March from Star Wars. Cameron smiled and pushed the button for the Bluetooth to answer.

"Hey, Dad," Cameron said.

"Hey, Cam, just wanted to see where you're at, is all," Mr. Henderson replied.

"I'm homeward bound."

"They finally released you?"

"Yeah, I completed my last physical therapy session and got my prosthetic refitted. Doc wants me to come back in three months to make sure that the area is doing okay and to see if the prosthetic needs to be adjusted," Cam answered.

"Alright, well if you get here and I'm not on the couch, I'm out back on the horses," his father commented.

"I'll probably come out and ride with you."

"Can you do that?" his father asked.

"I can do a lot of things with a leg and a half, Dad. It's not the end of the world," Cam stated.

His father chuckled, "Alright, I'll see you when you get here."

"Love ya, Dad," Cam said.

"Love you too, son."

The phone clicked off and the car was once more overtaken with the sound of rock.

Cameron placed a hand on the thigh of his left leg. It's been almost a full year since his accident, surgery, therapy, and discharge from the military. The memory came back without warning. His unit was in the worst part of Afghanistan, a hellhole away from hell. Cam was a cavalry scout and was sent to an F.O.P or Forward Observation Post.

Most of the days, there was a routine to follow: early morning gunfights, lunch. Afternoon pop-shots, dinner, then a night of the living hell. ISIS would attack again and again for as long as they could before suddenly vanishing. One day wasn't like the rest. It seemed like hell just opened and poured out all it could on the little outpost. Two dead and nine wounded, was the butcher's bill that day.