The Rogue Mate

Chapter Twelve.

A day later I was able to get out of the barn when Chev and a few other wolves dug us out. A week later the snow had cleared and everything was back to normal, though it was still freezing cold. Since we got out, both Yiannis and Maddox were constantly watching me; I felt babied.

I could feel their eyes on me now as I hoisted a bale of hay into a wheel barrow. “Cut it out!” I hissed, turning around as they turned to look at opposite walls.

“Cut what out?” Yiannis asked innocently, looking down at me with wide eyes.

“Stop staring at me; that’s what!” I picked up the handles to the barrow and began wheeling it away when Chev walked into the barn.

“Evan there’s a man here to see you; says it’s urgent.”

“Can you give the horses some fodder?” I asked, tugging off my leather gloves and tucking them into my back pocket. I knew that Yiannis and Mads would follow me but I knew it would look bad if I got into a fight with two of my hired hands in front of a potential customer. I knew that they were just concerned about me but they have no need to be; I guess that I was so used to looking out for myself, being on my own that it was strange to think that someone else actually did care about me.

A big shiny black SUV was parked on the muddy drive. The front door opened and two feet emerged, clad in fancy black, leather, polished shoes; followed by dressy pants and a crisp buttoned up shirt. This guy was way too dressed up for a ranch; he seemed like he’d be more comfortable in a board meeting or in an office in a city somewhere.

When he turned around my heart stopped beating; it was like looking in a mirror. Thick brown locks of hair that was dusted with greys, cold brown eyes, high cheek bones and tanned skin from our diluted Native American heritage. I’d never known my father but he’d left a hole in my mother’s heart that she’d never been able to fill; not even drugs or alcohol had filled the void, only numbed her to the world, and the love she should have felt for her child.

“Evan?” I snapped out of my frozen state and took a step backwards. “My goodness it’s true.” He stepped towards me, reaching for me but I held up my hand, cutting off his words.

“No.” It was a simple word really; to letters, one consonant, one vowel, one syllable… he didn’t seem to understand that though.

“Evan, you’re my daughter.”

I don’t know how but I managed not to close the few feet between us and punch him in his face. He’d abandoned me before I’d even been born; he left me with a drug addict mother who beat me when I refused to steal drugs for her. I shook my head at this stranger. “No, I’m not; fathers don’t leave their children how you left me, how you left my mother.”

“I’m sorry; I didn’t even know that she and I had a child until I read my brother’s will and saw the news. When I saw your face, I knew everything he said was true.”

“So you came to what? Try to take the ranch from me? To ruin everything?”  I was so close to breaking point; seeing this man was bringing up so many things I’d tried to forget. Where was he when I was cowering against a wall, trying to block the pain from her abuse? Where was he when I hid in my room away from the men she entertained for drugs? Where was he when she forced me to steal drugs for her? Where was he when I was constantly taken arrested?

The only man who’d ever been there for me was my uncle; he’d taken me from a world of abuse and pain and suffering, a life of lies and drugs. He’d given me a life; he’d given me so much joy and so many good memories that replaced the pain. He was a better father than this man could ever hope to be and no one would ever replace him; gone from our homes, but not from our hearts.

He looked like I’d slapped him, and honestly I wish I had. “I just want to know you.”

I felt tears slid down my face. “You had your chance.” For years I dreamed of someone to take me away from that life and they did; my uncle had fought my mother for custody of me. One night I’d been taken to the police station when the local chemist had caught me breaking into his shop. The cops had finally realised that my mother didn’t care, that I’d just have to spend another night there until I could leave in the morning, so they called around. Five hours later, he showed up with Ernest; cowboy boots and all. He’d taken me back to this beautiful place and worked for my trust; he’d given me a home, an education, memories and more love than I’d ever hoped for.

I turned to Chev who stood behind me and gestured to the man. “Make sure that he gets back to town and if he comes back, call the cops.” He’d let me down so much; for years he could have done a simple internet search, checked in on the woman he’d once loved, but he hadn’t and I’d suffered because of it.

“I tried to visit you in prison but they wouldn’t let me see you; no one was allowed visitation, I tried Evan, I really did. I read the letter Mark left me; the way he spoke of you, I knew that you didn’t do it, he loved you like his own daughter and for that I’m forever indebted to him.”

I’d turned away but those words caused something inside me to snap. “He’s dead and you don’t deserve to say his name; it kills me every day to think that the only person who truly loved me is cold in the ground, and that they said I put him there! He was a better father to me than you could ever be and no one will ever replace him so just leave me alone! I don’t want to know you and I don’t want to see you; I don’t need you!”

This time I turned and I ran, not fast enough though. “I’m not trying to replace him but I want to know you and I won’t give up until I do; I need you!”

I blocked him, blocked everyone as I saddled Obi and then took off at a thundering gallop; I wanted to be anywhere but here.

I sat high in the saddle, balanced over Obi as his hooves shook the ground. I stared out to the mountains in the distance, the paddocks and trees, breathing in the icy air that hit me in the face; words could not describe how much I loved this land. It represented so much more than a business; it was where my life truly began, where I learnt what unconditional love felt like, it’s where I can be optimistic about the future, where I can be who I want to be, where I feel completely and utterly free.

One minute I was soaring, the wind rushing past my face and the next I was laying on the ground. I heard Obi squeal as hot breath hit the back of my neck. Fear crawled up my spine as I felt claws dig into the skin of my back, heard the rumble as he growled.

A tear slid down my cheek as the claws sliced through my skin like butter. I knew that I would die today; I had no weapons and no one was around to hear me scream. If Obi ran back to the barn, they might just find my body; that is, if this monster didn’t eat me… or tear me to shreds.

His claws in my back, I felt his teeth. He ripped into my body and everything went black, the last thing I heard was screaming; mine.