Animal Heart (Beast & Beauty) (7 page)

She had also come to another decision. Tomorrow morning at dawn she would ride Storm. Aden could complain as much as he liked after the event, she didn't care about that. But it was a burning obsession with her, to ride such a wickedly fast horse as his. So what if he was unpredictable? At least she knew that and could allow for it. Just one fast fling in the saddle with him was all she really wanted from this vacation now.

She ate her meal with her eyes downcast, making polite conversation with Jamie, Lucas, and Aden, when they spoke to her. Then she rose and made her excuses, feigning a headache. She crept off to bed with a Blade vampire movie to while away the hours. Once in her room, she opened her bottle of wine and ate her bar of chocolate to cheer herself up. Very soon she found she had put away the whole bottle. She put it down to her stressful day. Lulled into a drink-induced tiredness, she checked the alarm with bleary eyes and sank down, under the warm and welcoming duvet, drifting off quickly into a deep, dreamless sleep.

She stuck out her hand and switched off the beeping alarm. It was still quite dark outside. She was almost tempted to continue laying there and go back to sleep again, but she knew she'd regret the missed opportunity if she did. With great effort she pulled herself out of the warmth of the bed and washed and dressed, finally brushing out her hair.

She opened her window and slipped through and down to the ground below, walking quickly towards the stable yard.  As she pushed the gate open, it squeaked noisily, giving her a hot flashover in fear of discovery. Her heart was racing. She knew she shouldn't be doing this and that made it all the more exciting. She approached Storm's stable and unlocked the top part of the split door. He stood and shook himself and came to greet her with a quiet whinny.

“
Hello boy,” she said, hugging his broad neck. “Fancy an early morning run?” She giggled as his soft mouth and whiskers tickled her neck. She stroked him for a moment and then left for the tack room, situated at the end of the stable block. She gathered the saddle pad, bridle, bit, and reins and returned to tack Storm up in his stable. Then she led him outside and over to the tack room where she heaved his large saddle out and with some difficulty managed to get it up on his back. Her heart was pounding like mad, desperate to get away and on with her clandestine ride. After strapping him up, and adjusting the high set stirrups to her length, she was done. She led him out of the yard and across to the grass to dull the noise his clattering hooves made. Walking slowly past the ranch house, she looked and listened. There was no sign of anyone up yet. Just a half hour was all she wanted. She could be back in bed before they were. The beautiful pink and blue streaks of dawn lit up the horizon, the first glimpse of the sun appearing in a blaze of light, as she finally mounted Storm and bounded off along the trail towards the woods.

Her whole body lit up with a fire. How smoothly he rode and with such a long even stride. She marvelled at the beauty of Aden's horse, becoming all too aware of why he was so possessive of him. He was like driving a high end sports car, a Porsche or a Lotus, perfectly tuned and responsive. She urged him on hard as he plunged into the tree line ahead. She was fully prepared for his infamous unpredictability as he thundered along the trail in the semi darkness. He leapt the brook beautifully and shortly after that they took the right hand fork in the path, up an incline towards the rocky outcrops of the low hills nearby. Just another five minutes and then she would turn and make her way back at a really fast pace.

There was a loud screech above her head and she slowed to listen. It sounded like an eagle, but she couldn't be sure. It came again, and again. It sounded like there could be more than one. She led Storm towards the sound. If she could see an eagle's nest that would be the icing on the cake.

They wound their way through the trees which began to thin out, and soon they arrived in a large clearing. She knew she shouldn't go off trail like this, just in case she became lost, but she trusted Storm's homing instinct. He'd make his way back to the trail easily enough. She was sure of it.

The screeches and cries sounded ahead, and she cautiously walked towards the tall sheer face of rock at the side of the clearing. She looked up and caught sight of it. The nest. A large messy tangle of twigs sat on a high ledge. A beautiful Bald Eagle sat perched upon it. She saw its white head and hooked bright yellow beak as it sat looking out proudly, surveying its territory. She was so enraptured by the sight a massive smile of joy broke out on her face. If it couldn't get any better, a large flapping of wings beating above her head drew her attention as a second eagle came in to land on the nest. She sighed in delight.

She sidled a little closer to get a better view of the nesting ledge. Storm made a loud whinnying sound and jittered, as if he was suddenly aware of the two large birds of prey much too close to him for comfort. She tried to calm him by patting him gently and soothing him with soft words, and for a moment he relaxed. She urged him forward a few steps more, patting him reassuringly until they stood directly beneath the nest. She was captivated by the sight of them, and sat still with her mouth open, staring in wonder. 

Storm whinnied again and began pawing the ground sporadically with his hoof. He was obviously telling her he wanted to leave. The two eagles, now aware of their presence so close by their nest, flapped their wings and rose together, sending down a small avalanche of twigs and pieces of rock on top of them. The horse reared beneath her in alarm, but she held on tight, for dear life. A large piece of stone suddenly hit her on the top of her head. Momentarily stunned and surprised, she lost her grip and started to fall in terror, landing with a hard thump on her back.

A flurry of massive wings, screeches, whinnying and hooves ensued, surrounding her from all directions as Storm shot away, with one of her feet caught in the stirrup. Her back and head bumped agonisingly over the rough rock strewn ground before her foot came free from her boot with a loud snap of bone that caused her to scream out in shocked pain. She was sent sliding down a bank and rolling over and over, out of control and terrified. Her neck suddenly whipped sideways, in an alarming fashion, and with another acutely painful snap. She came to rest as her head hit something sharp and hard.

Tasting blood, parts of her life flashed before her eyes in slow motion. She prepared to die. An inner peace descending upon her as everything faded and went black.

Aden walked out to the stable to feed and water the horses. He'd started late today after having a strong word with the women in private. He'd made it quite clear he wouldn't tolerate any more sulking or bad behavior towards guests at the dining table, no matter what their personal feelings were. He'd been disgusted at how they'd treated Maddy at dinner. He'd left his remonstrations until the morning as he couldn't trust himself not to lose his temper with them last night.

And Lucas.

For God's sake! Where was his pride?

He was pining after Maddy as if he were a lovesick puppy. It wasn't on. Much to his delight, she'd chosen to sit next to him at the table. That should have been a good enough sign to Lucas whose company she wanted and preferred. But no, he obviously wanted to make a fool of himself. He'd told him in no uncertain terms that he wasn't to come out on the trail with them today. No more of his ridiculous embarrassing behavior. Then of course, they'd had words. Exceptionally strong words. He tried not to remember them, but unfortunately they flooded his mind like an open sewer of obscenity.

He turned the corner and was surprised to see the yard gate open. He was sure he'd closed it last night, he was always so careful with things like that. He shrugged as he walked into the stable yard. He was momentarily confused. Because there stood Storm, to one side, next to his stall, fully tacked up.

Who had done this?

Then his mind whirred into action. He felt the horse's flank. He was damp and hot. He'd already been ridden.

“Maddy?” he called out, preparing to tick her off big time. He checked in the tack room and Storm's stall. Satisfied she wasn't there, he went back to the ranch-house to find her. He put his head inside the kitchen.

“
Seen Maddy?” he asked Shane.

“
Nope, not yet.”

He continued along the corridor to her room and knocked loudly. There was no reply. He was starting to get concerned. He entered the lobby and plucked her spare key from the hook. Returning to her room, he opened the door. The room was empty. Her bed was made and the window was open.

Now he really was concerned.

Where the hell was she?

He picked up the t-shirt she'd been wearing the day before, which was lying on the floor, and walked back to the main reception area. He said good morning calmly to the two remaining guests, who were leaving a little later. He wished them a safe journey as pleasantly as he could, and then, his heart beating madly, he summoned Rebel and Fire to heel and left the ranch for the yard. He rubbed their noses in her t-shirt thoroughly and leapt up on Storm.

“
Find...” he growled out to the dogs and they all shot out of the gate as fast as they could. He had a feeling growing inside of him. A very, very bad feeling.

The stupid, stubborn, girl... I'll never forgive myself if anything's happened to her. I should have let her ride him while I was there... I should have guessed she'd do something like this.

The dogs raced ahead, criss-crossing each other on the trail ahead.

“
Find...” he called out again, urging them on.

He was praying he would see her wandering back any moment. That she'd just taken a small tumble and was unharmed. But there was no sign of her.

They veered off to the right fork of the trail and he thundered behind them, his heart beating so wildly, he felt it would burst through his chest. The dogs began to slow and sniff their way through the trees to Eagle clearing. He didn't like to disturb the eagles normally, Storm wasn't that keen on them either, since they'd dived at him once before, but he didn't care fuck all about that right now.

He dismounted and called his dogs to him. He reinforced her scent, rubbing their noses in it once more, and they ran around the woods randomly for a moment until Fire caught on to something and gave a loud bark. He re-mounted Storm and followed his dogs as they surged forth, crossing the clearing and down the long steep bank the other side. He pulled Storm up and gasped in shock at the sight before him.

Rebel and Fire sat next to her broken body.

Her bootless foot was twisted back on itself in an obvious break. Blood smeared the pale skin of her face and a large amount covered the rock beneath her head. But worse than that was the angle of her broken neck. His heart wept for her. He jumped down and crouched at her side, holding her close. He listened with his ear on her chest and was overjoyed to hear a heartbeat. But it was so weak. Her wrist was limp and her hand cold as he held it in the warmth of his. He felt her pulse and had the distinct feeling she wasn't going to last much longer. He panicked for a moment and stood up, pacing back and forth in distress, thinking what the hell to do.

He couldn't move her. He couldn't leave her to die either.

Then he made his decision.

He hoped she thanked him for it, and didn't curse his name forever, because right now she didn't have much choice, if she wanted to live. And she was much too young to die, he reasoned. He stripped his clothes off and transformed himself into his wolf-self, forcing it along as rapidly as he could, with a straining discomfort. His dogs yelped and scampered off, sitting at a respectful distance. They always found his change to be disturbing, even though they had no fear of him as a wolf.

Finally complete, he stood and shook himself, circling and sniffing at her prone body. He took stock of her injuries. It was so much better in his animal state. He listened intently to her breathing, her heartbeat, and smelled her, touching her face with his nose gently and licking her bloody face clean. Her head wound bothered him almost as much as the break in her neck. It was a large deep gash, and still bleeding profusely. She could have swelling on the brain if she'd suffered a hard knock on the skull. Standing astride her on his long legs and nudging her thick cardigan away from her neck with his nose, he hesitated for a few seconds wondering if he should be playing God like this. It wasn't the first time he'd been in this position. He pushed those deep thoughts aside and acted on his gut instinct, sinking his large, sharp canines into the soft flesh of her shoulder. He held the bite for a moment, savoring her taste, and drenching her thoroughly with his all important werewolf saliva.

He was hoping beyond all hope, with every fiber of his being, that she would survive, and if so, that she would be unharmed. Her bones and tissues healed rapidly with the gift he was bestowing on her. He'd only changed one other in his life. They'd come across Charlene's broken and almost lifeless body lying in her car at the bottom of the ravine below one of the treacherous sharp turns on the hilly road to town. It had claimed more than a few lives in the past. He'd bitten her and she'd recovered without a single scratch. He was praying Maddy's spine and brain were undamaged as he had no idea if they could be repaired by his bite.

Carefully retracting his fangs and licking the wound clean, he snuggled up next to her, trying to keep her warm while the serum in his bite was carried around her body in her bloodstream. A few minutes later, he transformed back to his human state as quickly as he ever had, dressed, and lifted her gently. Supporting her head and neck as best he could, against his broad upper arm, he pulled Storm down close to the ground so he could mount him more easily. Stepping over his saddle, he tugged on the reins, bidding him to rise.