Page 105 of Savage Rancher
We lie there in the sunlight, tangled together, and I think about how far we've come and how far we’ll be going.
"What are you thinking about?" Jake asks, his fingers tracing lazy patterns on my shoulder.
"How happy I am."
He kisses the top of my head. "Good. That's all I want."
"I know."
And I do. I know it in the way he holds me, the way he looks at me, the way he's building this life with me—not around me, butwithme.
Mason and Luke are downstairs, probably finishing off the pancakes.
The horses are in the pasture.
The mountains stretch out beyond the windows.
And I'm here, in Jake's arms, exactly where I belong, with our baby between us if we’re lucky.
"We should go back down," I say, though I don't move.
"In a minute."
"Luke's going to give us so much shit."
"Let him."
I smile against his chest, breathing him in—soap and coffee and home.
This is family now. Not the one I was born into, but the one I chose. The one that chose me back.
And I'm never letting it go.
107
COLE
Men like Jake Callahan think territory is something you hold. Fence it. Guard it. Bleed for it if you have to.
They're wrong.
Territory is leverage, and leverage doesn't disappear just because someone makes threats.
I drive one-handed, headlights cutting through the dark. No rush. No reason to look over my shoulder.
But I do replay the scene at Blackthorn Ranch in my head, like I’ve done every day for the past month.
Jake Callahan standing in his house, Mason Rivera watching from the doorway like a guard dog. His face when I told him he owed me—priceless. I grin. Too bad I couldn’t have a picture of that.
Jake's response was immediate.All you did was sign your death certificate.No hesitation. No negotiation.
Just certainty.
I chuckle. Most men facing Jake Callahan would have pissed their fucking pants. Me? I loved it.
Jake Callahan revealed everything at that moment. He didn't deny what I said. Didn't pretend Emma Hayes wasn't the center of his entire world. He promised to kill me for threatening her.
Which means I was right: Emma Hayes isn't just his weakness. She's hisonlyweakness.
