Page 37 of Redemption in the Dark (The Righteous 5)
“No, I’ve got a bunch already packed. Would you like a granola bar and an apple for breakfast? Or I have some yogurt and a couple of biscuits, but I was hoping to use those for lunch.”
She purposely stepped close enough to Wolf to look into the bag and loved that he took a deep breath as she touched him. His face never changed, but she could feel his muscles tense, and he smelled like fresh air, leather, and horse. The last smell was faint, but it was there. It made zero sense that these smells turned her on, but she wanted to bury her nose in his shirt and take a deep breath.
“The granola and apple are perfect,” she said and stepped away, but her hands brushed along the fabric of his shirt, and there was this overwhelming sense of satisfaction that came with the knowledge that she affected him as much as he did her.
Duke padded by her side as they made their way down to the Four-Wheelers. Wolf tossed her a helmet, and she put it on, snapping the clip in place. She mounted the vehicle Wolf said was hers to use. She followed him out of the long drive shed that held an assortment of other equipment and vehicles.
A few minutes into the ride, joy whipped through her.
“Woohoo,” she yelled as they sped across the open field.
The cows watched them pass, and she felt free and alive. Was this what it was like for normal people? Having this sense of belonging and calm with a day to do whatever without feeling like your whole world could implode at any second? She wanted to hang onto this moment and never let it end. This feeling was intoxicating, and so was Wolf. He smiled at her from the other machine.
She was shocked to see how incredibly fast Duke was. He practically kept pace with them, his legs flying beneath him. She watched in awe as he leaped over a wide bit of water that had to be at least twenty feet like it was nothing. He looked like how she felt. Her heart warmed and seemed to grow wings and fly in her chest.
Wolf slowed and came to a stop, and at first, she didn’t know what he was looking at, but then her eyes adjusted to what she was looking at as the cow moved, and her hands went to her mouth in a gasp. The cow was lying on its side and was in obvious distress. She was sweating up and making strange noises that didn’t sound like typical mooing, at least none that she’d ever heard.
“What’s wrong with her,” she asked as Wolf grabbed a walkie-talkie from his pack and radioed their location, then grabbed items he appeared to need.
“She’s calving, but she’s early. The cows getting ready to calf are always brought up to the barn so they have shelter and are away from wild animals that would take advantage of her situation.”
“You mean like coyotes or wolves? Oh my god,” she said as she pictured a pack of coyotes coming across the cow in her delicate state.
She had to shake her head to rid it of the horrifying image of what would happen. Wolf dropped to his knees behind the cow, and she watched in fascination and horror as he slowly stuck part of his hand inside the cow.
“Um…what the heck are you doing?”
“Checking to see if she’s progressing or if there’s a bigger problem. If all is well, both feet should be right here and facing down, not up. She shouldn’t be this stressed. It’s not her first calf.”
The sound of another Four-Wheeler had her looking over her shoulder to see a man she didn’t know approaching with a large pack on his lap. As he got closer, it became obvious that this man was Wolf’s father or, at the very least, his Uncle. They had the same shaped face and the same stunning eyes.
He slipped off the Four-Wheeler and walked over. “Hello, I’m Onacona, Waya’s father,” he said, confirming her speculation as he held out his hand.
“Maeve, it’s nice to meet you.”
His smile, complete with smile lines, felt like a warm and inviting hug. Something else that was the same as his son.
“I look forward to speaking with you further, but I better go see if Waya needs anything.”
“Yes, of course, sorry.”
She wrapped her arms around herself as the distressed animal made another sound that gripped her.
“Can I help?”
“If you want, you can kneel by her neck and comfort her, but stay on this side. You don’t want to be in front of her if she starts thrashing her legs,” Wolf said and then turned to his father. “The calf is definitely stuck, I would guess by a shoulder, only one front leg is extended. She must have been pushing awhile to be this tired and sweated up.”
Onacona was already rifling through the duffel bag he brought and handed over something plastic to Wolf. She watched every little thing he did, and when he stood and whipped his shirt off, she stared in wide-eyed disbelief.
What in the hell was he doing?
She knelt down by the pretty cow with her big eyes and wasn’t sure what she should do to comfort a cow.
“Just pet her like the horses and talk to her softly. You’ve got this,” Wolf said, and she blushed as she looked up at him.
He blew into the end of the plastic, and to her horror, she realized that they were gloves and not just regular run-of-the-mill gloves. No, these stretched from the tip of his fingers straight up to his shoulder.
She did as he said and laid her hand on the animal’s neck. Her large dark eye looked at her as the head lifted slightly off the ground. What she saw was fear and pain. They were both things she knew well. Stroking the cow’s neck, she spoke as calmly and steadily as possible, telling her that she would be alright and Wolf would help them.
