18. Grey

Not sure butsomething wakes me from a deep, exhausted sleep. Immediately, I'm sitting up in bed, listening to whatever it was. Then I hear it again, sounds like an animal in pain. What the fuck? Abigale and I, after our long afternoon and evening fuckfest—nothing else I can call it—we got up, ate some of her mom's baked chicken, cleaned up, and then sat on the front porch chilling because we could see her mom along with her brother and sister taking care of all the animals. I know they locked up because her mom called out asking how to set the newly updated alarm. Grabbing my phone, I check the app and don't see a thing, but I hear that noise again.

Getting out of bed quietly, as not to bother Abigale, I grab my boxer briefs, pulling them up as I make my way to the stairs. Taking them quickly, I don't flip on any lights. I go to the front door and try to see out, but it's pitch-black. Fuck, now what? I grab my phone and send a text to Ollie, Spirit, and Phantom that something's up here. Then I make my way back to our bedroom, grab my jeans, and pull them up before sitting next to Abigale, who's curled around my pillow. Her face is still flush from our last romp, which brings a small smile to my face. I'll never forget the first time she told me she loved me. It literally turned me into an animal, literally, and I couldn't get enough of her and from her reaction, she felt the same way. But now is now and we might have a situation.

"Hey, Abigale, sweetie, need you to wake up."

"No, Grey, no more, can't handle it. My girly bits are screaming and not in ecstasy but in like too much sexy action. Need a break. Come back to bed, let's cuddle."

Smiling I rub her shoulder and then lightly shake her. Those beautiful eyes open and she must see something in my face.

"What's wrong? Grey, tell me, is it Fern or Shilah? Let me up so I can help."

"Hey, calm down, not sure if it's anything, but do you hear that noise? Listen. That right there."

She jumps up, grabbing her oversized sweatshirt and sleep pants, pulling them both on. She runs into the closet coming out with her rain boots, pulling them on without socks. I follow her as she literally runs down the stairs and to the front door. I barely am able to grab her from just walking out there.

"Hang on, tiger. Let me grab some shit, just in case. Don't go out without me, Abigale."

I run to the hallway closet, open it, and kneel in front of my gun safe. Putting my finger on the reader, it opens, and I grab my automatic and the little gun I bought just for Abigale. She's fired it a few times, though she didn't like it at all. She generally carries that old one her mom has, though Trudy took it with her when they moved out. Out here you have to be prepared. Walking back to her. I hold out the gun and she shakes her head.

"You either carry it or you stay inside. I'm not risking you for anything. Your choice though."

She gives me a tiny growl. Well, damn, maybe she's around those Devil's Handmaidens women too much, especially Shadow. When the growl gets her nothing, she grabs the gun, shoving it in her pocket. I push in front of her and open the door. When we walk out the motion light turns on and I'm not sure what I'm seeing. There are three, no, four men in the front yard. One man is holding what looks to be an animal and a large one at that. One of the other men has a box in his hands. The last two have guns at their sides but they are still holstered.

"What's going on out here? Who the hell are y'all, and what are you doing here at this time of night?"

Immediately the man with the animal walks toward us and I can see, now that he is closer, he's beat to shit. And it is definitely a wolf in his arms.

"Sorry to bother ya, folks, but we were on our way back to our ranch when on the side of the road four kids, three boys and one girl, were attacking this animal. Now, I know one was a female because she had the worst mouth outta all of them. They told us to mind our fucking business, pardon my language, ma'am. When we wouldn't leave, two of the boys rushed us but, shit, they couldn't have been more than maybe thirteen, bony and skinny to boot. They took off after the girl threw all kinds of threats our way. We immediately grabbed this one then saw those little animals in the grass, not sure they're even alive, but think those kids tortured them also. Didn't know where to go, could have drove to the Blue Sky Sanctuary but you're closer. Again, sorry to bother y'all, if you want we will drive out to Ollie's place, just say the word. We were at that town hall meeting and both of you made an impression, so we took a chance that ya wouldn't shoot us on sight."

Abigale moves quickly to check out the animal, declaring it had been stabbed multiple times and she thinks shot with a BB gun. She asks the man to follow her as she moves toward the pole barn. I let the men go first, with me taking up the back, just in case. When Abigale goes to disarm the alarm, without asking, the men turn around looking right at me. Well, okay then. As soon as we enter all three wolves start howling like crazy. Not sure if it's the injured wolf or the men. We move to the medical area off to the left side. Since these men are ranchers they know enough about medical care that as a team we work on the injured wolf quickly and efficiently. When the stab wounds are cleaned and stitched and the pellets are dug out, Abigale finishes up with two of the men. I moved to the box and can't believe my eyes. Six kittens, at least three, obviously dead. Two are still moving and it seems the fireworks that were shoved into their back end didn't go off. The runt is in pretty bad shape. They are crying for milk I'm sure, but the man named Jed said they looked and couldn't find a momma cat.

"Abigale, sweetie, will a kitten nurse from a pig?"

The men look at me like I'm crazy but Abigale, says the lactose is similar between a cat and a pig. Told me to give it a try, so we carry the three kittens over to the momma pig with the two piglets. We'd washed and cleaned the injuries so we hold them to the teat, rubbing it against their tiny mouths. First one, then the other, and finally the runt starts to nurse. The piglets come over and join them while the momma pig just lies there. All three of us are amazed. Nature at its finest, I think to myself. Too bad humans aren't as willing to step out of their comfort zone.

Abigale comes over to see how the fill-in mom is doing and she smiles when she sees the kittens mingled with the piglets. She finds it cute. The men start asking questions as the wolves finally settle down. I go and let Shilah out, though I keep a close eye on him. The newest wolf in our clan is still in his run because we don't know him too well. When everyone is calm and settled, Abigale offers the men to come into the house. I'm a bit shocked because she is private with her personal space. They accept and she leads them in right to the kitchen. I stay back because I'm trying to do my due diligence, though Abigale seems to feel comfortable with the men.

When I hear a truck coming up the driveway, I immediately go to the front door and look out. It looks to be one of Ollie's from the sanctuary, so I pull back to the side of the door to make sure. When I turn, all of the men are in the family room watching me, though it feels more like they are backing me up. I glance out the door to see Ollie, Paisley, Phantom, and Spirit getting out of the truck. Now I feel like an idiot, but better safe than sorry. When Abigale comes out of the kitchen, she sees who's coming up to the porch and looks my way, a huge smile on her face. She gets that I called them for backup and approves, especially with all of the emotions going around here in Timber-Ghost.

When Ollie goes to knock, I move in front of the door and I'm shocked to see what happens next. Ollie shifts in front of Paisley as Phantom moves to the left. It's Spirit who shocks the shit outta me. One second, she's at the back of the line and in less than two seconds, she's not only right in front of the screen door but has an automatic handgun pointing directly at me. I hear Abigale screaming but I don't dare move until behind me I hear a shuffle. Turning, I see two of the men keeping Abigale back without putting their hands on her. The third has come up behind me. This settled it. Trust is earned and all of them earned it.

I turn, open the door, and invite in my boss and friends. Moving toward my woman, the men separate so I can get to her. She's literally shaking as I pull her close, whispering everything is okay. After a few minutes she moves back so I let her go. She immediately rounds me and gets right into Spirit's face.

"I know you're a badass, but the next time you point a gun at Grey, I swear on everything I believe in, it will be the last time. My God, Spirit, you gave me a frigging heart attack."

Then as she grabs Spirit, she bursts into tears. At first you can see the shock on Spirit's face but, eventually, she gives in, pulling Abigale close, wrapping her up. None of us men know what to do so Paisley directs us all to move into the kitchen and give the women some quiet time. By the time the two women join us, Paisley has made a pot of fresh coffee and Trudy has snuck in through the back door with a huge tray of baked goodies.

What I thought was something going totally wrong turned into a refreshing gathering. The men are all related. The elder man is Joshua and the three others are his sons. First up is Joseph, then Paul, followed by Noah, and the youngest is Benjamin. Joshua shared that he and his boys live on a ranch about ten miles down the road. They raise cattle and are now trying alpacas too. Benjamin wanted to try. Since Joshua lost his wife, about four and a half years ago, all the boys dropped what they were doing to come back home. Benjamin was away at Iowa State University for his degree in farm and ranch management, with a minor in animal husbandry. A double major and he dropped everything to come home to help his dad run the ranch. Their mom, Joan, was a true rancher. She worked side by side with Joshua but since she passed from cancer, Joshua is struggling in many ways. The boys, from what Noah shared, talked and decided they needed to give their dad a hand. Just like a Montana family, always having each other's backs.

Ollie tells Joshua he should come out to his dad and mom's ranch and meet his folks. When he told him who they were, I could tell all of them were shocked. The O'Briens are legends in Timber-Ghost, Montana. Their great-great-great something or another founded this town, or that's what Ollie shared with me. I've met his entire family and they are plain old awesome. As we all sit around shooting the shit, it dawns on me the community town hall did exactly what Abigale wanted. It opened folks' eyes to other options. Not saying there ain't ranchers who would still rather kill a wolf than save it, but this is a perfect example of times are a changing. I put my arm around my woman and kiss the top of her head. Not sure she realizes it, but Abigale rescued me from a life of nothingness. My life is full and getting more so each day. Abigale, lil' Fern, Trudy, Nicholas, Jorgie, and Shilah. I'm truly blessed and—as much as I hate to admit it—Dr. Shugratti was right, though I'll never say those words to him as his head is big enough. The pain in my ass that he is.