Chapter 5- The EX

Cat 

~One Week Later 

   Things have been pretty calm around here as of lately. Preston and Owen have been catching on to work here quickly and they work hard. They got a fence up around my garden for me, so it was time to put plants and seeds in the ground. I enjoyed plants and planting. I really liked working in the dirt and the simplistic sense of it all.  

   We had all just enjoyed our normal breakfast and the guys were all going out to start their morning chores before we would split up to check fences. I was currently in the truck with Ivy and Jacob as we waited for the bus to arrive so they could go to school. The two of them were chatterboxes this morning and all I could do was sit there and listen to them talk about kids from school. I couldn’t get a word in or ask any questions. 

   The bus arrived on time so I loaded the kids on it and waved goodbye to them. I drove back to the house and parked my truck before heading to the stables to get Thunder ready to go out. I walked into the stables and went into Thunder’s stall. I took him out and tied him up so I could get his tack on him. 

   As I was strapping on his saddle my phone started ringing in my back pocket. I stopped and took it out to look at who was calling me this early in the morning. My heart sank to the pit of my stomach and I could feel the panic rising up immediately at the name on my phone. It was Danny, Ivy and Jacob’s dad. What could he possibly want to talk about this early in the morning? 

   I took a breath and answered the call, “Hello?”

   “Hi, Cat.”

   “Hey, Danny. What can I do for you?” 

  “You can agree to see me for dinner tonight. I miss you.” 

   He would do this every once in a while. He would get a wild hair up his ass and call telling me he missed me and wanted me back in his life. Years ago, after he had gotten me pregnant, and we were still together, he found his mate. He left me for her, which hurt, but I learned that it was his right to be with the other half of his soul. He had screwed up and gotten me pregnant though, which in the long run messed things up for him. 

   He had been a sleazeball and kept me a secret when he claimed his mate, then when she found out about me and the kids she rejected him. That broke him in so many ways, but it was her right to walk away because of what he did. He should have waited for her and left me alone, but he didn’t and he paid the price. 

   His Alpha, Bennett, hates me and won't allow me to send the kids to the Sandstone Pack to see Danny or learn about their kind. Danny chooses his pack and his Alpha over the kids and it pisses me off. You would think that his kids would be important to him but they aren’t. 

   When he does call me, it’s always about me and him and what he wants. It’s never about the kids and what they want or need from him. Even if I wanted to be with Danny again, Bennett wouldn’t allow it because I’m human. He detests human mates and me because of Danny’s reckless behavior when we were younger.     

   “I’m not going to dinner with you, Danny. What you can do is come pick up Ivy and Jacob and take them to dinner. Spend time with our kids.”

   “That’s a good idea, but why can't we all go as a family? Why can’t it be all four of us, baby?” he pleaded for me to say yes.  

  “Because we aren’t one. You need to move on because we won't ever be together again.” 

   “You’re fucking someone else aren’t you?” he lashed out at me. 

  “No, and I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” I defended myself.  

   “Who do you have around my kids?”

   Oh, fuck this. If he thinks he can now get defensive over the kids because he thinks I have someone new in my life, he can fuck right off. I hung up the phone, not wanting to talk to him or fight with him at the moment. I put my phone in my pocket and finished getting Thunder ready to go check fences on the northern side of the property. The guys walked in right as my phone text tone started going off with at least five messages. I huffed before I took the phone out of my pocket. All of the messages were from Danny and I didn’t need to open them. I could read them right there on the screen. He was calling me all kinds of awful things, like a whore and a stupid bitch. The one thing that set me off was the last message. He said I was an awful mother and didn't deserve our kids. 

   In pure rage, I said nothing to anyone and got on Thunder. We stormed away from the stables. I let him run as hard and fast as he could to our destination. I was letting tears run down my face and disappear in the wind behind us as I rode hard and fast. I stopped Thunder at the fence and looked up at the big bright Montana sky before taking a breath. I dried my face and listened as more messages came through on my phone. I ignored them knowing who they were from and started off along the fence to check for gaps, fur from animals and tracks. 

   As I did the fence checks, I heard a text tone that was different from my others. It indicated that my best friend, Amber, had messaged me. Somehow, in some odd way, she always knew when I needed her. 

   I pulled my phone out and checked her message. She was saying good morning and asking how I was doing. I stopped Thunder and sent her a long ass paragraph letting her know everything that had happened in the past week. I hadn’t talked to her in a while so she needed updates on everything that was going on, from hiring the new hands that were werewolves to Danny and his shit this morning. Amber was a human like me and knew about the werewolves because of the kids. She was the only one that I trusted with their secret other than Hank.   

   I kept riding slowly along the fence line and checking everything while texting Amber. She let me know she would come by later today to see me. There were times she would come stay with me and the kids just to spend more time with us. I enjoyed those times a lot.      

   Danny kept messaging me but I did my best to ignore them all. I finished my fence checks and turned Thunder towards the stables so I could get on with my day even if I felt weighed down even more now. I got back at the same time Hank did and we worked beside one another while getting our horses taken care of. 

   “What’s going on with you this morning?” he asked. 

   “Danny.” 

   He huffed and said, “I’m sorry, Cat.” 

   “It’s ok. I’m doing my best to ignore him, but it’s hard when he says things that get under my skin just right.” 

   “I know how he does. If you need anything, you let me know.” 

   “I will.” 

   I finished with Thunder and put him in his stall. I walked from the stables and went to the garden. I grabbed the case of seeds and planned out how I was going to plant my rows this year and what I was going to grow. I started working while putting my headphones in my ears and turning my music on. I knew I was singing along loudly but I didn’t care. I needed to let the stress out and this was the best way. 

~

Owen 

   I had checked the fence on the southern side of the property like I was told to and was riding back to the stables. I met up with Preston and we rode back together. We were coming up close to the garden space when I heard singing. It was soft and sweet. I pushed Bolt to go towards it and he was all too eager to follow directions with his ears perked up as he listened to the singing ahead of us. 

   We went up to the garden and I saw Cat on her knees in the dirt with her blonde hair bound up in a ponytail. She was working to plant her spring garden as she sang her heart out to whatever she was listening to in her headphones. She didn’t have a care in the world at the moment, but I’m guessing that was the point.  

   Preston and I got off our horses and stood there watching her as she worked in the soil. She was so damn perfect it was hard not to fall in love with her. Just being near her everyday made me want to be closer to her. What I wouldn't give to tell her everything right now and capture her in my arms. 

   Hank was walking up with a wagon full of plants to take into the garden for her. He stopped next to me and looked at her before turning to look at me. 

   “You’re barking up the wrong tree, son. She won't ever be with someone she has hired,” he said to me.

   It was smart of her not to fraternize with her workers, but I was more than just her worker. I was the other half of her soul. I had seen signs this past week that I affected her and that she was interested but was keeping me at a distance. The bond was being felt on her side of this too. I was going to stick around to find out who was killing my pack members and claim my Luna. I don’t care how long it took, she would be mine. 

   “Who says I’m interested?” I asked with high eyebrows as I turned to face him.  

   “That look you get every time you see her. I might be old but I know what that look means,” he said with a soft smile. 

   I guess I wasn’t as good at hiding my feelings or my thoughts like I figured I was. I wonder if she even noticed. I can tell you things about this woman that I have noticed since we have been here. Cat had a way with animals. She loves them and they love her. She sees as well as any human does, but she has heightened hearing and can smell almost as well as a werewolf. I’ve questioned if she was half-wolf but there was no way we would be able to tell unless she told us or we ran a blood sample from her. I wanted to know everything about this woman and tattoo myself on her with my claiming mark. I wanted to let her tattoo herself across my heart and my soul. Hell, I would let her claim me if she could but she wasn’t a wolf so I was the only one that could perform the claiming ritual.  

   I needed to keep trying with her and be patient. There was no room for error and I needed to keep trying. I had to have her.