Dark Heart Wolf - Haley Weir Page 0,48
the moment, Boone had Pete in a submission hold as he grappled him to the ground, forcing the lawman to drop his iron cuffs to the dirt. Jesse was off on a hunting trip with Wesley, or else they would have gotten in the way of Sam’s entertainment.
Beth rolled her eyes and Abigail gave her husband the most disappointed look he had ever seen. Sam snickered under his breath. Boone had never defended him to fiercely before.
"You come on my land and try to arrest my brother!" Boone bitched. "Things around here are startin’ to smell real foul, Sheriff. If I find out Ethan Tate has been callin’ the shots in my region, I’ll come down to your office and see to it that you’re pelted with lead the next time I see you. Don’t think for one second that I ain’t the one in charge.”
"That's never been clearer to me than it is right now," Pete snapped, trying to wrestle his way out from under Boone’s mountainous body.
Boone finally let the lawman up. He cast his seething glare to the deputies that had their guns aimed at his head. Sam sipped his coffee casually and shook his head. Boone took a step towards them, and they jumped back with fear in their eyes. “Do it,” his brother dared. “You pull that trigger and see how many of you are left standin’ by the time a single bullet hits your target.”
Sam had to admit he was impressed. Boone would have made a decent outlaw.
The sheriff scrambled to his feet, and Mary Ann stepped out the front door. Jesse and Wesley rode into the stables as Abigail and Beth sat down in the pair of rocking chairs. Itsá and Gabriel were the next folks to arrive. The deputies lowered their weapons and Pete brushed the dirt off of his coat, glaring at Boone. “I’ll be back, Cassady. We’ll see what the marshal has to say about all of this. The bounty on your brother’s head will double by the end of the day; you mark my words—” the lawman’s words were cut off as Boone moved faster than the other man’s eyes could track. A knife pressed against his jugular.
“Endanger my family by sendin’ some half-cocked bounty hunter after my brother and I’ll gut you where you stand. Ain’t nothin’ I would not do to keep these people safe, and there ain’t nothin’ they would not do for me in return. So, you be careful next time you think about tossin’ around threats, or else you’ll learn that my brother ain’t the only demon on these lands.”
Sam smirked as Pete looked up at him once more. He wiggled his fingers in a mock wave, loving the way the other man’s eyes widened further. Wesley and Jesse showed the lawmen off of their land and everyone circled around to hear what Itsá had to say. The apache man removed his hat, and a curtain of ebony locks fell to his waist. “I told you all that my family had been killed. For many years, I thought that was true. Gabriel only recently revealed to me that he was alive. It has caused me to suspect that he may not be the only one.”
Everyone leaned forward a little bit more.
“There have been signs upon the mountain and in the forest that Aani may have risen from her grave to steer the events of this war,” Itsá admitted. “I know I have been rather secretive, but I wanted to be certain.” He reached into his pocket and tossed a stone carved into the shape of a raven right at Ruth’s face.
It stopped mid-air, and the group gasped. Dark eyes flashed to a deep shade of green.
“Hello, sister,” Gabriel sneered. “We once thought you were the lightest witch within our tribe, but I see now that was not the case.”
Ruth’s head cocked, and the young woman stepped off of the porch. She plucked the raven from the air and smiled. “You always knew I liked blackbirds the best.”
“Why have you risen?”
“To undo what you have always done,” she hissed, baring her teeth in a snarl. “I gave their fathers and their father’s fathers the spells they needed to protect their lands—the land that belongs to us and our people. I wanted them to suffer and to die, leaving the land to me so that our people may flourish again.”
“The Wendigo Spirit...did he help you?” Charlotte asked.
Ruth shook her head. “No. The Skadegamutc allowed me to