teenager standing right next to her, watching her every move. “Thank you.” Ferdi handed the teen some money.
“Thank you, sir,” the teen said, then ran off.
The beta bowed again, then gestured at the horse. “Your present.”
“I don’t understand,’ Maz said.
“Her name is Sarie, and she’s yours.”
Maz’s mouth dropped open. “I can’t accept that. That’s way too much.”
“Dr. Ahadi, Akron and I are moving. This city holds too many bad memories for him, too much trauma. Where we go, we can’t bring her. She deserves to run free. Akron said that you talked about how much you missed riding horses, how the love for horses was in your blood. And you said you lived on a ranch where you’d have a place to keep her. He wants you to have her.”
Maz was drawn to the horse as by a magnetic force. She stood still as he held out his hand, allowing her to smell him. Gently, he rubbed her neck, sliding his hand alongside her smooth hairs. She shone, a testament that even in these horrific times, she’d been well taken care of. “She’s a full blood?”
Ferdi nodded. “She’s faster than any horse I know, but she doesn’t have the heart to compete. She doesn’t want to win. She just wants to run.”
“I don’t know what to say…”
“Please accept her. It would mean the world to Akron to know that she’s loved.”
Something in the man’s voice made Maz understand that this was not a gift he could refuse. This was a gift freely given, out of love and gratitude, not obligation. And so he bowed to the beta. “Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I swear I will take good care of Sarie.”
Ferdi’s face lit up. “I know you will. Thank you for accepting Akron’s gift.”
With a last bow at Maz, he walked off, and Maz watched him until he turned a corner and walked out of sight.
“Wow,” Enar said. “My patients usually bake me a pie when they want to thank me.”
Maz stroked Sarie’s velvety soft skin. “You said we were good to go, right?”
“Yeah, why?”
“And you’re going back in an army truck?”
“Yeah. We got some supplies for the clinic, so we can’t run back.”
“Awesome.”
Maz ambled alongside Sarie, holding his hand on her neck. He gave her a few minute beats to get used to his touch, then carefully unbuckled the girth. She stayed still as he walked around her, draped the girth over the saddle, then lifted the saddle off. “Good girl,” he told her. “Are you excited to run for a bit? I know I am.”
Maz handed Enar the saddle. “Take that in the truck, would you?”
“Erm, Maz? What are you doing?”
Maz’s face cracked open in a wide smile as he untied Sarie from the fence, then launched himself onto her back with a smooth move. She danced with excitement, and it bubbled inside him as well.
“I’m going home.” He loosened the reins and clicked his tongue. “Let’s go, girl.”
He held back while they were still in the city, people looking surprised at an alpha in scrubs sitting on an unsaddled horse. But once they’d passed the last checkpoint, he let her go…and she flew for him. Her legs ate the ground with long, graceful strides. She was sure of herself, never breaking her rhythm, never losing her footing as they raced straight through the fields.
And when he wiped the tears from his face a few miles later, he wasn’t sure if they were tears of sadness, joy, or maybe both. He slowed her down, and then he let go of the reins, stretched his arms wide, and closed his eyes. Freedom.
36
Sando hadn’t let go of him from the second Lucan had come back to the ranch. He’d even joined him in the shower, insisting on helping Lucan by soaping him in, then rinsing him off. It hadn’t been sexual, Lucan too tired to even think about sex and Sando probably too emotional. As soon as Lucan had gotten dressed, Sando had handed him the meal Lev had prepared for him, and they’d settled on the couch. And the omega hadn't let go of him since.
Lucan understood because he had the same urge to touch him. Nothing more than that. Just touch him and know he was there, that they were together again. Now all that was missing was Maz. Lucan ate and drank, then cuddled on the couch with Sando. He’d dozed off when the door opened, and Maz stepped inside.