Quickdraw Slow Burn (Battle of the Bulls #3) - T. S. Joyce Page 0,56
at him. Everyone but her. Annabelle was safe from his fury.
“He’ll change back as soon as the drug is out of his system,” Two Shots murmured from where he stood next to her, elbows resting on the fence.
They all looked the same—the entire herd. Dead of Winter and Raven, Two Shots Down and Cheyenne, and her…Annabelle Faulk, because she had chosen this life in the quiet moments as she’d waited for her man to come back to her. She’d chosen these people. No, she wasn’t a lone wolf anymore, but she wasn’t part of a pack. She was different, and that was okay. She was a wolf in a herd, and perhaps that would be strange to others, but for her? It felt right.
A week of exhaustion and worry, taking shifts to watch him through the night, all of it. They wore matching black circles under their eyes, and there was such a deep hole in the herd that there was no smiling, no laughter anymore—only an air of worry.
She was standing in the middle of bull shifter royalty. To her left was Two Shots Down, number two bull in the world, finishing with a three hundred-thousand-dollar purse in the finals. Next to him was Cheyenne, the badass manager who wrangled these beasts. On Annabelle’s other side was Raven, the number four bucking bull…er cow…in the world as of last Saturday night. She’d brought it, just like Annabelle knew she would, and ended up with enough points the last half of the season to rank up there with the big boys. So far, no one had made it eight seconds on her back. On Raven’s other side was her mate, Dead of Winter, number three bull in the world, who had finished in the money, too.
And in the holding pen in front of them, the number one bucking bull in the world—Quickdraw Slow Burn. And he’d done it severely injured, poisoned, and with his human side muted.
And on the other side of Dead? First Time Train Wreck said, “He’ll change back. The Hagan’s have all changed back. The drug just needed to get through their system. I took the last of them where they needed to go today.”
“Why?” Dead asked him. “You’re spending your own money on their travel, on taking care of them. Why do that?”
“Because once upon a time, someone drugged me and two of my friends, and I lost one. And a werewolf who didn’t even know who I was stood guard over me when I was in the hospital.” Train Wreck slid a glance to Annabelle. “I believe in paying it forward.”
“Aw, look at you, being a decent person and all,” Dead crooned.
Train Wreck snorted. “Fuck off. I’m here for the karma points.”
“Lie,” Two Shots said softly.
And Annabelle could hear it in his tone, too. She watched Train Wreck’s solemn face as he tracked Quickdraw’s progress across the back of the holding pen.
Simply, Cheyenne said, “You care.”
Train Wreck shrugged up a shoulder, flipped them off, and then walked away into the night shadows, headed for his truck.
They were the last ones left in the venue RV park right outside of the arena, but Train Wreck had stayed behind in some hotel in town, checking in with them each day. He’d even taken a couple shifts watching Quickdraw at night so the herd could get a little sleep.
“Sloane is still out there,” Dead called. “He’s going to be a problem for all of us.”
“No, he won’t,” came Train Wreck’s echoing response from the dark.
“I fuckin’ knew it,” Dead murmured.
“Knew what?” Raven asked.
“He’s been hunting Sloane. Hunter called tonight and made sure it was okay to give Train Wreck information.” Dead perked up. “We picked up a stray!”
Cheyenne groaned. “Dead, Train Wreck isn’t some cat we picked up off the side of the road.”
“I can feed him.”
“No,” Two Shots and Cheyenne said at once.
“He’s nice and helped us bury all those bodies. He’s one of us.”
“Can we just learn to manage this herd before we add to it?” Cheyenne asked.
“I’ve always wanted a pet,” Raven said.
“Oh, God, don’t encourage him,” Two Shots muttered.
Dead scoffed. “You like him, too. Yesterday you said, and I quote, ‘Train Wreck isn’t the worst at beer runs.’”
“Because you have that throne, you douchebag,” Two Shots insulted him. “At least Train Wreck doesn’t bring us back sparkling apple cider because it was on sale or because he likes the color of the label. He brings back actual manly beer. You know what? Yeah, let’s