Wolf Bride Read Online Free PDF

sleep.
    ****
    My body had been dragged behind a horse. It had to have to feel like this. And all the soreness was just from sitting there, traveling. Any actual manual labor around the homestead would likely kill me. I was still staring at the ceiling in the same position I’d fallen asleep in by the time the rooster crowed for the sixteenth time. The long, cold slab of anger that tethered me down the night before still clung to me like a second skin.
    I was a naturally happy person, but since I’d arrived in town exactly one day ago, I’d gone through waves of insecurity, despair, and fear. I wasn’t myself. This wild place had me reeling and if I didn’t get ahold of myself quickly, what would stop me from free falling for eternity?
    I tried a smile. It did make me feel better so I showed some teeth. Smiles were the best medicine, Mother used to say.
    A long strand of gray window light brushed a dusty chest in the corner of the room. Emboldened with the prospect of an interesting find, I flopped out of bed and padded to it. Kneeling in front of it, I blew a healthy layer of dust, which looked pretty in my mind, but really the dirty breeze hit the wall and blew back into my dumbly smiling face and lodged itself in my throat. When I was done coughing, I polished a metal plate on the chest that read, G. Dawson .
    Lifting the latch, the door slid open easy enough and I waved the remaining dust cloud away. Folded cotton shirts sat in a neat pile and a worn pair of boots lay forlornly in the corner, abandoned by their owner. On a pair of stained chaps, a two letter bundle was tied neatly with rough twine. Fingering the yellowing envelopes, I read the return name aloud. “Gable Dawson of Colorado Springs.” The room took on a new meaning. It belonged to Luke and Jeremiah’s missing brother.
    I shut the chest before any more ghosts could escape.
    Did the room enjoy being occupied again? Or was I a disappointment after it had housed another for so long and then been left to undusted desolation? I stood and reached for the scandalously cut dress hanging from a corner chair. I’d take good care of the room until he returned, because I, like the other Dawsons, liked to think the one they waited for still existed in the world somewhere.
    Shimmying into my blue, lacy dress was a challenge with sore muscles, but with the high of accomplishment, I headed for the smell of yeast that wafted from the kitchen. A plate of rolls warmed over embers, and a generous slab of soft butter sat invitingly on the table. A feast for a king where I came from. Jeremiah had one such roll dangling from his mouth as he pulled his duster on by the door.
    Cheerfully, I said, “Morning.”
    He frowned suspiciously. “Mornin’,” he said around the biscuit.
    “Heading out?” I asked. Really I wanted to know where Luke was, but it would be rude to ask right away. Men needed to be buttered up like the soft rolls first.
    His biscuit dropped into his waiting hand. “Lots of work to be done around a place like this. I left a basket of sewing stuff by the fireplace for you.” His eyes dropped disapprovingly to the black lace on my bodice. “Try to finish the dress today so we don’t have to see you flouncing around in that get up any longer.”
    “Got it. No flouncing. Do you happen to know where your brother is this morning?”
    Obnoxious knowing grin! “He’s already out with the cattle. He’s alive and well, Miss Yeaton.” The door creaked as he opened it wide. “See you tonight.”
    The closing of the door behind him made a terribly lonely sound.
    ****
    Luke
    The black horse under me was a skittish creature, but I liked that about him. There was always risk when riding him. A chance at a surprise ride at top speed was a possibility that could happen at any moment.
    A skittish mount kept me on my toes.
    The stirrups jangled as I dismounted and tied the horse off at a tree to check the damage. One cow wasn’t bad and at least I’d had the