The Alpha’s Fae

Chapter Two - A Lonely Ranch Life

Samuel POV

Finally finished with the morning tasks I got ready to head out on my horse to do the border checks of the property.

“Come on Raine, let’s go check the eastern border today” I said to him while leaning down and patting his neck. Putting my Akubra on I gathered up the reigns in my hand and nudged his flank.

“We should be there and back before the storm front rolls in”

Normally I would do the patrols in wolf form but when its the border that runs along the road I go by horseback to avoid unwanted attention. We headed off through the field towards the border at a relaxed pace. Living on such a large property had its perks, the peace and quiet was wonderful but I had to patrol it regularly to ensure no rogues tried to take over my land.

I’ve had this place ever since I left my pack 4 years ago, not that it was my choice to leave. I was meant to be the next alpha of my pack after my father retired but my brother had other ideas. He conspired against me and told my father that I was working with the rogues to help them take over our pack when it was actually him. But he was the golden child and my father always took his word over mine. It didn’t help that he even got a rogue we’d captured to lie and incriminate me in the plot. I was lucky, my mother’s love for me swayed my father so instead of having me killed for the crimes I was sent away and my brother was given the mantle of alpha. I don’t know what happened to the pack after that, I’ve heard nothing from them since.

As we started walking the border fence I noticed a small car off in the distance parked on the side of the road. I quickened our pace to a gallop and eventually came up to the little red mini. Slowing to a stop I climbed down from Raine’s back and hopped the fence, approaching the car. The bonnet was open and I could see someone in the front seat, a woman, with her eyes closed as if sleeping. She had the most stunning wavy burgundy hair that perfectly framed her delicate face, a cute button nose and plump pink lips. I leaned over a tapped on the drivers side window, making her jump and open her eyes. They were a beautiful chestnut brown with flecks of gold. She wound down the window and peered out, locking eyes with me. We were frozen like that for what seemed like an eternity before I snapped out of it and smiled.

“Afternoon, anything I can help you with?”

“Yes! Oh thank goodness you came along! I don’t know how long I’ve been here but I didn’t think I would see another person for ages!” she exclaimed, beaming up at me.

I chuckled at her enthusiasm and looked over at the open bonnet.

“You’re pretty lucky I came along, what happened?”

“I’m not sure, I had to pull over as there was steam coming out from under the bonnet” she said, scrunching her forehead up in confusion.

“Well let’s take a look” I said as I walked around to the front of the car with her following behind me. Having a look in the engine bay it was clear that she had managed to cook her radiator.

“Unfortunately there’s not much we can do about it now, your radiator is toast” I looked at her and stated. “We’ll organise a tow back at my ranch, but we need to head off now as the storm is almost here”

She looked up surprised as though she hadn’t even seen the incoming weather. Glancing between me and the car like she was weighing up her options she reached into the car and grabbed her bag then smiled at me saying “okay”. After locking up the car she walked up to me and extended her hand.

“I’m Ebony by the way”

“Pleasure to meet you Ebony, I’m Samuel, you can call me Sam” I said back, taking her hand in mine. Our eyes met again and I was briefly mesmerised once more by those chestnut orbs before snapping out of it and letting go of her hand.

What is happening to me? I thought to myself, perplexed by my interest in her. She’s not my mate as I would know, I’d sense it and my wolf would too. The mate bond is overwhelming and intoxicating, the moment you see your mate that’s it, you are in love. I shrug it off as just the loneliness playing tricks with me, 4 years is a long time without any real company so I’m attaching to the first person who’s come along.

“Let’s get going” I said walking to the fence and hopping over. Ebony followed and I held the fence down so that she could climb over it easier. She was quite short at around 5’5 compared to my 6’3 but that just made her even more appealing.

I climbed up onto Raine’s back and extended my hand out to her. She looked hesitantly between Raine and my extended hand, chewing at her bottom lip.

“Don’t worry, Raine is a big softie, you’re safe with us” I said smiling down at her. She glanced at Raine once more before placing her hand in mine and allowing me to help her up onto his back. Once up Ebony quickly wrapped her arms around my waist and clung tightly to me.

“I take it you’ve never ridden a horse before” I say while chuckling.

“No, never” she replied.

“Trust me, you’ll be fine” I tell her and give her hand a reassuring squeeze as I nudge Raine onward. We’d only just started moving though when the sky decided it was time and began to pour rain down upon us, drenching us completely.

I spurred Raine onward into a gallop as we head towards home. Being on such a big property even at his fastest pace it would still be another 5 minutes before Raine got us back to the house and under some shelter. I could feel Ebony squeezing closely to my back, trying her hardest to shield herself from the onslaught of rain that was pounding into us.

The minutes felt like hours but eventually we arrived back at the ranch and headed straight into the barn attached to the house. I dismounted from Raine and turned to help Ebony down but froze when I saw her. Even wet head to toe she was beautiful, the water trickled down her hair and face then ran down her neck to her shirt that was clinging tightly to her figure and emphasised her breasts through the thin material. She shivered and I realised I had been staring for far too long so quickly reached up to help her from the horse. She swung her leg over and leaned forward putting her arms on my shoulders as I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her forward from Raine's back. Sliding down I found her pressed against me, my arms wrapped around her. I felt her breath hitch at the contact and her cheeks went pink as she looked away embarrassed.

"Come on, let's get you inside and in front of a fire, you must be freezing" I said while heading towards the door leading into the house. I opened it and flicked on the lightswitch then allowed her to enter first, watching her look around in awe.