Cowgirls and Alphas

Chapter 2

Lottie POV

It’s Friday night, and Ava and I are picking up four of our friends to go to the movies. There is Hannah, who is Ava’s age, twins Miley and Jessica, who are a year younger than me, and Reina, who is the same age as me. I’m starting to regret coming because Jessica is pushing my patience to the limit.

“You’re an adult! You don’t need your parents’ permission to go out, Lottie.” Her nasal voice shouts from the back of the Expedition.

“Jess, I’m working for them. They’re my bosses as well as my parents. Like any other type of job, I can’t do whatever I want and expect to have a job when I get back.” I retort, annoyed by her lack of understanding of how the real world works.

Jessica scoffs back, “Whatever, I’m just glad we can go out! So, what are we going to see?”

We ended up watching a hilarious chick flick that had us giggling like maniacs the rest of the night. After grabbing some late-night ice cream, we drove our friends home. We blasted the music and sang our hearts out to everything. From Shania Twain to Eminem, and anything in between.

“This was so fun! We have to do this again soon!” Hannah voices.

“Let’s all go to the rodeo that’s in a couple of weeks!” Miley suggests. We all agree and say good night as we drop everyone off at their respective houses. I’m glad tonight turned out to be a lot of fun, and I look forward to going with them to the rodeo.

••••

Beep! Beep! Beep! *Click* 6:30 am. “Ugh! I stayed up way too late to be up this early,” I groan to myself. But, no bad dream this time! Reluctantly, I get up and ready to do chores before Ava and I head up the mountain. I find her downstairs bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, eating breakfast already.

“How are you so awake after being up so late?” I groggily ask Ava. Sometimes I envy her “morning bird” trait.

“Good morning to you too, sis!” She chirps. “Our things are already loaded in the Expedition, so once we finish up with the chores we can leave,” I grunt in reply and sit down to eat some cereal.

By the time we are getting in the car to leave, I’ve woken up and am excited to spend a few days at the cabin. Ava radios our parents to let them know that we will be up there in an hour and a half. Dad radios back, asking us to bring extra boxes of ammunition for the rifle and two handguns he took with them. He also wants me to carry my handgun with us.

I give Ava a confused look, “That was weird. He’s never asked for something like that.”

Ava mirrors my look, “I was thinking the same thing. Maybe it’s because we’re driving by ourselves?”

After a minute, I break the silence with a deep sigh. “I don’t know. We’ll have to see when we get up there. I’ll go get everything. I’m also going to grab Great-Grandad’s knives for us to carry.” I tell her before hopping out of the car.

The two knives were a gift Great-Grandad had received from a friend back in the day. They came in individual leather sheaths that could be attached to a belt. They were large, with a 13-inch long blade made of pure silver and a 6-inch handle made of pure gold and a wooden grip. On one side of the grip, there is a beautiful engraving of a wolf howling at a full moon.

Great-Grandad’s friend said that they weren’t decorations. He should use them for protection whenever he was working outdoors. Even though he never did, we can use them if we wish to. Right now, I’m thankful for that invitation. I can’t shake this strange feeling that I will need these more than my gun.

••••

The drive to the cabin is nice and slow since it’s mostly dirt roads and switchbacks. We go up one side of the mountain and partway down the other side to get there. We turn off the main road and drive for about 10 miles until we crest a small hill. That hill overlooks a large grassy meadow surrounded by Aspens and Pine trees. Along the bottom of the meadow, there is a narrow ankle-deep creek creating a small border at the tree line. The horse corral is set up next to the creek. That is at the far end of the clearing. Our two-story log cabin is closer to the top tree line where you drive in from. The front porch faces west. This way, we can watch the sunset over the distant mountain ridge. This place is by far one of my favorite places to be. It’s so peaceful and beautiful back here. I feel like I can unplug from the world and leave my worries behind.

My other favorite place is on my horse’s back, especially when we’re up here. My bay-colored mare, Star, and I are an inseparable duo. When we aren’t working, I love racing her across the fields and through the trees, feeling completely free. To me, it doesn’t get much better than that.

As we pull up to the cabin, I notice that Austin and Katie are not playing in the creek. That is odd because they’re always playing over there. Dad comes out to the porch and waits for us to park so he can help us unload our things.

“He looks more serious than normal,” Ava mutters. Dad is a gruff mountain man-looking guy, so he does look serious on the outside. Our family can see right through him, though. We know that he’s a total softy on the inside. But, I can tell something is bothering him right now because he looks tense and troubled.

As we get out of the car, Dad says, “Load your gun and put it on Lottie. Ava gets inside and helps your mom make lunch, please.”

“Yes, sir.” Ava and I say in unison and then do as he instructed.

“Is everything okay, Dad?” I ask.

“Just being safe. We’ll talk about it later. Okay?” He answers and starts taking in our bags.

After we get settled, Mom brings lunch to the table. She has made Sloppy Joes, a house salad, and brownies. My mouth is watering, and I almost begin to drool when I see and smell everything. I didn’t even realize that I was so hungry!

“Thanks, Mom!” I tell her and give her a big hug.

“Your brother and sisters helped too.” Mom informs me. I turn to my younger two siblings and hug them and say thank you to them as well.

We sit down all together and start to eat when Ava asks, “Dad, why did you have us bring extra ammo and such?”

He looks at us with a serious expression and takes a breath before saying, “We found some tracks close to the cabin. They seem fresh, and I want to play it safe.”

“What kind of tracks? Bear, lion, coyote?” I ask. “Wolves.” He says lowly.

“What?!” I gasp, “How many do you think there are?”

“I’m guessing three or four. Big ones too. The prints are massive and easily engulf my hand.” That is a scary thought as my Dad is not a little man.

“Are they big like the ones from a couple of years ago?” I ask.

He looks at me, slightly surprised, “That’s what they reminded me of, yes. I didn’t think you remembered.” I smirked at him. Of course, I remember. He doesn’t know that I eavesdropped on almost every conversation he had about those wolves.

“Anyway, Lottie, Mom, and I are going to go check on the cows after lunch. We will take a few radios with us so we can keep in touch with Ava, Katie, and Austin. Ava, I’ll leave the rifle with you, and under no circumstances are any of you to go outside. You will stay inside where it is safe. Alright?” We nod in agreement and continue eating.

••••

Mom, Dad, and I saddle up the horses and hurry to where we have the herd set up. Each of us is carrying our pistols, and Mom and Dad have the knives I brought up. Along the way, we look for any signs of the wolves. Unfortunately, we find many tracks headed towards the herd. Okay

“Dad, what are we going to do if they start attacking the herd?” I holler.

“I’m going to call Malcolm Reynolds when we get home. I want to hire some guys to come to take care of the wolves. The sooner they are gone, the better,” He replies.

“Can I be a part of that conversation? I’d like to be involved with all this if you’re okay with that.”

“Of course, Lottie! I think that’s a great idea.” He looks back and smiles at me. We continue following Mom because her horse refuses to be behind anyone.

Out of nowhere, she comes to a complete stop. “OH MY GOSH! Jason! Get up here!” She yells back. We ride up the hill to be next to her but quickly stop at the top when we see what she’s looking at. I worry that I’m going to be sick from the sight before us. Dad is in shock and whispers, “What in the hell...”