Rebellion (( Mature, Male, R. reserved for Scy))

Feeling short of breath as she intensely returned the kiss, he was reluctant yet grateful when she pulled away. "Hm?" he asked when she said something was missing, and then grinned when she kissed him and put his stetson on for him.
"Why, thank you. I completely forgot about it." he said, then embraced her.
"....How about I go and make you another mug of that tea you like so much?"

she gave a small laugh at his response, leaning against him as he embraced her, she linked her fingers lightly around the back of his neck as she looked up at him'' mmm well i figured you had forgot since you hadn't asked for it. and your very welcome.. as for that tea i think i can enjoy another mug of it before i go out and do some light work. i take it that while i am working on the coop you will be training Aoife already? " she was super happy that Ayrric hadn't found any sick animals on her property, even though she knew he wouldn't, still.

Now all she had to do was keep an eye out for Cale's ex, she got the feeling that woman really didn't like her, and she wouldn't put anything past Hope to do something cynical. Though the woman may not be that smart, she could still get vindictive. .Then there was her Ex. whenever he set his mind on something he was vicious till he got it. '' tell me something hun, why in the world did you give me the most stubborn bull ? '' teased, poking his nose. '' thing that big boy had it out for the both of us yesterday."

"actually, no, i was thinking that you with your ankle, granted it's healing nicely, had best not get too far from myself and my shoulder. So I'll help with the coop. Besides, Aoife needs to fully adjust before I start any core training with her. I'll give her today to finish housewarming, then tomorrow I'll start with her."
He hugged her and then broke away to get his boots back on, smirking when she spoke again.
"Well, technically I didn't give him to you. You bought him. However, normally he's mild-mannered, but I suppose he was just not comfortable with his new surroundings yesterday. and It's probably all of our faults that we weren't out of the corral when Drachen fired up the diesel. You know how simple-minded cows are."

shed smiled, being pulled away from her thoughts as she watched him pull his shoes on .. '' ahh well in that case. '' she disappeared into the back room where she kept some of her equipment and came out with a small bucket of nails and a hammer and handed them to him. '' you can hold those.. and yea i agree.., she can run around outside while we work on the coop."

She shrugged at his words of the bull '' ahh well, lets just hope he calms down, after all he has some fine heifers out there keeping him company'' smiled, nudging him lightly as she turned and called for Aoife, opening the door and watched a white blurr of fur shoot outside, giving a small laugh she watched Aoife as she rolled in one of the thickest and greenest patches of grass she had outside.. '' bah, need to mow later too .. either that or bring one of the horses out to graze.. nature's natural mowers'' grinned, glancing back at him'' saves me money on gas for a stupid machine ya know. '' she loved the fact he was still trying to watch out for her so she made sure she didn't walk too fast , not wanting to twitch or jerk her ankle much as she went down the steps. '' got about two dozen or so hens coming in and two roosters. i have two coops so figured one rooster in each coop., one coop i can have as my fresh egg's batch, the other i will let their egg's hatch and maybe either raise the chicks or sell them. . either way i get money. . same with the cows, i may have them be split in two groups. one for babies and the other for milk. '' grinned as she looked back at him'' being a country girl i believe in getting my food from the land instead of really buying much.,what do you think ?" turning back around she opened the gate for the coops, grimacing at how one of them looked.. '' hells bells.. '' sighed, going to one to asses it. , some of the boards where rotting so she was going to have to replace them. luckily for her she had some boards in the barn she could use.

As he got his stetson on and headed out the door, Cale laughed deeply. "Sweetheart, i believe the natural lawn mowers you really want are goats. But I can see where you're coming from. And, rather than milk, since these aren't dairy cows, perhaps one group for babies and the other for slaughter. Of all things to save money on meat seems like the most favorable." He shrugged. "But, of course, it's not my livestock.
As they entered the chicken yards, Cale didn't flinch or hesitate when he saw the dilapidated state of the second coop. "I assume you have replacement planks for this one?" he said, unbuttoning and slipping off his shirt, slowly to avoid tweaking his injured side. Throwing it over the nearby post and tying his hair back, he asked, "And when did you say the birds are supposed to arrive?"

she snorted'' goats will eat till there is nothing left, horses however, are a lot easier to move about , and they don't eat as fast as goat do so its easier to keep an eye on them so they don't kill off all the grass.'' she stretched a little though had to stop and watch him pull his shirt off before she smiled'' oh i know. i plan on getting one or two milk cows hun.i am not running a diary farm or anything but i do like the one or two rare homemade butters and such. , later though i will separate the meat cows from the breeding ones later., '' , looking him over again she frowned as she eyed the coop before leaning down to check the supports on them.

" umm paper work said in a day or two. if i need them faster he said i could call but i think we will need the day or so to repair.. and yes i have plenty of replacement boards in the barn, i will go and get them. '' standing up and wiping her dirty hands on her pants she moved past him , nudging him lightly '' don't hurt yourself cowboy" teased. . going out the gate and headed into the barn.

Minutes later she headed out with several boards over her shoulder, closing the barn behind her she walked back to the coop area before dropping the boards on the ground. '' already precut. father had planned to build a larger one before he got sick"

Donning his leather gloves--he had grabbed them from the truck on thier way over--Cale listened to what she had to say before replying, "Yeah, that day will help tremendously. We should check the foundation for any repairs we may need to do there as well."
As he picked up a hammer and beginning to single out and strip away the most un-salvageable pieces of wood, he began to scowl.
"Hell," he said when she came back, "Might as well rip the whole thing down and build a whole new one from the foundation up."

she grinned, watching him scowl'' that scowl better be aimed at the coop and not at me. '' teased, glancing at the coop before sighing, '' the foundation is sound. cinder blocks work well. suppose we can rebuild it if you think it needs it.. considering you have me helping so the time should be cut in half. '' grabbing her own pair of gloves and pulling them on she checked the inside before tossing out the old and dirty hay piles. '' the hen box's are salvageable, they don't look that bad actually. " she went ahead and pulled the box's out and stacked them well out of the way of the area before turning back to him. " well this should be fun. " reaching under the roof of the little coop a little she unlatched it before undoing the whole thing all together and set it aside, the roof was good, and it was designed to come off anyways so she could easily reach in and get the eggs and such without a problem. " just the sides need to be replaced i guess.. we can use some of the good boards for the new one."

He had begun separating the boards by length and cut already, and sure enough, when she'd moved everything out and away, he went and found himself a sledge hammer, then proceeded with the demolition--pretending each board was Roy.
When his girlfriend's ex had been pummeled enough, he cleaned up the rubble, and started to rebuild.
"Funny how remarkably satisfying a sledgehammer can be."

when he was done separating the boards, she had stepped back and watched him pound away with the sledgehammer, she got the feeling he was thinking of something, or someone he didn't like. At his words she gave a small laugh and grinned'' remind me to never get on your bad side love. " with that, for the next several long hours she helped him with the rebuilding, first using the brand new boards for the flooring of the coop then the rest for the sides. when that was done she helped him put the roof back on ,having to replace the nails for the hinges but that didn't take too long. , they only took breaks to get something ice cold to drink.

As soon as the first one was done, she allowed him to demolish the second one while she went and brought Triton out to graze a little on the graze, of course she ended up having to put Aoife back in the house since it turned out she wanted to try and chase the horse. They worked up until until just about sundown ,then she put Triton back up, enjoyed a lovely shower with him, which of course was a long one though they didn't do nothing but wash each other,.

For the first week he stayed with her, nothing much happened, a few horses got lose, but where easily retrieved and everything that needed to be fixed , got fixed, she got her chickens settled down in the two brand new coops as well as got atleast two milk cattles for her barn. , Sadly after the end of the first week he had to go back to his ranch, he too had a job and such , but she was greatful that he came by every now and then to make sure things where going smoothly and no one was causing trouble.

Before she knew it about four weeks came and went by, not a single sighting of Hope or Roy. which was fine with her and she was already getting relaxed enough to the point she didn't worry about the two any more. Of course every now and then , Ayrric would come over as well as Drachen, true to Cale's word someone was usually around during the day to make sure trouble stayed away. she was already starting to think of the two men as family, given the fact they where around alot and ironically always when there was food, she swore the two could eat like a horse, including Cale.

Beginning of the fifth week it was Monday and she just got done pulling egg's from the chickens, milking the cows which she promised Ayrric to give him some fresh milk and eggs this week, she rubbed her shoulders and lower back, she felt tired but didn't know why, considering she had a good night sleep and she didn't feel sick, but,chalked it up to the fact that she had been working hard for the last few weeks. yawning she washed up before pulling on some riding clothes. She was going to see Cale today , for another one of those trail rides, true to her word she came by every now and then to enjoy a good ride with him, this time she had a surprise for him, she wanted to show him exactly how well trained Zenith was, and with her now new truck and trailer , it made it easier to move about. grabbing the things she needed she looked up the palamino before heading on over to his place.

When she reached his place she waited on the porch for him, since he was out in the fields again she didn't mind the wait. though she had to avoid MJ to keep from being pestered, and she did enjoy a good talk with his aunt before she went to lay down. Yawning again she rubbed the back of her neck before relaxing, smiling when she saw him. '' hey cowboy , hows it going?"

Of course, there were other packmates Cale introduced her to over this time. Lance, his wife Sabrina, the fearsome trio, Kelly, Terry, and Allie, some of the other boys, like Daniel, Brough, and Xiphos, and various other members of the pack.
True enough the boys always seemed to be sniffing around the house when suppertime came, and Cale took it upon himself to do most of the grocery shopping to keep up with demand, working in the kitchen with her while she cooked so that they could put out to meal when it was actually still hot--and stealing a kiss every now and then as they did
Also, over this period of time, Cale had picked up his training again for rodeo season, Spending a few hours whenever he could spare them galloping Mayhem and roping first hay bales, then actual calves as his heifers began the height of the spring birthing.
Also there was the much more dangerous event of bronc busting, and while Cale refused to break in his yearlings this way, he had a few trained studs he practiced with on his ranch.
He was almost disappointed to have to go home, but Cedar Crescent could only function so long without its owner. And so he got caught up in recalculating his books to detect any anomalies, making business deals and selling his livestock.
He noticed that Mari seemed to be a little moody as of late, but he attributed it to mutual stress.
And then, to top it all off, Cale had to rejoin his pack's nighttime patrols of the city, a rotating schedule that had had to be re-divided among the wolves when some of its members had moved outside of city limits.
Perhaps the worst part of it all was that a resident vampire rogue was starting to stir the pot, and so the rogue had become the pack's top priority.


Cale was grateful to see his love, for his heart had been growing ever more needy of her company over the last few weeks, and gave her a big broad grin and he dismounted. It wasn't Mayhem today--while he was Cale's primary roping horse, even horses deserved days off now and then. No, today his choice was his primary ride, a medium dark grey roan named Apocalypso, and he was a stallion as fierce and powerful as his rider and was even more of a handful than Mayhem could ever hope to be. But for Cale, and his abilities as both and elf-son and as a werewolf for communicating with animals, Apocalypso was just a regular, impish sweetheart that the ranch hands were simply terrified of.
The big, vicious stallion snorted when Cale dismounted, and butted his nose against Cale's side.
"Easy D-day. We can finish our work later." the cowboy said with a firm tone.
Apocalypso shook his huge head, making his white bridle rattle as Cale went to his love, giving her a fierce but gentle hug as he smiled.
"Long time no see, stranger." he teased. "It goes chaotic as ever."

She arched a brow , eying his other horse before smiling'' handsome thing he is. , D-day? i am almways afraid to ask why you call him that" sliding her arms around his waist, returning his fierce hug with one of her own" i agree, long time. Was hoping i can steal you away for a bit of a trail ride." tilting her head up she placed a kiss on his lips, not caring if he was sweaty and or dirty. " mmm chaotic huh. , well that sounds about like it is at my place." smiled, leaning back to look him over. " figured we both could use a bit of a break, maybe a swim in the creek?" giving where they lived, the general area had plenty of creeks and watering holes to swim in. .

" ohh yes and that reminds me " moving away from him she opened the passenger door of her truck and let Aoife jump out in a blurr of white fur, she had grown during the five weeks mari had been caring for her.. She watched Aoife, who, in her pure white fur and gold collar, which had three tags on it, her name tag, rabies tag and information tag.. Went sniffing around and did her business before going straight over to mari, then over to Cale and stuck her nose against the palm of his hand and sat down.. " she has taken very well to the training you have been doing and not once has she forgotten any of her commands.." patting the porch she glanced to Aoife" h ere Aoife." smiled, watching as she jumped up and laid down on the porch, ears perked forward as she looked around, smiling she kissed Aoife's nose. " good girl. " leaning against the porch she looked to Cale and smiled, she felt bad for being moody with him over the weeks but she couldn't help it, " i didn't bring Triton this time, Figured it was time for someone else to have a bit of fun riding out.. you going to use D-day
?"

"Well, his full name's Apocalypso, so, I figure that's self-explanatory." He said with a smirk. "So I just call him D-Day. The man's hell on hooves."
Apocalypso snorted, tossing his beautiful head. "...He also happens to be a mustang, hence his thick skill."
He kissed her back, pressing her against himself and chuckling deep in his throat, as he held her tight. "A swim, eh? Sounds like fun. And you know, I know a very good little grotto upstream--it's where the triceratops skeleton's in the wall. It's about a three day ride to get to it, though. But, we can follow the creek. Not the easiest way, but certainly the quickest. We can take Aoife too. I bet she's dying to taste some wilderness, aren't you snowy lady?" He said, releasing his girlfriend and giving Aoife a scratch on the ears, which quickly led to him kneeling down and scratching her belly with both hands. "Maybe even teach her how to hunt and bring things to you if something happens to you in the wild, say if you're hurt or what not. Of course, that may never happen, but it's better safe than sorry."
Of course, if anything happened to her in the wilds, Cale and the pack would be searching for her literally night and day, using thier noses and thier smarts to a lot better advantage than police dogs.
"....And as for taking D-day, that depends on which horse you brought."

she enjoyed the kiss but all too soon it ended ,smiling she watched him with aoife." mm well the name suites him then.. three day ride?" she grinned,giving a small laugh."hun i dont think the boys back at the ranch can survive that long without a free meal from me. " grinned. leaning a hip against the porch as he spoke of bringing aoife with them" sure. got her leash and stuff in the truck. and you know she is eager to learn new things. ."

when he spoke of which horse she brought ,her grin grew bigger. " mmm just come and look. "moving away from the porch she went to the back of the trailer and unlatched the door. swinging it open to climb in and go to the palamino in the back. untieing the lead rope, she lead the mare out of the trailer. zenith followed easily behind her and stopped when she had stopped. tossing her head up a little at d-day as she lightly nosed mari. " she is fully trained and everything.. she rides real well you know."

"Three day ride... one way." he clarified."And I doubt you'll need her leash, but bring it anyway."
He twirled her around as though dancing, then spun her back into him, her back against his torso in a rather provocative position that he reluctantly broke before he started thinking thoughts inappropriate to his front porch--at least during the day.
"I'm sure the boys can manage one week without fattening up on your cooking." he teased. "Lance is a fine cook. He'll keep them satisfied."
His eyes explored her luscious body as he walked behind her, being a typical man and watching her supple arse, and smirking.
He cracked a wide grin when he saw his ray of sunshine being led out of her trailer. He reached up to stroke the palomino's muzzle, and kissed her nose.
"hello, pretty girl. You being good for my Mari?"

She had enjoyed the little dance he did with her , the twirling around and such , but greatful he broke it since her mind was now stuck in the gutter because of him, She could practically feel his gaze on her arse as she walked and had led Zenith out. Now she watched him with the mare, smiling warmly. '' oh yes she has been very good, and is very tolerant with the training actually , makes me wonder how the last person couldn't do it?" shaking her head she slid her hand over Zenith's neck and over her shoulder and back. " i am hoping to get in a little more training with her on barrel racing, she seems to love to run. and i did clock her once, she is extremely fast. "


She definitely liked the fact that Lance would cook for the others, considering she remembered the last time someone else had cooked in her kitchen, she ended up coming in with her stove all black and burnt cause the person who tried his hand at it, burnt the shit out of the lasagna he apparently was trying to make. Grinning slightly she remembered the ass chewing she gave the man, he was so embarrassed he went out and bought her a new stove, which she had enjoyed cooking on the last few days. '' mmmm three days to get there and three days to get back huh. alright i am up for it." rubbing her stomach slightly she frowned a little before pulling out a peppermint and unwrapped it, popping it into her mouth and stuck the wrapper in her back pocket for later disposal., her stomach just refused to settle this morning and it was getting annoying.'' i got my own person things packed too, thankfully i just bought a case of water that i can put into my bags.. will she be okay to have D-day ride with?" glanced at D-day, smiling as she reached over and petted his soft muzzle, she would love to breed Zenith, haven't figured out when yet." you can get your things packed up while i saddle Zenith. " she would also have to get things ready for Aoife too. '' ohhh and i nearly forgot." she glanced to him, wrinkling his nose. " you need to tell Daniel and Brough to stay out of my cookie jar. , i catch em sneaking sweets again and i am going to put a hurtin on em. '' considering the cookies she had baked , she had planned on sharing with Cale as a little treat over the week. that went out the window when Drachen had ratted the two out and said they did it.. only reason she got the guys to confess was because she threatened to feed them cold corn and pea's for dinner over the next week or so.. boy did that get them talking. Grinning she leaned up and kissed Cale's cheek " they owe me double fudge cookies by the way. better hope they can bake."

"well, she's got good legs on her like her owner does." Cale said. "And as for taking D-day, that depends on whether or not you're willing to risk Zenith coming down pregnant. Even tying him away from her isn't going to be much of a prevention tactic. The man can only be held back when he wants to be."
The mustang tossed his head, and flicked his tail, and gave a little play kick.
"Dear lord he's showing off for her already." Cale couldn't help but laugh.
"Perhaps I should break out one of my mares instead."
He raised en eyebrow when she mentioned his boys' aptitude for her cookies.
"Well, I'll ge ton them as soon as we get back."

she arched a brow, laughing softly at his reaction to d-day. " mmmm such a stud, heh , and hey now, leave my legs out of it" teased, nudging him lightly before shaking her head'' well, you can bring him or not, it don't matter, mmmm though i think it is best if you bring a mare.. unless you want an offspring for him ?",she glanced from the two horses, would be a nice combination of a Foal to have some of d-day's attitude and yet Zenith's eager learning. though she wasn't sure.. '' yea.. don't plan on breeding her head. though if he is eager for a lady,the mare my father gave me, Jitterbug, is in season, "

she tied Zenith to the end of the trailer before reaching into it , to bring out the few brushes and hoof picks she had, rubbing her down and taking care of her hooves before she slid the saddle blanket over her back, smiling when she held still " i tell you though hun, it was a funny sight the first time we got the saddle on her, she didn't know what to do with it."

Cale shook his head at his stallion and said, "Well, if you want an unruly half mustang foal, I can bring him over after we get back."
With that, he reached one hand up to cup her cheek, and gave her a long and somewhat suggestive kiss before pulling away and said with a smile, "Alright, I'll be back. Need to put Studboy over there away while you're working her over."
He tipped his stetson to her, and then led a reluctant mustang away to the stables.

Of course, he gave Apocalypso treatment suited for a king, washing him down, cleaning his hooves, brushing him, and all good things a horse could ever want. It amazed the ranch hands how easily thier boss handled the wild stallion of Cedar Crescent. Of course, they didn't know what he was.
With parting words to both D-day and Mayhem in the stall next to him, Cale vacated the stallion stable and made his way down to the mares, selecting his third favorite horse on the ranch, Faith, a beautiful buckskin mare with a lovely foal not quite weaned--one of Mayhem's foals, actually.
She greeted her master like an old friend, and her filly, Faithful Chaos--Kay for short--whinnied and cocked her head at the cowboy.
"How would you ladies like to spend a week away from it all?"

In a little while, Cale rejoined his love, Faith fully saddled and Kay right next to her, wearing her training halter.
"Mari, meet Faith, Faith, Mari."
The mild mannered mare lowered her head to sniff Mari before touching noses with her old stablemate Zenith. "She's my former barrel racer. I don't run the barrels anymore, after she broke her leg last time. I just haven't had the heart to participate in it again. Not the same without her."
There was obvious warmth and tenderness in his velvety voice as he stroked her neck.
"Anyway, I need to get some supplies from the house before we go, so you can get to know each other while I pack. Do you have enough, Mari? We'll be away for a week after all."

she had just finished tightening the last bit of the saddle on Zenith , when she heard Cale come up with the two horses, smiling warmly she let Faith sniff her before gently giving her a pat" really now? wow, she is a beauty though,bet she was fast. '' to see that the horse had actually survived a broken leg was a rare thing. and that she had a baby as well. " the little one is coming too i take it. thats alright. " she didn't mind, the more the merrier but if he didn't watch it , they would have to many animals to watch and not enough time for themselves.

arching a brow at his question she smiled" got plenty hun. i sorta prepared a bag just in case you wanted to do a longer trip anyways.. " she watched the horses interact with one another as she began to put things away '' well hurry it up hun, i am ready to go and Zenith doesn't like standing still for long."

Kay walked up to Mair, and put her nose in her hand and flicked her little puff of a tail.
Cale smirked and slipped into the house, packing razors and his other toiletries, and enough clothes to supply him a week.
Then he looked over his shoulder, making sure no one was walking by his generous master suite, then opened the drawer of his nightstand and pulled out a dark indigo box only a couple of inches in size. Holding it in his big palm, he stroked the velvet with his thumb, and grinned. He hid it in his bag, then headed back out, loading Faith up, and then mounting up.
"let's get out of her, my Love."

Mari gave a small laugh as Kay came up and nosed her hand, she didn't move fast at all as she waited for the baby to get used to her before sliding her hands over her'' such a little thing you are. gorgeous too " smiled, she enjoyed getting to know the two horses better and letting them sniff and bump each other as she waited.. It was times like this that she wished her father was still alive to see the animals. sighing , she gave one last pat to the foal's romp before watching Cale come out and pack up before mounting up.

Taking ahold of Zenith's reigns she grabbed the saddle horn and mounted up herself, settling down into the saddle with ease as she turned and gave a short whistle to call Aoife.. the moment she heard the whistle she shot off the porch and went over to the hroses, tail wagging as she circled the three but stayed well away from kicking range. '' mmm i agree.. .. lets get out of here for a bit. " she had made sure her truck and trailer was parked out of the way though leaving a spare key with Drachen just in case it needed to be moved.

nudging her horse into a gentle lope , she kept pace next to Cale, enjoying the ride as she watched Aoife go ahead of them a little way before looking back to make sure they where coming, then move forward once more whenever they got closer. not once did she get out of sight. " you know i am getting to enjoy this more and more with each tme we take off like this.. though i get the feeling MJ thinks i am a bad influence on you" teased, looking over at him and lightly poked his side, before leaning over to give a quick kiss to his cheek. " i think she prefers it if you stayed around the ranch more often where she can see ya. "

she enjoyed teaqsing him on MJ, '' so tell me something hun, what all have you been doing while your not around me to distract ya ?" oh she figured he had done some other training with a few of his own horses, she had even spotted new baby cow's on the property too. probably to be sold and what not. Soon hopefully she could start doing that and get her farm back into working order and as large as his. well , not too large since she didn't like having to hire too many people that she would end up having to prescreen and such before letting them work.looking over to him, smiling. " you know.. this is just ... all still feeling a little bit new to me .. hell a while ago i was alone and on the verge of being out on the street and now look.. several weeks later i practically inherited a ton of men. who , might i add, i think of as brothers.. some a pain in the arse" grinned, talking about Brough and the other one who always seemed to find mischief. " then i got you .. i am considering myself the luckiest woman on the planet right now."

Cale kept Faith going a little slow, so Kay could keep up, but he didn't mind the slower pace. After all, it gave him all the more time with his companion.
As they vanished into the trees, heading downhill first to reach the bend in the river. From there, he led her along the rocky bank for a bit, going even slower.
He chuckled. "Trust me, my aunt enjoys matchmaking, and she damn well would prefer I stayed on the ranch under her supervision, by thankfully my uncle's been keeping a tight reign on her since you and I got together. And as far as influences go? Well let's just say that as bad of one as you can be, it's worth it."
He stopped, then hoisted Kay onto his saddle as he steered her mother out onto a sandbar just beneath the water.
He listened to her words, and then turned back to look at her. "You are pack now, and the pack is a family."
Faith stepped out, water pouring from her legs, onto the opposite bank. Taking Kay into his strong arms, he pulled his feet out of the stirrups, and then swung his leg up and over Faith's back and slid off of the saddle to set the filly down. She snorted and flicked her tail, and while he waited for Mari to finish crossing, he stood there, caressing his beloved mare.
When she and Zenith came ashore, he looked up at her and said, "And only a foolish man would not consider himself lucky to be with you. And I pity that fool."

She watched him lift the filly up onto his lap as they crossed the river, smiling she followed, keeping at a slow yet steady pace , he reached the other side first, and, while he was putting the filly down and waited for her, she crossed, smiling and enjoying to see his muscles work as he lifted the filly and set her down. when he spoke of her being pack now, she just felt warm and well, accepted into a family she didn't think she would be able to have.going to having no family at all and then having a large family was a bit.. shocking, but one she took in stride, after all she really didn't have a problem with any of them, they always made her laugh.

Stopping Zenith next to his mare, she looked down at Cale, staring at him thoughtfully before smiling. '' as for your aunt well. don't look like she really has to do anything for us. we seem to be doing really well without any help. " she flushed a little at his last words and arched a brow" and why is that? i am nothing too special. sure i tolerate more.. strange things then any other woman but i think thats about it. "

"You really want to know?" Cale began as he climbed into Faith's saddle once more. "It's because you're real. You don't pretend to be someone you're not, you speak plainly, and you speak honestly. That's why."
He urged Faith foreword again, reaching for and holding her hand a moment as he passed her, then rode into the trees once more.
"You're an intelligent, charming, and hard-working woman who isn't afraid to pull her own weight. You're independent, but not afraid either of sharing the burden. You go out of your way to be kind to others, and to be understanding even when things are not clear to you."
He looked back over his shoulder then, and smirked at her.
"You've got a great sense of humor too. And a sense of family."
They started climbing now as he led the mare up the easiest incline, so Kay could keep up.
"And that, Mari, is why I love you."