A sharp whistle cuts through the chaos. The dogs immediately break off the attack.
Leopold stumbles backward with a howl, clutching his bleeding leg as the shepherds retreat several feet and form a line between him and me. Their growls don't stop, but they don't advance again either.
A low command follows the whistle, and all four dogs go quiet. I turn toward the source of the sound.
A tall figure stands several yards away, watching the scene unfold. Even from this distance, there's something imposing about him. Broad shoulders. Powerful build. The kind of presence that commands attention without saying a word.
The dogs don't take their eyes off Leopold, but neither do they move. As though they've already decided exactly who the threat is.
Chapter Two
Beau
It’s tempting, so fucking tempting to let Ares and Athena keep the man pinned, but I know better. I don't know who started this or what happened before I got here, and if my time as a cop taught me anything, it’s that assumptions get people in trouble. So I call them off with a sharp whistle. They immediately pull away from the man, and he doesn’t waste a second before stumbling back through the desert as fast as his injured leg can carry him.
Ares and Athena join Zeus and Hermes, who are standing guard by the shivering woman hiding in the bushes. For some reason, they’ve assigned themselves as her guard, surrounding her but making no move to engage with her. They can smell her fear, no doubt about it, and that’s probably why they refuse to leave her alone.
Interesting.
I file away the information for later as I approach her, and when she whimpers, shrinking deeper into the bush, Athena’s eyes find mine, and I can’t tell whether it’s warning or protectiveness over this stranger. Choosing a wounded little bird over her owner.
“Please,” the little bird whimpers. “Please don’t hurt me. Please.”
She looks so small and fragile, hiding behind the bushes, thick dark hair spilling around her face and framing eyes that are the startling blue of a winter sky. They are wide, swimming with fear that sends a pang through me. Her small frame trembles as she draws her arms tightly around herself.
“Hey,” I call out, my voice soft, trying to project calm, but even as the words leave my mouth, I see her flinch, her eyes widening even more, the blue depths clouding with suspicion. She doesn’t trust me, I see it in the way she instinctively recoils, pressing herself further into the bush. “Are you alright?”
“He took her,” she whispers, rocking back and forth, tears dripping down her cheeks. “Oh my God, he took her! He’s going to hurt her—”
“Miss,” I call out sharply, cutting through the hysteria. Then, in a softer tone, “What’s your name?”
“Rosalie,” she answers, turning when Ares nudges his head against her arm. She lifts her hand to brush it over the dog, rubbing at his fur even as tears drip silently down her cheeks. “I need to call the cops. That man kidnapped my friend.”
“Let me help you first,” I tell her, but I stay in place. “My name is Donovan. Beau Donovan. I’ll help you call the cops, but first, we need to get you out of here. Do you know where you are?”
“I...” She looks around, brushing a hand through her hair as she turns. “No, I was at the house and—”
“You’re in Saguaro National Park,” I tell her. “Or close enough to it. My property borders it on one side.”
How she managed to cut so far into the park and cross onto my property without seriously injuring herself is a mystery to me. “Let’s get you safe, then we’ll call the cops. Okay?”
“Yeah...I...okay.”
She braces her hand against Ares and climbs to her feet even as the dogs maintain their positions around her. She seems comfortable around them, so I let her be, turning to take the lead on the walk to my house.
The dogs keep a loose circle around her for the rest of the walk and don’t move from her side until we’re inside my house. I get a better look at the woman beneath the light, and fuckinghell, she’s stunning. Her thick hair in the color of a deep red wine, the fiery depths still striking even mussed with dirt and sweat.
And those eyes...
Beautiful like the rest of her. For a moment, I question whether the stir I feel in my chest has anything to do with my lack of human contact for months. I haven’t seen a woman as gorgeous as this one in a very long time. Maybe never.
“Are you injured?” I ask, shoving back the awareness that threatens to bloom.
“I...no. I don’t think so.”
“Will you let me check?”
She hesitates, but only for a second before finally nodding. “I need to call the cops first and report what happened.”