Somewhere New (Isle of Doughnut #1)

Chapter Twelve

CHAPTER TWELVE

CALLUM

I ’d stepped out of the cabin and into a nightmare. Others might see snow and think of snuggling under blankets and waiting it out, but my charges didn’t have that luxury. Across the mountains, goats screamed.

Lost. Disoriented by the snow. Freezing and alone.

I’d stood beside the frozen river, my attention demanded in a hundred different directions. The notes of distress were too numerous. I didn’t know how I’d be able to help them all.

Clenching my fists, I took a breath. And another. The cool indifference of the snow filling me, I headed in the direction of the nearest goat in distress. I might not be able to help them all, but I’d save every one I could reach in time.

Hours passed in a blur as I led individuals and herds to the shelters scattered across the mountains. The goats were normally good at finding the strategically placed huts, but too many days had passed with the threat of snow lingering in the air. It had switched off their instinctual fear. When the snow finally came, it fell too thick and fast for them to get to safety .

I used my advanced senses to search out the goats and guide them to the nearest shelters. Twice, I fell into drifts of snow. The second time, my arm caught on a sharp rock. Blood coated my side before my healing kicked in and knitted the skin together. It was slower because of the cold. All my body’s reserves were being used to keep my temperature up.

The sun had set and the snow stopped when I heard a faint bleat. I ushered the goats I’d been leading into a hut. They fell silent as they huddled together on top of a pile of straw. This goat’s gentle cries must have been lost under the racket the others were making. I turned in the direction I’d come.

She’d found temporary shelter under an overhanging rock. The state of her legs made me wonder if she’d toppled over the ledge and had used her remaining strength to drag herself to relative safety. Her back hooves stuck out at odd angles and her fur was matted with blood. A broken leg was usually a death sentence for a goat out in these mountains. Two meant she had no chance of making it through.

She stopped bleating when she spotted me. It was the goat carrying twins. I fell to my knees beside her. She breathed harshly as I ran my hands over her distended stomach. Some of the blood on her legs was a result of the messy breaks, but there was far too much for that.

She was giving birth, and it was going badly.

I pressed one hand between her horns, pulling on my strength to ease her pain. Dark lines crisscrossed up my arm, but abruptly disappeared.

I stared at the goat. She was still, no breath ghosting over her lips. Not believing my eyes, I strained to listen.

Only one heartbeat. Tiny and weak .

One of her babies had died, its mother’s strength too spent to push it out into the world, but its twin was alive.

Steeling myself against what I had to do, I extended my claws.

I hadn’t considered my bloodied state until Aster flicked on the lamp and screamed.

I blinked down at the mingled bodily fluids smeared across my skin and clothes.

Aster rushed around the sofa. ‘Callum, what happened? Are you okay?’

Over the layers of horrifying smells, Aster’s scent broke through. More than ever before, I wanted to bury myself in it. I could hide in the bracket of his arms and not face any of the horrors lingering in my mind or the responsibilities calling to me.

‘I’m fine.’ My heartbeat skipped, but I ignored it. ‘There was a difficult birth.’

Aster’s nose scrunched, like when I expressed what he considered to be the wrong opinion about one of his TV shows. Thankfully, he didn’t argue with my self-assessment. ‘Birth?’

I eased my arms apart to show him the kid cradled to my chest. ‘I need to give him to you so that I can get back out there.’

With Aster around, I didn’t have to make a choice between this new life and the goats bleating in pitiful distress across the mountains.

Aster’s face scrunched even more. ‘You can give me the teeny baby goat, but you can’t go out again.’

‘I have to.’ I walked over to the kitchen sink and grabbed a rag to wipe the worst of the blood and gore from the kid’s soft grey fur. ‘I can hear goats out there who need help. ’

I noticed my slip-up as the words tumbled from my mouth. Aster used his hip to ease me out of the way and took my place cleaning the goat standing in the sink.

‘I know you think you’re an epic wild man who’s at one with the mountains, but you can’t possibly hear the goats.’ Aster ran hot water to clean the rag and continued wiping the trembling kid. ‘You need to stay here and take care of yourself.’

This wasn’t the time to reveal my true nature. Aster didn’t need to know I could literally hear scared goats calling out right now. He just needed to listen and let me leave.

‘I need to go.’ I strode over to my boots.

‘Callum, stop.’

Aster’s hand on my arm wasn’t enough to restrain me. I could tear away from his grip and be out of the cabin before he could make any other attempts to stop me.

I needed to get back to work, but I turned to face him at his insistent tugging.

He reached up to cup one side of my face, his other hand clutching the damp kid to his chest.

‘Callum, I need you to listen to me because I have your best interests at heart and I’m not sure you do.’ Aster’s earnest face tilted up towards mine. ‘I hear that you want to go back out and, if you really need to, you can do that. But before you look after any other goats, you need to look after yourself.’

‘But—’

‘Two things are non-negotiable,’ he said over my feeble protest. ‘You need to shower and change, and then you need to eat.’

I stared into Aster’s eyes. A deep brown, surrounded by impossibly long lashes. There was no point in arguing. I’d come to the cabin to deposit the kid, but maybe I’d wanted this too. Someone here would care for me, would take one look at the mess I was in and demand I care for myself.

After I muttered instructions for sterilising bottles and making up formula, Aster chivvied me away for a shower. The water felt heavenly across my abused muscles and, for the first time since Aster said he wanted to know me, I didn’t get an erection while I washed. How to dampen my libido: snowstorms resulting in an exhausting day filled with goats’ screams and gore.

‘I’ve heated up stew,’ Aster called while I dressed in the bedroom.

I pulled on layers and stumbled out to the main room. Mechanically, I swallowed mouthfuls of meat and vegetables while Aster fed the kid beside me on the sofa.

‘Increase the angle.’ I tipped the bottle up. ‘They expect to work for it.’

Aster’s face cracked with shocked laugher as the kid suckled enthusiastically. I remembered the first time I’d fed a young goat, the strength of each tug on the bottle far more forceful than I’d expected from such a wee thing.

My eyes drifted half closed as I watched Aster and the kid, but I jolted to full consciousness at a shrill bleat across the mountains. Shovelling the last few mouthfuls of stew into my mouth, I carried the bowl over to the sink. My favourite jacket was covered in blood, so I grabbed the spare from beside the front door.

‘You absolutely have to go back out?’ Aster left the kid in front of the fire, snuggled up with the over-friendly goat.

‘I do.’ I tugged on my boots, wincing as dampness crept through my clean socks. No point putting on another pair. They’d be soaked after the first few minutes of tramping through the snow.

I straightened, and Aster pulled me into a hug. I lowered my face to the side of his neck and my arms looped around his back. His hands slid under the collar of my jacket, pressed into my skin. I closed my eyes and inhaled deep lungfuls of his comforting scent.

‘I wish you didn’t have to leave again, but I’ll look after the goat-baby while you’re gone.’

‘Thank you,’ I whispered into his skin.

I couldn’t express how his words eased my burden. This was the toughest of days, would continue to be the toughest of nights, but knowing Aster was here and safe and he would care for the kid eased the tightness bearing down on my chest.

I wasn’t alone any more.

The hug could have undone my resolve. Standing in Aster’s arms, it was more tempting than ever to focus solely on his heartbeat and the breath coasting over his lips. I could forget the pain waiting outside and stay in his warmth.

I eased out of his arms. I had to roam the mountains again, but I had something wonderful to return home to. Aster would be here. Waiting, his arms ready to enfold me.

I nudged my forehead into his, then stepped away. ‘See you soon.’

‘It had better be soon,’ Aster grumbled as I opened the door. He grabbed it before it swung shut behind me. I could hear his quiet voice as I waded into the snow. ‘And you better keep yourself safe, Cal. I don’t want to imagine a world without you in it.’

I hurried away. The sooner I got all the goats to safety, the sooner I could come home.

To Aster.