Hunting Death

Chapter 9

Madison woke the next morning more refreshed than she had any right to be. With a little over five hours of sleep under her belt, more than she'd gotten in a single night since meeting Al nearly a week ago, she felt ready to take on the world.

After a quick shower, she slipped into a button up flannel shirt and some comfortable jeans, clothes fit for working outside and getting dirty in, and headed downstairs to find Keith already in the kitchen working on breakfast. The smell of which, she would describe as heavenly.

Keith served her coffee, bacon, and eggs, with a side of toast, and a rundown of the daily workings at the ranch. He said he started at the Lycan Barn, where he did everything from feeding to cleaning, afterward heading straight to the clinic to check the charts and pull in any animals that needed treatment.

Tom saw to the Servile Barn, while Nicole handled things in the Alpha Barn, and of course, Jack and GeeGee took care of the livestock. During their rounds, everyone had to fill out charts and make notes for Keith if any of the animals needed medical care, and while they all had their own assignments, if someone finished early, they usually helped each other out. After the animals were fed, and their containment areas cleaned, they began exercising and socializing the dogs. And at around 4:00 pm, the animals were fed again.

It seemed like a lot of work, a never-ending cycle. The same thing, every day, seven days a week. Madison wondered when they all got the opportunity to have lives, but she realized that since they loved what they did, it probably wasn't considered work to them.

And being this busy certainly didn't prevent Keith from going on dates, did it?

Remembering how she'd seen him come home after only a couple of hours, Madison blushed, her mind going back again to what he and his date might have done in that short span of time.

"So," Keith finished, thankfully unaware of the direction Madison's thoughts had taken. "You can either wander around the place on your own and figure out how best you can help, or you can tag along with me again. What do you say?"

Because she glossed over the last bit of what he'd said with her daydreaming, Madison found herself improvising. "How often do you guys ride the fence line?"

"Once a week, usually Saturday, we make a day of it."

"Oh, that sounds nice."

Keith chuckled, "It's a lot to take in, isn't it?"

Relieved, since she didn't want to admit that she'd been wondering about his personal life when she should have been listening to him, Madison nodded. "Yeah, a little bit."

"You can shadow me for a few days until you find your place, okay? How does that sound?"

"Perfect."

Finished with breakfast, Keith cleaned everything up, including Madison's dishes, something she could easily get used to, and tossed her a bottle of water, grabbing a black thermos out of the fridge as well and looping the strap sideways over his neck and shoulder.

Afterward, they headed outside and straight to the Lycan Barn. Madison, having forgotten all about the painting and wanting to talk to Keith about it, had fun working throughout the day, it seemed almost relaxing even. As if the night before had never happened, the tension and odd feelings between them gone as well. The fact that the painting wasn't on the counter where she'd left it, completely slipped her mind.

Keith put Madison through her paces, telling her how to do each individual task and allowing her the opportunity to try it out for herself, only stepping in if she needed help. A rather nice change of pace for him, and amusing as hell to watch her try to push a wheelbarrow full of meat into a den of wolves. While she hadn't shied away from touching the raw meat as she put in the wheelbarrow, she'd almost tipped it over twice, before finally getting it into the enclosure. Keith felt tempted to help her, but she made it much too entertaining for him to stand back and let her do it instead.