Wolfe Ranch: Part 3

Jasper

The radio in my truck played country music as I flew down the highway to my next stop. While my music played at a moderate volume, I could also hear my companion’s light snoring. Along the road, I picked up Corbin, a bronc rider from Wyoming. He needed a set of wheels and offered to help with fuel costs. I figured, why not have someone around to help and watch my back? Besides, he was pretty funny.

Corbin was a tall, lean guy with copper-colored skin, black hair, and dark brown eyes. He had your typical Wyoming accent and some ordinary cowboy bad habits like tobacco use. He was nice and would help you if you needed it, but there wasn’t anything special about him other than his ability to ride.

I looked at my GPS on the screen of my truck and sighed. I was an hour from Estes Park, Colorado, where the next rodeo was held. My ass hurt from sitting in the truck for so long, and I was ready to get out and walk around. I’m sure my horse, Cash, was ready to get out of the trailer I was pulling.

Initially, I participated in roping events in rodeos with him or even cattle-cutting events that popped up. That is until I got on my first bronc in Wyoming, where I met Corbin, and then I got on my first bull in Utah.

Things were always changing with me, and I enjoyed trying new stuff when given the opportunity. If my parents knew I was out doing this shit, they would throw a fit. It was dangerous for my kind to participate in dangerous sports like this because I could heal quickly, and humans were so nosy.

My GPS startled me out of my thoughts when it said, “Keep right on Highway thirty-four.”

Not only did it startle me, but it woke Corbin up. He yawned and stretched before sitting up in his seat and looking around.

“How far do we still have to go?” he asked.

“About an hour.”

“Sweet! It will be nice to get out of the truck.”

“That’s no lie. I can’t feel my ass anymore,” I commented.

“Well, I’m sure your next bull will help fix that.”

I laughed and nodded my head. The rest of the drive was pretty quiet as Corbin sang along with the radio or smoked a cigarette. He would offer me one every time he had one, and I always turned him down. Personally, I thought they were gross, but to each their own.

When we arrived in Estes Park, we stopped so I could fill the truck with diesel. As I filled the tank, Corbin went inside the gas station, and I watched him from a distance. He was getting the usual supplies; cigarettes, beer, and horrible ass food. I would choose to eat at the rodeo or find a restaurant afterward.

When I was done refueling the truck, Corbin returned to the vehicle. We got in and made our way to the rodeo arena. The events started in a few hours, so we were right on time. Being early was being on time.

We got back in the truck and finished the drive to the rodeo location. When we got out to the arena, I parked my truck with all the others that had trailers. I got out and went to get Cash from the trailer so he could move a little. Cash was a tall, dark gray flea-bit gelding my mom had gotten me about eight years ago. He was a great cattle horse and perfect for roping events. I felt bad that I hadn’t been exercising him like I should.

I got Cash from the trailer and walked him along the side on the grass. I tied his lead rope to the trailer’s bars and rubbed up and down his neck while talking to him softly. He was always a good listener. He knew all my secrets and tricks.

“I’m sorry, bud. We will get some exercise later,” I told him.

He nickered at me as I petted him. I smiled while I gazed into his large brown eye before letting go of him. I moved to find a water spigot to give him some fresh water. I spotted it easily, so I started to fill his bucket.

As I stood there, my wolf, Thief, spoke in my head, “You might consider actually doing a roping event with him instead of riding a bull tonight.”

“Where’s the glory in that?”

“So it’s glory you’re after, not happiness?”

I sighed as I turned the water off and told him, “I don’t know what I’m after.”

Thief dropped to the back of my mind and left me alone while I gave Cash water, hay, and some feed. While he was eating, I walked around with Corbin to get signed up and pay for the event I would enter. We looked at the winning odds with all of the events. Corbin was confident about the number of Bronc riders here, so he signed up without a second thought.

I scanned the roping and bronc riding events and then looked at the bull rider list. There had to be at least twenty different riders tonight, and six of them were constant competitors of mine in this category. They were decent enough riders, but I didn’t know much else about them.

I signed up for the bull rider event, got my number and the bull’s name, then left the office with Corbin to get our gear. We needed to make sure everything was ready. Being a wolf, all I would need was a helmet, but I still used the thick padded vest so I wouldn’t draw attention to myself. If I got hurt while riding, a broken bone would heal within a few days, cuts would heal in a day, and stab wounds would take a week to get back to normal. Humans didn’t do that, so I had to be smart and careful.

When we returned to the truck, we both grabbed our gear bags from the backseat. We went through our checks while watching the area pick up with foot traffic. There were humans everywhere, and some of them were really pretty women. I kept looking at each of them, searching for a specific one. She still hadn’t shown her face, but I knew it was just a matter of time. Several of the women passing by stared at me, making me smile.

“It blows my mind how everywhere we go, you always get your pick of one or more girls. It’s like you’re a pussy magnet, and I wish you would share the wealth,” Corbin said as the ladies faded from sight.

I laughed at him and just shook my head.

“Seriously! How do you attract them?” he asked while practically whining.

I shrugged and said, “I just smile, and they come running.”

He scoffed and said, “Lucky fucker. I actually have to work at this shit.”

I ended up laughing at him even more as he complained. My secret was that I acted like I wasn’t interested in them. I wasn’t about to tell him that secret so that he could abuse it.

We quickly prepared our gear and pinned our numbers to the backs of our vests. Corbin and I then went to the waiting area along the arena fence and set our stuff out with the other cowboys. We watched the events and drank water to stay hydrated.

The roping events didn’t last long. They seemed to be dying out everywhere we went. Everyone wanted to either ride broncs or bulls. Those events were always full, and the number of bulls that needed to be brought in seemed to climb higher and higher everywhere we went. If I roped with Cash, I would probably still win because the events were so small, but I wouldn’t get noticed. I needed to stand out for her to see me.

The crowd at the rodeo really went wild when the barrel racers started coming through. Those girls could ride a horse hard, but they were scary as shit. They reminded me of my mom, even though she never barrel-raced. I bet if she did, she would kick everyone’s ass.

When the barrel racers were done, it was time for the bronc riders. I helped Corbin set up, and we waited for his ride to be put in the chute. His horse tonight was named Naughty Superstar, which made most people laugh during the announcements.

When Naughty Superstar was loaded in the chute, we started getting her ready with the saddle, and she moved and jumped around to try to get away. She didn’t like one thing we were doing. Now I see why she was called naughty. I was just worried about the superstar part.

We watched several others ride before it was time for Corbin to get on the back of this high-strung mare. Corbin quickly settled on her back, and she hit the gate, trying to get away. As soon as she settled into the middle of the chute and Crobin was ready to go, he pulled his hand from the gate and nodded.

The gate workers let the mare loose, and Corbin held on tight. His holding on did nothing to help his poor ass, though. He was flung right off that mare’s back when she turned sharply, and he landed straight on his backside. Over the arena’s noise, I could hear the wind being knocked out of him before he fell to his side. The mare kept bucking as she moved away, and I stood there at the chute, watching as Corbin slowly moved to get up. One of the cowgirls working in the ring had to shield him with her horse to keep that crazy mare away from him.

Corbin slowly got up and moved as quickly as he could to the fence. I helped him get over the rails and let him breathe. As they cleared the arena, we were handed his bareback pads and straps. We slowly walked back to his gear bag, and I helped him sit down—more like lying down.

“You good, bud?” I asked him.

“I’ll surprisingly be ok after being penetrated by the ground up my ass,” he told me as he sighed heavily.

I laughed at him and watched the last of the bronc riding. Poor Crobin didn’t even get on the leaderboard this time because of the way that mare moved. May he have better luck next time.

The next event was bull riding, and I left Corbin to make my own. Almost all of us moved to get in line to go. We were ready to go behind the chutes and look at the bulls as they were loaded. The energy in the area was high, making the bulls more wild. Several of them hit the pens with their bodies or horns.

I grabbed my vest and put it on along with my chaps. I dropped my cowboy hat with my bag, pulled my gloves on, and grabbed my rope and helmet. Now I was just waiting to see the bull I had been given for tonight, Midnight.

About eight riders had already gone when I finally saw my ride being loaded in a chute at the end. He was a giant, but he didn’t intimidate me much. Sure, his horns could do some damage if he got ahold of me, but that’s a big if. I was pretty fast on my feet, even in boots.

As time got closer to my riding, I got my rope on the bull with help from the chute workers. I watched the guy go before me, and he lasted five seconds before he lost his balance. The arena was cleared for me, so now it was time to ride.

I put on my helmet and got in the chute over the bull’s back before carefully lowering myself onto him. He moved a little to show me he didn’t want me on him. I quickly got my rope handle in my gloved hand and pulled the rope end tight to secure it around the bull’s belly. When it was tight enough, I placed the rope tail in my hand with the handle. My heart was already hammering away in my chest as it anticipated the adrenaline rush to come. When I was all set, I leaned back and nodded my head.

“Let’s go!” I yelled as I pulled my hand off the gate and put it in the air.

The guys opened the gate, and Midnight came barreling out of it. One, I counted in my head. He tossed me around as best he could as he jumped into the air. He swung his head as slobber dripped from his mouth. Two. Midnight started to jump and buck in circles. Three.

I kept counting and hanging on as the bull went wild. Right as I counted eight, the buzzer sounded, and I pulled the rope out of my holding hand. I jumped from the bull’s back, landed on my feet, and ran several paces out of his way. I waited there for my rope to completely fall from the bull. Once it was on the ground, I grabbed it and vacated the arena for the next rider to go. I looked at the scoreboard and saw my name at the top. I smiled to myself as I walked over to Corbin, who was still sitting where I left him.

“That was a hell of a ride,” he told me.

“Thanks. Counting helps.”

“I don’t know how you can count seconds while you’re up there. I can’t do that shit.”

I hummed at him and took off my gear. I had gotten good at this fast and was considering getting a PBR certificate to get on the world stage. My parents would kill me if I did that, though. If they found out about this as it is, they would have strong words to rip me a new one.

We sat there watching the end of the rides and listened as they announced me as the winner of tonight’s bull riding event. People cheered for me before they started leaving to go home or go to the dance. I went to the office to collect my winnings, which were cash, as always, and a belt buckle.

I walked back to Corbin and helped him up from the ground. As we got our gear together, several girls walked toward us, and I knew what was about to happen. One of them was about to give me an offer for the night.

Corbin saw them and said, “I’ll be back at the truck.”

“I’ll be there in a minute,” I told him.

He snorted and walked off with his gear bag. I looked back at the ladies that were staring at me. Each had clean boots, tank tops, and blue jean shorts. I could tell that each of them was my age or younger, and none of them were mine. They weren’t what I wanted. All I wanted was the girl that was fated to be mine. I looked for her everywhere I went, hoping she would help me find myself. No luck yet.

“We saw you ride tonight. Pretty impressive,” one girl said as she walked up with her hands in her back pockets.

“Thanks,” I said with a soft smile.

“Have you always been a cowboy?” she asked as she moved even closer to me.

“Yes.”

“Do you want to show off any other moves you might have?” she asked me while biting her lip.

And there it was. I was going to play dumb with her and hoped it would get the point across. If women just thought that every man was dumb, they wouldn’t hold it against us so much.

“Sorry. I have two left feet on the dance floor; besides, there are four of you and only one of me.”

Her smile dropped quickly, and she turned to walk back the way she had come with her friends. They all left me alone, and I tried hard not to laugh at how easy it was. I took my sweet ass time getting my gear together in my bag.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about rodeo, it’s that most of these guys were screwing anything and everything they could get ahold of. If I showed disinterest in front of any of these guys, they would think I was weird. They would watch me that much closer, making my life harder. That’s not what I wanted or needed, so the game was to deceive them into thinking that I screwed each girl that propositioned me. So far, it was going well, and they believed me even when I hadn’t slept with any of them.