Hello there, my friends! Here is a new story just for you and hot off the press! I will post a chapter every other day and I hope you enjoy this different take on the "perfect woman" for our Adam. Enjoy!

Thick, white fog drifted in hazy clouds through the green grasses of a mountain meadow and filtered into the dark woods that lay beyond. The moon shown full against a canopy of the brightest stars and the air held the crispness that could only be found at such high altitudes. A wolf's howl and the cry of an eagle echoed beside the silence of night, creating a rich yet chilling contrast. At length, all grew absolutely quiet and there came on the breeze, a soft clip-clop of shod hooves.

A female figure, her flowing white robes cascading to the ground, rode alone into the stillness and gently pulled on the reins of her loyal mount. Nickering softly, the horse pawed at the ground and snorted, puffs of frozen breath rising around its head. She smiled, sitting back in the saddle to look out over the beautiful paradise. She took pause to ponder the beauty that few had the courage to venture forth to see at this late hour. She counted herself lucky, as the twosome continued on down a winding dirt path, for only she had the good fortune to feel this free. A sense of bliss flitted over her as she raised her face to the moon and closed her eyes, dark lashes caressing pale cheeks.

Here, she could go unseen by prying eyes and here she could go in peace, unruffled by the troubles of mortal beings. By day she lived a normal life, with responsibilities and problems, but by night, she became the huntress and to that end, possessed all the power denied her elsewhere. So long had she kept her lonely secret and only in moments like these could she feel at ease with herself. Up here, among the sentinel mountains, shrouded forests, bubbling streams and grassy meadows, she was the queen of all she needed to survive. The world called her a monster and an abomination; even the man she had loved. In a gesture of love, she had trusted him with her life and he had repaid her by plotting to take it. He had nearly killed her and she had vowed to never love or trust again.

A scent on the breeze brought her attention back to the gnawing fever in her brain, the desperation roiling in her chest and the ache in her gums. Her nostrils flared, elegant neck extended, pale-blue eyes searching as she rose in the stirrups to sniff the air. Prey, and close by too. She shivered with anticipation as she kicked her horse into action. As one being, horse and rider surged forth into a gallop, disappearing into the gloomy woods. All that was left of the night visitor was the occasional flutter of her gown in between the tree trunks.

I* * * * *I

Feeling more tired than he had in a long time, Adam came slowly down the stairs and found his father to already be partaking of Hop Sing's breakfast feast. As he soon found out, his brothers had already ate and gone to work on their assigned tasks. Taking his seat without comment, Adam was silent over his breakfast as he listened to his father speak of yet another hard day of work ahead. Fences needed to be replaced on the south border, a small timber contract was due within the next week, Hop Sing required firewood cut for another long winter and then there was the matter of a wolfpack causing trouble up in the mountains. Of the four concerns, Adam felt most strongly about the wolf threat.

That week before, he had discovered a horse carcass while out checking the main Ponderossa stock herd. Other than bite marks to the animal's throat and neck, the body had been unscathed. The old mare obviously had been suffering from an ailment of some sort because there had been evidence that both her nose and eyes had been emitting discharge before her death. Then he had found dried feces on her hindquarters, suggesting that her end had been near at hand anyway. The kill had been a mercy for the poor creature but it was still a mystery that had tickled his brain ever since. What would kill a sick prey, as is the custom of wild predators, but then not eat any of the fresh meat? Stranger still, two more carcasses had been found during the space of the next few days and both times, the animals had possessed some deadly flaw and had both been dispatched in the same merciful fashion...small, neat bite marks to the neck and throat areas. On all three counts, no tracks could be found around the kills and nothing on their bodies had been left unscathed.

As these troubling memories faded, Adam sighed then, stabbing a piece of scrambled egg listlessly, only to watch the congealed thing slip back off his fork. He grimaced, his stomach rebelling against the idea of food. He reached for his pink-and-white coffee cup and sipped slowly from it while staring past his earnest father and out the window. As he stared blankly at the beautiful view, he felt an aching emptiness come over him, a deep sadness that he hadn't been able to shake for the past week. I wonder what new evil has invaded our borders this time...and why don't I even care? I want to return to bed. I'm so very tired...that's all I care about.

His father's voice drifted into his consciousness, the sound gaining strength as thoughts faded to reality.

"...Adam, I will go to the timbercamp today and meet Hoss to finish the contract. Joe is working on the firewood and any other small tasks that Hop Sing requires. That leaves those two sections of fence and, of course, checking up on the herd...Adam? Are you listening to me?" Ben leaned forward and touched his eldest's shoulder when there was no response. "Adam..."

Nearly jumping out of his skin, Adam yelped when his hot coffee sloshed all over his hand and dribbled down his arm. Grumbling under his breath, he grabbed a napkin to clean up but there was no way to escape the stinging, red blotch forming on the back of his hand and wrist. Looking up into the concerned face of his father, he took a deep breath and shrugged.

"I heard you, Pa, I just drifted for a second. You and Hoss are working on the contract, Joe is chopping the firewood and I am going to take care of the other two items. Right?"

Ben eyed his son with a keen gaze, noting the fatigue in Adam's eyes that he hadn't noticed there before. "Are you feeling alright, Son? You normally aren't that jumpy. I think Hop Sing needs to put salve on that burn."

Shaking his head, Adam wiped his mouth self-consciously, even though he hadn't eaten anything, and rose from the table. "I'm fine, don't worry. Just a bit tired, nothing more. If we are done here, Pa, I think I'll get an early start. Those fences don't fix themselves, you know."

"But you didn't eat and you seem pale. Are you ill?" Ben persisted, rising out of his chair to follow his son to the door. He was met by a wry chuckle and a grin.

"You needn't cluck over me, Pa, I think I am almost old enough to take care of myself," Adam teased, "Don't hold lunch or dinner for me. After I finish the fence repairs, I am going to go looking for whatever is killing off our stock in the mountains. I intend upon staying up there until I find and kill the culprit responsible."

Ben searched the other man's face but found only a shield there, so that no one could discern what was behind the facade of normalcy. "Very well. But I'll only give you until tomorrow afternoon. If you aren't back then I am coming after you in full force!"

"Agreed." Adam merely smiled and busied himself with slipping on his yellow coat.

Ben stood in the doorway long after his eldest had mounted up and rode out of sight. There was something very wrong with that boy but exactly what was beyond Ben's discernment. Then again, Adam was no boy, he was a strong and willful man. At nearly thirty-six, he was smart, mature and a true survivor in ever sense of the word. The horrific events that had occurred in the desert those three years ago had scarred him, in body, soul and spirit, but he had risen above all of that and prospered. Fixing his gaze upon the last point that he had seen his son, Ben felt his eyes burn and a pride swelled in his chest that he often felt for his sons, both in turn and as one whole. A momentary lapse of regret came over him as it often did when he forgot to speak of this pride to those who mattered most in his life. Now he had a terrible feeling that he might always remember this moment for the rest of his life.