Chapter 12

(Edward's POV)

The dirt flew from under his hooves as he ran around the round pen. His ears turned forward as he ran, jumped, rolled, and whinnied. It was the first time he had been outside since I called my friend asking him to bring him here. He was cooped up in a stall until his hooves grew out enough and the infections from the cuts cleared up. Trying to get him from the stall into the round pen was an adventure in itself but it was worth it. He was enjoying his new taste of freedom.

I smiled as I watched the mustang romp around occasionally whinnying to the other horses, who were out in the pasture adjacent to the pen. I knew he wanted to be with the others but he was not safe yet, and bringing him in from pasture would be too difficult. I considered placing a horse in the stall next to his, give him a friend.

I sighed. This was exactly what I needed. Just a break from the horror show inside the house, the news, the panic, the worry, the dying girl in the bedroom. The fresh mountain air made the war inside my head easier to handle. The constant battle between doing what was right and loyalty to my family. The worry of what we were going to do if the girl died. Murderers, that's what they would be, all of them. Once they were killers, would I still stand by their side? Truth was I did not know. I signed and returned my attention back to the mustang.

Jasper and Emmett took a sit on stall railing to enjoy the show. "How do you plan to get him back inside?" Jasper hollered.

"Haven't figured that part out just yet," I shouted back

Emmett giggled and decided to throw in his two cents. "Throw him over your shoulder and carry him in." He laughed. "He likes you! I can tell!"

His sarcastic remark was true the horse didn't seem to like me very much. I lost count of how many times he kicked or tried to bite me. I didn't know if it was men he hated or just me in general. I took in a deep breath and grabbed my lasso. This was going to be fun and thanks to my new audience, it was going to be funny, too.

As soon as I unlatched the gate to the round pen I caught the mustang's attention. I heard his breathing stop and then accelerate. What sounded like a warning grunt entered my ears.

God, please don't let me die today…please.

This was my first attempt at lunging him. I walked into the center of the riding pen as he slowly backed to the side. As I stood in the middle staring at him, he stood still and stared back at me. Each watching the other, waiting for the other to make a move.

"Hey guy," I spoke softly to him. "How about we work those muscles a little bit today?"

The horse just stared at me with his ears pinned back, man he hated me.

I lifted my right arm and took a step forward, putting on the "pressure."

Lunging a horse is almost nothing physical. Its 98% body language, a dance if you will. When you take a step forward that is adding "pressure" to the mental tie between you and the horse. Silently asking the horse to move or pick up the pace. To decrease the pressure is a simple step back, asking the horse to slow down. To raise your right or left had, those are basically turn signals to the animal. These actions at first are loud and knowledgeable to a bystander. They are clear commands to the horse, easy to understand. As the bond between horse and rider get stronger, the signals become more subtle.

An amazing mental bond takes time, practice, and a hell of a lot of patience. I've seen the best of cowboys try this for years and never pull it off properly. I have also seen a bonded pair be able to perform this exercise in an open field a hundred feet of space between the rider and their horse. No ropes, lines, fences, nothing but empty space between them and a bond that would last forever.

That is the hope I have for this mustang but I was nowhere near there. I frowned as the horse ignored my command and just stood there.

"Come on get!" I said a little for forceful, still nothing.

I made a clicking sound as I stepped forward, slapping my lasso against my riding chaps. This got his attention. Unfortunately, the wrong kind of attention.

He reared up and whinnied, his front legs striking out in the air. He landed hard on his front feet, pawing the ground and tossing his head. He was pissed, that much was clear. I whirled the lasso in the air making a suitable loop. I gently tossed the loop into the air and watched the horse's reaction as it skillfully went around his head he did not appreciate this in the slightest.

With the rope tight in my hands he took off, dragging me along with him. I wanted to let go of the rope but I couldn't; the last thing I wanted was the horse to get tangled in the rope and trip. Besides, he had to stop sometime right?

Laughter erupted from the sidelines. Yup, my brothers were finding this pretty funny. Finally the horse stopped. I looked up to see him staring at me, breathing hard with the lasso still around his neck. I noticed the look in his eyes, his muscles tight, his tail twitched.

SHIT.

He ran right into me not bothering to jump over me at all. My body rolled with each hit I received from his legs. Once he was pasted me he continued to drag me around the round pen a few times. I tasted blood in my mouth and I couldn't hold on any longer. I let go of the rope hoping the horse wouldn't run the circle of the pen and run me over again. I hopped to my feet as quickly as I could and stepped into the middle of the round pen. I spat the blood from my mouth and tried to stretch my back to relieve the pain.

I looked over at my brothers. They were busy holding on to one another, laughing so hard they couldn't speak. "Thanks for the help assholes!" I yelled

"Walk it off," Jasper said, chuckling .

I considered flipping him off when we heard the screaming. Everyone's head, including the mustangs, turned toward the house. Esme came running out from the back door screaming unintelligibly, pointing towards the house. Panic swept through me as the worst possible thought came to mind. Jasper and Emmett ran straight for the house.

"Dammit," I breathed as I left the horse where he stood and jumped the panels of the pen and ran as fast as I could as soon as my feet touched the ground. I barged through the backdoor. I stood there completely confused as I took in the quiet normal house. Where was everyone?

"No, No, No, No, No," shouted an unfamiliar voice from one of the rooms. I ran to where the sound was coming from.

I heard Alice start to say something as I busted into the room. Emmett and Jasper blocking my view, I passed them quickly to asset the situation. There sitting on the couch was Alice with the dying girl huddled protectively secured in her side. More confusion swept through me as I glanced between Alice and the girl.

Everything is okay – I thought as my mind started to relax, realizing that the dying girl was not dead, that the FBI weren't storming through the house to drag everyone off to federal prison. The girl was not dying anymore. My family were no longer at risk being murders. The relief that washed through me felt amazing. I couldn't help the smile that washed over my face. Well, my smile lasted only a mere second and half.

As soon as I thought everything was going to be okay, everything went crazy. The girl lunged at me; I saw the anger in her eyes and I knew I was in trouble. She came at me faster than I thought possible. She stopped inches from me as her right leg shot out kicking me right in the groin.

Perfect aim – was my first thought as the pain brought me to my knees. A weird sound escaped my lips and my stomach tightened and twisted inside me. My hands reflexively went to cover my manhood fearing another solid kick like that would surely render me a childless man in the future.

My mind focused on the pain, why did women think it was okay to junk punch men? It hurt so bad, I couldn't open my eyes. I couldn't breathe; I just wanted to puke, lie down and maybe puke some more. Before I could even take another breathe I heard the girl scream again. I opened my eyes just soon enough to see her fist flying right into my left eye.

Why was no one stopping this girl from beating me?! I felt another hit to my face, my nose this time. Did she just kick my kick my face? What the hell?!

"What the fuck?!" I shouted at my family. A little help goes along way, why were they just standing there letting the girl kick my ass? I felt someone literally dragging me into the living room. I groaned, the pain in my privates was overshadowing the pain in my face. Why? was all I could think.

"My nuts," I whimpered. I knew I looked like a baby; I did not care. A woman could never understand the pain of a well-placed shot to the privates. I heard someone chuckle and opened my eyes.

Jasper peered over me with a huge smile on his face. Obviously not feeling any sympathy for me as he dropped a bag of ice right on my stomach. The air in my chest let out with a woosh sound. I groaned again.

"I hate you, a lot," I tried to sound angry but it came out a weak whisper. Jasper now bit his lip fighting a smile. I really hated him. I heard the quick shut of a door and Emmett's huge frame came into view, I closed my eyes.

"Fuck off," I told him before he could say anything.

I expected him to have some sort of remark but I heard nothing. I took a breath and was relieved that it was almost not painful. I opened my eyes. Jasper and Emmett were staring at one another as if they were having some sort of silent conversation. A few moments later they both turned to look at me at the same time, their faces both blank slates.

"What?" I demanded

At the exact same time they busted out laughing. Emmett was on the ground holding his stomach while Jasper used the wall for support.

"Screw you guys," I said as I stood up and walked into the kitchen, headed straight for the sink. Jasper and Emmett followed.

"Dude…" was all Emmett could muster. Jasper snorted.

"What was I supposed to do Emmett, hit her back?" I sneered

"She dropped you! She dropped you quick!" he couldn't stop laughing. "You got beat up…by a little mustang…and a little girl!" he breathed unable to talk properly because of his laughing. This angered me.

"I thought about hitting her back" We all knew that was not true but I was done being the joke. " But considering what you guys already put her through…I figured she deserved some revenge." I knew that was a low blow, a very low blow but I was too angry to care.

They both sobered up quick and turned somber. It was all quiet in the kitchen as I washed my face and arms. I took off my shirt and tossed it in the trash. I was using a paper towel to clean off my ribcage when Esme quietly walked in.

"She's awake," she said quietly.

"I know," I stated flatly, eyeing Emmett, daring him to even smile. "What happened?"

"Well," Esme took a minute to put it into words. "She was doing fine with Alice the other day, I think…then this morning she got very upset over something, I didn't know what to do!" she explained.

"She was up before?" I asked shocked "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Didn't think you cared," Esme said quietly.

"I'm glad she's not dead, as should you all be," I said holding nothing back. I had told them I don't know how many times that something would eventually go wrong. "What are you going to do with her now?" I demanded.

"I'm going to make her something to eat," she said ashamed "I don't know what she likes…" Esme knew she had no right to get defensive.

I sighed. I shouldn't be taking this out on Esme, it was Carlisle who was mostly at fault. I hugged her and started to walk out of the kitchen.

"I'm going to go shower. Emmett, Jasper go put that mustang away," I told them.

As soon as I shut my bedroom door I shrugged off my chaps, pants and boxers and turned on the hot water. As I stood under the hot water I closed my eyes. I was so tired and so relieved. I also thought of the girl and how the look in her eyes right before she kicked the shit out of me, it was the same look I saw in the mustang the first time I saw him.

I sighed and laid my head against the cool shower tiles. "I wanna go home," I whispered to myself.

A/N - So I tried to make a simple description on exercising horses because I'm sure not everyone knows the logistics of it.

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