The Year of the Horse (Book two of the Almair Series) (Completed)

Chapter 38 (Edited)

For two weeks, I stayed with herd and had learned a lot of stuff. I had learned that people could change, which was the case for Adrich, and kind of like Matt. However, Matt hadn't changed that much, but he was more shy around me and had done what I had asked him to do without any complaint. That was surprising in itself, because I knew that he hated my guts.

Another thing that I had noticed was the fact that Mrs. Kathy was actually smiling and talking a lot more than she usually did, since I had been around. Some of the other Horses had asked me what I had done, and I just told them that I didn't know. I guess helping me out with whatever she had to do had helped her move on from the death of her husband.

Sauda and I had gotten our old friendship back, and most days, when I didn't have that much farm work, we both would romp around the woods, that was not in the pasture, with me in wolf form. I had learned that Sauda knew that I was the Almair from a young age and that was why she had been hard on me, trying to toughen me up. That had worked.

Another thing that I had done during those two weeks was learn how to control my stone as well as having a history lesson about Almairs from Tansuke. And, hearing about how the others had acted, I realized why they were suspicious of me. Let's just say... after the Dark Forces had attacked, they started to blame other clans for their and their clans despair. The unity of the three clans had broken because of the threats from the Almair.

That had made me really mad that Tansuke instantly sent me to Adrich and had him train me, making sure that I wouldn't destroy anything. However, Adrich had said a snide remark which had ended me in punching him in the nose, surprising both me as well as him, because I had never laid a hand on him even when he was being a pain in the ass. That made me earn his respect, because he knew that I wouldn't put up with crap from others for a long while.

What was interesting was, I had actually gotten respect from the other members of the herd. They seemed to be comfortable with me there and some of them had even asked for my help when it came to helping around their farms, which I happily agreed, because most of what Mrs. Kathy had wanted me to do was feed the other animals as well as work on the fences, which was what I had been doing for the past hour.

I grabbed the post hole digger and started to work on the hole, not caring that I hadn't seen Matt all morning, even though I knew that he was somewhere on the clan's land.

"You should take a break," Cole said from where he was sitting and watching me. He took a sip of his water, pausing in speaking. "You have been working since four in the morning."

"Can't," I said, dumping the contents of the dirt onto the pile next to me. "I have four more poles then I promised Laura that I would look after Maybell, since she and her mate will be on herd lands for the rest of the day for some reason." I couldn't help but grin, glad that I had gotten their trust so I was allowed to look after their kids. I really loved children and how they didn't judge people for the way they acted.

Colt snorted. "You and kids," he teased. "You'll be a good mother."

A blush formed on my cheeks, because I knew that I might never actually be a mother. Tasunke had confirmed my suspicions that Matt was supposed to be mine. However, I didn't know what his feelings were for me. I knew that I had a slight crush on him, but who wouldn't? He looked like a freaking God and a bad boy with the way he acted. Yet, I knew that he didn't see me the same way, or did he and he just didn't know it yet?

"Martha?" Colt asked, raising an eyebrow. "Is there something that you are not telling me?"

I sighed and shrugged my shoulder. Colt had started acting like one of my brothers, and I had basically told him and Carter everything. Well, except for the fact that Matt was supposed to be the one that I was supposed to love all of my life.

"Martha," Colt warned, narrowing his eyes at me.

"Just that I can't believe that Adrich trusts me," I replied, shrugging my shoulder. I didn't look at him, knowing that he could tell I was "lying" to him about what was bothering me.

Colt frowned some more while he studied me, but he didn't say a word about it. "So, when do you think that Matt will be here?" he asked, taking another sip of his drink. "I mean, he hasn't acted this bad in a while."

I grunted and nodded my head, knowing what he meant. Matt hadn't acted this rude to me after him and I had been training for a week.

Someone cleared their throat, and I couldn't help but look up to see a nervous looking Matt. He was rubbing the back of his neck and there was a small blush on his face, as if he had forgotten about working and had been doing something else. "Uh... Martha?" he asked, causing me to raise an eyebrow. He cleared his throat and shuffled on his face, reminding me of a lost pup. "Do you think that you can go on a date with me tomorrow night? I had talked with Tansuke and my mother, and they said it would be all right. You'll just have to train in the morning."

I blinked and my mouth was open. I was stunned that he had actually asked me. He didn't say that he liked me, but I was sure that he had a slight crush on me. I cleared my throat and then tried to say something, but I ended up looking like a fish out of water.

Colt who had been watching amused, started to do a snort laughter at my face. He covered his face and tried to muffle it, but I could tell he was trying hard not to laugh. He was failing by the way his face looked like he had eaten something hot.

"I know that you don't know me as well as you do with Colt and Carter, but I am a really good guy. And, I want to show you how sorry I am for teasing and being mean to you all of those days. I don't know why, but I was slightly attracted to you from the beginning. I just hated myself because you are a Wolf, and I felt like I was betray-"

I had walked over to him while he was talking and covered his mouth, stopping him from saying another word. His eyes widened when he saw how close I was, and I could've sworn that his face had changed to a lighter shade of pink. "You talk too much," I remarked, glad to finally have my voice back. "And, the answer is yes." I could feel my face turn a lighter shade of pink, because this would actually be the first date that I would have ever been on with a single guy.

Matt grinned against my hand and nodded his head, causing me to drop my hand from his mouth. "Great," he said. "I will see you at seven." He pecked my cheek, causing my face turn to a darker red before started to run somewhere else.

I sat down on the ground, my heart pounding. I blinked once and was stunned to see that Colt was in my face. I didn't know what I had done, but I knew that it was because of fate that I had been set up on this date.

"Martha, are you alright?" Colt asked for what sounded like the millionth time.

"I don't know what to do," I replied, honestly. "This is my first date with a guy."

Colt blinked and started to laugh. His laugh was contagious, and I couldn't help but grin.

I chuckled softly, but I knew that I was going to have to ask for tips from Mrs. Kathy, because I had no idea what to do on a date or how to dress.

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A/N: Well, how did you like it? Do you like Matt now? Or do I need to do something to show him how great of a guy he is? Also, what do you think will happen on this date and when do you think that Martha will finally be able to become a horse?

Don't forget to vote/comment.

Thanks

~Rissa