The Last Shifter (a Loki romance)

Chapter 1

Arista's POV

I woke up at the crack of dawn. I ate a small, healthy breakfast and headed out to the stables. My ranch was small, I only had two horses, but it was private and I liked that. It was five miles out of the nearest town, Puente Antiguo, and only a few people knew where it was. My friend Jane and her intern Darcy were two of those people. I had gone to high school with Jane but she had taken a liking to astrophysics, a subject I hated with a burning passion, while I had decided to study horses. I gave private lessons two days a week and was on call as a vet for the rest. Now that it was summer, it was getting uncomfortably hot out and it was becoming harder and harder for me to brave the scorching heat. I always wore a ring on my left middle finger. It wasn't anything special at first glance but it held power. I almost never took it off. After putting my long red hair into a bun, I saddled my chestnut stallion, Kurt, and took him out to the ring where I had several jumps set up. As I led him out, Suzie, the bay mare I used for lessons, poked her head out. Kurt had a large white blaze and white sock on his right rear foot. He was so tall I had needed a mounting block when I first gotten him. Since then, I had figured out how to get on without one. Kurt was a gentle giant but he could have a temper with new riders. I stopped him in the middle of the ring and went to mount him. I jumped and got one foot in the stirrup but then he decided to move. Kurt began walking to the side. Something was unnerving him.

"Woah boy!" I pulled on the reins but he didn't stop. I gritted my teeth and swung my leg over his back. "Calm down. What's the matter? Do you smell something?" Something clattered to the left. Kurt jerked away from it. "Woah! It's ok Kurtie, it was probably just a stray cat." I had said that more to reassure myself than him. I taped an earbud in my ear and started my music. Coldplay's Viva la Vida began playing as I urged Kurt into a walk.

I spent about half an hour to forty minutes warming him up before going to the jumps. I clicked my tongue and nudged his sides so he cantered. After running through the jumps a couple times, I decided to let him have a break and slowed to a trot. The sun was just clearing the horizon so it wasn't that hot out yet. I had a lesson later this afternoon so Suzie would get her exercise then. I had Kurt go around the ring a few times before going at the first jump again. Right before we reached the first jump, something crashed to the floor in the barn. Whatever it was spooked Kurt and he bolted, shying away from the jump.

"Woah!" He was going at a full gallop now and was heading for the fence of the ring. I pulled on the reins but he didn't slow. As a last resort, I tried tugging on his mane but got the same result. At the last second, he veered away from the fence. We were heading for the barn now and I could've sworn I saw a flash of gold. Kurt turned again to avoid a jump and this time, I wasn't ready. I slipped from the saddle and crashed to the ground. I had never been more thankful for my protective vest as I fell on my front. "Oof!" I had landed funny on my wrist and pain shot up my arm. I cried out in pain and Kurt turned around. I could see it register in his eyes that he had hurt me. He had tried to throw me off before, the first time I rode him, but he failed and I had never fallen off him since. I closed my eyes and focused. My ring warmed up and I felt energy drain from my body. My wrist was broken but I decided not to waste the energy and heal it all the way. I healed it so it qualified as a light sprain. I would be able to use it but it would hurt. By now, Kurt had come over to me and nudged me.

"I'm alright boy. Let's go back in." I took the rein from over his head and led him back inside. Nothing had changed in the barn. Everything was just as I left it. I looked around for something gold but I was certain that I didn't own anything in that color. I rode English style and that metal was silver. The only gold material I own was in two of the rings I owned. I panicked, remembering how Kurt had spooked slightly when I got on. That had been right by my house! I tied Kurt up and grabbed a riding crop. They were the closest things I had to weapons aside from my rings and I was trying to keep a low profile. I was beginning to regret not owning a gun.