Savage Abandon

CONTENTS A note from Sky 1. Carter 2. Destiny 3. Carter 4. Carter 5. Destiny 6. Atlas 7. Carter 8. Destiny 9. Carter 10. Destiny 11. Carter 12. Atlas 13. Atlas 14. Destiny 15. Atlas 16. Carter 17. Carter 18. Destiny 19. Carter 20. Atlas 21. Carter 22. Destiny 23. Carter 24. Destiny 25. Atlas 26. Destiny 27. Carter 28. Destiny 29. Carter 30. Destiny Acknowledgments About the Author Savage Abandon © 2023 by Sky Coppola No portion of this work may be reproduced or used in any manner without express written permission of the author. Exception for fair use, excerpt used in review and for editorial purposes. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents reside solely in the mind of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictional manner. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Editor: Cover Designer: Interior Formatting: Authortree Some of the topics in this series might be upsetting or disturbing, and your mental health matters. I’ve compiled a list of trigger warnings for the entire series, rather than triggers for each book, because the books are not stand-alones. (Though I might add spin-off stand-alones at some point.) Trigger warnings for the entire series include but aren’t limited to: explicit sexual content, violence, gore, mental illness, animal deaths, murder, deaths of loved ones, extreme vulgarity, physical abuse and assault, torture, rape, human trafficking, mention of and flashbacks of child and teen abuse and rape, bullying, and drugs. For questions about triggers or discussions about my books, feel free to message me on my “Contact” page on my website: https://skycoppolaromance.com. Hello Reader Friend, I enjoy hearing from my readers. Please feel free to contact me through my author’s website at: https://skycoppolaromance.com. Or on my Facebook author page: https://m.facebook.com/people/Sky-Coppola-Dark-Romance-Author-Page/100078227946505. Each of the books in this series ends in a cliffhanger. But through grueling trials along each character’s journey, we get our happily ever afters. I have most of the novels written for the entire series, with a few in the outline stage, but I won’t leave you hanging. The series will be complete. So grab a comfy chair, a mug of your favorite beverage, and I wish you a beautiful day slipping into the world I created. Love, Sky Dedicated to those of us who love our heroes a little villainous. “I will not let you go into the unknown alone.” —Bram Stoker WIND DANCE VALLEY, WYOMING Sweat trickles from under my hat and drips into my shirt collar. I jam my shovel into the ground and stomp on the warped edge, the bottom of my boot pressing into the worn metal. The pointed tip grazes off an unseen rock beneath the earth's surface, sending shock waves through my arms. "Damn it." I glance up for a breath of air. The restless cattle shuffle in the nearby pasture, swishing their tails and bellowing hot air into the chilly April morning. I lean on the top of the shovel and swipe a hand across my forehead, looking over the grassy fields in the distance. My black Quarter Horse, Bandit, grazes nearby, tied well away from this poisonous bush that grew out of nowhere and refuses to uproot. A slight breeze ruffles the hair at my nape as I survey the herd of Angus beneath the sapphire sky. The heifers look… uneasy this morning. I squint through the glaring sunlight to pinpoint the source of the problem. It's calving season. Quite a few are close to giving birth, which can make any of these gals restless. It's not abnormal on a cattle ranch, especially one like ours—biggest ranch around, been in operation for decades, run like a well-oiled machine. The restless movements, the small steps, the way they're veering from a particular spot like they're spooked, tells me–– I freeze, fingers tightening on the shovel. One of the heifers goes down. Adrenaline races through my veins. I toss the shovel away and cross the thirty yards between them and me. I vault over the fence with a practiced move and head straight for the heifer straining on the ground. Agonized groaning fills the air, coming from the prone form. As I draw near, the shiny black heifer kicks and raises her head, wide eyes staring at me like she knows I'm coming to help. I have to protect these girls if they have issues or their lives are at stake. I'm the problem solver who has to figure out what's wrong and be ready to help when the opportunity presents itself. The cattle can't afford anything less. I can't afford anything else. The heifer bellows again and lets her head fall to the ground. She's one of the young ones. I drop to my knees at her hind end and examine her. The first calf of the season starts to emerge, wet-nosed, gooey, and… Big. Too big. Damn it. I knew it. I knew this would happen the minute my fool brother, Tanner left the gate open and ol' Chuck—the biggest bull in our herd—took a turn at these young females. Cattle birth on their own without any issues most times. Ranchers didn't invent biology. Nature's been doing its thing since the dawn of time without human intervention. But sometimes, it feels like humans are what cause things to go sideways. My damn brother leaves the gate open, the wrong male gets in, and we get giant-sized calves from Chuck. Stuck calves suffocate… and even end the heifers' lives sometimes. But this isn't anything I haven't handled before. After years of raising cattle, I've seen a thing or two. I yank my cell from my jeans pocket and hold it to the sky. Where the 5G symbol should be—nothing. I don't get cell service out here, but it's always worth a try. Shoving the phone back in my pocket, I lean away from the heifer's legs and rub her hip. "Guess I'm on my own. Because you're not gonna give