Shackled (The Lord Series) by Amy T

25. Jasper

Despite the cold December day, sweat rolls down Tyson's back, his muscles flexing as he lifts another hay bale.

Running a farm is a lot of hard work, but it has always been my dream, and five years ago, at twenty-eight |

finally made it happen. My plan has always been simple-buy a piece of land, build a house on it, have some

animals, and wait for my demon to consme as the hope of having a family died together with Samir and

lago-my first blood- brothers-the day they were killed during a surprise attack from the Dukes, | almost died

myself that day, but by stwist of fate, | only ended up with a few scars and a shattered knee. Many

operations later and a lot of physical therapy regained my mobility.

| would have died alone if not for Ruchen. For months he pesteredabout joining him and his blood-brothers. |

refused him many times as | didn’t want to go over the sheart-wrenching pain | felt when the link

connectingto Samir and lago had been shattered and their demons had to find solace in the catacombs

below the Blood Lodge. But Rueben is not a man who takes no for an answer and somehow he madesay yes

to becoming one of his blood- brothers.

My new blood-brothers not only acceptedas one of them but they also gave my life a new purpose.

| finish grooming Juniper and 1 straighten my back. “Lethelp you feed Speckles and Artax so we can join the

others for breakfast.”

Tyson puts another hay bale on top of the others, his chest glistening with his sweat, and he takes out the t-shirt

he has tucked in the waistband of his pants and wipes his forehead with it. | don’t understand how he is not cold,

but he is from a small town in Alaska and claims the winters there are harsher than here. “Do you think Mose is

making his special breakfast?”

Mose’s parents are from Korea and

Ved to the States when Mose was two years old. They had big plans for him, wanting him to beca doctor,

but not only did he go to a culinary school but he also becan assassin.

“Before | left the house | saw him tasting the kimchi,” I let Tyson know. He loves the kimchi Mose makes.

“Kimchi.” | can practically hear him moan.

| chuckle. “Let's feed the horses so you can have your kimchi.”

Tyson goes over to Artax’s stall while | take hay to Speckles. | walk slowly as | don’t want to scare the mare. The

animals on the farm are usually rescued after years of being abused and mistreated by their owners. Speckles

was brought in two months ago, but she is very wary of humans, as her previous owner abused her so badly, her

black mane is spotted white from whatever that sick bastard did to her.

| enter Speckles’ stall and she immediately gets nervous.

“Easy girl.” | keep my voice calm, not wanting to make her even more nervous and slowly put the hay in the

rack.

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Bon

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Speckles never takes her eyes off of me, probably scared | will do something to her, | work with her daily, trying

to show her that not all humans are evil. It is a slow process and she only tolerateslong enough to feed her

and take her to the paddock. She only gets to the hay when | leave the stall.

Tyson strokes Artax’s mane and takes out a sugar cube from his pocket.

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25. Jasper

“You spoil him too much,” I chuckle as Artax takes the sugar cube from Tyson.

“We all do,” Tyson says.

Artax is our very first horse. It took a lot of failures to finally gain his trust. There have been a few others after

him, who found their forever homes after Rueben worked with them, but Artax is special and his his with us.

After a last check on Juniper-who is more than irritated for having to spend the winter inside the stable instead of

her pen-Tyson and | go to the house and enter it through the backdoor which leads directly into the kitchen.

“Wash your hands,” Mose says as he puts a serving plate of spiced tofu and boiled eggs on the table.

Reuben and Ansel are sitting in their chairs, scrolling on their phones. It is rare to see them hduring the

mornings as they have a bounty-hunting business and they are on the road more than they are home. Mose

owns a Korean restaurant, Tyson writes romance books for women, while | am the only one not working, as my

knee bothersmost of the time. Not contributing financially makesfeel like a freeloader.

Tyson heads over to the sink.

Miss Teapot gets up from the basket she uses as her bed and comes to me. | scoop her up in my arms and stroke

her warm fur and she starts purring right away. | named her Miss Teapot because | found her thrown in the

garbage, stuck in a broken teapot, while | was doing sgrocery shopping. Unfortunately, she lost her left front

leg because it was very badly broken, but since she was a kitten when I found her, she adapted to her new life as

a 3-legged cat pretty quickly.

“Who's the prettiest girl in the house?” | coo as | pet Miss Teapot’s white fur. She purrs even louder.

Ansel puts his phone on the table. “Mose is.”

| chuckle because Ansel is not wrong. Mose looks like those guys who play K-pop music.

“Since when am | a girl?” Mose rolls his eyes, making everyone laugh.

Tyson dries his hands and sits at the table. “Diva is the most beautiful,” he gives his opinion.

before |

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Bon

Diva is Rueben’s rottweiler and that dog is a pain in the ass. Last year | had chickens and she ate the eg could

collect them. When | caught her in th

act, she had a meltdown because | gave the chickens away, scared tha02:1 she would eat them next. A real diva

she is. But she is loyal and fiercely guards the farm from any potential danger.

Rueben strokes Diva’s head-who lays on the floor next to Rueben’s chair. “You damn right she is.”