THE COWBOY WHO CHOSE HER
The Chief’s Ultimatum
“Marry my daughter, or leave this land forever.”
Chief Keona’s words rolled through the valley like thunder.
The fire between them crackled, sending sparks into the cold Montana night. Around the flames stood nearly twenty Apache warriors, their faces illuminated by orange light and deep shadows. Rifles rested against saddles. Bows were secured across shoulders. Horses shifted uneasily beyond the circle of firelight.
At the center of it all stood Ethan Vale.
His coat was covered in dust. His boots were muddy. His hat had been torn by a branch sometime during the last three days of riding.
His horse was dead less than a hundred yards away.
Yet Ethan showed no fear.
He had faced winter storms, cattle thieves, armed men, hunger, and loneliness.
What frightened him now was something different.
He was afraid of making the wrong choice with a woman who had already suffered enough.
Behind Chief Keona stood his daughter.
Serena.
She was perhaps twenty-five, though the sadness in her eyes made her seem older. She wore a dark blue dress beneath a weathered brown blanket. Her long black hair had been braided and tied with a simple strip of leather.
She was not looking at Ethan.
She was looking at the ground.
Ethan studied her for several seconds.
Then he looked back at the chief.
“I won't marry her because you ordered me to.”
A murmur passed through the warriors.
Chief Keona's expression hardened.
“Then you will leave.”
“I will.”
“Tonight.”
Ethan nodded.
“But I have one question first.”
Keona raised an eyebrow.
“Ask.”
“Does Serena want me to marry her?”
Silence fell.
The question seemed to surprise everyone.
Keona glanced toward his daughter.
Serena slowly lifted her head.
Her eyes met Ethan's for the first time.
There was fear there.
But there was something else.
Curiosity.
Then she spoke.
“I don't know him.”
Her voice was quiet, but every person around the fire heard it.
Ethan gave a small nod.
“That's fair.”
He turned toward her.
“My name is Ethan Vale. I own a small ranch east of the Bitterroot range. I have twelve horses, forty-three cattle, two chickens that think they're dogs, and a roof that leaks whenever it rains.”
A few warriors exchanged confused glances.
Serena's lips almost moved into a smile.
Almost.
Ethan continued.
“I don't have much. But what I have belongs to me, and nobody gets to tell me what to do with it.”
Chief Keona stared at him.
“And if Serena chose you?”
Ethan looked at her again.
“Then I'd ask why.”
Serena's fingers tightened around the blanket.
“My father says you saved my life.”
Ethan frowned.
“I found you.”
“You carried me for half a day.”
“You were hurt.”
“You killed three men.”
“They were trying to kill you.”
“And now my father says I should marry you.”
Ethan sighed.
“That part is between you and him.”
For the first time, Serena looked directly at her father.
“I will not marry a man because you tell me to.”
The chief's jaw tightened.
“You will not understand what I am protecting you from.”
“I understand enough.”
Ethan sensed something deeper beneath the argument.
He looked toward the surrounding darkness.
“Who were those men?”
Keona did not answer.
Serena did.
“Men from Red Creek.”
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
“Jacob Rusk?”
The chief looked at him sharply.
“You know that name?”
“I've heard it.”
Every rancher in the territory had.
Jacob Rusk was a cattle buyer, land speculator, and sometimes something worse. He owned warehouses in Red Creek and had men everywhere. He had been accused of stealing horses, burning homesteads, and bribing officials.
But nobody had ever proved anything.
Ethan looked at Serena.
“What does he want?”
“My father's land.”
Chief Keona stepped closer.
“He wants the valley. The river. The timber. He wants everything.”
“And Serena?”
Keona's expression changed.
“He believes if he controls my daughter, he can control me.”
Ethan understood.
A marriage arranged by fear was still a prison.
But perhaps that explained the ultimatum.
Keona wasn't offering Serena to Ethan.
He was trying to hide her behind him.
Ethan shook his head.
“You need soldiers, not a son-in-law.”
“We have soldiers.”
“Then why am I here?”
Keona stared at him.
“Because you came into this valley alone.”
“And?”
“You rode through Rusk's territory without permission.”
Ethan glanced toward his dead horse.
“I didn't exactly plan on staying.”
“You found my daughter.”
“I did.”
“And you fought for her.”
Ethan shrugged.
“Anybody would have.”
“No,” Keona said quietly. “Not anybody.”
The fire popped.
Serena looked at Ethan.
“Why did you come?”
“I was following stolen cattle.”
“From Rusk?”
“Yes.”
Her expression changed.
“Then perhaps you are already involved.”
Ethan gave a humorless smile.
“Seems that way.”
Chief Keona pointed toward the mountains.
“Three days from now, Rusk's men will return.”
“How many?”
“Enough.”
Ethan looked around the valley.
The Apache warriors were ready.
But Ethan saw something else.