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Small-town life was more nosy than I expected.

The second I stepped out of Rauf’s truck, tongues started wagging. And they were still wagging two days later even though nothing had happened except for finding the goat.

And no one cared about the goat. I was pretty sure they thought I was making that part of the story up.

“You really went out to the Butchers’ farm?” Julia was curled up on the couch in the common room of the dorm along with Tanya and Robin. She was crying less these days, but still got a sad and far-off look in her eyes when she thought no one was looking.

The common room had bare wooden walls and furniture that looked handmade by someone who had decided a chair only needed to be sturdy, not attractive. Thick cushions saved our asses from the worst of it.

It had taken Julia two days to work up the courage to ask, and from the way Tanya and Robin were eagerly looking at me, they’d ganged up together to make sure the question was asked when they were present.

“It was just a farm. I wasn’t even going on purpose.” Though on my walks over the last couple of days, I’d been tempted to head down that road. To check on the goat, of course. It wasn’t because I wanted to see a glowering bull who probably wouldn’t give me the time of day.

I’d watched the muscles in his back move beneath his shirt when he lifted the full-grown goat without any visible effort. I wanted to know what those arms would feel like around me.

I pressed my knees together and reached for the mug. The bitter not-coffee had gone cold.

I’d stuck to the roads around town since then. Korfas had needed to reschedule our dinner, and I was secretly grateful that I wouldn’t be sitting through another meal with him just yet, but it meant I didn’t have much to do.

Back on Earth, I’d worked in an incredibly busy municipal vet clinic which meant there was never a dull moment. Or a moment where my forearms weren’t covered in various scratches and cuts. Now I had nothing but time and I was trying to figure out what to do with myself.

“From the way everyone’s talking about it, it’s not just a farm,” Robin insisted. She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them, taking up nearly half the couch. “Did you hear that one of them kidnapped the mayor’s wife?”

“Anne?” There had been a dozen rumors about, well, everything going on in town and I had no idea what was true and what was just small-town gossip.

All our heads turned to Julia. Robin, Tanya, and I were all new in town, but Julia had been here for months. If anyone would know, she would.

Julia sank deeper into the cushions. Her fingers worried the fringe of the blanket across her lap.

She drew a breath, let go of the fringe, and sat up straighter. “It wasn’t long after I got here,” she said. “A couple of the Butchers were up to no good and one did take Anne. He got banished along with another guy. I thought Remmen would kill him. I’ve never seen him that mad. But that was before Remmen and Anne were married. No one knew they were even together.”

“Really, why not?” Robin asked before I could.

Julia’s eyes lit up. “You don’t know?” Now she sounded eager. She jumped into a story about mental health counselors, forbidden romance, and a strange animal that was terrorizing the town.

But the mention of the gorrel, whatever that was, made me think back to the goat.

I really didn’t think he’d been physically attacked, so what could have hurt him so much? Was he still alive? I hadn’t seen Rauf to ask and I wished there was a phone or some other way I could call to check in other than walking the ten miles out to the farm.

Everything about Rauf was big and rough, from the damaged horn to the scars disappearing beneath his shirt, but the animal hadn’t flinched from his touch.

He’d driven me all the way back to town without asking for anything, then waited until I was inside the dorm before his truck coughed its way down the street.

I had no doubt he’d earned the title, but I wasn’t interested in his past. This was a whole planet full of monsters who’d done things that would probably give me nightmares if I heard too many stories. I’d known that long before I got on the transport ship. I couldn’t hold his past against him without at least getting to know him first.

Rauf isn’t looking for a wife.

I invisibly scowled at that thought. Who said I needed to be his wife? He could probably use a friend.

“Were they like that out at the farm?” Tanya asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

It took me a second to realize they’d circled back to gossip about the Butchers. “Monsters?” I scoffed. “We’re literally on a planet full of monsters. They’re minotaurs; it doesn’t make them evil.”

“You know what we mean,” Tanya insisted.

I did, and I didn’t know how to respond at all. I checked my watch and made a face. “Sorry, ladies, I told Otho I’d come and meet with him today. I really need to get going.”

I fled before they could ask me more questions about the Butchers or realize my excuse was complete bunk.