ℙ𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝔸 𝔻𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝔾𝕚𝕣𝕝 - 𝕂𝕒𝕪𝕔𝕖 𝔻𝕦𝕥𝕥𝕠𝕟

ℂℍ𝔸ℙ𝕋𝔼ℝ 𝟙𝟚

I stood in front of the bunkhouse, the faint sounds of laughter and a thumping beat muffled through the closed door. I could feel my heart in my throat, I wondered if the wranglers even knew of my return. However they were to react, I couldn't imagine it'd be welcoming. Even though they had all shown up for my trial, I knew it wouldn't be easy sleeping in the same room as me.

Just as I was going to open the door, it swings open on its own, revealing a stunned Jimmy.

"Holy shit." He says and backs out of the way so that I could make my way inside. The rooms falls silent other than the Sturgill Simpson song that played on the speaker.

Cowboy up, Montana.

I take small steps, taking my time to look into everyone's shocked eyes. There was a new girl with wild pink hair and a fat load of dip in her lip.

"Which is the empty bunk?"

"Third of the left, same one you were sleepin' in." Ryan speaks slowly. They remain quiet as I set my singular bag of clothes onto my old bed.

The beds in prison were no different than the bunk beds here in terms of quality, but I knew I would get the best sleep in my life when we went to bed tonight.

Once I'm settled, I walk into the kitchen and lean against the counter, I could feel the crowds' eyes were still on me.

"Is someone gonna tell me who the fuck that is or?" The pink haired girl says in a such a thick southern accent I almost thought she was speaking a different language.

"Teeter, this is Jane. . . Or. . . Montana? You go by Montana now?" Colby clears his throat and looks between the two of us.

"Yes, Montana is fine." It's feels so foreign, being able to actually talk back. I can see it's strange for the others as well. "Your name is Teeter?"

"Your name is Montana?"

I squint back at the girl with the slightest tilt of my head, trying to decipher her attitude. I can sense she feels territorial, but she doesn't know that I was here before her, and she also doesn't know I was raised by wolves.

"What're you doing back? I thought you were serving a life sentence in fuckin' Canada?" Jimmy asks while shuffling a deck of cards, trying to soothe the tension in his own Jimmy way.

"Not life, only 10 years. But I got out early. Obviously." The room goes silent once more and I grow tired of the tension in the air. "If y'all got questions or smart ass comments, get them out of the way now so I don't have to talk about this ever and we can all be buddies again."

"Thank god." Ryan grunts as he sets his beer down and licks his lips "Listen, it's not everyday you know someone who survived a cult. . . just sayin'"

"We ain't gonna pick on you, Montana." Lloyd kindly says after giving Ryan a scolding glance. "You ain't got to explain nothin' to us."

"I would like to know more about that bear attack though." Jake chimes in with a headshake of disbelief.

"Not much to that story honestly, just dumb luck really." I shrug.

"Not much to- Are you serious? You finally learn to talk and you don't want to brag about surviving in the Yellowstone for years?" Ryan says.

"Not really, but I do want to make up for all the times you shit talked me and I couldn't get you back." I dryly joke, trying my hardest to change the tone even though I didn't have a single funny bone in my body.

Regardless, it seems to work as the group erupts in 'ooo's' and 'burns'. Ryan points at me with a devilish grin that makes my cheeks burn.

"Don't tease me, Miss Montana."