Mae smiled as she walked to her car ready for the day ahead, Tate was waving at her and Charlie from the porch and Ryan was waiting by the Jeep.
"Mae! Can you watch Tate for a couple of minutes?," Kayce asked as he walked up to his baby sister.
"Shit, Kayce I have to go in. We're training Avery today and I have multiple surgeries lined up," Mae sighed as she started to fidget with her fingers.
"I can stay behind and look after him," Charlie offered.
"No it's only for a couple of minutes and I know you're getting bored being stuck here in the day. I'll watch him, he can come down to the bunkhouse with me," Ryan offered.
"Are you sure?," Mae asked as she stared up at Ryan.
"Darlin', you should really stop being surprised every time I offer to do something for your family and besides I like Tate. He's a good kid," Ryan shrugged and Mae couldn't keep the smile off of her lips.
"Thanks man," Kayce and Ryan shook hands and Charlie got in the car.
"Yeah, thanks man," Mae mocked and Ryan shook his head at her. He grabbed her by the hips and pulled her into a kiss.
"Good luck at work, Darlin'."
"Thank you, you show them how the sexiest babysitter in town does it," Mae teased.
"Get to work," Ryan laughed as he playfully pushed her in the direction of the Jeep.
"I love you, see you later!," Mae waved as she got in the car.
"Love you too," Ryan called back.
xxx
Avery and Charlie went to go get them all lunch when a familiar figure walked into Mae's clinic.
"How can I help you?," Liam asked politely.
"I got this, " Mae told him as she glared at him, "Can you go get the surgery room ready, please?"
Liam stared at the two confused, he wasn't getting a good feeling from this man. He didn't want to leave her alone but Mae wasn't going to let him help her.
"What do you want, Malcolm? My father already sent you and your brother on your way. We don't need your help to fight off our enemies," Mae stated as she crossed her arms in front of her.
"That's where you're wrong. You need my help. Your father and your sister won't hear what I have to say. They won't listen to reason but you, you're not just a pretty vet. You've got a head for business on those shoulders, like how you created enough profit out of this small clinic to buy the land next door and open a fully running shelter with volunteers and more than enough food to last a hundred animals, for years. You're also the one with the most sway in your family."
"And I'll tell you exactly what my dad told you. Our family's battles are purely our own. Thank you for your offer but please don't let the door hit you on your way out," Mae gestured towards the door in a way to urge him out of her clinic.
"This is your last chance to take up my offer or you and your sister both will learn what happens to smart mouths," he threatened and Mae just raised her eyebrows at him.
He walked out of the door just as Avery and Charlie returned.
xxx
That night Mae got in really late. She had a day full of surgeries and the next day was also fully booked. She walked into the lounge and heard Beth tell their father: "Malcolm Beck came to visit me today."
"He came to see me too," Mae added as she plopped herself on the couch next to her big sister.
"What did he want?," John asked as he stared between the two.
"Men like him, they just want to be feared," Beth explained.
"Well they ain't getting that," Beth and Mae nodded at his words. They were Dutton's, they didn't have to fear anyone.
"No sir," Beth stated as she stood up to go to bed," But he's going to try." She kissed her dad's cheek before leaving the room.
"Sweetheart, there's something you should know. Jamie tried to commit suicide today," Mae's eyes widened and she sat up in her seat.
"Is he okay? What happened?!"
"He tried to shoot himself but Rip and I got there in time to stop him. He's decided to try a new direction of life and he's going to be a cowboy for a while. He's living in the bunkhouse with the rest of the wranglers."
Mae ran out of the house before John could even finish his words. She ran straight into the bunkhouse, tears threatening to fall. As she neared the door, Rip was leaving the bunkhouse. Mae fell into his arms and he stared at her in shock.
"Thank you, thank you so much for stopping him," Mae sobbed into his chest. Rip just tightened his arms around her and squeezed her: "He's inside."
The two parted ways and Mae ran in to see her brother sitting at the table with the wranglers. She walked past all of them and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her. She didn't need to know why he did what he did, not now. She needed him to know that she was here for him, through anything, even if she was pissed at him.
"Never again, promise me," she whispered in his chest.
"I promise, I'm sorry," Jamie whispered back.
xxx
The next morning Mae fed Archie, Willow and Gus before leaving the house with Charlie. As they exited the house, they came face to face with a smiling Kayce and Monica holding hands.
"Oh my gosh!," Mae shouted as she ran over and threw her arms around Monica and Kayce's necks. The two laughed at her excitement.
"Is this real? Are you really back together?!"
"Yes, we are," Kayce chuckled at her.
"Yes! I knew you were going to get back together! I knew it, I told you, you were soulmates! I want to know everything but I need to get to work, we'll talk when I get back!"
Mae gave them both a hug before skipping to the Jeep, her day just got a lot better.
xxx
"We'll see you guys tomorrow, enjoy your Aunt's birthday dinner," Mae smiled as she greeted both Liam and Avery. Avery surprised her with how well she was picking things up, she took in all the information they gave her like a sponge and jumped at every opportunity to help out and learn.
Charlie offered to clean up the surgery tools in the back while Mae cleaned up the front. Mae looked up as she heard footsteps approaching the clinic, thinking maybe Avery or Liam forgot something but she was mistaken. Two men with masks started banging against the locked door. Mae grabbed the keys for the back room, shut the door and locked it. She ignored Charlie's confused questions and slight freak out as she threw the keys out of the nearest window before making her way to the front. She would rather fight them off herself than have anything happen to Charlie or her unborn niece.
Mae knew she couldn't call the cops. This had Malcolm Beck written all over it and if she called the cops, they would win. They had the cops, even Sheriff Don in their back pocket. They wouldn't help her. So she called the first person she could think of.
"Hi, Darli-"
"Ryan, help please. I'm at the clinic, Charlie's here too. Two men in masks are trying to break down the door."
"What?! I'm on my way! Call the cops!"
"I can't. Just hurry, please."
"Keep me on the line."
The door broke down and the two men entered the room, the leader spoke up first: "Come here, you little bitch."
As the other one grabbed Mae's phone out of her hand, she grabbed one of her pens and jammed it into his eye before pushing him away. Her phone went flying and broke. The other man grabbed Mae and she tried to fight him off as the other guy kept clutching his bleeding eye and screaming.
"You're going to suffer for that, you fucking stupid bitch," the leader growled as he forced her down onto the counter top and held her down by her throat. Mae tried punch and kick him off but he used his other hand to hold her legs down before lifting her head by the throat and slamming it against the counter until she passed out.
When Mae woke up she was tied to Liam's office chair while the leader used some of her gauze to stop the other man's eye from bleeding out.
"The bitch is awake," the guy told the leader and he turned around. He had a malicious grin on his face.
"We saw your little pregnant friend in the backroom, it looks like she's having a tough time. The baby sure chose the wrong moment to start making an appearance," Mae's eyes immediately widened and looked in the backroom's direction, at that moment Charlie shouted in pain.
"Leave her out of this," Mae stated as she stared up at them with hatred.
"Oh we will, if you work with us and stop trying to fight. You pissed off the Beck brothers, that's your own fault and now you're going to pay. They told us to either cut off your pretty little lips or fill them and not the ones on your face. We're not allowed to kill you but they said nothing about your friend, so either work with us or she and that baby won't live to see another day," As the guy threatened her, the guy walked up to her and held a knife to her eye.
Mae nodded, she was trying to hold back her own tears.
The guy grinned, yellow teeth on full display, as he bent down and licked up from her collarbone to her ear. Mae closed her eyes, completely disgusted as the guy whispered: "Good, maybe you'll even enjoy it little flower."
The guy backed away from her and gestured towards his friend: "Now my friend here gets to have his way with you first, as a way to apologize for what you did to him."
"I'm going to enjoy this, I wanna hear you scream," the guy stated as he took a knife and cut open Mae's dress. She was almost completely exposed to them now and she hated their eyes on her.
The guy took his knife and trailed it down her breast and her stomach before finally cutting into her thighs. Mae bit her lip open as she tried to stop her screams from coming out.
"Look's like we have a tough little flower here, doesn't it?"
"She'll scream, eventually," the leader grinned as he showed Mae's cauterizing tools to the other man. They shared a grin before they took turns burning certain parts of her body. The bottoms of her feet, her elbows, her stomach, her collarbones but never her face. They kept repeating how much they wished they could burn her face but they weren't allowed to bruise it too badly. Mae wanted to fight them but she couldn't, they would get to Charlie and Evie. She wouldn't let them so she sat and took the torture, crying and screaming.
"Now, we're getting to the fun part," the leader grinned as they both took of their pants and lowered their boxers, "Let's see how much you can take, little flower."
They untied Mae's tired body and tried to place her on the counter but her fight or flight instincts started to kick in. Mae screamed and pushed against them trying to get away but they were too strong for her to physically fight off. They ripped off her underwear as Mae grabbed Liam's scissors before stabbing them into the leader's dick. The man screamed and fell down on the ground grabbing his no longer functional manhood as the other guy held Mae to the table.
"That's it bitch," the other guy shouted. Just as he lined himself up to enter her, a shot rang out and the man fell to the ground, dead.
Mae gasped and turned to see Lloyd and Ryan standing in the doorway. Lloyd had shot the gun and Ryan ran over to Mae. Ryan held his hands up, he didn't know if she would let him touch her, not after what she went through so he was leaving it up to her. Mae let out a relieved sob as she fell into his chest, crying in relief. Ryan wrapped his arms around her as he held her while she sobbed. Lloyd already hogtied the leader and took off his jacket to hand to her.
Mae shook her head: "No, no. Charlie's in the backroom, she's in labour. Help her first. The spare keys are in the drawer."
Lloyd nodded before grabbing the keys and going to the back, leaving Ryan to take care of Mae. Ryan took off his own jacket and wrapped it around her.
"Call my dad, please," Mae whispered and Ryan nodded. Mae left the room towards Charlie and sat down next to her best friend, holding her hand through the pain. The best friends were just glad that they were both okay. Mae was glad that Charlie didn't have a scratch on her.
xxx
John, Rip, Beth and a Doctor showed up. Beth looked exactly like Mae felt. They were both battered and bruised. John never wanted to see his daughter's like this, it hurt him.
The Doctor told John that he could take Beth and Mae to his office and treat them without any medical records but Charlie wasn't dilated far enough to have the baby, she would have to go to the hospital.
Lloyd offered to take her while the other three Yellowstone men stayed with the doctor and sisters. Mae couldn't let Ryan go, he stayed with her, even when she refused to go to the ranch and rather went to the hospital to be there with Charlie.
Mae and Ryan were the first people of the Yellowstone family Evie Dutton met and Mae was just glad that the baby would never remember her bruised face and the tears that fell.
What she went through today broke her, it sent her back to her previous life, Mae could feel it, but it was all worth it for this little bunny. Her niece, her goddaughter.