It was more than money to them, their bears needed land to roam. Other shifters, needed the forests too. A wolf pack just north of them in Canada would come down and visit for a change of scenery sometimes. They were also close to a pack of cougars in Northern California. The land was crucial to their clans and other packs happiness.
Someone was threatening their happiness and Wyatt was not about to let that happen.
Pulling into the lot where they kept their work trailers, Wyatt unfolded his six-foot four-inch frame from his red pickup truck and headed towards the mess hall. He should check in on Cage and Conner, but he really hoped Cage had let poor Sophie out of bed long enough for her to rustle up some grub. His brother was making up for lost time being celibate waiting for his mate.
Sophie was the cute curvy British girl Cage had hired as their cook. And she could cook. He hadn’t heard one complaint from the crew since she started. Hoping to get at least a to-go box, he strode into the hall to the smell of bacon and eggs. He found huge trays of some kind of egg bake in the warmers along the buffet line. He loaded up his container and grabbed a handful of bacon. Stopping to top off his travel coffee mug he brought with him, he headed over to the office to see if Cage was in yet.
Seeing his brother sitting at his desk, Wyatt dropped to the seat across from him, kicked his feet up on the desk and crossed them at the ankle. This earned him a glare from his big brother. Flipping open the lid on the box he dug into the cheesy egg bake.
Moaning and trying to chew with his mouth closed, he looked up to see Cage glaring at him.
“What?” he asked around a mouthful of food.
“Must you eat in here, stuffing your gob?” Cage growled.
“Gob? Seriously? Sophie’s slang is wearing off on you bro,” he replied shoveling another forkful into his mouth.
“I know, she says her mother would throw a fit if she ever heard her use it,” he said with a chuckle. Sophie’s family was upper crust and as Sophie described, true snobs. He hadn’t met them yet, but he knew the day was fast approaching. Sophie still hadn’t told them about Cage or that they were getting married. They were already mated, the wedding was just a human formality.
“Better play nice with your momma in-law,” Wyatt taunted.
“Just you wait, smartass, your time will come,” Cage promised.
“So you say, I think you may be the one and only producer of cubs for mom to spoil,” he said sadly.
Shaking his head at his brother, Cage offered, “It will happen when you least expect it baby brother.”
Wyatt just sniffed and kept eating.
“By the way we got another call from the D.N.R. again. They want to review the last cut to ensure we haven’t missed anything,” Cage grumbled into his desk as he shifted through his paperwork.
“Fuck me,” Wyatt threw his container on the desk. “Those assholes know good and well we don’t miss anything. We just finished that cut and haven’t had time to do clean up. We aren’t even ready for replanting yet.”
“I know that and you know that, hell they even know that. But if they didn’t bust our balls about it they wouldn’t be able to justify their paychecks.”
“It’s not even summer! It’s a sopping wet mess out there, I doubt we are at risk of a wildfire anytime soon,” Wyatt said getting to his feet. Damn he hated these busybodies. He worked with all sorts of government officials in his line of work. They had a great partnership, managing the lands for the betterment of the community and for the sake of maintaining the natural habitats. But every once in a while one of the bureaucrats rubbed him wrong, and his bear didn’t like to be touched.
Last year, he had a Department of Natural Resources officer that was sure they were clear cutting to cover up a marijuana grow on the other side of the ridge. Obviously it was not the case, but it was a hassle nonetheless.
“Just handle it, Wyatt, play nice and show them we are on track and aren’t delaying the cleanup.”
“I’ll deal with them if you call them. I can’t listen to another tubby s.o.b. huffing into the phone from the desk he never leaves telling me about my trees,” he barked and stomped out the door. He had work to do and it didn’t involve bored pencil pushers.
Heading to his truck he saw Sophie walking towards the office with a container that probably contained breakfast for Cage.
“Morning sugar cookie,” he teased as he saw her smile and blush.
“Don’t you let Cage hear you saying that,” she giggled and gave him a quick brotherly kiss on his cheek before heading to the office.
Jumping into the cab, he started up his truck and headed to the next site they were prepping to cut. As he drove his mind went over his lists, roads were being cut and graded into the stand of trees. That should be done any day now. Most people don’t realize there aren’t prepared roads into most of the tree stands they cut. Especially the difficult terrains on steep hillsides. Loggers would cut the trees and then they would be dragged down the hill with giant cables to the waiting trucks.