Their job was dangerous, Wyatt and his brothers weren’t just managers, they often were side by side with their workers cutting trees. Luckily it wasn’t as dangerous for them as bear shifters were tough and healed quickly. But no one could survive getting crushed by a tree.
Wyatt let his mind drift to Cage and Sophie again. They will be starting a family soon. Cubs for his mom to coddle and for him and Conner to spoil. He wanted that for himself. He wasn’t as resigned as Cage had been. He wasn’t sure he would find The One, so he dated, and then dated some more. He liked women, he liked sex, but it wasn’t fulfilling. It was still good, it just wasn’t great and something deep inside Wyatt knew that it could be great.
His bear, a grizzly, was as impatient as he was. Wyatt let his bear out more often than his brothers did. Often his human skin was too constricting, like he couldn’t breathe. When his bear came to the surface and he allowed him to run and play, Wyatt felt free.
His bear wanted permanence. Wyatt wasn’t sure what he wanted. His brother looked happy, and apparently the sex was great since his brother couldn’t keep his hands off of Sophie.
Maybe it was time for Wyatt to take a vacation. He’d never really been anywhere, never felt the need to stray too far from home. But what if she was out there? Somewhere, in another state or another country even? Should he seek her out or should he be patient and let the fates decide. He knew the fates had already decreed him a mate, or so the elders have always said. The fates matched him with his grizzly, so he guessed they could find him a woman too.
Looking out the window, Wyatt watched the trees pass by as he traveled down the dirt roads that led to the job site. He might be able to travel, but this would always be home. He couldn’t imagine being trapped in a city where he couldn’t breathe.
And now he had to deal with some dumbshit from the state. Maybe he could pull off the road and let his bear out just for a bit. Give him a chance to settle down and focus before he had to start his day.
Finding a road that was cut into the trees that he knew was only used by the most rugged of backpackers, he parked his truck and took a quick sniff making sure he was alone. Stripping off his clothes he let his bear shimmer to the surface. When he was relatively calm his bear seemed to fold out of him. When he was agitated or angry it seemed his bear pushed out of him in a shower of sparks and color.
Sucking in the cool crisp air, he let his bear take over as the trees rushed by. He ran as fast as his bear could, the trees whipping by him. His bear was happy being out, he knew daylight trips were a treat as Wyatt and his brothers usually stuck to late night adventures to reduce the chance of anyone spotting them.
A quick trip through the river and the luck of finding some early huckleberries had Wyatt in a much better frame of mind when he made it back to his truck. Putting his clothes back on he took a final restful lungful of mountain air and headed to camp.
Chapter 2
Pulling into the camp, Wyatt saw his crew already hard at work. He hired good men that he could trust. His foremen didn’t need to be micromanaged. They knew they had a job to get done and they did it. Most had families to feed or were single and saving for a rainy day. Either way they worked hard for their money.
Wyatt strode up to Jake and gave him a slap on the back. “How’s things, Jake?”
“The usual boss, road will be done by Friday, we’ll be able to start moving equipment down Monday morning. Heard we got a pencil pusher coming in to check on the north ridge,” he said, giving Wyatt an annoyed expression.
“Heard that did ya?”
“Yup, Cage called to give us the heads up in case he showed before you. I was thinking boss, I’m gonna be awful busy getting this road finished…”
“Don’t go getting your panties in a twist, Jake. I’m handling this one,” Wyatt said with a chuckle. Seems there wasn’t a man on this mountain that wanted to deal with paperwork.
Sighing, Wyatt ran his hand through his dark trimmed hair. Looking down at his boots, he figured there was nothing for it. He had work to do and the trees weren’t going to log themselves.
A few hours later, Wyatt called a break for the crew as they all grabbed a seat or a stump and relaxed for a few. Tipping his head back to take a slug of ice water from his thermos, he heard a car coming down the road. Aiming his sunglasses down the path, he saw a nondescript silver SUV coming down the new road, kicking up dust.
Great, just what he needed.
Capping his thermos, he stood up and gave Jake a knowing look. Turning, he faced the car and crossed his arms over his chest, his aviator glasses hiding his angry eyes.
The car pulled to a stop and the door swung open, Wyatt had to keep his mouth closed as out stepped a short, round in all the right places, redhead with a large metal clipboard. Her hair was braided down her back and little curls were trying to escape their confines. She was dressed in a black polo shirt with the letters D.N.R. stamped over the pocket which was slightly stretched due to the proportions of her breasts. She was wearing seriously tight fitting jeans that hugged her most generous hips.