“Aww, you’re hella cute,” Jordan cooed as she walked closer to the baby cow. “Even the way you eat is adorable.”

The calf’s head was bent down, tongue sticking out as it tentatively reached for some wildflowers sticking up from the ground. It caught the shrub and munched on it, making crunch crunch sounds.

Jordan had never seen a calf before, so when she stepped out into the porch and saw the creature grazing not even twenty feet away from the house, she had to go see. It was much bigger than she thought it would be up close, but oh so much cuter. The hair around its face was furry, and she wondered if it was soft like a rabbit’s.

Tentatively, she reached out to touch it. But her hand only grasped air, and that’s when she realized she was being pulled away by an unknown force. When her feet lifted off the ground and she felt an arm tighten around her waist, her instincts kicked in. The she-wolf she thought was normally quiet and controlled inside of her snarled and bared its teeth.

“Stop! Stop!” came the rough growly voice from behind her.

For some reason, her wolf quieted down, but Jordan kept struggling. She kicked her legs out and squirmed. As she twisted her body to try to reach her attacker’s face, they both fell over and she found herself pressed down against a hard, muscled male body.

She froze, unable to do anything but take a deep breath. Big mistake. Her nostrils got a whiff of a scent that drove her wolf crazy. It was freshly made coffee, with a tinge of … textbooks? Like old paper in a library. Oh … so good.

The scent shot heat straight down between her legs. Of course, only she would be turned on by memories of studying for final exams. She blinked, finding a pair of stark green eyes looking up at her. A hand came up to brush away the hair on her face, and as the warm skin touched her cheek, she felt a zing of electricity across her skin.

A flash of furious surprise crossed his face, and she felt her cheeks grow hot. “Get off me,” she demanded.

“Excuse me?” said Jackson Forrest, Alpha of the Shenandoah clan and rudest man she’d ever met. “You’re the one of top of me!”

Jordan let out a small squeak and then rolled off his body. Her wolf protested at the loss of the contact, but she ignored the little hussy. She stood up and planted her hands on her hips. “Why did you attack me?”

Jackson got to his feet. “Attack you? I was saving you!”

Was he mad? “Saving me from what? That little baby cow? Was it going to cute me to death?”

“From that.” He pointed to the very large cow approaching them, snorting heavily and pawing the dirt as it came closer.

“Holy sh—” She didn’t finish the sentence as he grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him. He let out a low, guttural sound that was pure alpha wolf. It made her own animal tremble, and as she peeked from behind his big, brutish body, she saw the cow hurry away towards its progeny.

She stepped back, her breath caught in her throat as she slowly looked up to face him. He was so damn big and tall that she felt even smaller than she already was. Those green eyes blazed with … something she didn’t know or care to know. The adrenaline was still pumping in her veins, mixed in with this strange urge to jump him. She swallowed hard, unable to say anything.

“Pay more attention to your surroundings.” Spinning on his heels, he muttered something about “damn city girls” and “get herself killed” that made her wince. He knew she was a Lycan and was well aware that she’d hear whatever he said, which made the insults sting even worse.

“Stupid backcountry ogre,” she said, but whispered it when he was far away enough. She really shouldn’t care what he thought of her. The moment she arrived he’d treated her rudely, even after she apologized for not recognizing him as Alpha.

After straightening herself out, Jordan trudged back to the house. She thought she would have cooled off by the time she reached the porch, but her annoyance had only grown especially at the sight that greeted her. Liz was all over Jackson, laughing at something he said while she flipped her blonde curls over her shoulders, then leaned in close to him.

Of course. On the way over here, she had heard Liz talk about how she had heard Jackson Forrest was one of the few young and eligible Alphas in the country. How the hell she knew every Alpha in the US, Jordan didn’t know.

Liz’s hand on Jackson’s arm set Jordan’s teeth on edge, and her inner wolf raised its hackles. Well, if that airhead wanted the boorish Alpha, she could have him. They deserved each other.

“Everything all right, dear?” Lily handed her a cup of steaming coffee.

She accepted it with both hands. “Yes, Lupa—I mean, Lily.” It was strange how they were so informal around here. She would never dare call Grant Anderson by his first name and the only reason she called her own Alpha by his first name was because she and Liam were cousins and grew up together. Even when Liam’s mother, Akiko, was Lupa, she always called her Lupa. She looked around her, at her fellow retreaters. “So, what’d I miss?”

“While you were messing around with the cows, Jackson was giving us a briefing on what’s going to happen during this retreat,” Liz sneered. Beside her, that sycophantic little shit, Karen, snickered.

She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure it’ll be a stimulating week.”

“Well, since we have an early start tomorrow, why don’t we head in and have dinner?” Lily suggested. “That way, you all can turn in early and be refreshed in the morning.”

They all headed inside the house and Lily lead them to the dining room. It had been set up family style, and they all sat down around the large table. Jackson sat at the head of the table, Lily on the right. Liz immediately claimed the seat on Jackson’s left and Karen sat down beside her. Since Jordan had to stop at the bathroom to wash her hands, she had no choice but to take the seat at the end, right beside Blake. There was another empty place setting next to her, and she wondered who else would be coming to dinner.

A soft ding rang out from the kitchen. “I hope you’re all hungry,” Lily said as she got up. “I made a big meal. I just have to put the finishing touches and it’ll be ready.”

“Oh, do let me help, Lily.” Liz immediately shot to her feet. “I love cooking. And whatever you made smells marvelous! You must share the recipes with me.” She shot a meaningful glance at Jackson.

“My, that’s awfully sweet of you, Liz, thank you.”

As the two women went to the kitchen, Jordan cursed to herself. Should she have offered to help too? She was a disaster in the kitchen and barely knew how to boil a packet of instant noodles. Most of her meals consisted of takeout or cereal.

While Karen, Blake, and Keith made polite small talk with their host, Jordan kept quiet at her end of the table, wishing she was anywhere but here. The thought of having to interact with these strangers for the next week made her want to gouge her eyes out with a spoon. She would literally rather be anywhere else, like the dentist’s office or doing her taxes.

Loud footsteps coming from the main hallway interrupted her thoughts. She swung her head as a small figure came rushing into the dining room.

“Why didn’t ya call me for dinner?” The young boy walked over to the empty seat beside Jordan. “I was hungry.”

“You know dinner’s always at six, Austin.” Jackson crossed his arms over his chest. “Did you do your homework?”

“Yeah, yeah.” He grabbed the seat, pulled it away, and sat down. “Where’s the grub?”

“Austin, say hello to our guests.”

“Hello to our guests.” Austin made a face that Jordan swore made a vein on Jackson’s forehead throb.

Jordan let out a laugh that came out more like a snort which seemed to earn the ire of the Alpha and a curious glance from the young boy. Before he could say anything, Lily and Liz came out of the kitchen.

“I hope you like fried chicken, biscuits, and mashed potatoes.” She set down two huge platters on the table.

“Wow, that smells amazing,” Keith said.

“Whoa, can I take a photo for my Instagram?” Blake was already whipping out his smart phone.

“Lily, thank you for sharing that tip with me about keeping fried chicken juicy.” Liz walked over the other end of the table to put down the big bowl of mashed potatoes. “That was—” She froze when her gaze landed on Austin. “Who are you?”

The kid gave her the biggest shit-eating grin. “I’m Austin Forrest. Who the hell are you?”

“Austin!” Jackson exclaimed. “No cussing.”

“She was the one who was rude first,” Austin grumbled.

“Jackson, who is this?” Liz asked with a nervous glance.

“This is my son. Austin.” Jackson declared.

Well, I’ll be damned. It should have been obvious, Jordan supposed. The kid was Jackson’s mini-me.

Liz looked like she was going to have an aneurysm. “Your son?”

Jordan snickered to herself. Well now, this is interesting. Was Liz trying to bag Jackson? If so, it looked like her perfectly crafted fantasy of being Lupa probably didn’t include that of being an insta-mom.

Liz, however, recovered quickly. “Oh, how sweet.” She bent down to Austin’s level. “Hi there.” Her voice was a few pitches higher than normal. “I’m Liz. How old are you, Austin?”

“I’m eight. How old are you?”

She chuckled. “Don’t you know it’s not polite to ask a lady her age?”

Austin’s grin grew wide. “Oh, Grams says that when she don’t want no one to know how old she is. Are you as old as her?”

“Austin!” Jackson warned.

Jordan couldn’t help herself and burst out laughing. Liz shot her a look of pure hatred before slipping on that sweet mask again. “Aren’t you precious,” she said in a tone that was in fact, the opposite of what she meant. She took a deep breath, straightened up and sauntered over to her seat next to Jackson.

Lily gestured to the food. “Everyone, please, help yourself.”

The tension seemed to have broken and everyone began to eat and serve themselves. There was plenty of food for everyone even though there were seven Lycans at the table. Jordan piled her plate high with food as it really did smell delicious.

“Oh. My. God.” She groaned as she took a bite of the juicy chicken. It was like heaven, perfectly cooked on the inside and crispy on the outside. She finished the first piece in record time, licking off some grease from her fingertips. “Lily, this chicken is the bomb. You should open up a food truck or something.”

Liz and Karen stared at her with disgust on their faces. But she didn’t give a flying fuck because this was damned good chicken. When she looked over at Jackson, though, he gave her a different kind of look. One that made heat creep up her neck. She immediately withdrew her hand and wiped it on her napkin. Not wanting to look Jackson in the eye, she swung her head the opposite direction, where another pair of the same eyes were staring at her. It was unnerving how alike father and son looked.

“What are you looking at?” she asked.

“Why do you look so different?” Austin asked.

“Austin, don’t say that.” It was Lily this time admonishing the boy. “I’m sorry, Jordan. I swear to you, we’re not raising him in the barn outside.”

“It’s all right.” Jordan put her napkin down. Austin’s question was that of curiosity, not of malice. Besides, she was used it, with her odd looks. The hair. The skin. And her eyes. “My dad is Japanese and my mom is American,” she began. “When our former Lupa, Akiko Matsumoto, married the Alpha of San Francisco, a few of the Tokyo Lycans came to America with her. One of them was my father. He met my mom, who was part of the San Francisco clan, and they eventually got married.”

“Oh, how interesting,” Lily remarked. “Are they still around?”

“I thought everyone here was from New York?” Keith asked.

“I’m on loan from San Francisco.” Everyone stared at her blankly. “I mean, I’m still pledged to San Francisco and yes, my parents still live there. But I was offered a position to work alongside Dr. Jade Creed at her Lycan research lab at Fenrir Corp,” she said proudly.

Austin’s eyes went wide. “Creed?” Bits of chicken launched out of his mouth. “Like, Sebastian Creed? The dragon?”

“Yes. Dr. Creed is his mate,” she explained.

“Have you met him?” Austin grabbed her arm in excitement. “Tell me, tell me, tell me!”

Jordan scratched her chin. “Uhm, yeah, I’ve met him. He comes around the lab a lot, almost every day. He’s, er … interesting.” She tried not to think about that last time she had seen Creed as she still felt chills when she realized how close his dragon was at the surface. “Sometimes he brings their daughter, Deedee. She’s a couple of months old and cute as a button.”

“I don’t care about no babies! What’s he like? Have you seen his dragon? Is it really big? We was supposed to meet him when we came to New York, but Uncle Connor said he was away.”

“The lab is pretty small, so I’m afraid I haven’t seen him shift.”

“If I come visit New York, can I come to your lab and meet him?” Austin’s face was hopeful. “Will you call him? And make sure he comes?”

“Er …” She looked at Jackson, who now wore a stunned look on his face. “I guess you’ll have to ask your Dad.”

“Uncle Connor can introduce you next time you visit, you know he promised,” Jackson said in a stern voice. “Now, clean up the mess you made and finish your dinner.”

Austin’s mouth shut and his lower lip curled downward, but he began to mop of the bits of chicken on the table with his napkin.

Jordan looked at Jackson, her fingers curling into her palms. What was the matter with him? His son was excited and curious—normal for a boy his age, she supposed. Plus, they lived out in the middle of nowhere; Austin was probably starving for any kind of stimulus for his bored brain. She scoffed. Looking at cows and hay all day was probably what made Jackson so rude and impolite.

Dinner continued on, with more small talk from the rest as both Jordan and Austin stayed silent. Once in a while, she would glance at the boy, just to see if he was okay. He ate all of his food though he just looked so doleful. And why wouldn’t he be? Jordan looked over at Jackson, who was ignoring his son as Liz continued to flirt with him. Maybe it wasn’t stimulus the boy needed, but attention from his father.

When he was done eating, Austin mumbled an “excuse me” and Lily nodded at him. He got up and left, and Jordan felt lonely for some reason.

“I think I’ll head up to bed. Thank you for the food, Alpha. Lily.” But she didn’t dare look his way. With that, she stomped off to her room, ignoring the feeling of being watched. Just my imagination. After all, there was no way Jackson would be paying her any attention when it was obvious Liz had him wrapped around her little finger.

It was a good thing Jordan brought some light reading—the latest copy of The Journal of Analytical Biochemical Chemistry—for this retreat because her cell reception was shit, and there was no way she was creeping back downstairs to ask Jackson for the Wi-Fi code. When she arrived, Lily had shown her the door that led to the attic but hadn’t gone up as the room wasn’t ready. When she left the dinner table, she had walked past one other bedroom which she had assumed was Jackson’s. Based on the position of the attic room, she realized that Jackson was right underneath her.

Underneath her room, she corrected herself. Not underneath her literally. Of course, that made her visualize Jackson’s hot-as-hell body underneath hers, his hips between her thighs. Her wolf licked its lips, and she quickly shut that thought down. Stupid she-wolf.

It must have been nearly four o’clock in the morning when she finally put the journal down. Her eyelids felt heavy, and at last, sleep was claiming her. That is, until she heard the most god-awful sound in the world.

“What the hell?” It was a loud, ringing noise that burrowed into her ear canal. She grabbed a pillow and placed it over her head, but that didn’t seem to block out the noise, especially with her sensitive hearing.

Another loud sound—this time, it was the door to the attic bedroom flying open and slamming against the wall. She jumped out of bed, tripping over the sheets in the process, then landed on the floor with a thud. Slowly she looked up.

Jackson stood in the doorway, looking down at her. His hair was slightly mussed in that sexy I-just-rolled-out-of-bed way, and he wore a tight shirt that clung to his broad shoulders and jeans that molded to his hips. She involuntarily licked her lips when she made the outline of his abs through the shirt, wondering if they tasted salty after he was done with working on the ranch, all sweaty and dirty and—

“What the hell are you doing?” he groused, startling her out of her fantasy.

“Oh my God! Are we under attack?” She scrambled to her feet, trying to free herself from the sheet that had wrapped around her body.

“Attack? What are you talking about?”

“Are you deaf?” she asked in an exasperated voice. “That racket! Is it some kind of alarm?”

“Yeah,” he said. “That’s your wake-up call. It’s time to get up.”

“Get up and do what?”

“Your chores.”

She struggled with the sheet. “Chores? What do you mean, chores? Ah-ha!” Finally, the damned sheet was loose and pooled down at her feet. She kicked at the damn thing that made her fall on her face in front of that stupid ogre.

“Your chores. The reason you—”

Her head shot up, wondering why he’d suddenly stopped. His mouth was open, and he was staring at her. Rather, down at her chest.

It was warm in the attic room, so she had dressed in a thin tank top. It had cooled down considerably, so now her nipples strained against the white fabric. She crossed her arms over her chest as embarrassment flooded her veins, making her cringe.

“I—just come down when you’re ready,” he growled before turning away, his heavy work boots echoing his obvious displeasure as he stomped away.

She grumbled as she scrambled around for her things, yanking on her black leggings, gray V-neck shirt, and sneakers. This was her standard outfit and the great thing about wearing the same thing every day was that she didn’t have to think about what to wear. Plus, when it was butt-crack-of-dawn o’clock in the morning and she couldn’t remember where the light switch was, it was comforting to know her outfit would always match.

After stopping by the downstairs bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth, she trudged out to the back of the house. Everyone was already out there, probably waiting for her. Keith and Blake nodded and greeted her good morning while Karen snickered as she passed by. And Liz—how the heck did she look perfect even at this hour? Her shiny hair was bound up in a sleek ponytail and her makeup was on point. The checkered shirt she wore clung to her curves as did the tight jeans that looked like they had been spray-painted on her ass. Unless she woke up like that, she probably got up an hour before to make sure she was perfect.

“Nice of you to join us.” Liz’s lips curled into a smile.

She ignored Liz and stood beside Blake. “Where’s our host?”

Everyone looked around and saw Jackson strolling out of the barn, two men following him. He had changed into a long-sleeved shirt that was rolled up to his elbows, showing off the tattoos that curled up his arms. The wide-brimmed cowboy hat completed the look.

“Good morning,” he greeted. He gave everyone a courtesy nod, though he did flash a smile at Liz. “Welcome again, thanks for your cooperation and getting up early with us.”

Jordan guffawed and crossed her arms, which only earned her a stern look from Jackson.

“Anyway,” he continued. “As you all know, this retreat is a pilot program between the Shenandoah and the New York clan. Grant Anderson wanted to start this program to allow Lycans to get in touch with their animal side, something I’m sure not many of you get to do, living in the city. What we hope to accomplish is to bring you balance, and hopefully, prevent any problems in the future.”

His voice had gone somber, and there was a heavy silence in the air. Jordan, of course, knew what he was talking about. The big battle of Norway. Blake and Keith had looked uneasy, and she realized they could have volunteered to fight in the battle. She would have too, had she been in New York at that time.

He continued. “Anyway, today we’re going to start you with some light chores around the farm. Now, you may be wondering if I’m using you for free labor. Well, kind of.” He chuckled. “But this isn’t just about learning how to do ranch hand work. What we’ve found out around here is that steady, hard work is something our wolves need. It’s in our biology. You know this; you all probably feel restless sometimes, especially if it’s been too long since a shift or a Blood Moon. You want to run, and you can’t sleep. Maybe in New York, you’ll roam the streets or get on the treadmill for a couple of hours.”

“I’ve done that,” Blake said. Everyone except Jordan nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, well work is what you need. To burn off all that extra energy.” Jackson motioned for them to follow him. “We’ll start by mucking out the barn. Garland,” he nodded to the older man on his right, “and Jesse,” he gestured to the younger man behind him, “and I will be around to help you out and show you how it’s done. We’ll be doing this for just an hour and then we’ll head in for breakfast.”

“Muck out the barn?” Jordan cried. “Like, clean it out?”

Jackson crossed his arms. “Yes. You gotta problem with that?”

“Actually, I do,” she said. “There’s like … poop there.”

He gave her an exasperated look. “Yes, that’s the general idea of what a barn is.”

“But that’s unsanitary. I’m not sure I brought enough hand sanitizer with me.” She reached into her pocket. “And the hay … oh my God, my hay fever’s gonna go crazy. Plus, there’s my asthma. My inhaler’s back in the house.”

“Hay fever? Asthma?” Jackson’s voice pitched a few tones higher. “Are you kidding me?”

“You know, hay fever doesn’t come from hay,” Karen said.

She wanted to say, shut up, Karen, but turned to Jackson instead. “I can’t do this.”

“I’m afraid you have to,” Jackson said. “Grant Anderson and Sebastian Creed said you should consider me your Alpha and you have to do this. For the good of the clan.”

As if on cue, she let out a very loud, wet sneeze. “Oh no …”

Jackson strode toward her, and as he came closer, his large form loomed over her. “Well, you’re going to have to suck it up, Buttercup.” He pointed to the barn. “Now go.”

Jordan sniffled and rubbed her face with the sleeve of her shirt, but followed everyone to the barn. She trudged behind them, grumbling in protest along the way.

“Here you go, young lady,” Garland said, handing her a shovel.

She grimaced, but took it anyway. “Thanks.”

He grinned at her. “Now, don’t you be paying no mind to Jackson being all grumpy. He’s used to having to order people around.”

“So, his bark is worse than his bite?” she asked hopefully.

“Er … well,” Garland rubbed a hand down his face nervously. “I’m sure you won’t provoke him too much, will you?”

She laughed. “I’ll try.”

Cleaning out the barn wasn’t as bad as she had thought. Garland had shown her some tips, and being a Lycan, she wasn’t all that tired. Of course, she was sweaty and dirty, but it felt good for some reason.

“All right everyone, good work,” Jackson announced.

“I have to say, it was one helluva workout,” Keith remarked as he dropped the shovel.

“I could go on and on though,” Liz said as she daintily put two pails down at her feet.

Jordan wanted to scream. Though her shirt and jeans were dirty, the other Lycan still looked perfect, without a hair out of place. Liz must have sold her soul to the devil or something, because right now, it felt like she needed two showers to get the stink out of her clothes and hair.

“Oh, Jackson,” came Liz’s high-pitched voice. She had sidled up right next to him, rubbing his shoulder.

Gritting her teeth, Jordan spun on her heels. She was staring down at the ground as she marched out of the barn, causing her to bump straight into something solid.

“Hey there.” Strong hands wrapped around her arms. “Watch it, pretty lady.”

Her head shot up, and her gaze collided with a pair of brown, doe-like eyes. Almost too delicate for a male. “Sorry,” she said.

“No worries.” He flashed her a smile as bright of the sun. He was a Lycan too, she could sense. “And you are a pretty lady. Are you one of them retreaters?”

“Yes,” she said. “I’m Jordan.”

“Carter!”

Both of them turned at the angry voice. Jackson strode toward them. His face was inscrutable and his hands were balled at his sides. “What are you doing here?” he said through gritted teeth. “I don’t want anyone else around here with the guests.”

Jordan could feel the force of his wolf—all male and very alpha—and Carter must have too because he released her and took a step back. “Sorry, Alpha. No one told me.”

“What do you want?” Jackson’s voice was tense and cutting.

Carter lowered his eyes and bowed his head. “Uhm, the Lupa asked me to come here and tell you that breakfast was ready.”

“Good. You said what you needed to say, now get out of here.”

“Yes, Alpha.” He turned and began to walk away.

She watched him disappear into the distance, frowning in confusion. “Well, I’m starving. I’m gonna go eat.” When she pivoted, she felt a hand on her forearm. There it was again, that electricity that sparked over her skin.

“Jordan.”

The way he spoke her name made a shiver run through her. Ignoring him, she tugged her arm away and began to make her way back to the house. Stupid brainless ogre. What was the matter with him, treating one of his employees and a member of his clan like that? Well, it shouldn’t be a surprise, seeing as how he treated his son. I just want to get out of here. She didn’t want to be here or be around that boorish man anymore.