Dawn told herself not to feel guilty as she followed a police car back to the work site.

Garrett was being unreasonable, trying to shut her out of her own project just because they happened to be dating.

She was still his client. This was still her house. Her dream, her way of honoring her grandfather, the only person who’d ever cared for her.

Except for Garrett.

He genuinely seemed to care, but she had to have her own boundaries. She had to have control of her life, at least until she was willing to hand it over.

Giving control over in the bedroom was a very different thing.

Heat came to her cheeks at just the thought of everything they’d done last night.

She loved Garrett’s dominance, his strength, the way he’d single-mindedly pursued her.

But she still wasn’t sure what the future would hold, if he would end up living there with her or if they would break up when the project was over.

So she wasn’t going to make big decisions about her future just based on what he wanted.

And she wasn’t going to feel guilty about bringing the police out, because it was the right thing to do, even if Garrett seemed to have no faith in them.

The police parked at the end of the drive and got out of the car to walk over to the building site where Garrett was standing with Hunter and Grayson, all of them looking perplexed.

Garrett looked over his shoulder as she got out of the truck, and even at this distance, she felt like she could see betrayal in his eyes.

But two dates and having sex didn’t give a man a right to control her.

She jogged to catch up with the cops, all of them reaching the work site at the same time.

“So you’re the lead contractor on the project?” the head cop asked Garrett.

“Yes,” Garrett said. “I saw this from my trailer when I woke up this morning.”

The cop turned to Hunter and Grayson. “Any of you here as well?”

“We got here later,” Hunter said. “We’re staying in town.”

The cop nodded and walked forward, crouching in front of some of the writing and looking at the dirt. “And you don’t know anyone who could have done this? Even as a prank?”

“No,” Dawn said, a little irritated that this conversation seemed to be taking place without her. “We don’t know anyone out here.”

The cop stood with a sigh. “Well, it doesn’t look like anything dangerous to me. A prank, that’s all. Did they damage anything?”

“No,” Dawn said. “But look. It says it’s a final warning.”

“Or what?” The cop shook his head. “They write in your dirt again? Get some sod. Then people can’t write on it.”

She heard a muffled sound of amusement from Garrett and narrowed her eyes on him. Was he laughing at how the cop was handling the situation?

Garrett cleared his throat, straightening slightly. “So you don’t think it’s something to worry about?”

“No,” the cop said. “I don’t mind you calling, but honestly, it’s a little outside our jurisdiction.” He gave Dawn a doubtful look. “It would honestly be easier for us to protect you if you stayed in town.”

“Oh, for goodness sake,” Dawn said. “I’m not asking you to protect me. I’m not asking for special treatment, but someone has clearly broken the law, and—”

“You mean by trespassing?” The cop cocked his head. “Look, it’s rural out here. People don’t live by city rules. I don’t know who lives out around here because they keep to themselves, if you know what I mean. But I doubt a deed means much to them.”

Garrett turned to the cop. “Do you have any idea who would have done this?”

The cop shook his head no, but by the way he bit his lip, Dawn suspected he was hiding something.

“What aren’t you telling us?” Grayson said sharply. “You’re hiding something. I can smell it.”

The cop looked at Grayson in surprise, then sighed. “You aren’t the first complaint. There have been a couple people who tried to camp out here. They told stories of being harassed, of feeling like someone was watching them. But honestly, how can you expect to be safe in the middle of nowhere?”

Dawn just gaped at him. “Because I bought this property and I have the right to peacefully enjoy it.”

The cop shrugged. “Just my opinion, ma’am, but if you want life to be peaceful, I suggest taking up with a man in town. Lots of men could offer you a good home there, and they need a woman. Could work both ways. They could even bring you out here on the weekends. Sort of a vacation cabin situation.”

Dawn put up her hand. “I don’t need your life advice, thanks.”

The cop looked vaguely offended but shook his head. “Well, anything else I can do?”

“Other than blaming me for building a house on property I own and making sexist comments? No thanks.”

“Hey now,” the cop said, beady eyes narrowing. “You don’t get to talk to an officer of the law like that.”

He took a step forward, but Garrett stepped between them, glowering down at the cop with all of his immense height. “Thanks for your help, officer.”

The words were grateful, but the tone was clear, and the officer tipped his hat and then scurried back to his car, followed by the others.

They pulled back onto the road and practically sped out of there, leaving only dust in their wake.

She stood there awkwardly, not sure what to do now that the police hadn’t backed her up at all, but now Garrett was also probably mad at her.

She flinched as she looked up at him but was surprised when he simply put his arms around her in a bear hug, pulling her in.

She rested tentatively against him as he lowered his head over hers, breathing in the scent of her hair.

“It’s good to see you again,” he said.

“You aren’t mad I called the cops?”

“You were right. I can’t tell you what to do. I’m sorry for being an overprotective bear,” Garrett murmured against her hair.

A man who could admit he was wrong? That was something.

“I’m sorry, too,” she said. “I overreacted. I’m used to handling things on my own. I’ve had to. I don’t have a lot of trust in people anymore. I never did. My parents were awful. My grandfather was amazing, but I had to be the one caring for him, making all the decisions for the last few years. I guess I’m not comfortable giving up that control yet.”

He pulled back, cupping her face in his big, warm hands. The morning sunlight was nearly blinding as it shone down on them. “I know. I handled it badly. The whole thing scared me, too.”

She raised her eyes to his cautiously. “Really? How could anything scare you?”

“The thought of anything happening to you,” he said quietly.

She blushed. Sometimes his words were so intimate, implying he was in love with her or something, or at least that he cared much more than someone normally would after their short time together.

Despite her heart’s attempts to keep a distance, she was coming to care for him deeply as well.

Last night hadn’t just felt like sex. It had felt like they were connecting, becoming closer and closer.

But she still needed control over her world. She was glad he seemed to understand that now.

He pulled back and brought her over to see the guys.

“You okay?” Hunter asked, taking his hat off so his pulled-back blond hair glinted in the sun. His blue eyes sparkled. “I was a little worried when you sicced the cops on us.”

“It wasn’t on you,” she said. “It was to see if they could track down who did this.”

“We can do that,” Grayson said grumpily.

She laughed. “I appreciate that, but it’s not your job. You’re builders, not cops. You should be able to just work in peace, not deal with lawbreakers.”

Grayson cracked his knuckles. “No reason we can’t do two things at once.”

She smiled at him, remembering how much she enjoyed hanging around this crew. “I appreciate that, but it’s okay if you stick to the building. I’m sorry the cops were useless. I’ll have to think of something else.”

Garrett caught her hand and brought it up to kiss it gently. “Are you sure you can’t trust me to handle just this one thing? I mean, the cops aren’t going to do anything about it.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Let Grayson look into it. Keep working on the house but watch for anything suspicious. Keep seeing you, but in town where it’s safe.”

“I don’t know.”

“I’ll try and track the bastards down fast,” Grayson said. “It’s not a problem.”

“You’re a tracker?” This was all a little weird.

Grayson nodded. “Of sorts.”

She threw her hands in the air, giving up entirely. “I mean, okay. I don’t have any other options since the cops won’t take me seriously. I’ll go home for now, since I have work anyway, and I’ll let you guys handle this.”

Eager nods all around.

She put a finger up. “But I want you all to know this is my house. I’m going to be living here. Don’t just come tell me that, as a little lady, I shouldn’t be living in my own home.”

Garrett shook his head. “After seeing what a douche that cop looked like for doing that, I would never.”

She reached up and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him in for a kiss. He melted into her for a moment, and she enjoyed the intimacy between them, the easy way they connected, even for short moments like this.

Then she pulled back, enjoying the dazed look on his handsome, bearded face and the way his amber eyes seemed to glow in the sunlight.

* * *

“So she’s definitely going to stay here,” Grayson said dubiously after Dawn had left, staring at Garrett as though he’d grown two heads. “You know I couldn’t promise she’d ever be safe here.”

Garrett walked back to the trailer and slumped in a camp chair, unsure where to go from here. Dawn’s kiss had shaken him, but so had her assertion that she wasn’t budging.

He wasn’t going to hurt her by acting like the asshole cop who should have done more to protect her, or at least reassure her.

“Leave him alone,” Hunter said, leaning against the trailer. “The poor guy has enough to deal with. He just had his first fight with his mate.”

“He did?” Grayson rubbed his hand over his buzzed hair. “But I thought they just kissed.”

“That was a makeup kiss,” Hunter said. “Did you two get into it this morning?”

Garrett sighed hoarsely. “I may have suggested she rethink her house location. When I saw how much had been done out here—”

“It doesn’t look good.” Grayson agreed. “I’m not thinking this is rogues anymore. I’m think you’ve got wolves in these woods.”

“It is called Silver Lake,” Hunter said. “Maybe gray wolves. Are they commonly shifters?”

“Could be,” Grayson said. “I’m going to need to do some tracking.” He stretched, crossing each arm over his chest and pulling until it popped as he cracked his neck to each side. “Think I’ll take off now while the scent is fresh, if that’s okay with you.”

Garrett nodded. He wanted his crew there to work on the house, but what was the point if someone was out there just waiting to damage it?

He just wanted all of this to be over so he could get back to romancing his mate, but he had a feeling it wasn’t going to be that simple.

“All right.”

Grayson’s change was instantaneous, and he took off into the woods, a large bolt of silvery-gray.

Hunter took the chair next to Garrett with a sigh. “What are you going to do, man?”

Garrett put his hands behind his head and looked up at the canopy made by the forest. Inhaled the pine scent, listened to the birds that were still celebrating morning.

He liked it out here. Wanted to live here. Was pretty sure he could protect her just fine, at least in bear form.

Once he had told her who and what he was and was close enough to her to be allowed to stay here all the time.

“You’re still worried about going too fast with her, aren’t you?” Hunter asked, perceptive as always.

“Yes.”

“I think you should be more worried about wolves hurting your mate.”

Garrett slammed a hand down on his chair, making it wobble. “Dammit, of course I’m worried about that. Honestly, Hunter, I’m in the dark here. I’ve never felt like this about someone. I’m in this new place, and all I want to do is build a house for her. Share it with her. Make her mine and tell her everything about me and find out everything about her.”

Hunter nodded.

“But all I can do is think about the fact that I’m not like her, that my feelings are faster, that I’m not human and don’t know how to keep pace with her. And that I’m a shifter with a monster inside me who will do anything to keep her safe as long as I’m allowed to stay next to her.”

“Sounds to me like a good way to tell her.”

“What?”

Hunter shifted in his seat, setting his hat on the table in front of him. He crossed his long legs casually, resting one hand on his knee. “What you just said sounds like something she might like to hear, if you ask me.”

“What woman is going to hear I’m a bear and not go running?”

“A woman who has feelings for you. I mean, sure, it’s a little fast, but when is it not shocking to find out someone is a bear? Yet lots of shifters successfully win over their human mates somehow. Once she sees you shift, she should accept it somehow.”

But the thought of her rejecting him still loomed too large in his mind.

If only wolves weren’t harassing him. If only there was more time to just—

They heard rustling in the brush and saw Grayson shifting as he walked out of the trees, headed toward them, a look of consternation on his face.

He jogged over to them and planted his hands on his hips as he stood in front of them. “You aren’t going to like what I found.”

“Damn, that was fast,” Hunter said.

“Put some clothes on,” Garrett said. Like most shifters after shifting, Grayson was naked.

“Just wasting time,” Grayson muttered, picking up his slightly torn clothes from his hasty shift. When he was somewhat dressed, he straddled a chair, turning it toward the others. “Anyway, I found our culprits, and as I said, the news isn’t good.”

Even for pessimistic Grayson, that was saying something. “What’s wrong?” Hunter asked. “Stop being cryptic.”

Grayson cocked his head, and his silver eyes looked mirror-like in the bright morning sun. “There’s a pack nearby, all right. A few miles out. There are some trailers, kind of a rundown settlement of sorts. And people there, if you could really call them that. Seems like they spend a lot of time in wolf form since that settlement isn’t suitable for people to live there. Everything was too rundown. My guess? Ferals who haven’t integrated with the local humans enough to survive properly, so they’re still living off the land. Except the land isn’t what it was, so they’re struggling.”

“Sucks,” Hunter said. “But they aren’t entitled to Dawn’s land.”

Grayson shrugged. “Wolves don’t care about titles. Not unless someone spilled blood for them, and I don’t think Dawn’s family qualifies.”

“Shit,” Garrett said. “What am I supposed to tell her, then? Do you think these wolves could be bought off?”

“I doubt it,” Grayson said. “I didn’t even want to go into their camp. It stank to high heaven. Something isn’t right there. No matter what deal you made with them, I doubt Dawn would be safe. If they’re even partly feral, they won’t see any reason to keep their word with a human. Not in pack matters at least. And nothing matters more to a pack than their land. Especially now that resources are scarce.”

“She does have the fishing pond here,” Garrett said.

“Plus some of the trees and wild plants,” Grayson said.

Hunter just cracked his knuckles. “Maybe they just need to talk it over with a mountain lion.”

Grayson let out a hiss. “Your hide, not mine. These are wild animals. You’re not.”

Hunter narrowed his eyes to blue slits. “I can get wild.”

Garrett interrupted them. “Stop. No one is getting wild. I guess if I want to live here with Dawn, I’m going to have to have a talk with them.”

“I wouldn’t,” Grayson muttered.

“But anyways, it’s not a problem that’s going to go away, right? It sounds like that’s what you’re saying.”

“They could have been here a hundred years, maybe more,” Grayson said. “They aren’t just going to leave it alone. I’m surprised they haven’t been more aggressive, frankly.”

“Maybe they aren’t that bad, then,” Garrett said.

“Maybe they’re biding their time,” Grayson said.

Hunter let out a snort of derision. “We’ve worked hard on this house. Let’s build a fence or something. Make some kind of deal with the wolves. This is Dawn’s land. She’s my friend now, and I’m not just going to disappoint her on this.”

Garrett was touched by his friend’s resolve on behalf of his mate but knew it might be useless. “I love the house, too, and you know I love Dawn, but—”

“You do?” Hunter asked excitedly.

“What?”

“You love her,” Grayson said flatly.

“Yes, of course, but—”

“You haven’t said that before,” Grayson said with a smirk. “You said mate and fated, but—”

“But you never said that,” Hunter said.

Garrett sat back, stroking his beard thoughtfully. He supposed they were right, that things had changed, even if he’d fallen for her immediately. She’d always been his mate, but spending time with her, making love to her, going on dates with her, all of that had led to his feelings deepening from his initial fervor.

So yes, mate or not, the best description for how he felt about Dawn was love.

“Dang,” Grayson said. “That was fast.”

Garrett sighed. “You’ll know when it happens to you. There’s no way to time it.”

“I get that,” Hunter said. “But what are we going to tell Dawn? Even if we try to make peace somewhat with the pack, they are always going to be there. And when the job is finished, if you haven’t moved in yet, what are you going to do?”

“Do you think it’s something my bear could handle?” Garrett asked Grayson.

“Depending on the pack, yes. You might scare them off. But wolves are dumb sometimes. They’d be back. In my opinion, she should be told to move.” He held up a hand at Hunter’s look of objection. “And yes, I know how she feels about it, but if she was my mate, I wouldn’t want her next to a wolf pack.”

Garrett put his head in his hands. “What am I going to do? She wants this house, this life. I built it for her. I was dreaming of being here as well. How am I supposed to handle this when she hasn’t even gotten feelings for me yet?”

Grayson and Hunter looked at each other, then laughed.

“She has feelings,” Hunter said. “But yeah, I get your worry.”

“Not the feelings I have,” Garrett said.

“You never know,” Hunter said. “She’s not a shifter. She might have those feelings but not know it’s okay to have them that quickly. Regardless, you won’t know until you tell her how you feel. How you really feel.”

“That I’m a bear and she’s my mate and there are wolf shifters in the forest so she can’t live in the home she paid me to build for her?”

Hunter rubbed his chin. “It’s a lot to take in. But you’re a good guy, Garrett. I think you’re worth it, even if you are a stinky bear.”

“I think she’d come around eventually.” Grayson agreed. “So the sooner you tell her, the better. Just remember not to shift until she accepts you. We get in trouble if we shift too soon.”

“Okay.” Garrett felt like his fingers were going numb just from the stress of thinking about it. But the guys were right. He’d reached the end of being able to tiptoe around the matter.

He needed to find Dawn and have a long conversation with her. He picked up his phone, brought up her number, and shot a short text to her.

Grayson has some news on the culprits. Can you meet up with me on site?

Then he set down his phone and tried to calm the pacing bear inside him.

It was time to come clean with his mate.