Freedom had nearly been mine; I’d been two seconds away from stepping out of the stifling building and into the midday sunshine, when a slick pair of loafers had planted themselves in my way. The man wearing the black fancy shoes also happened to be my boss. Well, kind of. Noah Carter was the boss of everyone, given that he was the Mayor of Heartsridge, the town that I happened to live in.

Giving him a grin that I knew would drive the uptight bastard crazy, I rocked to a halt and dug my hands into my pockets. I’d been so close to escaping; I could already taste the beer waiting for me back at my cabin. “What’s up?” Not that I really wanted to know. Political bullshit wasn’t my thing, and the lion shifter knew it.

A flicker of irritation pulsed in his jaw; probably mashing his molars together to keep from snarling at me, then he cleared his throat with a pointed air of importance. “You haven’t filed your reports again.”

“You’ll get them tomorrow morning.” I made to move past him and ended up engaged in a little two step of a dance as he blocked me.

“Your team follows your lead, Austin,” he growled out in a voice heavy with disappointment.

Letting out a heartfelt sigh, I leaned a shoulder against the drab beige wall and contemplated staring him down. I could take him; I was sure I could. Even though he was the Mayor, he had been elected into his position, while I was the Alpha of my team. By right and by might, I held my team and my place in the hierarchy, not like this asshole. “Leave my team out of it.” I let a tendril of power ghost through my words, heavy with warning. No one messed with my guys.

His hand came up, then thought better of it, retreating back to his side. “Then set a good example.”

“We keep the perimeter safe and secure. That’s our job. If there was something for you to worry your pretty head about, you’d be the first to know.”

I had to give it to him, he didn’t cower or back down, instead he carried on staring at me with those weird amber eyes of his. He was the only goddamned shifter I knew whose eyes didn’t change with his beast. Giving me a sharp nod, the worry lines smoothed from his face. “That’s good to hear,” he muttered, then he strolled off, like he hadn’t just grilled me in the hallway. He’d barely made it halfway back to the main reception area when Iesha, his assistant and a cute little bobcat shifter, appeared, as if out of nowhere, and attached herself to his side, her mouth going a mile a minute and a dozen or so papers wafting in the air.

Shaking my head at the scene, I counted my lucky stars that I didn’t have to worry about the kind of shit Mayor Carter did, and strode the final couple of steps out of the double front doors. Freedom at last. Sunshine hit me in the face, bathing me in a warm glow and washing away the stress of the last couple of hours. Three hours late clocking off shift, I’d been up all night running patrol, and my body was done for.

Stretching my arms up to the sky, I tipped my head back, closing my eyes and letting the warmth penetrate. As a bear, there was nothing I liked more than a lazy nap in the summer sun, but only on a full stomach, of course. I sniffed the air. Speaking of food…

Making my way down the steps, I headed across the main street following my nose, keeping my eyes straight ahead and face closed off just in case anyone felt brave enough to try some small talk. It wasn’t the shifters I was worried about; they were used to me by now, it was the humans.

They were everywhere; skipping down the street, lazing in the sun, pointing and staring with open mouths and eyes full of wonder. Like we were a damn theme park set up for their entertainment.

Which, admittedly, we were. Kind of. Heartsridge—the biggest shifter settlement in the west. Sure, there were others dotted around the States. I’d heard there was a huge one down near Florida, which didn’t surprise me. Why not visit all the tourist attractions at once? But, up here, we were like the wild west of shifter towns. Rugged and real; we didn’t hide behind shiny promotional materials, no matter how much Mayor Carter itched to give us a lick and polish. We stuck to how we’d always been; honest and hardworking. Only, with the new Registration Act we now lived together as a community. Us and them; shifters and humans. It worked, apart from the whole tourist thing that some smart asshole had thought up and made a rule. I corrected myself silently; it’d been six years now since we’d been outed to the humans. Six fucking years and I could still remember what it had been like to hide what I was, to live in the shadows of society and fear being found out.

Not now. Every man and his dog knew about shifters. Bears, wolves, big cats, the odd dragon, plus I’d heard Florida even had a rhino shifter. Whatever the species, we lived here; in one of the settlements set apart from the world. But, it had been our choice. On days like this I had to keep reminding myself of that fact. We had chosen to band together and carve out a place in the world.

Veering into the tiny cafe, I sat my ass down on one of the tall stools next to the counter and before I had a chance to utter a word, a plate of pie was set down in front of me. Leaning over, I inhaled the steam rising from the plate, mouth watering and stomach rumbling in noisy appreciation. “Plum?” This was asked around a forkful of buttery pastry, the fruit filling burning the ridge of my mouth and sticking to my tongue.

Julie—the cafe owner and ocelot shifter—grinned from ear to ear, her appreciation of my evident enjoyment clear from the purring rumble coming from her chest. “Yup. Made fresh this morning.”

Groaning around another mouthful, I waved my fork in the air, tracing small circles that I hoped she would be able to interpret.

More pie landed in front of me. Julie was a wonderful woman; it was a damn shame she was mated already. Actually, I’d never looked at her that way, my bear never giving her a second glance. I was starting to lose hope he would ever get off his huge ass and choose our mate. So far, he’d dismissed every woman we’d ever met. Picky bastard.

She clucked her tongue, flicking a towel at me. “You keep me in business, but don’t go around thinking stuff like that so loud. My mate wouldn’t appreciate it.”

“I could take him,” I muttered, but there was no heat to my words. I liked her mate, Tom, one of the wolf shifters. He was a good guy and I’d worked with him on occasion, usually when coordinating a big security detail.

I knew why my bear was being a picky bastard. He was holding out for her. Our fated mate. Who—according to shifter tradition—was our perfect match in every way.

It didn’t matter how many times I told him that the odds of finding her were fucking abysmal.

“I’ll be sure to let Tom know,” she replied with a chuckle. Moving away, she filled a mug to the brim and placed it in front of me, doctoring it with cream and sugar without having to ask. Leaning an elbow against the counter, she rested her chin on her hand, her pale blonde hair falling forward and brushing against her plain pink tee. “Busy day at the office?”

Nodding my thanks, I took a sip of the coffee and scooped the last bit of pie onto my fork. “Night shift.”

She glanced at the clock mounted on the wall, her eyebrows shooting up. “And you only finished now? Shame on you, Austin. You’re letting them take advantage of you.” Tapping her fingernail on the counter, she waited until I had shrugged, already expecting it. “At least let me feed you something more substantial than pie.”

Swinging off the stool, I dropped some money on the counter and licked the last stray crumb from my lips. “No can do, but thanks anyway. I’ve got a cold beer waiting in my fridge and it’s calling my name.” Blowing her a kiss, I set off back out into the sunshine, my stomach full and spirits lifted.

She was right; I did let them take advantage of me. Them comprising of Mayor Carter and his incessant demands for tighter security. It wasn’t the wolves’ fault that we were spread thin, they were pulling double shifts, too. Teams of bears ran the perimeter, while wolves coordinated security; personal and town. That’s how it was. I’d have thrown myself into a brawl before giving up my territory, and Julie knew that. She was just being nice.

Sliding into my truck, which was still parked where I had abandoned it yesterday evening at a right angle to the municipal building, a thin layer of dust clinging to its beat-up paintwork, I gunned the engine and pointed it in the direction of home. South of the river, nestling in the shadow of the mountains that rose high up and encircled the lower edge of the town, a dirt track road led up to a cluster of log cabins, all spread in a semi-circle and facing what looked like—to an outsider, anyway—a bunch of weeds surrounded by fold out camp chairs.

Brent was damn proud of that garden. The sissy.

Grinding to a stop, I slid out of the truck. Grunts and curses filled my ears, the sound of flesh smacking flesh and bones being pounded.

Nate’s head popped out from behind the central log cabin—mine—the crease in his brow clearing with apparent relief. “It’s just the Alpha,” he yelled in the direction of the noise.

I’d give him just. Striding over, I resisted banging his head against the cabin, settling for a low growl. “What the fuck is—”

A body flew past me, landing with a thud against a poor tree, its trunk buckling under the weight. Cade jumped to his feet and sprinted back past me, throwing himself in the air with a blood curdling roar.

“Not this fucking shit again,” I muttered, wiping my hand down my face.

Cade had Jake’s head in a scissor hold, his powerful thighs wrapped tight around the other man’s throat.

“They didn’t shift,” Nate pointed out with a lopsided grin.

Jake’s face had turned a funny purple color, but he was grinning that crazy ass smile of his, the one that made children cry and women melt into puddles at his feet. Women were strange creatures. But it meant that Jake was fine; he was enjoying his favorite pass time. Brawling.

Folding my arms over my chest, I leaned back against the weather worn wood, deciding to wait and see how it played out. I’d seen this a million times; Jake would talk shit and Cade, or whoever Jake had decided to rile up that day, would take offense. They’d brawl until they were bloody, work off some steam, then drink until they couldn’t stand up. A million fucking times.

It was growing old. “Fucking finish it,” I shouted, not caring which one listened, as long as one of them did. My interest faded watching them slap each other around, I made my way to my cabin and pulled a cold one out of the fridge. One twist and the nectar of the Gods filled my mouth and slid down my throat.

Brent threw himself down in a chair across the way, in the small space that the asshole who had designed this cabin had marked out as a dining area, but was really just a sliver of space linking the kitchen to the living area, snatching a bottle out of the air as it flew at his head. “You’re late.”

“Paperwork sucks.”

Spinning his bottle cap on the table, he took a swig of his beer. “Damn straight. Anything we need to know about?” Translation: worry about. Brent was the worry wart of the crew. A glass half empty kinda guy.

“Not that they’re telling me.” Though, I had my guesses.

“Rogues?” Brent plucked the thought straight from my head, or it could be that we’d just known each other that long. Or, like I said, born worrier, and nothing was more troublesome than rogues. Shifters who hadn’t registered, who lived on the fringes of society, pretending to be human and refusing the help of their kind. A rogue didn’t answer to our laws, or human laws. The ones I’d run into during my time on the job hated what we’d become, said it was a disgrace. Like surviving was an insult. Co-existing without war and destruction; an abomination.

Those were the ones I’d met. The ones I’d captured trying to sneak into Heartsridge, babbling vile and nonsensical nonsense about being on top of the food chain. The predator.

Some hadn’t spoken much, just attacked.

And every time I’d had to put one of those fuckers down, I always found myself staring into their eyes, wondering. Looking. Searching for the answers.

Was this one him?

Pushing the thought away, I took another swig of my beer. “There’s a coach arriving tonight and Jay asked if we’d see to escorting it in.” Jay was the Alpha of Bear Team South-Two, the team that covered the other 12 hours in the day that our team, South-One, weren’t working.

“Any particular reason why?”

“He’s still two men down.”

Brent blew out a puff of air, slumping back in his seat and rolling the bottle across his forehead. “That sucks.”

“Yup. Sure does. Hey, maybe I should offer Jake as a loan.”

A spluttering wheezing sound erupted from Brent. “That’s fucking hilarious.”

I shrugged, polishing off my drink and setting it down. Standing, I headed toward my bedroom. “It would be, if Jay would fucking take him. Wake me in four hours,” I called over my shoulder, collapsing onto my bed still fully dressed.