The next morning, Garrett felt even better than ever. Dawn was asleep beside him after a night of being thoroughly pleasured.

It was fun seeing her looking so at home in a part of his life that was anything but glamorous.

The bed they were in was anything but luxurious, but it forced her to cuddle in close and it kept her next to him, which he liked.

He stretched and got out of bed, stumbling through the narrow opening to the kitchen so he could get started on breakfast and coffee.

As he was turning on the coffee maker, he heard a yawn and saw Dawn stretching and then looking over at him, her hair delightfully slept on, her face calm and sweet.

“Hey there,” she said softly.

His heart nearly exploded from the warmth he felt, knowing he wanted to wake up next to this woman for the rest of his life. “Hey.”

He still hadn’t told her how he felt. He still knew it wasn’t right yet, but dammit, he wanted to tell her. Wanted to look at her house with her and tell her all his plans for them to stay there together.

Wanted to tell her it felt like his home, too.

She stretched again and walked over to him, looking adorable in his tee shirt that came down to her midthigh, showing off creamy, curvy legs. “What’s for breakfast?”

“Eggs, after I get the coffee going.”

“Sounds good.” She sat at the small fold-out table and crossed her hands together, enjoying the morning noises of the forest, little bird calls and rustling leaves.

He pulled out a pan and cracked eggs in it, thinking about how much less awkward he felt this morning than the first time they’d been together. Then he hadn’t known where he stood. Now he was sure she at least wanted to date him, was open to the future. A few more dates like last night, and they should be making good progress.

Too slow, his bear said.

He told it to shut up.

He finished the eggs and handed her a plate. There was something satisfying about feeding a mate, taking care of her. He handed her a cup of coffee as well and then got his own breakfast and sat down next to her, crowding her on the small booth.

She smiled at him, and they ate in silence, enjoying the quiet peace that came with early mornings.

Soon the guys would be here, rolling in with loud trucks, but for now it was just them, alone with the woods.

“So how are things going on the house?”

Garrett wondered how technical to get with her but decided to stay vague. “Really good. Making good progress. My guess is we’ll finish ahead of schedule, if the weather stays good.”

“Awesome.” She gave a happy sigh. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. The town is quaint, but I’m really looking forward to being out here, having a place of my own. Living the dreams of my grandfather.”

Garrett hesitated. “But are they your dreams, too?”

“They can be,” she said. “We were a lot alike. And at least it gets me away from all the bad memories back at home. When I’m here, I can still remember him, but it won’t be attached to everything that happened with his death.”

“I’m here if you want to talk more about it.”

She shook her head. “No. It’s just that death can bring out the worst in people. The best, too, less commonly. Anyway, it hurt me to see people stomp on his legacy, so I like being out here where all I can see is fresh air and that house and remember all the times he talked about this place.”

“It’s a special place.” Garrett agreed. “And I wish I could have met him.”

“He would have liked you,” she said. “He was a man’s man. Loved fishing, hunting. Building things. All of that. He was an accountant, but I think that was one of several roads he could have travelled. In his heart, I think he was an outdoorsman. Now I get to live that for him.”

“I understand,” Garrett said. “But I mean, I haven’t wanted to say this, but is it totally safe? You out here all alone?”

Her eyes shuttered. “You don’t need to worry about that.”

“I thought we talked about this. Of course I do. Especially now that I’m involved with you.”

“I… This is my decision, Garrett. Right now we’re dating, but it’s not really your place to say if it’s safe for me to stay here as a woman.”

He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He wasn’t saying it because she was a woman. He was saying it because she was his woman.

And yet he knew that when the house was done, she still might not be ready for him to move in.

There still might be a period that she wanted to do all on her own, here in the woods without any protection.

Which meant there would probably be a grizzly roaming these woods for the first time.

Still, it worried him a bit that she hadn’t even seemed to consider her own safety in the situation.

“I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Would you tell a man the same thing?”

He nodded. “If he’d always lived in a city, yes. It’s hard living outside town, and it’s hard living without the normal amenities.”

“I’ll get internet out here. Satellite if I have to.”

“And you’ll be far from any friends. Any… boyfriends.”

She flushed at that, meeting his eyes nervously. “But I mean, I’m sure I can call you if something happened.”

“Of course,” he said, happy she would think of him that way. “But I’d still be half an hour away, most likely.” Unless he was in bear form, but she didn’t need to know that.

“I’ll be fine,” she said. “I’m a full-grown woman, and I don’t need your protection. Not in that way. Maybe I’ll get a gun.”

“But—”

“Garrett, I like you. I really like spending time with you. I think you’re hot, and you’re a really great guy. But I’m seeing you because I enjoy you, not because I expect you to take care of me or tell me how to live my life.”

That shut him up entirely.

He was frustrated he couldn’t say more to sway his mate, that he couldn’t say more about how he felt about her, but at this point, he had no choice but to withdraw and focus on keeping her safe from the sidelines.

“I’m sorry,” she said, staring at her coffee cup as if she could divine secrets there. “I just am used to taking care of myself. It’s important to me. I’m on my own now, and—”

“You have me.”

“I know, but you aren’t my family. And as someone I’m dating, you really don’t get a say in my life. Not in things like where I live.”

“But I—”

“I’m sorry, Garrett. I’m trying to be open to this, to us. To this quick thing happening between me and my sexy contractor, but I can’t handle the controlling stuff. It just wouldn’t feel right.”

And that was the end of that.

Garrett let out a huff and took too big of a swig of his coffee, burning his tongue. He stood up, coughing, and happened to look out the window at the house they were building.

He froze. “What the hell?” He narrowed his eyes, sure he could see something in the ground around the half-built structure. He grabbed a flannel shirt and his jeans, pulled them on, and stumbled out of the trailer.

He looked around him, scenting the air, and didn’t detect anything nearby. Even his bear nose would detect that.

“What’s wrong?”

He turned to see Dawn coming out of the trailer, buttoning up her jeans that she’d just pulled on and pulling one of his flannel shirts around her.

He tried not to think about how cute she looked in his shirt as he focused in on the situation.

“Stay there, in the trailer.”

“Like hell,” she said. “We already talked about this. You don’t get to tell me what to do. If something is going on with my house, I deserve to see it.”

“Fine then. Stay close.” He waited until she was next to him and then grabbed her hand and walked slightly ahead of her over to the ground in front of the house.

He was right that it was different.

Someone had scratched words into the ground with various tools, and their message was clear.

Get out.

Get off our land.

This is your last warning.

So had Grayson’s initial suspicion been right? Perhaps there were wolves who thought this was part of their territory?

He tried to block Dawn’s view, but she angrily pushed around him, freezing as he read the messages.

A choked sob emanated from her as she took a step back. “Who would do this? I own this land. You don’t think it’s my family. You don’t think they would follow me, not after I gave them everything else and—”

He walked forward and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in close to his chest. “It’s obviously someone who is mistaken. And no, I don’t think your family came out here, so rest your heart on that one.”

She sniffed. “I know it’s crazy. It’s just, who else would come after me like that? I own the deed. It was willed to me. Lots of things were, but this was all I took.”

He stroked a hand through her hair. “I don’t know, sweetheart, but I’m gonna figure it out.”

“We,” she said. “We’re going to figure it out.”

“I don’t think you should be involved, not when—”

She stepped back and put her hands on her hips, red hair lifting in the morning wind, gray eyes blazing. “We already talked about this. You don’t make decisions for me, Garrett. I hired you, not the other way around. Technically, you work for me.”

His mouth pressed into a line. “So that’s it? I’m just your employee?”

“No, obviously not.” She looked flustered. “I’m your client. But I do get to say how things work, and if I want to be on the job site, that’s that.”

He took a step closer, letting his full height impose on her as he folded his arms and glared down. The protective bear in him was too close to the surface to just let this one go. “Actually, I’m in charge of the work site here, and I decide what’s safe or not. You shouldn’t be on a construction site. I’m sure it’s an OSHA violation.”

“That didn’t matter before,” she said, poking him in the chest. “This is just you being an overprotective male and using OSHA as an excuse to justify it. I’m staying if I want to.”

He gritted his teeth together. “No, you aren’t.” He’d be damned if he put her in danger here.

“Don’t do this,” she said. “Don’t make choices for me. We have a good thing going for us, Garrett.”

“So if I don’t let you do whatever you want to, you’ll be angry at me.”

“Yes, because I’m a full-grown human who can make her own decisions.”

Not when you don’t know anything about shifters. Not when you have absolutely no idea what you’re up against.

He moved his hands to his hips stubbornly. “Let me take you back to town. You’ll be safer there.”

“No, this is my house. What if somebody harms it? I need to be here, and—”

He couldn’t take it anymore. His bear was buzzing with adrenaline, fully aware that whoever had done this could come back anytime and might outnumber him.

Though he had confidence he could protect his mate, the unknowns in this situation made him nervous. Before he could have her here, he and the others would need to at least try and figure it out.

He bent forward and scooped her over his shoulder, ignoring her protests and her beating on his back as he walked over to her truck.

“Stop it! Garrett! It’s my house! You stupid man, you—”

She stopped as he opened the door to his truck and deposited her on the seat. Then he reached in his pocket and handed her the keys.

“Here, you get back to town safely and text me when you’re there.”

She narrowed her eyes on him but put the keys in the ignition, probably aware there was no point fighting him at that moment. She was right. Garrett tried to be an easygoing person, but some things weren’t negotiable with him.

His mate’s safety was one of them.

“I’m going to call the police,” she said. “Report this. Tell them I want them to come out here.”

His heart hardened slightly at that, knowing she would bring others in. He wished she could just trust him, that she could feel the same trust in their relationship that he did. “You do what you have to, but you know how I feel about it.”

“You know how I feel about it,” she retorted. Then, with a glare, she was rolling up the window and starting the truck, pulling out onto the road back to town.

He had no doubt she’d be bringing the police back, but he also knew there was nothing they could do and that they would agree she shouldn’t be on a work site.

And in the meantime, his friends would show up and be able to consult on what had happened.

As the truck disappeared down the dusty road, leaving clouds of dirt behind it, Garrett sighed and got out his phone to dial Hunter’s number.