Jonas

I was sweating like a motherfucker, but the work had to be done. These logs wouldn’t cut themselves, and if we were going to get through the winter warm and dry, I needed a shitload more firewood cut. I brought the axe up and over my head for a second before bringing it down on the log, splintering it into two pieces.

I could hear my brothers Marcus and Kash, the sound of the chainsaw in the distance telling me Kash was working his ass off as well, and the clang of metal on metal as Marcus worked on the generator, making sure the bitch didn’t keel over when it was five below. I glanced at Marcus, who I could actually see from where I stood.

At six foot three he was the “shortest” of all of us, but what he lacked in those few inches in height he made up in bulk and muscle mass. He was hunched over the generator, but I could see by the way his mouth moved he was cursing. He also was tense, and the scent of his frustration slammed into me.

He stood and ran a hand over his short dark hair, cursing more, his words clear enough that I didn’t have to guess what he said.

I turned from him and grabbed the logs, moving them over to the woodshed. I had my own agitation to worry about.

Every year we did this, getting ready for winter, stocking up on food, items we’d need. But every damn minute of every fucking day I was left thinking about one thing … one person.

My mate.

I was a thirty-seven-year-old bear shifter, a virgin because I’d only ever wanted to be with my mate. Yet I hadn’t met her, hadn’t claimed the one person born to be mine. I was frustrated, hard-up, and had the worst case of blue balls imaginable. But I knew when I finally found her—and I sure as fuck would—that it would be worth it.

No woman would ever compare to her. Hell, no woman was even attractive to me, interested me in the slightest. And my brothers were the same way, both saving themselves for a woman that was only meant to be theirs.

I looked at the cabin we’d built with our bare hands, three separate dwellings connected together so we could still be a family, yet have our own space when we did find our females.

Fuck, just the thought of finally having my mate with me, in my home, under my sheets with me on top of her, my cock deep in her pussy, had my dick getting rock hard. The fucker was like a steel pipe between my thighs, demanding to be free and do just that.

But I’d continue to wait for her, because she was the only one I’d ever wanted, even if I hadn’t met her yet.

* * *

Marcus

I tossed the wrench aside, this fucking generator about to have me shift into my bear, I was so damn pissed.

“This is a fucking piece of shit,” I yelled out to whoever was in earshot. I ran a hand over my face, the days’ worth of stubble greeting my palm. My anger was brimming over, my fucking bear right there at the surface, wanting to claw out, wanting me to shift so it could run this irritation off.

The truth was I wasn’t even mad at the damn generator, although we’d have to get a new one before winter hit. There was no way I could fix this bastard.

No, I was aggravated at the fact I wanted my mate.

I needed her.

I’d waited seemingly a lifetime for her, saving my virginity until the time I could make her mine, show her that claiming her meant the absolute truth. But at thirty-four I still hadn’t crossed paths with her. And my bear was getting antsy as fuck, wanting to mark her, lay claim to what would only be mine.

I stared at the generator once more, and said fuck it. I was going to run this aggression out, was going to hope shifting into my bear would help ease the frustration I felt. Or maybe I should just go inside and jerk off as I thought about my mate, who was out there somewhere, and who I wanted with a desperation that was starting to make me go stir-crazy.

I headed into the woods, feeling myself getting even more jacked up the deeper I went. I saw Kash in the distance working on a tree he’d just cut down. But right now I didn’t want to deal with my brothers, even though I knew they were just as crazed for their mates as I was.

All three of us were growly, cranky, and just wanted our females already.

Hell, I would fucking jerk off to the thought of her, whoever she was, wherever she was.

* * *

Kash

I cranked on the chainsaw, revving it up, watching the blade. I stared at the tree I’d just cut down, getting ready to cut it into more manageable pieces, when I saw movement in my peripheral. I watched as Marcus came storming through the woods, the scent of his anger like fresh paint in my nose. He was pissed, and it was clear he was coming out here to shift and run off his aggression.

I had one assumption on why he needed to shift so badly when we had a shitload of work that needed done.

He was itching to have his mate.

It was a “problem” all of us had, wanting, needing that one female, yet none of us having found her yet. It was frustrating, but I knew it would be worth it. Hell, that’s why I’d saved myself for her, because I wanted that first time to be incredible for her. I wanted her to know that I’d waited, that in my thirty-two years on this planet I’d only ever wanted to share myself with her.

And it hadn’t been a hassle, hadn’t even been hard to wait for sex. No females interested me, and that was because a mate was the only person a shifter could want, would desire. Females did nothing for me, didn’t even arouse me, didn’t even enter my thoughts. I only wanted one woman, who I hadn’t even met yet.

I cut the chainsaw off and set it down, watching as Marcus stalked forward, bypassing me and going deeper into the woods. “Hey,” I called out.

He stopped and glanced over at me, a scowl on his face, a growl leaving him. “What?” His voice was distorted, his bear right there at the surface.

“The generator good to go?” That just had him growl lower. I could practically feel the shift coming on from him, like a tangible touch. “What’s got you on edge?” Although I knew what the issue was, I wasn’t going to come out and say it. All that would do was piss him off more.

He waved off my question. I watched until he disappeared behind the thick trees.

Shit, we were all tearing at our skin for our mates, but Marcus seemed even more so. It wasn’t like we didn’t try finding our females, because we did, constantly. But we just hadn’t found them yet. I knew we would, eventually, and until then we’d just keep waiting.

We might be growly as fuck bear shifters, but we had patience, especially for the females who were meant to be ours.