"It’s not much but all the bigger cabins were rented out," Deacon exclaimed, as he moved some of his belongings from a small couch onto an end table.

There was a sleeping area to the left of them, a mini kitchenette to the right, and then two smaller closed off areas, probably the bedroom and bathroom. The unit reminded Monica of a hotel suite and couldn't have been over 1000 square feet.

"I'll upgrade to a bigger unit as soon as one becomes available," he continued.

"For one guy, I think this serves its purpose just fine," she said.

Deacon grinned. "It's probably the size of your closet."

"Well…" She looked around.

He chuckled. "I was only kidding, but come to think of it, you live in a big ass mansion."

She smiled. "It's more trouble than it's worth. That's what my mom says anyway. She's been so busy with her missions, but she'd probably love camping out here. My dad has always lived in homes bigger than some of the corporate buildings in Aspen Valley. So when they moved to Aspen Valley five years ago, they agreed that he would pick the house since he'd be spending the most time in it."

"Is your mom not in Aspen Valley?"

"Not right now. My mom volunteers overseas at least six times a year. Right now, she's living in a ten bedroom unit in Suriname with members of a global ministries group. They're working with orphaned eight and nine year olds teaching them about health and wellness and all that stuff."

"Hmmm, that's generous of her," he said. "My mom and dad left me with my grandparents when I was young."

She frowned. "Do you still see them?"

"Nope, not at all. I guess you can say I was abandoned. My mom was five months pregnant when she left with my dad, so I've probably got grown brothers and sisters I don't know about."

"That's unfortunate. But since you kept your family's last name, couldn't you find your siblings if you wanted to?"

"Probably," he said. "Would you like a drink? I've got beer, some red wine…pop."

"I'll take some wine," she said.

Monica watched as he took the drawstring bag that she gave him earlier and knelt on the floor beside a couch with it. He lifted several one foot sections from the floorboards and then pulled out what looked to be an iron-clad indestructible safe. With a few turns of the lock, he flipped the seal and opened the lid, revealing stacks of Benjamins inside. He dumped the contents of the drawstring bag in the safe and slammed the lid shut.

"Um…" she mumbled. Monica wasn't exactly broke and she was worth nearly half a million dollars according to her trust fund manager, but she'd never seen so much cash all in one place in her life.

"I trust you'll keep my secret," he said. Then he stood, took her by the hand, and led her into the kitchen area.

"Um…you really need to find a bank to put all that in."

"I'm working on that. I'm actually employed by a casino in Tunica. I keep my dough in safes and vaults. I've never done business with banks."

He pulled out a bottle of red wine and a glass from a cabinet.

"I think maybe you should find a banker," she told him, still in shock over the amount of cash he was carrying around on him. "You know, you're not exactly poor yourself."

"To tell you the truth, I live way below my means. Way below it. It's the only way I know how to live. I grew up living off the land and I kind of have an advantage being a wolf shifter. I eat corn flakes for breakfast most days. Steak and eggs if I'm lucky and have time. I hunt with the Pack for lunch or go grab a burger or pork chop. I gobble up whatever is in my fridge for dinner, and then I have that again for supper." As he spoke, he poured her some wine. "I own maybe three pairs of shoes right now and all my clothes can fit in one duffel bag. If I lose them during a shift, I just visit the mall and buy a couple more outfits to tide me over until I get back home. Whatever I can't carry with me on a road trip, I keep in storage. Mostly my motorcycles and other values that my grandpa and I took from the old farm before the bank seized it. I ah…it's the only way I know how to live really."

She took a sip of her wine. "Well then…I'm impressed. Maybe I need pointers from you on how to be a minimalist and learning how to save."

He nodded. "We can learn from each other. I know nothing about banks, so maybe you can teach me."

"You'll be surprised about what compound interest can do for you," she said. "You have a lot saved already so you're several steps ahead."

"Over the past year when I was earning this cash, I knew I had many people to pay back. It just became routine for me to sit on my cash rather than spend it or keep gambling it away," he added. "I never knew it would get to be this much."

"You've worked hard. Not that many people will do that."

He turned to grab a beer from the fridge and then joined her again over the small center island. "I'm supposed to meet with Garrett Justice, one of the Alpha's brothers, tomorrow afternoon. I used to see Garrett all the time at LIVE when I used to work there. Unfortunately, the Alpha's caught up in other things at the moment, so I'm not sure when we'll be able to talk."

"Alpha? Is that your Pack leader."

"Yes. Dane Magnus. You've heard of him?"

"I hear the name all the time. He owns a bunch of land in Aspen Valley. I didn't know he had brothers."

"Dane became the Alpha of the Pack after I left. I haven't met him in person yet, but I hope to very soon. I've been on his territory for a a few days and I don't want to seem rude."

"I'm sure he'll understand. I have heard nothing bad about him. Just that he's very passion about keeping the shifters safe," Monica replied.

"That's very important right now to them. Some pack members tell me that shifters here are being gunned down for no apparent reason."

"My friend at the office was telling me about that. That's really scary."

"Yeah, it is." He rubbed at his jawline and across his beard. "I've been meaning to cleaned this up. Garrett may not be the Alpha, but he's practically his right hand man. He enforces the Pack's rule and could have me chased off their territory with only a couple phone calls."

"Really? He can do that? Just because you haven't shaved?"

"Absolutely. If I even look at him wrong on this territory…"

"Well, gee whizz…"

"Being a shifter is very different. I may still be a rogue but I still respect the established laws of any Pack's territory I ride through."

"I guess it makes sense. After all, you don't want to disturb the peace," she said. "I can give you a trim, if you like. I do it for my dad sometimes when he doesn't have time to go in for a hair cut."

"Yeah, I'd like that."