CHAPTER ONE
“If you bring it up again, I’m going to break your face.” Trey Cross hefted a square hay bale onto the growing pile while leveling his younger brother, Xander, with a stare.
“Touchy, touchy,” Xander quipped, shoving another bale into place. He brushed a blade of sunny hair from his eyes, completely unaffected by Trey’s threat. “All I’m saying is, if you don’t mark a mate soon there won’t be any little blonde haired, blue-eyed Trey’s to carry on your annoying traits, like snoring, talking over people and—“
“You’ve said it ten times in two days. Enough.” Trey wiped sweat from his forehead with his arm before putting his gloved hands on his hips. July had come in hot and sticky. Of course the heat fell during hay harvesting and they were short-handed. Trey was on his last thread of patience. He, Xander, and their youngest brother Bo were juggling the chores around Aspen Ridge Ranch, trying not to kill each other while they sweltered. So far, so good, which was a huge feat considering, as black bear shifters, their fuses were short to begin with.
“Besides, all bears snore, dumbass.” They both grinned, and Trey was glad to break some of the tension. Xander’s constant reminders that Trey was in imminent need of finding a mate made him wish he could shift into his bear and run off to the forest in the Blue Mountains for a few days. It would be nice--a little respite from the trials of his human side--but there was damn too much work to do. Haying aside, owning a ten thousand acre working cattle ranch didn’t leave them with much downtime. Including time to find a mate.
Trey hoisted the last bale into place before grabbing a bottle of water from a small cooler on the ground and taking a long swig. Yeah, he was nine months away from the “dead zone,” age thirty. Such an inconvenient quirk of nature. Bear shifters had superior height,build, strength and intelligence in their human form, but if they didn’t mark a mate by their thirtieth birthday, they were out of luck in the reproduction department. He drained his bottle and leaned against the haystack. Funny how bear shifters craved families of their own—mates to love and cubs to nurture. The time limit was pretty shitty, considering human males could reproduce well into their seventies or longer.
Even Mother Nature had her trade-offs, he supposed. Not that it mattered. He’d given up on finding a mate months ago. Women didn’t want him. They fawned over his good looks in the beginning, but once they saw his scars, it was all over. The sting of humiliation was still a bit fresh, he supposed. It had only been a couple months since Amy ended their relationship. She’d never specifically said why, but, considering she’d never been able to look at him without his shirt on, always turning away or going into another room, he knew she couldn’t handle his scars.
Amy was fun, but she wasn’t mate material. His heart hadn’t called out for her that way, and, deep down, he was glad she’d ended it. He could crave cubs all he wanted, but it wasn’t happening. He wouldn’t be humiliated by a woman’s disgust again.
“You’re the oldest Cross son.” Xander continued, apparently not worried about having his face beat, “and you’re an alpha of the Blue Mountain Clan council. You’re obligated to take a mate.”
Trey stiffened not because of his brother’s sudden no-nonsense tone, but because Xander was right. He wasn’t just a senior member of the council, he was Alpha Protector, as his father had been before him. Looking out for the clan’s safety was a role he didn’t take lightly. Bear shifters were comfortably integrated into human society, but many preferred to live within their own clans near the mountains and forests. Blue Mountain Clan was three hundred members strong, their land and homes spreading out for miles around Aspen Ridge Ranch, creating a small town in their own right. Disputes, acts
“If you bring it up again, I’m going to break your face.” Trey Cross hefted a square hay bale onto the growing pile while leveling his younger brother, Xander, with a stare.
“Touchy, touchy,” Xander quipped, shoving another bale into place. He brushed a blade of sunny hair from his eyes, completely unaffected by Trey’s threat. “All I’m saying is, if you don’t mark a mate soon there won’t be any little blonde haired, blue-eyed Trey’s to carry on your annoying traits, like snoring, talking over people and—“
“You’ve said it ten times in two days. Enough.” Trey wiped sweat from his forehead with his arm before putting his gloved hands on his hips. July had come in hot and sticky. Of course the heat fell during hay harvesting and they were short-handed. Trey was on his last thread of patience. He, Xander, and their youngest brother Bo were juggling the chores around Aspen Ridge Ranch, trying not to kill each other while they sweltered. So far, so good, which was a huge feat considering, as black bear shifters, their fuses were short to begin with.
“Besides, all bears snore, dumbass.” They both grinned, and Trey was glad to break some of the tension. Xander’s constant reminders that Trey was in imminent need of finding a mate made him wish he could shift into his bear and run off to the forest in the Blue Mountains for a few days. It would be nice--a little respite from the trials of his human side--but there was damn too much work to do. Haying aside, owning a ten thousand acre working cattle ranch didn’t leave them with much downtime. Including time to find a mate.
Trey hoisted the last bale into place before grabbing a bottle of water from a small cooler on the ground and taking a long swig. Yeah, he was nine months away from the “dead zone,” age thirty. Such an inconvenient quirk of nature. Bear shifters had superior height,build, strength and intelligence in their human form, but if they didn’t mark a mate by their thirtieth birthday, they were out of luck in the reproduction department. He drained his bottle and leaned against the haystack. Funny how bear shifters craved families of their own—mates to love and cubs to nurture. The time limit was pretty shitty, considering human males could reproduce well into their seventies or longer.
Even Mother Nature had her trade-offs, he supposed. Not that it mattered. He’d given up on finding a mate months ago. Women didn’t want him. They fawned over his good looks in the beginning, but once they saw his scars, it was all over. The sting of humiliation was still a bit fresh, he supposed. It had only been a couple months since Amy ended their relationship. She’d never specifically said why, but, considering she’d never been able to look at him without his shirt on, always turning away or going into another room, he knew she couldn’t handle his scars.
Amy was fun, but she wasn’t mate material. His heart hadn’t called out for her that way, and, deep down, he was glad she’d ended it. He could crave cubs all he wanted, but it wasn’t happening. He wouldn’t be humiliated by a woman’s disgust again.
“You’re the oldest Cross son.” Xander continued, apparently not worried about having his face beat, “and you’re an alpha of the Blue Mountain Clan council. You’re obligated to take a mate.”
Trey stiffened not because of his brother’s sudden no-nonsense tone, but because Xander was right. He wasn’t just a senior member of the council, he was Alpha Protector, as his father had been before him. Looking out for the clan’s safety was a role he didn’t take lightly. Bear shifters were comfortably integrated into human society, but many preferred to live within their own clans near the mountains and forests. Blue Mountain Clan was three hundred members strong, their land and homes spreading out for miles around Aspen Ridge Ranch, creating a small town in their own right. Disputes, acts
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