Joe Sterling was the uncle of the three men. When their father, Joe’s brother, died, Joe took over as Alpha of the bear clan. Tensions between the wolf pack and bear clan had been growing steadily more precarious. Their father, Jeremiah Sterling, had died in his car, driving back home from work. The investigation into his death wasn’t much at the time. Port Ursa had been such a small town that the police and legal infrastructure hadn’t amounted to much, and the car had been deemed faulty. The death was recorded as an accident. The Sterling clan had their suspicions, though, grounded in the fact that two of Jackson’s pack members had reportedly been seen hanging around the lot where Jeremiah’s car was parked that day.
Tucker poured each of his brothers a drink, and then raised his glass.
“To the Sterling clan. Long may we prosper.”
“Long may we prosper,” echoed Colton and Wyatt, before each downing the golden liquid.
“How’s that woman you’re seeing from San Fran?” Tucker asked.
Colton had spent the last two months opening a store on the San Francisco coastline, whilst simultaneously catching the attention of a local lawyer.
“She’s great. We’ve had a good time,” Colton shrugged.
“Let me guess – you won’t be seeing her again?” Tucker laughed, rolling his eyes at his younger brother.
“Woman in every port, huh, bro?” Wyatt commented, his smile wry.
“Come on, neither of you can talk. Wyatt, when was the last time you even went on a date? And Tucker, you know you’re as bad as I am. I can’t believe you’re both giving me shit for this.”
“Believe it, brother. We know we’re all doomed to perpetual bachelorhood, so we might as well laugh about it,” Tucker replied.
“Yeah, well, I’m too busy making money for you two, to think about settling down.” Colton stood up and shrugged his coat on before either of them could think of a comeback.
Colton stood at the dock, it was about ten in the evening but still not dark. The perpetual half-light of the spring evenings had begun, and would continue till September. He could still see the light of the horizon, just a sliver, where dawn was breaking over some far off point on the North Pacific Ocean.
The Alaskan spring had brought some warmth with it, but the evenings still remained viciously cold, and Colton pulled his jacket tighter against himself as he gazed out onto the swaying bulks of the commercial fishing ships rocking in the bay.
Colton had a good feeling about the fishing investment. He’d eventually want to expand their catchment all the way to Japan, but for now he would be content with the Alaskan coast. As much as his brothers’ hesitation frustrated him, rationally he knew they had good reason.
The Jackson pack wasn’t just at odds with the Sterling clan, they were also fighting within their own ranks. Drake Hansen, a wolf that had been brought up in Alaska as part of one of the oldest Yupik packs, had returned from the military to find his pack had been taken over by Simon Jackson’s faction. At the time he’d had no choice but to fall into rank, but since the death of Jeremiah Sterling and the civil unrest this had caused between clan and pack, Drake had seen an opportunity to divide the pack and reconsolidate Yupik power.
The days of Port Ursa being a small, local and peaceful town were drawing to a close. As Colton had predicted, the town had grown rapidly in size–almost too quickly for local infrastructure to keep up. The police department was still based a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Port Ursa, which included a ferry trip, and that was on a good day. During winter, it was better to take a bushplane.
Colton sniffed the air, clearing his senses. He could detect an out of season snow rush coming. Earlier this week, he had considered inviting the lawyer to Alaska for the weekend. He had too much work on to travel, but if the weather was going to be bad it was wise to wait. A couple of nights with the woman would have done him the world of good, but he didn’t want her getting stranded for an entire week. A week would be entirely too much together time. Better to remain solo this weekend and get on with persuading the rest of the Sterling family that fishing was the next frontier.
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Other books by Candace Ayers…
Bears of Burden (Six book series)
In the southwestern town of Burden, Texas, good ol’ bears Hawthorne, Wyatt, Hutch, Sterling, and Sam, and Matt are livin’ easy. Beer flows freely, and pretty women are abundant. The last thing the shifters of Burden are thinking about is finding a mate or settling down. But, fate has its own plan…
She-Shifters of Hell’s Corner (Six Book series)
In the late 1800’s, on a homestead in New Mexico, a female shifter named Helen Cartwright, widowed under mysterious circumstances, knew there was power in the feminine bonds of sisterhood. She provided an oasis for those like herself, women who had been dealt the short end of the stick. Like magic, women have flocked to the tiny town of Helen’s Corner ever since. Although, nowadays, some call the town by another name, Hell’s Crazy Corner.
Rancher Bears (Six book series)
When the patriarch of the Long family dies, he leaves a will that has each of his five son’s scrambling to find a mate. Underneath it all, they find that family is what matters most.
Shifters of Denver (Three book series)
Nathan: Billionaire Bear- A matchmaker meets her match. Byron: Heartbreaker Bear- A sexy heartbreaker with eyes for just one woman. Xavier: Bad Bear - She’s a good girl. He’s a bad bear.
Kodiak Island Shifters (Three book series)
In the Port of Ursa in Kodiak Island Alaska, the Sterling brothers are kind of a big deal.
Self-made billionaires, they grew their late father’s little backwoods camping supply shop into a nationwide chain of outfitter retail stores.
The only thing missing from the hot bear shifters’ lives are mates! But, not for long…
Wolf Purebred (She-Shifters of Hell's Corner Book 5) Page 13
