by Moxie North
They let Sophie make the grand announcement and even his parents played along, although his mother was fighting happy tears the entire time trying to not give it away. She told Sophie she had allergies.
The family was overjoyed. Conner couldn’t even be grumpy about it. He was happy for his brother, he even was happy for his parents. His personal feelings towards the cub were unclear, he would wait until he met the little monster before he formed an opinion.
Watching his brother and soon to be sister had a tiny microscopic part of Conner craving his own little family. He quickly squashed it when he remembered this was not the life he wanted. He didn’t want his bear picking a mate and forcing him to bite her to bond with her for life. He also didn’t want his decisions dictated by a large furry, bossy animal that liked to rub his butt on trees.
“Well I would give her what she wanted too, I heard pregnant women will scratch your eyes out,” he scoffed, dropping into the seat across from Cage.
“Smart man,” Sophie replied turning her open mouth to Cage to accept another donut hole.
“Anything new I need to know about,” Conner asked.
“Nope, quiet on the home front. Wyatt is still keeping a close eye on Jinger now that she is back to work. Her doctors have cleared her, no more appointments. She’s still losing words, but she has decided it makes her quirky,” he offered with a chuckle.
“Yeah, it is pretty funny. Yesterday she got mad because she couldn’t find her keys to the turkey to get back to work after lunch. Running around yelling that she couldn’t start the turkey without them. That’s funny shit,” Conner laughed.
“Oh, you guys are so mean, and I was the one that found the poor woman’s keys to the truck, thank you very much,” Sophie sniffed.
“Well, that’s because you are sweet and kind and make us better men. We are lucky to have you and Jinger in the family,” Cage said, giving her another noisy kiss on her neck.
Conner shook his head at them both, they seemed happy.
“So, what’s on the schedule?” Conner broke into their canoodling.
“New cut needs another week before you can head in to start surveying. Dax is coming in tonight from California. Hopefully he can recognize someone’s scent so we can start hunting down this fucker that’s out for us,” Cage growled.
This caused a giggle from Sophie.
“Baby, it wasn’t that kind of growl,” Cage replied exasperated. Clearly his mate was enjoying her spot on his lap.
“Still liked it,” she said saucily, shooting a smile and wink at Conner.
Conner cringed at the intimacy of his brother’s current situation. He wasn’t comfortable around mates, not that he’d had any experience before. But they seemed very touchy-feely. And when they started cuddling his bear started complaining.
“Well I’m happy to do the airport run, got nothin’ better to do,” Conner said, standing and heading to the door. Thinking of having a cougar so close to his family made his skin crawl. But the Rochon family had played nice with the Hayes family, a cougar clan for many a decade. The Hayes family had been experiencing their own sabotage problems up until recently and were more than happy to offer a hand to catch the bastard since it seemed to be adding up to the same person.
“Later,” he called as he hit the door and went out into the now drizzling overcast day. Don’t like the weather? Just wait a few minutes.
Chapter 3
Not having a game plan for the day, Conner swung by his house to change into work clothes. Made a pit stop at his mom’s house and managed to get fed a full breakfast. Sophie may be the new chef in residence, but his momma’s cooking was always the best. She knew how to feed a growing boy.
“My baby,” Connie said, squeezing him tight before pushing him out the door to work.
Conner drove through their latest planting. Everything looked well, tiny seedlings dotting the hillside. In a few years they would be knee-high and you wouldn’t be able to see the ragged stumps left from the logging.
He made sure to hit the site of the current cut too. It was still being worked, men sawing and large semi trucks idling, waiting to be loaded with logs. Seeing the foreman Jake, Conner made his way over to him to get an update.
“Hey, Jake, how goes it?” Conner called, walking up to him.
“Conner, fancy seeing you here. It’s going good, no delays and the weather…well, it is what it is,” he said with a laugh.
Nodding, Conner asked, “No issues with equipment?”
Still on constant watch for more sabotage, he didn’t want to let his guard down. Logging was dangerous work on its own without some assclown purposely trying to hurt them.
“Day’s still young. I’ve got guys double checking everything before they use it. I can’t say that it’s perfect, but everyone is at least aware of the situation,” Jake assured.
Surveying the area, Conner watched a semi receive its last tree and the driver start lashing down the logs. The trees sat inside two giant forked prongs for transport. They couldn’t roll off the truck sideways, but there was always a possibility of them shifting front to back. That’s why the cables were used as backup.
Still watching the driver ratcheting down the load, his ears picked up on a whining noise. Looking around he tried to figure out where it was coming from. It wasn’t the usual noise of engines, saws, and cable rigging. It was something else, like metal grating against metal.
Hearing the noise grow louder, his bear got more agitated. Something wasn’t right and the humans around him didn’t appear to hear it.
Conner started walking towards the semi-truck and the noise got louder. As he was almost to the back of the truck, he heard a ping and loud snap.
“Fuck!”
“Heads up!”
Voices yelled at the same time as the back cable strap on the truck exploded over the top of the logs, ricocheting across the wood, scoring them deep as the cable came down the other side hitting a work truck parked next to the trailer, breaking out the window from the impact.
“Everyone all right?” Conner called out, rounding the end of the trailer to see his driver Matt, holding his arm, blood dripping down his fingers.
“Just a cut, boss,” Matt called. There was a lot of blood, but he seemed to still have all his fingers. In this business that was a good sign.
“Get the medical kit,” he called to the other man standing next to him. Conner grabbed Matt’s arm and put pressure above the long deep gash on his arm.
“What happened,” he said, seeing the wound was deep, but appeared to be only in the fleshy part of his arm.
“I swear boss, that was a new cable. No way it should have busted,” he answered.
“I believe you, let’s get you patched up and Jake will run you down to the hospital,” he said as the med kit arrived and he worked up a makeshift bandage and sling.
“Come on ya big sissy,” Jake called, out walking to a passenger van parked by the entrance. “Hmphf, in my day we’d wrap some moss and duct tape around it and keep working. Loggers, getting soft, needin’ stitches, and pain killers. Bunch of pansies,” he mumbled, getting into the truck.
Conner slapped Matt on the back and gave him a smirk, “Good luck.”
“Hah, thanks, boss,” Matt said, walking to the van.
Grabbing his phone out of his pocket, Conner called Cage and Wyatt and filled them in. As he was talking to them, he inspected the cable. Matt was right, it was new, but it had that faint dirty smell that they’d noticed at the other accident sites. The edge was frayed, but clearly had cut marks along the spiraled cable. It probably wasn’t very deep, but the tension caused it to eventually split.
Cage and Wyatt both showed up within thirty minutes. Flying down the dirt road, kicking up dust and coming to a screeching halt.
They stood around and contemplated the broken cable.
“This shit has got to stop,” Wyatt growled.
“Agreed, my bear has had more than enough,” Cage replied.
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Conner stayed quiet. His bear was loud enough in his head, he didn’t want to give him a voice too. Realizing his brothers were waiting for him to chime in, he mentally warned his bear to back off before he spoke.
“Dax’s plane doesn’t get in too late, but by the time I get him back to mom and dad’s it’s gonna be dark. I’ll run him by your house first thing, then hit the scrap yard to give a once over to your truck. I’ll pull this cable and take it with me. Hopefully something still carries this asshole’s smell so we know who to kill,” Conner said with a growl.
Chapter 4
Driving to Sea-Tac airport gave Conner time to think about what he’d said to his brothers. Was he willing to kill a human being? Being a bear meant he could be very aggressive. It wasn’t like he hadn’t defended himself in the wild before. But taking a life was not something he’d had to do before.
His bear took the moment to voice his opinion and for once Conner agreed. No one was allowed to harm his family. They would do whatever it took to make sure his parents, his brothers, and their mates were safe.
A few hours later, Conner pulled up to arrivals to pick up Dax. He saw him standing with a leather overnight bag slung over his shoulder. He was tall, muscled but leaner than Conner or his brothers. He was blond, but not like Conner’s hair. It was almost golden, which screamed shifter to him. But then again he knew that Dax was an Alpha Mountain Lion. When he did shift, he was a huge gold cat with a long tail that Conner used to give him shit about.
Pulling up to the curb, Dax pulled open the door and immediately started in. “Wow, star treatment, you didn’t want to show me a comfortable ride now did you?”
“Hey this Jeep is plenty comfortable, you’ve just grown soft out there in that prissy vineyard of yours,” Conner smarted back as he pulled out into traffic as soon as Dax’s ass was in the seat.
“True, true, spending my days enjoying the warm relatively rain free days looking over my fields of plump grapes while knowing some of the finest wine on the west coast is sitting in oak casks ripening has made me a bit soft. I don’t strain myself too hard thinking about all that money I’ll make once it’s bottled. Gives me time to get my nails done and shop for shoes,” he snorted.
Conner had the grace to laugh, he knew how hard Dax and his family worked. They had huge acres of land to manage, tons of staff, and a complicated distribution business. He also knew that Dax was, more often than not, out in those fields, not getting manicures as he suggested.
“You know there was a time we wouldn’t be able to ride in a car together, you know the good old days,” Conner taunted.
“Yes, the good old days of hiding in small communities. Afraid to show our faces or let our cubs out to play in case they were noticed. I tell you, having money and your own business allows for a freedom that our ancestors could never grasp.”
“I guess that is something to be thankful for, now that we have our own generation to think of,” Conner agreed.
“So I heard! Congratulations, Uncle. When is the blessed event anyway? I always forget how long it takes with you teddy bears,” he mocked.
“Har har, it depends, usually it takes the same as humans, unlike you freaky cats,” Conner spat back.
“Oh yes, us freaky cats only have to deal with our mates being pregnant for a little over three months. How terrible!”
“Uh huh, speaking of mates, I haven’t seen your mom in forever. How is she? Still wondering where her grand-cubs are? Still lining up available fertile kitties for you to look at?” Conner continued to jab at him.
“Why yes, yes she is. And I’ve sampled a few, but sadly, no mates,” Dax said giving him a pout.
“Oh, I’m sure it’s a tough job,” Conner laughed.
“Mom is starting to give up on me though. My little sister Mackenzie is getting mom’s full attention now. I probably shouldn’t have left them alone together. They may scratch each other to pieces,” he said laughing.
“Have I ever met your sister? I couldn’t tell if that was some fancy new perfume you were wearing when you got in or maybe your mom gave you a big hug and kiss before you left. I’ll give you a pass if you tell me it was your sister,” Conner said slyly at him.
“No, you haven’t met her and keep your greedy bear paws away from my sister, asshole,” Dax said with a laugh.
They bantered back and forth for the rest of the three-hour trip. Getting caught up on family goings on. Conner hadn’t even realized that his bear had been oddly silent the whole trip. Must not like being stuck in the car with a big cat he figured.
The lights of his parents’ cabin were blazing bright as they pulled into the drive in front of the house. Dax was staying with them while he was there. His mom liked having someone to coddle and Dax was the type that liked when women fawned over him. Lazy cat.
“If you don’t mind, I’m gonna dump you at the door. My mom is waiting up for you, probably with fresh cookies and milk,” Conner said gesturing towards the house.
“Not a problem, appreciate the ride. I’ll see you first thing in the morning?”
“Bright and early,” he said, giving him a two finger salute.
Conner stopped in front of his house and was inside before his nosey brothers could pop over. He needed food and a beer and sleep. In that exact order.
Hitting the fridge he pulled it open and surveyed some milk, a questionable box of leftover Chinese, and the baking soda box in the back. He grabbed the milk and settled for a bowl of cereal which nixed the idea of a beer. Because he wasn’t in college anymore and even in college he didn’t eat that way.
Once his head hit the pillow he fell asleep in no time. Even his bear was too tired to argue.
* * * * *
The next morning Conner walked into his parents’ house without knocking. He smelled pancakes and found Sophie behind the counter next to his mom. Seemed the whole family was there, even Jinger was giving Wyatt a kiss as she moved towards Conner carrying a travel coffee mug.
“Bye everyone, nice to meet you, Dax,” she called out, before leaning up on her tippy toes to give Conner a kiss on the cheek. He bent lower to keep her from having to climb him. He heard Wyatt growl behind her.
“I can’t help it if she likes me better, bro,” Conner mocked.
“Fuck that, she adores and worships the ground I walk on!” Wyatt approached him trying to look bigger than his six-foot four-inch height.
“It’s true, what can I say, the ground he walks on is pretty adorable,” Jinger laughed before she headed outside.
“That’s right, adores me, loves me, only me,” Wyatt continued to growl to himself as he followed his mate out the door.
“Does he always do that now,” Conner asked, reaching for the cup of coffee his mom was holding out to him.
“Oh sweetie, your brother has always talked to himself. Seems to be getting worse lately though,” his mother said thoughtfully.
This caused the rest of the men in the room to laugh. Edward, Cage, and of course Dax were sitting around the large farm table with almost empty plates in front of them.
“You’re late, runt. We want to head out,” Cage called.
“Well why don’t you take Dax over to your house to sniff around while I sit my ass on this stool and have your woman make me some pancakes,” he flipped back. He was leaning over the counter now and gave Sophie a wink. This earned him a heaping stack of pancakes and a side of sausage.
Sophie had perfected her American style pancakes, they rocked. Sitting down, Conner started taking huge bites, stuffing his face with fluffy sticky bites.
“Good grief, you eat like a pig,” his mother called out, tossing a cloth napkin in his general direction.
“Nope, just like a bear though,” Conner said around his bites.
“Hmpf,” his father said into his cup.
Conner finished his plate in record time. Kissed his mom and Sophie on the cheek before racing out to find the other men standing around the side of Wyatt’s house stari
ng at the ground.
The anger seething from the group was palpable. Conner made sure to make enough noise as he approached so he didn’t startle anyone. You were taught at a young age to never surprise a shifter.
“Well?” he called out.
“It’s him,” Dax answered looking up. “I’d recognize that unwashed smell anywhere. No need to check the other sites. If Tony is here, then he’s out for revenge for the death of his brother. I’m guessing he was worried we’d trace the vineyard fire back to him, that’s why he disappeared. He must have heard us talking about your company before, we don’t hide our relationship. Then he put two and two together to guess you were shifters also. If I had to bet, he is going to keep going between our two families until he kills us or at the very least destroys our livelihoods.”
“But why go after our equipment,” Edward asked.
“He knows he can’t go running around screaming werebears. People will think he’s crazy. He has to lay low and poke the proverbial bear where he can. I bet he didn’t expect the fire in California to do so much damage. It spooked him enough to run,” Cage offered.
“Asshole took out our newest crop. It will take years to recover that land and income,” Dax growled, his brown eyes flashing tawny orange.
“Settle down kitty cat,” Conner said, but still took a step back.
A long low growl rolled out of Dax.
“Calm down you two,” Wyatt said, trying to keep the peace.
“So how do we track this asshole down? I don’t think he’s on our payroll, or ever has been.” Cage pulled them back to the conversation
“We can always call in each employee, see if they match the scent. Tell them we are doing an accountability survey or some shit,” Conner offered.
“Good idea, that will be one less place to look. I have a feeling this guy is laying low, skulking in the shadows to cause this much trouble,” Cage said. “Dax, you willing to stick around for a while? Make sure we don’t miss our chance at this guy?”
