Mated To Magic (Stark Creek Shifters Book 1) by Barb Shuler (free ereaders .TXT) 📕

at the clock again and let out a long breath. Mia wouldn’t be home for a few more hours. Her newly-opened bar was fast becoming the hot new place to hang in town and they were busy. She had security guys, and I knew they could do their jobs. I’d done an extensive background check on them the moment she said she was hiring them. I may not have told her that, but I’d always have her back.

I’d not be able to sleep until I knew she was home - safe. So I guessed it was work or go hang out with the boys. I shook that off and decided to get some work done. I wasn’t up for the ribbing I’d get from those assholes, despite the fact that they knew how I felt about Mia. My wolf had claimed her and we’d always protect her. Always, no matter how hard it was to keep from taking her in my arms and telling her exactly how I felt about her.

Being in love with your best friend was hard, but I had it easier than some. I knew where she was at night. She slept on the other side of our house, tucked into her bed. It helped my wolf relax, knowing his mate was here so he could protect her.

I brought my attention back to my computer and nodded. I had to focus on work now. I turned the monitors on and pulled up the new system. I had to program the code and get everything in line for the upcoming installation. I had a time frame to stick to.

Three nights later, I pulled into an empty space at the pack’s new meeting spot. There were two other trucks already here, which meant the boys were here. I scented the air. Tyson and Kody…and they were already in their animal forms. This meant Liam and Maximus must be elsewhere. Either they were patrolling the other side of town or they were working.

We all have busy lives outside of being a pack and patrolling our lands. We all had real jobs and real bills to pay, so we were productive members of society. It was hard to imagine not being here for the rest of our - possibly very long - lives. But, the life of a shifter meant keeping a secret and not staying in one place for too long. I guessed we’d be here for about fifteen, maybe twenty years before we’d have to pick up and find a new place to call home. When people aged around you but you stayed looking the same, it made them start asking questions. Questions like that could get someone hurt.

I liked it here, though. It was a quiet mountain town that was not as populated as one would think. Tourist season would bring in more people and keep things interesting. I missed Wyoming. We had a good life there. I’d met Mia there and formed a friendship that was so unbreakable she moved here with us.

A large cat yowled in the woods. I took in the scents in the air again. Humans were out here too. Cursing, I hurried up the path that bordered the land of our new territory. We’d gotten reports from the local PD and the woman who was in charge of the land sale that there had been a group of kids coming out here. It was mostly older teenagers, starting bonfires and drinking. The problem wasn’t so much that they were out there, I mean, kids will be kids, but we needed to keep them safe and protect our territory from stupid accidents.

It had been dry lately. It would take only one ember to catch a nearby dry spot on fire. Forest fires raged quickly, taking down anyone and anything in their path—homes, people, and wildlife. Mother Nature was not a fickle bitch when she really wanted to be. She did what she wanted, however she wanted it.

We had a lot of land to cover tonight. I hoped that the clouds rolling in held some rain. It was needed, but I didn’t want to get caught in a downpour. My wolf didn’t mind the rain, but I did. Rain meant heading home in wet clothes and that is not any kind of comfortable.

Another yowl came from the tree line. I detoured and headed up the trail, rounding the small alcove that led to the watering hole where a small river ran down into a basin. It was one of the reasons we purchased this piece of land. It was a good place to camp out, make a good bonfire, and relax. It was also a good place to smoke weed and drink if you were underage and ignored the private property and no trespassing signs. Hence my apprehension of finding them out here.

If there were kids at the watering hole, then they hadn’t been too far out tonight. There were far more dangerous places for them to be in these woods at night. That was another reason for the no trespassing signs.

I made a mental note to put a few wildlife cameras on both trails and sporadically throughout the woods. We could rig them to send out an alert when movement was sensed, similar to the Ring doorbell system you can put on your house. It would turn on and take a picture, hopefully scaring them when the flash went off.

If we did this and got it to work right, maybe we would catch them before they got in the woods and did something stupid. That way I could document who was out here and when. If they were just high school kids out here being teenagers that was one thing; criminals coming out here would not end well for any of us.

If our pack was bigger, we could patrol more territory faster and not have to do this so often. Five shifters made do, though.

I came to a stop as I arrived at