Chapter Two
Bowen
“What are you working on, Bowen?”
Sweat dripping into my eyes, I looked up to see Vera, a newish ranger looking down at me.
Her crisp uniform and neatly French-braided hair never seemed to reflect any level of real effort.
Our supervisor would not hear a word against her, either.
“That’s the thing, isn’t it, newbie? You don’t recognize work when you see it.
I’m clearing this branch from the trail so visitors won’t trip over it. ”
She ignored my comment about her lack of work, big shock, continuing to study me as if what I sought to accomplish was so beyond the pale, she couldn’t imagine doing it.
Lowering herself to do it. “It’s the forest. There are branches everywhere.
Rocks, creeks, humps, and bumps. People should watch out. ”
I opened my mouth, prepared to remind her that our duty was to make things as safe and pleasant as possible in our park.
Sure, there were all sorts of trip hazards that people who went overland could fall over, but these trails were walked by old people, small children, people carrying babies in backpacks.
They had a right to know we had their backs.
No, we would not catch everything that might get underfoot, but we should do our best.
Tossing the branch into the bushes beside the trail, I pivoted on a heel and marched up the trail, away from the office.
I wasn’t going to report to our supervisor about what just happened, how blind to our mission this new ranger was.
I’d had that conversation already and been pushed aside, told to give her a chance.
She was just learning. So, there was no reason to try again.
Our supervisor, a wolf alpha, had already been sniffing around the female. Not in a wholesome mating way.
Just ick.
And Vera’s reviews would all be written by him. Ensuring her career moving forward without the least bit of effort from her. Since she didn’t seem the least bit upset by his flirtatious behavior.
It sure wasn’t this way a few years back.
The national park I’d been lucky enough to work in since graduation with my degree in forestry was one of the most beautiful in the country.
Its varied landscapes drew visitors from all over the world, spending their money and making it more than self-supporting.
Which had taken a lot of pressure off the staff.
Tourists loved it, hikers and bikers. Bird-watchers, wildlife photographers.
Campers in tents and RVs and just those who liked to hang off a cliff in a sleeping bag.
So, did I mind picking up a branch? No, no I did not.
Because little services like that made things much more pleasant for our visitors and made for a whole lot less paperwork.
I’d never take pleasure in an injured hiker, nor judge them for their clumsiness.
I suspected there were some among my coworkers who would.
Almost as soon as Vera’s clumping steps faded behind me—probably going to tell her fan-boy that I was mean or something—the wildness closed in around me.
The trees in this section of the park soared toward the sky, top branches swaying in the spring breeze.
Small animals were everywhere, if you were quiet enough to listen or still enough to look.
Big ones, too, but they generally preferred to keep away from the more traveled trails, preferring to go about their lives in peace. Or at least without human interference.
A squirrel darted across the trail in front of me, pausing halfway to turn a sentient gaze in my direction. A shifter, then. I didn’t consider animals non-sentient, but there was something different about shifters in their beast forms. Maybe their boldness.
“Hello, little brother. I hope you are enjoying the park.” I crouched to get closer to eye level with him, and he scooted up and bobbed his head at me. “If you need anything, ask for me at the ranger station, okay? I’m Bowen.”
He gave me another head bob and then turned and leapt into the brush beside the trail.
“A squirrel? Really?”
“Vera. I thought you went back to the station to fink on me.”
She snorted. “No. I was curious about what you were up to now. Moving a stone from the path maybe or trimming a tree so it doesn’t bump anyone on the head?”
“Why do you care what I do?” The squirrel watched from his hiding place, tensed and ready to run, but likely also curious. “All of our guests matter, Vera. Big, small, shifter, or otherwise. If not for the visitors to the park, we wouldn’t have jobs. Maybe keep that in mind?”
She pressed her lips together and spun around, stomping away—hopefully for the rest of the day.
If she wasn’t going to do anything for the park, why didn’t she just sit in the station and do her nails.
Most rangers did not have jewel-encrusted daggers.
At least, not the ones whose job involved trail maintenance.
“What a bitch.” He stood in the bushes, no longer a squirrel and no longer alone. Two men, naked I assumed, although I couldn’t see them below the waist.
“I have no words.” Actually I had so many, but loyalty to the station and others of my job prevented sharing them.
“I’m Trev and this is my mate Artie.” He cast a glance at the other man under his lashes. “We are on our mating trip in your beautiful park.”
“Thank you for saying that. We’re very proud to be here to serve you.” I started to reach out a hand to shake, but even shifters didn’t usually shake someone else’s mate’s hand when they were naked, so I let it drop to my side. “I’m Bowen, remember?”
Trev nodded, very similar to his squirrel’s head bob.
Artie, the omega, offered a shy smile. “Nice to meet you, Bowen.”
“Seriously, you two come by the station in a couple of hours or in the morning, and I’ll give you a map marked with safer areas for you in your squirrel forms.”
“Artie is a chipmunk,” Trevor said. “We’re a mixed mating. But same concept. That’s very nice of you, and we will.”
I spoke with them for another few minutes and then waved goodbye and waited long enough for the pair to disappear into the park. They were so in love, it showed in every glance in both forms.
I didn’t want to feel jealous, but I’d just about given up on looking for my mate, tired of bad boy alphas and wanting someone kind, gentle, nice…for a change.