4. Chapter Three
His brother needed to back off.
Fox nagged him more than their mother did about finding a woman and settling down even though Ryker had told both of them repeatedly that it wasn’t going to happen. Fox had been a self-proclaimed bachelor until he met Lulu and settled down. Now he was on a mission for Ryker to be domesticated, too.
Considering their tumultuous past with their father, Ryker was impressed that his brother had been able to destroy the shadows of abuse and fall in love. But the restlessness inside him wouldn’t allow it. Maybe it was the stain his father left on him, but he needed a change. He needed to get out of Estes Park and start his life somewhere the memories didn’t live.
The fire truck bounced down the country road. He barely noticed the repeating wail of the siren or the low drone of the firefighters talking in the bench seat across from him.
Olive Kent was a very attractive woman.
He’d helped rescue her and Jett’s wife Cara from a pack of rogue shifters, and he’d never forget the fear on Olive’s face when they’d found her that day, or the raging fury inside him when he unleashed his bear to help bring the other shifters down. He’d played a small, insignificant role in the rescue, yet Olive’s vulnerability and sweetness had impacted him, and he’d fought attraction to her ever since.
Ignoring her used to be mostly easy. But something changed about a month ago when she walked into Sticky Sweet Bakery like she did every morning and got in line for her usual dark roast with an espresso shot and extra foam. She’d been wearing a gauzy, light blue dress with a woven belt around the waist that made her hips look incredible. A white crystal hung on a chain around her neck, and soft blonde curls escaped from her long, thick braid to flutter around her face. The morning had been stormy and gray, and she’d stood out like a brilliant ray of light that he couldn’t look away from.
Since that morning, it wasn’t so easy to ignore her anymore, and his grizzly wasn’t happy that he was still trying.
His bear would have to get over it.
Ryker pulled his cell phone from the thigh pocket of his black turnout pants. The email he’d been hoping for appeared in his inbox last night. JOB OFFER jumped out at him from the subject line. His thumb flexed over the email, but he resisted tapping it open. He couldn’t risk anyone overseeing it.
“Smoke,” the captain called from the front passenger seat. “Over there.”
They pulled into the state park through the front entrance. They’d been here two days ago for a fire in a trashcan by the restrooms, and once the week before for a pile of trash on fire in the woods. The park was vast, and rangers only drove through twice a day which left people lots of time to cause trouble.
Ryker jumped out of the side door as the truck stopped. Slipping on his helmet, he strode around the truck to survey the fire, swore under his breath, and took his helmet off. Someone had piled empty candy wrappers and plastic soda bottles on top of glowing embers which caused thick tendrils of gray and black smoke to wave in the air. It was easily put out, the debris scooped out, and the embers doused and buried. Fifteen minutes later, they were back in the truck and headed to town.
Slumping against the seat, he ran a hand through his hair and leaned his head back. Most of their calls were for burned food causing smoking ovens, kids lighting off fireworks and sparking grass fires, smoke detector alarms, and the occasional help with traffic accidents and such.
He needed to keep his mind busy. His job at the forest service was done at five, and if he didn’t get any fire or search and rescue calls in the evening, he had too much time to let his mind wander. Yeah, he needed more action and the email in his inbox would give him exactly that. So why didn’t he feel excited about it?
Dutch and Burt, two of the older firefighters, crossed their hands over their middle as the firetruck bounced down the road.
“Guess I can get back to the movie I was watching.”
“I’m going to finish my nap.”
“What about you, Ryk? Going back to the festival?”
No way. There was no telling what Fox might put him up to if he did. “No.”
The men nudged each other before grinning stupidly. “We heard you have a date.”
How the hell did they know that already? Damn, Fox and his big mouth.
“You heard wrong.”
“That’s too bad. I hear she’s a pretty little thing. Don’t miss your chance, buddy. If you don’t take her out, someone else will.”
A pretty little thing? Who the hell had been talking about Olive’s looks? Ryker’s left hand curled into a fist. Straightening in his seat, his voice turned hard.
“Oh, yeah? Who is talking about taking her out?”
Dutch scoffed good-naturedly. “Ah, come on. With all the young bucks around here, one of ‘em is going to snatch her up. What’s her name? Olive something…”
Burt made an appreciative sound. “I like olives on my pizza.”
“I heard Trevor Miller went into the boutique last week to ask for her number, but he chickened out and bought a gift for his mom instead, so he didn’t look like a dumbass.”
A low, menacing growl rumbled from Ryker’s throat as his bear stirred. His head pressurized with quick-burning fury. All of his muscles tightened as they did when he prepared to shift into his grizzly. The veins on the backs of his hands pulsed as they widened, and the tendons in his neck protruded. Startled by his reaction, Ryker willed himself to calm down but the bear inside him wasn’t listening. It wanted out.
It wanted Trevor Miller.
Stop it. Calm the fuck down!
The men had gone quiet. Dutch straightened in his seat, a bead of sweat glistening on his forehead. “Come on now, Ryk, we’re just razzing you.”
“If he shifts in here, we’re all dead.”
Everyone eyed him nervously.
Ryker closed his eyes and willed his bear to go back to sleep. But the pain burning through his body said the beast wasn’t backing down.
“I’m not going to shift.” He ground out the words, hoping his bear was listening.
We’ll go see her later. Settle down. No one is going to get to her before I do.
He was throwing out any promise he could think of to stop this shift. Slowly, the urge to shift faded and the tension in the room dissipated.
It was silent for a minute but then Butch perked up.
“How many fire extinguishers would we have to dispense to bring him down if he did shift?”
“Never thought about it. Five, six.”
“You’ve seen his brother when he’s not human, right? His canine teeth are like a foot long, and his feet are bigger than my chest. It’s gonna take more than six.”
“Does Ryker get that big?”
Burt spread his hands and shrugged. “Probably. Look at him; he’s already huge. We’re going to need a lot of foam.”
Their good-natured banter completely calmed Ryker’s beast. Their eyes closed; he sank back against the seat.
“Extinguisher foam won’t stop me. If you’re messing with a shifter’s mate or cubs, nothing will bring him down.”
He grimaced. That probably wasn’t the best thing to say to keep things light.
Burt snickered. “That makes it sound like he’s interested in the girl, doesn’t it?”
Thankfully, the truck pulled into the fire station so he could get away from this nonsense. Ryker wasted no time getting out and stripping out of his gear.
“Ryker,” the fire chief called out. “Cara Mitchell is at her store. She smells something electrical burning. Take a thermal camera and head over there. Radio in if you need backup.”
“Roger that.”
Urgency pulsed through him. Olive lived in the apartment above the boutique. If the building went up in flames, so would her home.
Cara was gently rocking a baby carrier on the sidewalk outside, and Olive was engrossed in her phone when he arrived.
Ryker smiled at the baby looking up at him from the carrier, her chubby hands waving in the air, and felt a tug in his chest. He was happy that his cousin Jett had found love again. There was a time when everyone in the family feared he’d never find the ability to cope after his mate and daughter had been killed in a freak accident. But then Cara hit him with her car, and everything changed. They had a new daughter, and Jett was smiling again.
“Hey,” he kissed Cara on the cheek. “What’s going on in there?”
She shrugged. “The store is closed today so I came in to do some computer work, but it smells like something overly hot—metal, plastic, I can’t tell. Jett’s inside checking things out.”
“I’ll see what I can find. Just stay outside for now.”
Olive was still looking at her phone, seemingly oblivious to the conversation. What was going on with her? Something was off, and he was curious, but he had work to do first. Going inside, he drew in the mixed aromas of perfume, coffee, leather, and the faint scent of something overheating.
“Jett?”
“Back here. It’s coming from the breaker box. Looks like a fuse got fried.”
Ryker joined his cousin in a small utility room where the scent of burning plastic was markedly stronger. Jett pointed to the fuse box. Sure enough, one of the ancient glass fuses had turned black and emitted an acrid aroma. The building was old and desperately needed updating. Rowan had bought the building as part of a multi-property deal and had gifted it to Cara upon her marriage to Jett. Despite plans to renovate the entire building, having a new baby had sidetracked the improvements.
“What’s plugged into this line? Something caused it to overheat.”
“The fancy industrial engraving machine Cara just bought. I unplugged it already.”
That made sense. Drawing too much power popped fuses, but also risked causing an arching fire that could travel through the walls along electrical lines. Taking out the thermal camera, he made a sweep of the walls and ceiling looking for heat signatures until he was confident nothing else was amiss.
After pulling the ruined fuse, he collected his things and met everyone outside. Jett had one arm around Cara and their tiny baby girl cradled in the other. Little Rose had a head of dark curly hair and her mother’s eyes. This little family had brought his cousin back to life and it was something to see. At least some members of this family knew how to put their pasts behind them. Him? Not so much.
He was the lone man out. All the Mitchells were partnered up now, including his mother who was about to marry Rowen, something Ryker was grateful for. His mom deserved a man like him, had waited over half her life to finally find the love of her life.
His father had almost ruined it. Ryker worked his jaw at the unwelcome reminder. He and Fox had been away at a conference right before Christmas when their father was released from prison and showed up in Estes Park. He nearly burned their mother’s house down and could have easily killed her if Rowan hadn’t shown up when he had.
The guilt for not being there to protect his mother ate at him for a long time after that, and just knowing his father had been inside the house, back in town, staining everything, ripped the past wide open. Since then, Ryker’s need to get the hell out of town was suffocating.
His gaze shifted to Olive. She tucked hair behind her ear, staring blankly into the distance.
“Thanks, Ryker. I’ll call an electrician today.”
It took him a second to realize Cara was speaking to him.
“Yeah… good idea.”
Something was wrong with Olive. Her face was noticeably pale, and her shoulders curved inward like she was protecting herself.
Maybe the pancakes were catching up with her. Would she even talk to him if he asked her what was wrong? Their entire interaction this morning had him all mixed up. He wanted to know her, but he didn’t and until he figured out what he was going to do, it was best to stay out of her business.
Ryker slapped Jett on the shoulder. “I’ll see you guys later.”
Cara snagged his wrist before he could get far. “Not so fast, buddy. I hear you have a date to plan.”
Olive’s head snapped up. Her eyebrows pinched together, and her expression was pained. Was the thought of going out with him really that distasteful, or was it something else?
“Is it okay to go inside now?”
Ryker’s pulse ticked up with concern. “Yeah.”
She didn’t acknowledge the remark about the date at all.
He and Cara looked at each other as Olive hurried inside and disappeared up the stairs.