Chapter 2
Wreck
“Fucking shit, Havoc, you got the line running yet?” Justin roared from the other side of the small, but potentially dangerous wilderness blaze we were trying to stamp out.
His voice cracked through the trees louder than the fire itself.
Which was saying something.
A firefighter’s equipment was everything when it came to a scene like this. And due to our employer, we had the best in the business.
A bush truck, water tender, portable pumps, hose lays, chainsaws, fire shelters, axes, ATVs, you name it.
And right now, we needed it.
Flames climbed thirty feet high in front of me, devouring dead pine and brush with a hungry roar that shook the mountain.
Smoke rolled thick and black across the night sky, choking the stars from existence while embers spiraled upward like glowing demons escaping Hell.
The heat kissed my skin, flames licking across my gear like an old lover.
My Bear snarled in approval.
That was the fucked up thing about me.
Most Bears feared fire.
Mine respected it.
Understood it.
Maybe because deep down, we were both built for destruction.
“Concentrate on your end, Fire-breather!” I shouted back, dragging the hose line around a fallen log while sparks rained over my shoulders.
Across the burn zone, Justin flipped me off without hesitation.
Asshole.
The Dragon Shifter was always at Havoc’s throat during a fire.
Every damn call turned into a pissing contest between the two of them.
Honestly, it was a miracle we hadn’t murdered each other at the end of every firefight.
Then again… maybe we just hadn’t found the blaze ugly enough to kill us yet.
The thing about our crew was simple.
We didn’t have a leader.
Not officially.
None of us wanted to challenge our Pack or Clan leaders for a title.
I mean, could you imagine if we won?
None of us trusted our beasts’ instincts enough to handle it.
Sure, we were dominant as fuck.
Too dominant for our former Packs or Clans.
Some called us mongrels.
And we were that.
Monsters.
Outcasts.
The three of us were last-chancers with nowhere else to go.
A hybrid Bear no Clan wanted.
A feral Wolf too unstable for his Pack.
A Dragon carrying enough ghosts to choke the sky black.
But somehow?
This place? This job?
It worked for us.
Most days, anyway.
This mountain was home whether we admitted it or not.
Glacier National Park, Montana.
The humans knew us as A-Feral Firefighters, an elite private wildfire unit contracted for the roughest terrain and most dangerous burns.
Human crews thought we were adrenaline junkies with freakishly good instincts.
They had no fucking clue.
Shifters were better in the wild.
Better in chaos.
And when fire hit?
We worked like the animals we were to put it out.
Monsters?
Maybe.
But the folks of Ember Hollow—the small town that sat closest to our territory—were safer for it.
For having us nearby.
The tiny mountain town had shitty beer, suspicious locals, but enough isolation to keep our secrets safe.
We didn’t go there too often.
Especially not this close to a full moon.
Shifter instincts got louder near the moon.
Sharper.
Meaner.
Harder to cage.
This particular blaze started because some drunk idiots decided partying in the woods sounded fun and left a fire pit smoldering overnight.
Now half the fucking mountainside was burning because humans never respected nature until it wanted them dead.
Havoc was going to lose his shit when he found the males responsible.
And I’d probably have to stop him from ripping out their throats.
Again.
I wasn’t his keeper.
But sometimes it sure as fuck felt like I was.
Even with that teeny problem, the three of us gave each other space because our animal halves demanded it.
Too much time together and dominance started creeping in.
Territorial instincts.
Aggression.
Violence.
But on the fire line?
We moved as if we were one creature.
Like one violent, smoke-covered beast hell bent on destruction.
The scent of burning timber slammed into my lungs, and my hybrid Grizzly-Black Bear surged hard beneath my skin, massive claws scraping the inside of my mind.
Mine.
Not the fire.
Control.
The Bear wanted control.
That was why I was good at this job. Every ugly instinct inside me had somewhere to go.
The violence.
The rage.
The need to dominate something bigger than myself.
I could control the fire.
Shape its ending.
Destroy it before it destroyed others.
Nothing calmed the monster in me more than that illusion.
“LEFT SIDE’S brEACHING!” Justin bellowed.
“I got it!” Havoc snarled back.
I glanced uphill in time to see Rowan “Havoc” Cross shoulder straight through a wall of burning timber and smoke like the Wolf inside him wanted a fight with the flames themselves.
Fucking lunatic.
The Wolf Shifter was all sharp edges and buried violence.
There was something wrong inside him.
Something feral, even by our standards.
Kinda like me.
Justin wasn’t much better.
The Dragon carried himself like a male permanently bracing for war.
Whatever happened in his old Clan had burned something hollow inside him.
But here?
Under the glow of wildfire and moonlight?
We understood each other.
No explanations needed.
No pretending.
Here, we were Monsters together.
And maybe that was enough.
Hours later the blaze finally died, choking beneath foam, dirt, and exhaustion.
Smoke drifted through the blackened forest while dying embers hissed in the dark.
The silence afterward always felt strange.
Like the mountain itself was holding its breath.
Then the proverbial shit hit the fan—as usual.
“Fuck you!”
Havoc slammed into Justin hard enough to send both of them stumbling into the mud.
“Watch your fucking mouth, Mutt!”
“You almost torched me, Sparky!”
“You were in the damn way!”
More punches flew immediately.
Of course, they fucking did.
I stared at them for exactly three seconds before turning the hose on them.
They sputtered, slid in the mud, and cursed me out before starting in on one another all over again.
I was already walking away from them.
I just wasn’t in the mood.
My Bear paced violently beneath my skin, restless energy clawing through my veins.
The full moon was close.
Too close.
And I knew exactly what that itch meant.
Town.
A woman.
A few hours forgetting I was a feral fucking Monster.
Messed up?
Probably.
But I never lied to the women I took to bed.
Never promised forever.
Never offered anything more than a few hours in the local motel or the back of my truck.
I didn’t believe in bonding or any of the bullshit fairy tales Shifters dreamed about.
I gave them a good night.
A rough night—but a pleasurable one.
Then I left.
Simple.
Safe.
Grrr.
Yeah.
The Bear agreed.
“Where’s Wreck going?” Havoc asked around a split lip.
“Do I look like his social fucking secretary?” Justin snapped back.
“Yo! You going to town, Wreck?” the Wolf shouted.
I grabbed my gear bag without looking back.
“Fuck you.”
That earned a bark of laughter from Havoc.
I swung onto my ATV and tore down the mountain trail toward my cabin, cool night air slicing through the smoke coating my skin.
Half an hour later I was showered, dressed, and heading for my Jeep.
Dick’s Watering Hole waited down in Ember Hollow.
Yeah.
The name was fucking disgusting.
But the whiskey was decent, and the women there liked dangerous men.
Usually.
Only the second I reached my Jeep, the radio crackled violently to life.
Fuck.
“Hey, Wreck. We got a call. Got put a hold on your trip to the boom-boom room,” Havoc barked through the speaker.
Asshole.
My Bear snarled instantly.
Then, excitement hit so fast it almost hurt.
Another fire.
Another fight.
I turned without hesitation, sprinting back into the cabin for my gear.
“What’s the location?” I shouted.
Justin answered this time.
“Rental cabins east ridge. That dumb rich asshole with the vacation setup we were against.”
Of fucking course.
Those cabins were built too close to our territory in my opinion.
Rich dicks loved building expensive death traps in the wilderness, then acting surprised when nature reminded them who really owned it.
I jumped onto my ATV and took off hard enough dirt sprayed behind me like a storm.
Three minutes later the scent hit me.
Fresh fire.
Sharp.
Aggressive.
Mean as fuck.
The Bear inside me rose instantly, huge and eager, claws flexing against the cage of my control.
Excitement flooded my bloodstream hot and dangerous.
Maybe it was sick.
Maybe something inside me really was broken.
But fighting fires felt better than anything else in this world.
Especially tonight.
“HELP!”
The scream cut through the dark.
Every muscle in my body locked.
Female? Definitely.
Human? Maybe.
Fear? Fuck.
I skidded to a stop and jumped off the ATV before it had fully settled.
Smoke rolled thick between the cabins now, flames chewing greedily across wooden decks and roofing.
“HELP ME!”
My Bear exploded forward inside my skull with a violent roar.
Not from the danger.
From her.
I inhaled deeply.
Ash.
Smoke.
Burning pine.
And beneath it?
Something soft.
Sweet.
Clean.
Like damp earth after fresh rain and sweet wildflower honey tangled with delicate female skin.
The scent hit me like a punch to the fucking chest.
My entire body went rigid.
The Bear slammed against my control so hard my vision blurred.
Mine.
The word shook through me with terrifying force.
No.
No fucking way.
Not me.
Not after everything.
But the animal didn’t care what I wanted.
Somewhere inside that burning mess of forest… was my mate.