Laurie's Wolves Read online

  “Are Mom and Dad okay with you driving by yourself this far?”

  “They let you do it last year. I’m not really giving them an option. It’s not like I would want Mom to come with me. Gah. And Dad? Are you crazy? Besides, then they’d have to fly back. And you know that isn’t going to happen.”

  “True. I’m sure you’ll be fine. Call along the way if you need me.”

  “Will do.” Amanda ended the call and hustled around the room, stuffing her worldly belongings in her suitcase and then heading out to the garage to find a few boxes.

  “Yep. Tomorrow. Excellent day to finally fly the coop. Why on Earth had she been dragging her feet for so long?”

  »»•««

  Sawyer Hamilton glanced at his GPS and took a deep breath. He hardly needed the device to get himself from Spokane, Washington, to Cambridge, Montana. He could probably make the drive blindfolded. But he liked the idea of knowing exactly what his arrival time would be as he cruised along.

  He had his truck bed filled with everything he cared about. He’d only been in Spokane for five months. In that time he’d worked several odd construction jobs while training with the Bureau of Land Management to become a wildland firefighter. He was now a trained hotshot, but there were no openings in Spokane for someone with his skills. Sticking around waiting for a job to become available was growing old. And so was Sawyer. He was twenty-eight. Not getting any younger while he put off the inevitable.

  Hanging out with his younger brother, Cooper, was also growing old. The man was a seismologist. At twenty-four, he worked long hours and made good money. He also made Sawyer feel like a freeloader lately.

  Sawyer had fled their tiny hometown in Montana with Cooper to avoid their sister, Laurie. She was twenty-six now with a new baby and two mates. And she was pissed at him for not visiting the wailing little tyke he could hear on the phone every time he called.

  Truth be told, Sawyer had avoided Cambridge, Montana, like the plague. As a wolf shifter, he knew Fate was drawing him toward the city. No matter how often he denied it, it was inevitable. In fact, it was undoubtedly the reason he’d been unable to find steady work in Spokane. Fate. She had her ways.

  But Sawyer was stubborn. He wasn’t in the mood to find a mate and settle down.

  And more importantly, he wasn’t in the mood to shack up with two mates. There was about a fifty-fifty chance of that happening, the way he saw it.

  Coming from a family of wolf shifters with five total siblings, he knew the odds. Three of his siblings—Miles, Melinda, and Laurie—were all mated to someone from another family of five kids—the Masters. And that would probably be okay too, if it weren’t for the fact they were also mated to another person.

  The Masters family had something weird in their line. All of the males on two sides of the family had mated with another male and a woman.

  Sawyer shuddered for the thousandth time as he put the car in gear and backed out of the driveway. He could sit in front of the condo he shared with Cooper all day, but it wouldn’t change anything.

  The only remaining question, as far as he could tell, was whether he would be fated to mate with the remaining Masters son and a random woman or—if he was lucky—the only Masters daughter, who would undoubtedly mate with just one man. The weird threesome gene apparently only extended to the men in the family.

  Sawyer had never met either Sharon or Logan. He’d intentionally left the Cambridge/Sojourn area the second his third sibling mated a Masters. That had been too eerie. He wasn’t ready to face that destiny. The only way to avoid whatever Fate had in mind for him was to flee the state, so he had.

  Cooper had run just as fast and hard. And he’d since made a name for himself in Spokane. Lucky bastard.

  Sawyer pulled out onto the highway, gripping the steering wheel so tight, his fingers hurt.

  His cell rang, and he hit the hands-free button on the steering wheel to take the call. “Hello.”

  “Sawyer. You on your way?” Laurie’s voice was too cheery.

  He narrowed his gaze. “Yes. Should I turn around and go back to my regularly scheduled life instead?”

  “Nope. You’re meant to be right here.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

  “You’ll love it here. They have hiking in the summer and skiing in the winter.”

  “What makes you think I’m planning on staying?” He had only consented to a visit as far as Laurie knew. He grinned to himself as he pictured her reaction when he told her he was moving there for good.

  “You will. I know you will.”

  “Don’t tell me you’ve had some sort of premonition about it,” he teased.

  Laurie was sensitive. She had feelings about things. And ever since she’d moved to the Native American reservation and reunited with the estranged half of their family, her powers had manifested in full swing.

  No. That wasn’t exactly true. In reality, he realized it was Laurie, himself, and Cooper, along with their parents, who comprised the estranged side of the family. His mother, Joyce Hamilton, and her mate, Gene, were banished from tribal land twenty-eight years ago when his mother found herself mated to the Caucasian shifter and pregnant with Sawyer. She’d had to leave her three-year-old twins, Miles and Melinda with their grandmother and flee her land. For nearly three decades they waited for the old generation of tribal elders to die off so they could return to their homeland.

  He shook the melancholy away. What’s done was done. It was time to move forward. His parents had moved back to the reservation, and it was time for Sawyer to join the family. The last remaining holdout was Cooper. And Sawyer knew it was only a matter of time before he followed also.

  In any case, Sawyer had heard all the stories about Laurie’s bizarre experiences with Native American spirits. He knew better than to question her intuition.

  “No. I haven’t had some sort of premonition, smart ass. Just being realistic. I promise you’ll love it here.”

  He decided to keep up the banter. “As long as they have fires, I’ll be set. The only reason I have agreed to this crazy, hair-brained idea is because I can’t find work in Spokane.” What he didn’t tell her was that he’d already secured a job in Cambridge just north of where Laurie was living with her mates. He was keeping that as a surprise, especially because he knew she would go crazy with excitement as soon as she found out.

  “So, you might stay?” She sounded so elated he almost chuckled. “I’m sure the local fire department will have openings. Shall I call them and ask?” She didn’t even know he’d been training to be a wildland firefighter.

  “No. I’ll handle it when I get there.” He couldn’t help smiling. Laurie was nothing if not pushy. Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad after all. If he could somehow manage to get his feet under him and start working before he was forced to meet either of the leftover Masters kids, he’d be happy as a clam.

  He ran a hand through his short-cropped hair and resumed his grip on the steering wheel. “What’s for dinner?”

  “You crazy? I have a newborn baby here. I’m lucky if there’s even orange juice in the house. We’ll order pizza, or I’ll send Zach or Corbin out to get something.”

  Sawyer chuckled. “If you even think of inviting anyone to join us, I will personally kill you. Could you please please, please let Nature take its proper course? Can’t I simply run into these Masters people on my own without your meddling help?”

  “Of course. What kind of sister do you think I am?” Her voice was too cheery.

  “Laurie…”

  “I’ll be good. I promise. Just get yourself here and meet your niece. Fate will handle the rest.”

  That’s what he was afraid of.

  Hartwood Publishing delights in introducing authors and stories that open eyes, encourage thought, and resonate in the hearts of our readers.