Page 56 of Lost Mate

“You’re right. I’m being silly.”

“He’s your mate,” Zeke said from behind him. “You would do anything for him.”

Ross looked over his shoulder at the black-clad man. He looked out of place in the middle of the barn. “As you would for Owen.”

“I’d break the world to keep him safe.”

“It’s overwhelming, you know?”

Zeke inclined his head. “I know and it’s not something you can explain until it happens to you.”

Ross nodded. Trying to have that conversation with Niles showed him how fruitless it was. “Do you need me? I’m nearly done with the animals. I’ve just got to finish the horses.”

“Call it a welfare check. It’s my break so I wanted to see how you are.”

“Who sent you? Cal or Owen?”

“Eli,” Zeke said, throwing his boss under the bus without a care. “You know what he’s like.”

Ross should have known. Behind the surly, grumpy exterior, Eli was a mother hen. “I’m good. Enjoying the time with the critters.”

Zeke leaned against the paddock fence. Ross wasn’t a small guy, he topped over six feet, but he felt as if Zeke swamped him when he stood next to him.

“You should leave the Cavalry and get your own land.”

“We’ve discussed it,” Ross admitted.

“Or he could take over the animals on the ranch,” Joe said as he joined them.

Ross looked between the two men. “What’s going on, guys? Is this a friendly visit or an intervention?”

“Does it have to be an either/or?” Joe asked and Ross had a feeling he wasn’t joking.

“I’m fine. You can see that. Thanks for your concern.”

But Joe didn’t seem to be listening. “You were a Cavalry man to the core when you first arrived with Eli and now look at you.”

Ross couldn’t deny it. Discovering shifters existed had been hard enough, but finding out that maybe his true path didn’t lie in big city security but in rural farming had been harder to get his head around. His parents didn’t understand it and goodness knows he didn’t either. Yet his pack (his parents didn’t know about them, Ross wasn’t that reckless) were totally laid back about the idea of him becoming a farmer.

He raised an eyebrow at Joe. “So we’re not waiting until after my road trip?”

Joe shoved his hands in his pockets. “My dad is fretting.”

“About his ranch?”

“Kinda.”

Ross and Zeke exchanged glances.

“Worrying whether Peter will stay here?” Ross asked carefully.

“That too,” Joe allowed.

“You’ll finish my home so me and Dylan can move in?” Ross suggested. “We need our own space.”

Joe huffed out a breath. “Already on it. Just needed your confirmation.”

“I need to agree this with my mate.” Ross wasn’t sure what Dylan wanted to do with his life, but he hoped it would be with him. He wasn’t surprised when Dylan responded.

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