Page 5 of Guarded By A Savage Shifter

We’ve always had the intense longing and the unquenchable need to find her, but since I turned thirty-four last week, it’s gone into overdrive. He’s become overly obsessed with finding her.

I’ve tried. Believe me, I’ve tried. I’ve been looking for this girl for decades, but I’ve never even gotten a whiff of her scent.

Maybe she’s just not out there. Maybe I don’t need her…

A heaviness settles into my limbs and I let out a deep sigh.

“Stop,” I say to myself. This is not the time to get into this. I have an interview in six minutes.

I turn the radio on and ignore my whimpering grizzly as I drive down the secluded road.

As I’m getting closer, my phone rings. It’s my uncle Maddox.

“You almost there?” he asks.

“Yeah, I think so,” I say as I turn the bend and a ranch comes into view. It’s a large sprawling house with a wraparound porch. There’s a huge barn in the back with cattle and horses grazing in the fields. It’s a beautiful place surrounded by the spectacular Montana mountains. I want a place like this someday.

“How’s your bear?”

“Cranky.”

He chuckles. “Just remember what I told you about Cerberus and the coffee.”

I roll my eyes as I pull onto the long dirt road that leads to the house. Apparently, Cerberus roasts his own coffee and he gets pissed if you don’t fawn over it enough.

“What the fuck kind of name is Cerberus anyway?”

“It comes from Greek Mythology,” Maddox says. “You remember that three-headed dog who guards the Underworld?”

“Wasn’t that from Harry Potter?”

“Never read it,” Maddox says. “Everyone calls him Cerberus because he’s always got three dogs following him around. They don’t like shifters, so careful.”

They’re the ones who have to be careful, not me. My grizzly would be thrilled to get into a brawl with three vicious dogs.

“I’m pulling up now,” I say as I park my truck beside the other cars.

“Okay, well good luck,” Maddox says. “I think this is going to be good for you. Believe me, I know it’s hard not to have your mate. This is going to be a nice little distraction and you’ll earn some good money too.”

“Yeah,” I say, hoping he’s right. I need a big distraction from all of these intense swirling emotions. I need to get out of the house for a while. I need a break from the bitterness andfrustration. Hopefully, this can get my mind on something else for a change.

“Thanks for setting it up,” I say as I step out of my truck. “I’ll talk to you later.”

I’m hoping a job like this can chill my bear out, at least for a bit. And if it works for me, maybe it can work for my brother Kael too. He has it even worse than I do. He barely talks and hates to wear clothes. This guy is one step away from being feral with the way he lives. I’ve never seen such a grumpy grizzly bear in my whole life.

I hang up and head to the front door. As soon as I knock, an angry chorus of barking dogs fills the air.

My bear is instantly alert. He’s snarling back and pacing around, hoping I’m going to let him out.

Not now, I tell him.Don’t even try.

“Zeus!” a deep voice booms through the door. “Get back.”

The door swings open and I’m greeted by a big tattooed guy with a gold tooth and a buzzed haircut. He looks like he was shredded at one point but traded in his protein drinks for donuts. Three German Shepherds are lurking behind him, snarling viciously at me.

“Don’t mind them,” he says with a laugh as he steps onto the porch. “They’re good dogs but they hate shifters.”

He closes the door and all three of them start jumping on it, barking their heads off.

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