Page 2 of Alpha Bear Accountant

Now I was right back where I started. At least it wasn’t out of failure. I’d done it. And that was something.

Some of my friends had texted to make sure I was okay, but I couldn’t manage more than a vague response. There was too much still up in the air.

Even though I was younger, I'd always been the reliable one who was stuck cleaning up Paul's messes. Nothing had changed.

But as moonlight filtered through the window, painting shadows on the wall, my anger slowly faded and was replaced by determination. I may not have known much about plumbing, but I was a fast learner. I'd figure this out. For Dad. For my family name. And for all the people who depended on Walker and Sons for their comfort and livelihood.

Somehow, I'd make this work. I had no other choice. And if I did it well enough and quickly enough, I could keep the life I’d worked so hard for.

Morning came too soon, and before I knew it, I was dragging myself out of bed. I'd barely slept, and the smell of coffeelured me downstairs to where Dad was already spreading out paperwork on the kitchen table.

"Morning, Son. You sleep okay?"

I nodded and walked toward him like a zombie. I needed at least seven hours of sleep to be functional, and I wasn’t sure I got more than two or three.

Dad pushed a mug of coffee toward me. "I appreciate you being here, Niam. More than you know."

I wrapped my hands around the steaming mug and let its warmth ground me. "I know, Dad. It's fine. We'll figure this out."

We spent the next hour going over accounts, schedules, and a long list of customer complaints. As each minute passed, the situation seemed more devastating. Could I really get us out of the mess my brother had created?

"I've got Andrew and Michael coming over later to show you the ropes." Dad leaned back in his chair and took a bite of toast. "They've been with us for years and can get you up to speed on how things work, but we need them out in the field. They’re my best workers."

“Yeah, okay.”

Dad must have sensed my unease because he reached across the table and squeezed my hand. "You've got this, Son. I believe in you."

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. I wanted desperately to live up to his faith in me, but I was in way over my head.

Walker and Sons Plumbing had weathered worse storms over the years. We got through those, and we’d get through this one too.

2

TODD

The wrench slipped in my sweaty grip, clanging against the porcelain bowl. I cursed under my breath as I wiped my brow with the back of my hand. This old house was feeling a lot less charming today. Most days, it was fun and exciting to work on the fixer-upper. But days like this made me wish I’d been capable of embracing the #vanlife movement.

My back was killing me, so I stood up and stretched, moaning loudly. My downstairs bathroom was a disaster zone of tools, and plumbing parts were strewn across the floor. But that was my life now. A simple Saturday-morning plan of quickly replacing a toilet turned into a mess of rusty pipes that required a much higher skill level than I possessed.

My phone buzzed on the counter with another notification from the Shifter for Hire app. I thought I’d have availability for most of the weekend and planned to pick up some side work. As much as I loved my accounting job, tax season only lasted a few months, and my home repairs were bleeding me dry.

Just as I reached for my phone, a loud crack echoed through the room and water began gushing from the wall where I'd disconnected the old toilet.

"Shit!" I dove for the shut-off valve and frantically twisted, but nothing happened. The spray just intensified, quickly covering the tile floor with a layer of water.

With my limited knowledge of plumbing, I raced to the basement and went straight to the main shut-off valve. It took some effort, but I finally wrenched the valve down and shut off the main water supply to the house. The entire house.

I sat back on my heels and heaved out a heavy sigh. Crisis mostly averted, but now I had a flooded bathroom and no running water. Some DIY-er I was turning out to be.

After a minute of just staring into space, I trudged back upstairs and grabbed some towels to mop up the mess. As I worked, I reminded myself that I truly loved this old place. Oak Grove was everything I'd dreamed of when I decided to leave the city. Between the quiet streets, the friendly neighbors, and the gorgeous forest right in my backyard—I didn’t think there was any place better in the world.

When the moon was bright and the sky was clear, my favorite thing to do was shift into my bear form and roam through the trees. After foraging berries and maybe grabbing a fish or two from the river, I always felt recharged and at peace. Being so close to a place to shift made all of this worth it, even if I didn’t feel that way at this exact moment.

The only thing I needed to make my life complete was to find someone to share it all with…a mate. But that didn’t seem tobe in the works, and even if it was, this wasn't the time to be dwelling on it. Not when my house wasn’t livable.

Once the floor was relatively dry, I collapsed against the wall with a weary sigh. It was time to call in a professional. As much as it pained my pride to admit defeat, I needed to find the money to get the bathroom fixed the right way. It was one thing to have a broken sink and need to get some bottled water. It was quite another to not be able to bathe, flush the toilet, or wash anything.

I grabbed my phone and scrolled through my recent notifications. Amid the usual social media updates and potential spam calls, there was the newest alert from Shifter for Hire. Curious, I tapped it open to see what kind of odd job might be available, crossing my fingers it was quick, right away, and extremely lucrative.

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