Page 8 of Jack Raider

“Yeah, if nothing comes up. I haven’t seen your folks in a while, but I remember your dad being hilarious.” Frasier stretched his arms behind his head. “How many sisters do you have again?”

“Four. Two are married with kids. Eloise’s a veterinarian, and Maggie’s a schoolteacher. We’ll have a barbecue at my parents’ house—catch up with everyone.” Nate grinned. “Ellie makes the best potato salad and barbecue beans.”

Now, that sounded like a good idea.

I was more than ready to see Eloise again. But since Nate wasn’t thrilled about me evenmentioninghow beautiful his sister was, I knew damn well he wouldn’t like the idea of me doing anything else with her.Get that out of your head, Jack—before it’s written all over your face.

“What’s up with you?” Frasier asked. “You’re bouncing your knee like you’ve got a bad case of nerves. Thinking about a woman?”

Nate’s gaze snapped to me. “Hell no! She’s mysister. Get her out of your damn thoughts.”

“Calm down.” I grabbed my water bottle, taking a swig—and promptly choked on it. After coughing for a solid minute, I pushed to my feet. “I’m not thinking about Eloise,” I lied. “I’ll catch you guys later.”

I headed toward my cabin. It wasn’t far—just a short walk through the pines. I bought it last year, and damn, I loved that place.

From the moment I walked inside, it felthomey. Comfortable. A place where I could actuallylive, not just exist. Growing up, our house had been the opposite—huge, cold, and lifeless. Mom didn’t have a single homey bone in her body. She chased my father off when I was twelve, and I never understood why he left me behind.

Then again, maybe I did.

My mother had learned everything fromhermother, who I thought must be even colder and more calculating. I had no idea if either of them was still alive. I didn’t care much. I left home thesecond I turned eighteen. My grandfather had left me money, and the moment it hit my account, I was gone.

College. The service. TheNavy SEALs.

That’s where I found myrealfamily: my SEAL buddies, their wives, and their kids. Became my family. They actually cared about each other. Their homes were filled with love, laughter, and warmth.

Frasier’s family had been the first to show me what that life looked like. We met on the first day of college and became best friends overnight, and when I told him I had no family, he didn’t even hesitate.You come home with me, he’d said. And I had.

Once, I thought about tracking down my father. But then I remembered—heleftme, not the other way around. So I washed my hands of him and my mother. I rarely thought about them much. I had no idea why I was thinking of them now. Maybe it was because Nate mentioned how big his parents’ place was.

The house I grew up in? It was ten thousand square feet. My “area” was its own wing. The maid brought me food. A private tutor showed up five days a week for twelve years. My only companion was a live-in caretaker, who mostly just told me how horrible my mother was.

They never lasted long. Mom fired them constantly. She hated it when people wandered outside ofmydesignated space.

She was barely home anyway—always off somewhere in the world with people she called friends. Pretty sure they were just as cold as she was.

I pushed those thoughts away.

A low huff of breath drew my attention, and I smiled as the wolf pressed up against my leg.

“You hungry?” I asked, scratching behind his ear.

I found him when he was just a pup, only a few weeks old, left alone to die. I couldn’t leave him like that, so I brought him home. A year later, he was still with me.

I fed him, then changed into my sweats. We ran for hours, pushing through the thick mountain trails. He never knew when to stop.

“Wolf, where are you?” I called out, slowing my pace.

A loudsnapcut through the quiet. Then a sharp, agonized cry.

My chest clenched. “Wolf!”

I took off running.

Branches lashed against my arms as I tore through the trees, following the sound of his whimpers. My breath caught when I saw him—caught in a goddamn bear trap.

“Motherfuckers!” I shouted into the forest, rage curling in my gut.

Who the hell would set something like this out here? We ran these trailsall the time. Anyone could’ve stepped into that trap.

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