1
Asher
I didn’t hear my phone ringing over the hammering and the music echoing in my workshop, but I felt it vibrate in the front pocket of my jeans.
I set the hammer aside and reached in my pocket to pull it out. Looking down at the screen, I didn’t recognize the number and contemplated not answering. I didn’t want to be drawn out of my focus from restoring the boat, but something in me had me pushing the accept button.
“Yeah?” My voice came out gravelly and harsh, like the sandpaper I’d been using.
“Hello. May I speak with the owner of Blue Bear Ridge Restoration?” The older man’s voice came through the phone and I faced the barn door of my workshop, looking out at the thick pine trees that lined my property.
“Yeah, this is the owner, Asher. Who is this?”
“This is Mr. Blackwell, a real estate agent for Blue Bear Ridge.”
He was silent for a second, as if he wanted me to say something in response.
He cleared his throat and started speaking again. “I recently sold a piece of property on the outskirts of town, one that’s desperately in need of some TLC and restoration.”
Another moment of silence passed before I answered. “And you want me to do the restorations?” I turned and faced my boat, the calming feeling of doing mindless work calling to me. Today was a “day off,” and working on my boat was the only time I actually did something that was just for me.
“The owner, a Miss Ainsley Shepherd, specifically asked for your talents on the project. I informed her I would get in contact with you since she’s out of town and in the process of moving.”
I lifted my hand and scratched my jaw, the stubble on my cheeks making a soft scraping noise that filled my ears. “I’m pretty booked up this summer. I could see if I have any openings starting end of September though.”
There was a shuffling of papers, and then he cleared his throat. “Miss Shepherd will be moving in to the residence at the end of next week. She was really hoping that you’d be able to come out and give her a price estimate, and see about scheduling.”
Shit, an entire residence renovation would take a long time.
I should’ve said no, was about to even, because I did have a packed schedule, but something inside of me kept nagging, pushing. I felt my bear stir slightly, and I rolled her name around in my head.
Ainsley Shepherd.
Ainsley Shepherd.
There was this tingling at the base of my spine, this tightening in my muscles. It was as if a thousand ants were moving along my arms and legs, stinging, that burning pain consuming me. I began to get restless, walking back and forth in my workshop, this strange feeling overcoming me.
“Hello? Asher? Are you there?”
I cleared my throat and walked to the door of the workshop, breathing in the fresh air, taking it into my lungs. A breeze picked up and I closed my eyes, willing that wind to take away this foreign feeling in me.
I’d never felt anything like this before, and frankly, I didn’t care much for it. I was always in control, always had a handle on everything. I worked because that’s what I could do, because that was the only thing I could do. I’d all but given up on finding my mate.
I wasn’t like Oli and could leave in hopes of finding her out there in the world.
And I certainly wasn’t like Zakari and Maddix, with their mates all but falling into their laps as if fate had done the work for them. I’d grown bitter and resentful over the years, watching as my brothers found that happiness and peace, that completion.
And as time moved on, as I became even more isolated within myself, I came to the realization that being alone wasn’t the worst thing to ever happen to me.
Did I wish I had her, that one female that would complete me?
Yes, absolutely. But I also knew that moving forward and focusing on life was the only thing I could do.
And so, I just accepted this was my life now.
I restored, renovated, and worked. I helped my brothers out with the construction company when they needed it, but a lot of my time and energy went into my own business, into making old and depleted buildings shine with a new life.
Maybe I did that because I somehow saw myself that way, this broken house sitting and waiting for someone to bring me back to life, but always thinking that maybe, just maybe, this was how I’d die.
Depressing, but reality.
But this weird feeling, this sensation moved through me like a freight train. And although I should’ve told him no, that I couldn’t take this job, I already knew what I would say.
“Okay. I’ll be out there end of the week to take a look.”
Later that evening
I leaned against the banister and crossed my arms over my chest, watching as Oli and his mate disappeared into the forest. I grumbled to myself, and th
en heard Zakari, Maddix, and their mates laughing, which put me in a sour, jealous mood.
I was happy for my brothers, pleased they’d found their females. I’d long since come to the conclusion that I’d never find my other half.
As one of the oldest of the six of us, I figured I should have found my mate already. And seeing brother after brother find their happily ever after had hardened me, resolved me to focus on work and leave behind the hope that I’d ever be happy as well.
So, I worked my ass off doing home repairs, buying properties and flipping them. That was what I did, put my blood and sweat into creating perfection because I didn’t have that in my life.
And having my family was all well and good, but that didn’t make a bear shifter complete. Only my mate could do that.
I found myself even more pissy than before.
Cason and Damon stepped onto the deck, their presence drawing me out of my thoughts.
“We’re hitting up the bar,” Damon said gruffly. “All this mating is getting under our skin.”
Cason, the quietest one out of all of us, had a toothpick between his lips, his baseball cap pulled low, so it obstructed the view of his eyes.
“You up for going with us?” Case said in a low-pitched voice.
I looked back at the woods, continuing to hear Maddix and Zakari with their mates, and nodded.
“Yeah, I need to get the fuck out of here, too.”
Finding a mate was overrated ... at least that’s what I told myself because the very idea that I’d always have this little piece of myself missing was just too fucking painful to even think about.
2
Ainsley