Ruthless (Wolf Ranch 6)

Not that I wasn’t willing to do whatever the fuck it took to prove my worth to her.

We pulled up at the job site and climbed out of the truck, unloading our supplies.

Nathan, the homeowner, came out to greet us. He was kind of a prick, which was probably part of why Nash had refused to reschedule the job. Nathan was the type to make a big stink and ask for a discount and all that shit, even from a fellow shifter.

I also disliked the fucker because a relative of his from another pack tried to kill my brother last year. Disliked was being generous, especially in my current mood. Not that the fiasco with Clint had been Nathan’s fault, but he was a shady asshole, and I wouldn’t put it past him to be more involved than we’d discovered. He was the type to stir trouble wherever the fuck he went.

I knew Rob had to watch his back with the older guy at every turn. He seemed to have it in for Rob especially, wanting him replaced with someone else as alpha, whoever the fuck it might be.

“Hey boys, about time you showed up,” Nathan drawled, scuffing the heels of his cowboy boots in the dirt as he walked.

Nash raised his brows. “We’re right on time by my watch.”

Nathan made a show of checking his watch. “If five minutes late is your definition of on time.”

I kept my mouth firmly shut. In the mood I was in, I was likely to do or say something that would come back to bite me in the ass. Hard. Instead, I pulled the ladder out of the back of the truck and propped it against Nathan’s house then set up the scaffolding next to it with our supplies.

When Nathan turned back and went inside, Nash gave him the finger.

My wolf was too fucking cranky for me to smile, but it did lighten my mood a bit. The guy was part of the pack. We took care of our own, even if one was a total bastard. I shook my head and got to work. The sooner we got it finished, the sooner we were out of here. The sooner I could get back to Natalie.

We climbed up the ladder, set the boards on the scaffolding and got to work, taking apart the stone chimney where it had caved in after the ground below the century-old ranch house settled. The structural problems were more than just the chimney, but that was the only one Nathan was willing to fix at this point.

“Did you get the fuse box replaced over at Natalie’s yesterday?” Nash asked while we worked. He pulled a loose stone free and set it on a tarp he’d placed on the roof. The day was warm, but the tall pines that surrounded the old cabin kept the sun from beating down. There was a slight breeze and the scent of evergreens and fried eggs—I assumed Nathan’s breakfast—filled the air. In the distance, I could hear a deer cutting through the woods.

“Yep.” I poked a rubber mallet gently against some loose concrete, and the pieces fell to the ground below. “Now I just need to rewire the whole damn place. I don’t like her staying there when it’s in that condition.”

“Even though the house has been like that for decades, I don’t blame you,” Nash said. After a moment, he grinned. “Makes a good excuse for her to stay with you in the time being, though, right?”

A lead ball sunk to my belly. “Yeah, I’d thought so, too, but after the way she lost her shit this morning, I don’t think she’s going to go for it now.”

He set another river rock on the tarp. “Any progress on talking her out of opening a bed and breakfast?”

I tipped my hat back, then shook my head. “Fuck.” Another thing to fucking deal with. “Haven’t brought it up yet. I have to find the right angle, you know?”

The truth was, I didn’t like any angle that wasn’t the clear one to support Natalie in whatever she wanted to do, so this situation put me between two boulders. She didn’t want to open the house up to tourists. Based on her lack of enthusiasm with the idea, it was only a way for her to make income. But she was right, her options were limited. I had no idea how talented she was at the violin, but the closest orchestra I knew of was in Seattle. That would be a long fucking commute from Cooper Valley every day.

The B&B idea was viable if the house was fixed up. There was land, a beautiful setting. Hell, it could be a real financial winner. For the pack though, it would be a disaster. If I nudged her toward the business, Rob was going to kill me. If I steered her clear of it to make Rob happy, she’d probably rip my balls off, and that was after she’d proved her point about not wanting to be with a shifter.