Page 1 of Austin’s Answer (Shifter Ranch Mates #4)

ONE

Austin

Havoc pawed at the ground, his head lowered and his eyes fixed on me as I approached the feed chute. Daring me to enter his pen. My tiger rose under my skin, pushing to get out and answer the challenge, but the former rodeo clown in me knew better. Havoc was not a bull to play around with.

“He wants a piece of you.” Luke shook his head and turned on the water system to fill the reservoir. “He can sense you’re the biggest threat here.”

“I wouldn’t want to test my threat level against him.” I poured Havoc’s food into the chute. “I’ve danced with some wicked bulls in the rodeo, but nothing like Havoc. He’s too mean even to be a rodeo bull.”

“Definitely best to only deal with him as a group.” Luke studied the bull. “My wolf wants nothing to do with him.”

My brother was a wolf shifter, and though I’d gladly have him by my side in a fight, he wouldn’t stand a chance alone against Havoc. His strength lay more in his unswerving loyalty.

Luke and I were the only brothers who weren’t bear shifters.

It wasn’t common for adoptions to happen outside of shifter species, but our parents had big hearts and welcomed both of us into the fold.

Luke was sixteen when he joined the family.

I was only two. I remembered little of my birth parents, but Mom and Dad had been their close friends and had made sure I never forgot them.

Luke swiped the back of his hand across his forehead. “It’s going to be a hot one today. We’ll need to make sure everyone has water for the trail ride.”

“You want to take the lead or the trail position today?” I nudged Luke as we walked back toward the main barn.

We’d built a second one when we added more guest cabins last month.

We also got a new batch of horses that I needed to prepare for guests.

“I know you’re dying for a chance to talk to the guests. ”

He snorted. “Put me in the lead and it’ll be a quiet ride.”

After our parents died, we discovered the family ranch was having financial difficulties.

Declan, our oldest brother and the only one not adopted, suggested we start a dude ranch to make more money.

The road to opening had been rocky, as we’d dealt with saboteurs at several stages, but we were now operating successfully.

We still didn’t know who was ultimately responsible for the sabotage. All we knew was someone had hired the saboteurs we’d caught. Someone who was still out there. Even though we’d seen no hint of sabotage since the fire that burned down the art gallery, I knew none of us had truly settled.

“You should give it a try,” I offered. “Come out of your shell a little.”

I grinned at Luke’s look of disgust. He may have been loyal to family, but he wasn’t a fan of outsiders.

His life before coming here hadn’t taught him to trust. He didn’t talk about it much, but it still impacted him twelve years later.

I gave a mock sigh of frustration. “ Fine. I’ll do the talking. But I won’t enjoy it.”

Luke muttered under his breath, “Then you should try not talking one of these days.”

I chuckled, not taking offense. My brothers gave me the jobs that involved interacting with guests. I enjoyed talking to people and getting to know them. “If I didn’t do it, who would? You? Mason?”

He rolled his eyes. “Good luck getting him out of his workshop. I swear, at this point he’s making up equipment repairs that need doing just to get out of dealing with the guests.”

Mason wasn’t as grumpy as Luke, but he’d turned into more of a loner since returning from his time in the army.

He and his best friend, Vince Miller, had joined up at eighteen, but all we knew about his years away were that they left him with a leg injury too deep for even his shifter healing to fix and a broken friendship with Vince.

My chest tightened. I didn’t like to think about Vince, because it inevitably brought up memories of his sister, Emily. She and I had been close once too. But I knew exactly why we weren’t talking, and it was all my fault. Though it was probably for the best.

I brushed aside the gloomy thoughts. I needed to get over the girl next door.

Shifters had fated mates. They became our everything, our match in every way, and it wasn’t fair to my mate that I still harbored feelings for Emily.

It’s why I left home for the rodeo. I thought I’d get over my childhood crush if there was distance between us. But she remained in my mind and heart.

I whipped my hat off, slapping it against my thigh in frustration. “Can you handle the horses in the main barn? I need to check the new arrivals.”

Luke gave me a sideways glance, his eyebrow raised. “Sure. If I need help, I’ll grab Gabriel.”

I strode off without another word. The new horses were staying in the smaller barn, as I wanted to keep them separate while they settled into the ranch. There were six of them, selected specifically to be mounts for the guests.

I threw open the door and headed to the first stall. A morning spent shoveling manure and feeding the horses would distract me.

“Hey, Molly. How you doing, girl?”

The usually friendly horse didn’t respond. My brow furrowed as I studied the chestnut mare. She was listless and drooling. Her tail drooped, and as I watched, a tremor ran through her muscles. I moved to the next stall, quickly making a round of the barn. All the horses had similar symptoms.

I grabbed my cell and found Doc Johnson’s number. The older man was the only local vet who treated large animals and was also comfortable working for shifters. He found our shifter auras, which made some humans nervous, fascinating. He was one of the few humans who’d met my tiger.

The call connected. “Hey, Doc. I need your help.”

Emily

I held my dad’s pale, thin hand in mine. Anger warred with fear. Fear that he might die, or never recover from his stroke, and anger that my brother, Vince, didn’t tell me when it had happened.

But tears would accomplish nothing right now, so I let my anger take over. I kept my face calm, not letting Dad see the fire growing inside me. I gave him a gentle hug and kissed his forehead. “You get some rest, Dad. I’ll be back later.”

His droopy eyes fought to stay open, and he mumbled, but the stroke had stolen his words. I nodded to the nurse, and she took my place at his bedside. At least Vince was seeing to Dad’s care. He’d hired nurses to help around the clock so Dad could convalesce at home.

I was away at school, finishing up exams and getting my veterinary license when Dad had his stroke.

He’d never been a big communicator, so I didn’t notice anything strange about not hearing from him.

I figured he was giving me the space to study.

It wasn’t until I arrived back home to start my new job that I discovered what had happened.

I didn’t stop to knock on the office door. Vince looked annoyed when I barged in, but I still considered it Dad’s office, and Dad never shut the door.

“Explain,” I said, taking in both the familiar and the changes in the room. The new computer on the desk. The smell of the leather chair Dad had finally bought a year ago to replace his own father’s wooden desk chair.

Vince’s dark eyes, a mirror of my own, flashed. “You have no right to barge in here making demands.”

“You had no right to hide this from me.” I crossed my arms, standing my ground.

“Dad wouldn’t have wanted you to leave school.” Vince turned back to his computer screen. He ran his hand over his military-short brown hair. “Besides, it’s not like you could have done anything.”

“What about sitting with him at the hospital? Or helping run the ranch?” I sat in the chair across from him. “You didn’t have to do it all alone.”

“I have everything handled.”

“This is a large operation. Dad had you to help him. Let me do my part.”

“I said I have everything handled.” Vince’s tone was firm. “You came home to work at the vet clinic. Stick to fixing puppies and kittens.”

I bristled. “I’m a large animal vet. I can handle ranch work.”

“Well, I don’t need you here.” He shut down his computer and grabbed his hat. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have some real work to do.”

He ushered me from the office, locking the door behind him, and headed for the barn. I followed.

“Vince, we’re not done talking.”

“Yes, we are.” His voice left no room for argument. I knew I’d get nothing else from him right now, so I glared at his back and let him disappear into the barn.

Ever since he returned from the army, he’d been a different man. He was always serious, but after coming home, there was a darkness to him. A shadow that hung over everything he did. And I couldn’t ask Mason, his former best friend, for help, because the two weren’t on speaking terms anymore.

Besides, I wanted nothing to do with Shifter Ranch.

I didn’t need a reminder of how foolish I’d been at seventeen.

Believing I was in love with Mason’s brother Austin and believing he loved me back.

The last time I saw him was a memory still burned in my brain.

His flippant words of goodbye, as if I meant nothing to him. And me begging him to stay.

It was a mistake I’d never make again.

“Well, look who’s here. If it isn’t the princess herself.”

My shoulders stiffened, and I turned slowly to face Ray, one of our ranch hands. I never understood why Dad kept him around. Sure, he was good on a horse, but he had a cruel streak.

“Ray. I didn’t know you still worked here.”

He puffed out his chest and smirked. “I’m the foreman now. Vince promoted me when the old man got sick. He needed help, and you were off playing around.”

“I’d hardly call vet school playing around.” I gritted my teeth. “And I’m here now.”

“The men have everything under control, princess.” His patronizing tone made me want to smack him, but I resisted. Barely. “Stick to your little vet clinic.”

I narrowed my gaze. Ever since I turned down his advances on my eighteenth birthday, he did anything he could to make me feel small. I never would have dated him, but the way he asked the very day I became legal, as if he’d been waiting, made my skin crawl.

The ringing of my phone prevented me from replying. I glanced down and saw Doc Johnson’s name on the screen. I turned away from Ray to answer.

“Hi, Doc. What can I do for you?”

“Sorry to bother you, Emily. I know you’re not supposed to start until tomorrow, but I just got an emergency call about a bunch of sick horses that sounds serious. I’m on the other side of town, dealing with a uterine prolapse and will be tied up for hours.”

“Not a problem, Doc. I stopped at the clinic earlier and stocked up my vehicle, so I’m ready to go.” I turned and headed for my SUV, grateful I’d gone by the clinic before going home. “Where are the horses?”

“Right next door to you. At Shifter Ranch.”

My foot caught, and my keys dropped to the ground. “I’m sorry. Did you say Shifter Ranch?”

“I did. The other large animal vets are nervous around shifters. That’s why I hired you. I remembered you were friends with Austin.” The sound of shuffling came over the line. “I’ve been wanting to cut back my hours but didn’t feel I could until I had someone to cover Shifter Ranch.”

“I see.” My mind raced. The last place I wanted to be was Shifter Ranch, but I didn’t want to lose this job. Doc Johnson ran the only local vet clinic, and with my dad ill, I needed to be close by.

I blew out a sharp breath. “I’ll head over right now.”

“Thanks, Emily. Austin said the horses affected are in the small barn. It’s in the field behind the gallery.”

I slipped behind the wheel of my vehicle, curious about Doc’s directions. Since when did Shifter Ranch have a second barn? And a gallery?

Dad and I never talked about the neighbors. He didn’t know exactly what had happened between Austin and me, but he knew enough to avoid the topic. Now I wished he’d said something so I’d have some idea of what I was walking into.

The drive flew by way too quickly. Soon I approached the ranch sign, which had changed from the last time I saw it.

It still said “Shifter Ranch” but also mentioned the gallery as well as a dude ranch.

And there were large flower planters at the base of the sign.

I couldn’t imagine any of the brothers planting flowers. It must have been their mom, or Mae.

I still wasn’t prepared to face Austin, but as I pulled my SUV past the main barn and parked near a path that led to a smaller barn, a man exited the building with a familiar swagger.

He moved slowly, controlled. Almost gliding across the ground.

He always reminded me of a wildcat stalking its prey.

Not a surprise, considering he was a tiger shifter.

My heart raced. Even after all these years, just the sight of him walking affected me.

I squared my shoulders, reminding myself it had been eight years. I was no longer that seventeen-year-old girl with an unrequited crush. I was a woman. A woman who had zero intentions of falling under his spell again.

His steps faltered when I exited my vehicle, but only for a second.

I ignored his approach and grabbed my bag out of the back.

I straightened, turning around to face him as I heard him move closer.

Despite my determination not to be affected, the look on his face struck me.

If I didn’t know better, I would say his expression held reverence.

He pulled his hat off, and sunlight glinted off his messy, dark blond hair. His green eyes had deepened over the years and held my gaze captive. They were achingly familiar, but so incredibly different at the same time.

He resembled the teenage boy I remembered the way a statue resembles a block of clay. Made of the same material but now the potential had been reached. He was just more. More masculine. More handsome. More powerful. And way more dangerous.