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J ared sat silently behind Royce, not sure what to say. He stared at the cabin getting farther and farther away, the impulse to jump off the back of the ATV and run back to the cabin urging him to move. He didn’t. His head was spinning and he needed a moment to calm down.

“Couldn’t put him in the Larchmont, hmm?”

Royce grinned as looked over his shoulder. “Why would we put our mate in that shitty cabin?”

Our mate. Jared struggled for his next breath, especially when Carson’s scent lingered around them. “It’s not shitty.”

“For him it is.”

Jared eyed Royce as they continued to descend. “So you sensed it, too?”

Royce nodded, never taking his eyes off the gravel road. “I did.”

“He’s going to figure out he’s in our cabin.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

“Dude, I have a pile of dirty laundry at the end of my bed.”

Royce snorted. “I can’t help it if you’re a mess.”

Jared was quiet a moment. “What if he finds the secret room?”

Royce shrugged. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

“Where are we sleeping tonight?” Jared knew the answer, but he wished he’d be sleeping with Carson in his arms.

“The Larchmont,” Royce replied, just as expected.

“We should’ve stayed. At least one of us,” Jared said.

Royce eyed him over his shoulder a second. “He was overwhelmed. He needed to catch his breath.”

So did we.

Jared turned back just as their cabin disappeared from view.

“Plus, we need to finish up and get the night crew prepped,” Royce said. He looked over his shoulder. “Think we can pull someone to cover the desk this weekend?”

“Paul maybe? Since there’s no tour.”

“He hates the front desk and threatened to quit last time we put him in there,” Royce said.

“Toss some of that extra cash his way. It’s worth it.” Carson’s worth it.

Royce murmured in agreement. “We give Carson a wide berth tonight.”

“Is that an order?”

Royce glared over his shoulder. “You know we should.”

“You know, just because you’re going to be the alpha one day doesn’t mean you get to make all of the rules. We’re in this together. We’re both his mates.”

Royce turned his head to the side. “Lower your voice. A human could hear you.”

“All I said was alpha and mate . No human would know what that means. You saying human would likely be more telling than what I said.”

Royce growled under his breath.

“And you still haven’t acknowledged what I said,” Jared snapped.

Royce shook his head. “We are in this together.”

“So act like it!” Jared roared, repeating what Royce had yelled at him earlier that afternoon.

Royce slammed on the brake and spun in the seat to meet Jared’s gaze. “All I did was suggest we leave him be for the evening.”

“You didn’t suggest. You commanded. Just like everything else here in this business we both own. I’m tired of feeling like your employee and not your partner.”

“I know you’re my partner. In everything,” Royce said.

“Yet we’re always at odds, it seems.”

Royce sighed. “Okay, so what do you think we should do tonight? He was skittish and suspicious.”

“Well, putting him in our cabin when he knew damned well it wasn’t the place he’d signed up for didn’t help.”

Royce grinned. “It’s filled with our scent, Jared.”

Jared scoffed, chuckling.

“And I’d already locked up our playroom earlier this morning. I had Fen in there today to clean and I didn’t need him wandering in.”

“My God, I’d have loved to see his face if he had,” Jared said with a wicked grin.

“If anyone knew what we were doing, we could get into trouble,” Royce murmured.

Bear will not lie with bear.

It was a tenet of their den. Brother bears weren’t supposed to fuck one another and the only time they could was with their third between them. It’s the reason they kept separate bedrooms, even if they rarely slept in one of them.

If anyone found out, they could be exiled.

“It’s a fucked-up law,” Jared muttered.

“I agree. One I might be able to change when I’m the den’s alpha. Until then, we have to hide it,” Royce said.

“Maybe that’s why we’re on edge. We’ve been too exhausted with all the extra business to indulge in our playroom.”

“Well, now we can’t,” Royce murmured.

“Which is ironic since I’m suddenly feeling anything but tired,” Jared said, glancing in the direction of their cabin.

“The sun should be setting within the hour. I think that run might be necessary now. Run hard and tire ourselves out. Otherwise, we’re going to end up trying to get him into bed.”

“Sounds a helluva lot better than running through the woods with you,” Jared quipped.

“Fuck you,” Royce replied, smiling.

“If only.”

Royce snickered. “We’ve got to take care with this one. He made sure we knew he’s straight.”

Jared rolled his eyes. “You saw his hard on as well as I did.”

“If sees himself as straight, then we have to tread carefully. If he’s never been with a man, we’ve got our work cut out for us. Slow and steady wins the race.”

“He’s only registered for three days, Royce. There’s no slow to it.” Royce’s staid and steady might ruin their chances.

“Rushing isn’t going to help,” Royce said as he turned and let off the brake.

When they made it back to the office, Jared noticed Daniel heading in for the night shift. He nodded to the man and slipped off the back of the ATV.

“Hiya, guys,” Daniel said. “Reporting for duty.”

“Hey, Daniel,” Royce said, climbing out from behind the wheel. “Everyone’s checked in, so just keep an ear out for the phone. Red’s running room service for the restaurant tonight, and things have been quiet today,” Royce said, rising from his chair.

Jared’s head whipped toward Royce.

Quiet? Today was anything but quiet.

“Sounds good,” Daniel said before heading into the lobby. “Need me to do anything extra tonight?”

“I have a laundry list of things that need to be done, but nothing that can be done from the front desk,” Royce said. “Just don’t fall asleep tonight, okay?”

Daniel grinned. “No promises, but like I told you, I’m a light sleeper. I’ve always grabbed the phone quick.”

“And sounded half-asleep when you said hello,” Royce responded.

Daniel’s smile widened as he slipped behind the counter. “But I took care of their needs, so what’s the difference?”

Royce shook his head. “Daniel, just do as I ask.”

“I’ll try my best, boss. You know, if you got me an X-box back here it would help.”

“He already let you put a television behind the desk. What more do you want?” Jared asked.

Royce leaned over the counter, his eyes glowing. “I gave you an order. I expect you to follow it.”

The growl in his voice was enough to make Daniel stand up straighter. “Yeah, boss. I’ll stay awake.”

Jared forced himself not to roll his eyes at Royce’s command.

“There is one thing, Daniel,” Jared said.

Both Royce and Daniel turned in his direction.

“If you get a call tonight from our cabin, we’re in the Larchmont. Direct any calls to one of our cell phones.”

Daniel frowned. “Umm… okay?”

“It’s important,” Jared added. “There’s a VIP in our cabin.”

Daniel nodded. “Got it.”

Jared followed Royce out the front door.

“It does get boring as hell working the night shift. I remember you fell asleep all the time when your grandparents were still running things,” Jared said once they were a few yards from the building.

“Yep, and my grandfather jumped my ass even harder than I just jumped Daniel’s.”

Jared marched beside Royce for a few paces. “We don’t have any clothes. No brush. No toothbrush or toothpaste. You really didn’t think this through.”

“We can go down to the valley and pick some up at the store.”

“Or we could sneak up to the cabin and see if Carson wants some company.”

Royce spun to face him, pointing a finger in the middle of Jared’s chest. His eyes glowed bright golden. “Don’t ruin our chances, Jared.”

“Three days, Royce. Three days is all we have to draw him in before he leaves. We have to push.” Jared felt his bear ready to roar. “And what about being careful? You’re seconds away from a shift out in the open.”

Royce spun again and began stalking up the mountain path. Jared watched the man disappear into the woods, knowing he was ready to shift. “Royce!”

They were both on edge, both equally in danger of outing themselves. It was the last thing either of them needed. Royce was wrong, dead wrong. A run wouldn’t be enough to scratch their itch, not now. Not now that they knew they had a mate to claim.

When he heard Royce’s bellowing growl, Jared struggled to keep from shifting in answer to the call. He raced toward the wood, peeling off layers as he neared the edges. As soon as he was hidden in the depths, he transformed into his beast and let the animal take over.

The sun was nearly set when Carson opened the front door and walked out to the narrow front porch.

He’d heard a bear’s growl and for some reason he’d felt compelled to leave the relative safety of the cabin to scope out the danger.

Goosebumps skittered along his flesh when he heard the sound again, followed by a deeper growl, signaling there was more than one bear nearby.

The fine hairs at the base of his neck rose, alerting him to eminent danger.

Yet at the same time, his body was taut. His cock grew hard again when he heard the bellow come from deep in the woods once more. Sweat beaded on his forehead, a fire burning deep.

What, now I’ve got a thing for animals, too? What the hell is wrong with me?

Carson heard the sounds grow louder, but instead of walking inside and locking the doors to protect himself, he walked down the stairs and onto the gravel path that had led him up the mountain.

His heartbeat quickened. It felt as if his heart beat against his ribcage.

A shiver rose up his spine the moment he felt something coming.

Coming for him.

He wasn’t sure how he knew. He simply felt he was where he belonged at that very moment. Seconds later, a huge bear rushed from the tree line and ran toward Carson.