Page 1 of Cowboy Bear’s Hope (Motley Crewd Shifters #3)

W hat the fuck am I doing?

Walking down the snow-covered path from my cabin on Max Leeds’ property towards the barn where I had plenty of work just waiting to be done was no big deal.

It was a short walk. Twenty minutes or so, and I was moving pretty fast. With the big old Grizzly I had living inside me, the cold didn’t bother me none.

Neither did the early hour or the overall quiet on the ranch at this time of day.

The sun wasn’t up yet. But neither were most people.

I was bigger and stronger than just about everyone on the place, except for maybe Max, but that was because his monster was more magic than animal. Like Zeke, who harbored a huge fucking dragon inside of him.

Being born a Shifter, I’d learned to utilize my dual nature to benefit me where I needed it the most. Long hours and heavy lifting were no strangers to me.

Farm work was in my blood—it always had been.

I was born into the Willow Creek Clan, nestled in the heart of rural Pennsylvania, where sprawling fields stretched as far as the eye could see.

Generations of Shifters had tilled that land, turning the rich soil into a thriving patchwork of crops. The work was hard but honest, and for a long time, I thought it would be my future, too.

But the hateful politics of that Clan? That was another story.

The Alpha was an old tyrant—a relic of another era—mean-spirited and hostile, more interested in control than community.

His way of leading wasn’t about prosperity or peace. It was about dominance.

He saw every problem as a battle to be fought and every man, woman, and Shifter as a soldier in his endless imaginary war.

When my mama passed away, something in me shifted.

Willow Creek no longer felt like home—it felt like a cage.

Without her steadying presence, I didn’t have anything tethering me there. No family, no ties, no real loyalty to the land or the Alpha. And with my beast so close to the surface, I knew staying under his rule would only make things worse.

He thrived on conflict, but I didn’t want to be a weapon for someone else’s war.

I wanted peace—freedom, love, a chance for a real future.

So, I packed what little I had and walked away from everything I’d ever known.

When I came across the job advertisement for farm work here in New Jersey, I answered without a second thought.

The truth was, I’d always liked it there, having visited infrequently in the past. With its rolling meadows and thick woods and only a few hours from the nearest shore or the big city, I felt like it had the best of every world.

It wasn’t exactly far from Willow Creek, but it felt like a whole different life.

This was my fresh start, away from the noise and the battles of my old life. A place where I could work the land without feeling like I was one bad day away from losing control.

This time, the only thing I’d answer to would be the rhythm of the earth beneath my feet.

The pay was good, which was a plus.

I enjoyed being outdoors, and the animals here seemed to like me. They responded just fine to my natural dominance. Even the long hours were good for me.

I needed something to quiet the great growling beast I harbored, and that was no easy feat.

I enjoyed tending to little things. That was exactly what this place needed. Someone who could handle the small herd of dairy cows, goats, chickens, and the other assortment of farm animals that lived on this property.

Of course, Jed handled the goats. All those Dolly Lees, Dolly Whos, and Dolly Whats, were his babies. That was just fine with me. Ornery little critters.

Max had dubbed this place the Motley Crewd Ranch, and I had to hand it to the millionaire Jersey Devil, it was a fairly apt description for it. And for us.

That was what we were alright, a mixed up Crew of crude and raunchy Shifters who had a snowball’s chance in hell of making a go of it. And yet, here we were. Trying and shit.

It was a miracle we hadn’t killed each other yet.

Especially Kian. How that Bull managed to survive each day to see the next was a riddle I’d yet to solve.

My own inner Grizzly urged me to take a bite out of the cocky bovine, but so far, I’d managed to control my bestial urges.

Credit for that had something to do with Penny and Jezebel moving onto the property.

Females had a way of making things better. It wasn’t just their presence—it was something deeper, something woven into who they were.

Like they carried a quiet kind of magic, their innate softness following them into even the roughest places.

Somehow, that softness didn’t make them weak. It made them strong in a way that men like me couldn’t quite understand.

It wasn’t about fixing things outright—it was about making the weight of the world feel a little lighter.

They gave men like me—and the others who lived and worked here—something to protect, something to take care of.

Not necessarily in a possessive way, unless they were your mate s, but in a way that made us feel more grounded.

As if having someone to anchor you kept the darker parts of you at bay. When you’ve got someone to love, you fight harder to stay good. To be worthy.

That was all I’d ever wanted.

That’s what I’d always imagined mates did for their men. Maybe it was just a story I’d told myself—a fairytale for monsters.

Still, I liked to believe that someone out there could see beyond the beast, beyond the scars. Someone to remind me that even the roughest hands were capable of gentleness.

It wasn’t about needing saving. It was more about finding balance.

And in a place like this, surrounded by sweat, dirt, and demons of the past, balance was everything.

Mates brought balance. At least, that was what I thought.

Turned out, I was fucking wrong.

Dead wrong.

I rubbed my forehead and growled at the not so long ago memory of a metal bat colliding with my thick skull. It had been wielded by the tiniest, curviest, and angriest woman I had ever met in my whole life.

Which was saying something since I grew up with Sows. I should tell you, proverbial Mama Bears were much worse in the flesh.

Anyway, I wished that was the worst of our encounters, but nope. That little firecracker got me again and again.

Maybe not with a bat. But Avery didn’t need a weapon to attack. She did just fine with her razor sharp tongue.

I was starting to think no was her favorite word.

The point I was making was, no, I wasn’t searching for a mate. I was not looking for that elusive dream of a woman to come busting down my door to save me from a life of loneliness or lead me to one of love.

That is, I wasn’t doing that anymore.

See, I knew damn well who my fated mate was.

But did she bring me peace?

Did she offer me a taste of that softness I alluded to earlier?

Fuck no.

Avery was a different breed of woman altogether, and ours was definitely not going to be just another love story.

The woman had outright rejected me.

Several times.

And every fucking day that passed was like a trial on my beast and my frayed nerves. Every day she denied me was just one more test of my strength.

I had to prove my worth, I understood that. But goddammit, it was hard to hold on to hope.

My Bear grumbled as the barn came into view. He didn’t want to go to work. He wanted to hunt our mate.

The beast was mad as fuck at my incompetence. He blamed me for not claiming what was ours.

But he was also my fiercest cheerleader. My ornery Bruin was determined to see this deal done. And I had to admit, he had it right.

This was no time to start doubting myself.

I was going to claim the sexy little mama, and her sweet little cub, Rosalie, as my own.

Make no mistake.

Whether or not Avery wanted to face facts, that curvy female was all mine. She filled the hole inside my heart accurately and definitively.

She might not be all sweetness, but I liked her sour just fine. She was fucking brilliant.

A honey scented goddess of a woman who had to be tough to survive what she’d been through.

I admired her greatly, and more than anything, I wanted to show her I was worthy of a chance. I didn’t need to cow a woman to prove my strength. I wanted to lift her up. To shower her with affection and keep her and Little Rosie safe.

Speaking of Rosie, the clock was ticking on that little time bomb.

I was pretty sure the child had a secret. But I also knew she wasn’t aware of it. Neither was her mama.

The time for that conversation was drawing nearer and nearer, I just needed to find my tongue.

I didn’t expect that to be an easy discussion with Avery. But nothing ever was, and maybe then she’d accept the fact that she belonged with me.

I grinned, looking forward to that day more and more. My inner monster was counting the seconds till she wore my claiming bite.

It wouldn’t be too long now.

Especially with what happened after Emmet and Jez got hitched. I just had to wait her out, and I knew how to be a patient hunter.

Mine.