Page 32 of My Three Hometown Alphas

Damn. I really wanted to get some sleep tonight.

“Bye, Uncle Owen,” Lyla says from where she’s kneeling over the coffee table, coloring in one of her coloring books. She’s heard that specific sound enough times to know what it means.

I peek at the screen, tapping into the message. Just as I suspected, they need me to come in for a call about a missing hiker.

When I left the Army, Liv insisted I volunteer for the local Search and Rescue team. I was adamantly against it at first, but she was relentless.

I didn’t want to take any time away from her or Lyla. She wanted me to hold onto the piece of myself I was giving up when I gave up reenlisting.

All these years later, I’m grateful for her persistence. There are times like tonight when I don’t really want to go out, but I always feel alive when I’m out on a call and get to help people.

It isn’t the same as being in the Army, but I get to use a lot of the same skills I gained during that time of my life.

I jog up the stairs, changing out of my sweats and into more appropriate clothes. I grab my duffle that’s always packed and ready for these types of situations. Slinging it over my shoulder, I head downstairs.

Will’s standing near the landing. “Lyla said you got a Search and Rescue message.”

“Missing hiker,” I say, grabbing my keys from the hook by the door.

“Be safe, brother.” He smacks my shoulder.

With a nod, I walk out to my truck. I’m setting my bag on the passenger seat when soft footfalls sound behind me. Being acutely in tune with my surroundings is one piece of military life that will never leave me.

I turn around, finding Avery standing a few feet away. She doesn’t even have shoes on, only socks and a tiny set of pajamas.

“Where are you going?” she asks, her brows drawing together.

I press the truck door closed. “I got a Search and Rescue call. There’s a missing hiker.”

Her forehead wrinkles even more. “You help with Search and Rescue?”

I nod, and she does the same in return. Turning, I round the front of my truck.

“It’s going to be dark soon,” she says, traces of worry weaving through her words.

The fact she’s worrying about me warms my heart far more than it should. “I’ve got all the gear I need, and I won’t be alone,” I tell her.

I don’t know who else they called in, but I know there will be at least one other person going out with me.

The look on her face doesn’t change, though.

“I’ll be fine, angel. I promise.” Giving her a wink, I climb behind the wheel.

As I’m backing out of the driveway, the last thing I see is her beautiful silhouette frozen in place against the vibrant colors cast by the setting sun behind her.

“Hey,” Finn says when I walk into the small warehouse-type building just outside of town where the Search and Rescue operations are coordinated from.

“Hey,” I say, giving him a bro handshake-hug.

Finn and I went to school together back in the day, and we’ve been running “missions” like this together for years. Needless to say, we know each other pretty well.

He’s the youngest of the Rivers brothers. He and his two older brothers, Cole and Theo, own a lumber business.

They own and live on a large plot of land quite a way out of town, giving them the perfect location to run such a business. Most of the wood we sell at the store comes from them.

We both go about silently getting geared up and ready to go. Tina, a liaison for the local sheriff’s department, stops by to give us all the information she has.

A female hiker left early this morning on the Sunny Hill trail and hasn’t been in contact with anyone for the last thirteen hours.