Page 4 of Luke: The Bears

And for one moment, Valley had the impossible feeling that she was most definitely, very truly, standing on the edge of something amazing.

Someone was coming for her.

Bear shifter Luke stifled a grumble from his bear as he leaned against the counter in the Five Pines office trailer behind Alpha Colt’s house.

Luke rubbed his chest and stared out the window. All he could see was the woods, but he could feel that whatever was up with him wasn’t in the trailer.

“So, the gazebo build starts Monday,” Colt said. “They want it finished by the end of the month, but I think if you and I work together we’ll be done in three weeks. Luke?”

He turned. “Huh?”

“The gazebo. You and me.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“What about me?” Riggs asked.

Colt turned the gazebo plans over and said, “You and Tyler will handle a residential deck in Mill Creek. It’s a simple one, so I think a week is plenty, then you can join us at the gazebo.”

“Sounds good,” Riggs said.

Luke smiled but his chest went tight again. Colt said, “What’s up with you?”

“I don’t know. My bear’s been acting up.”

“Need to shift?” Riggs asked.

“Nah. I just need to get some fresh air, I think.”

“Oh, and a good burger or three, yeah?” Riggs asked.

Colt put the plans away and said, “Three burgers?”

“Hell yes. I didn’t eat lunch today.”

“I saw you eat lunch,” Luke said.

“That was a second breakfast. And a pre-dinner.”

Luke shook his head at Riggs and turned to their office manager, Maggie. “Did you and Tyler want to join us?”

“Not tonight,” Maggie, Tyler’s mate, said. “We’re going tomorrow night. You guys have fun.”

They walked out of the trailer and Luke took a deep breath of the early evening air, the warmth of the setting sun settling on his skin.

“Maybe it’s the burgers,” Riggs said.

“What about them?” Luke asked as they headed to The Howl across the lake.

“They’re magic. So maybe your bear is acting up because – even though I called dibs on the next truemate due to burger magic, you’re the one who’s getting some romantic mojo.”

The three wolves who owned the tavern had found their truemates in May, one after the other, starting with the wolf cook’s favorite burger – The Blue Monster. Then the bouncer, and finally the alpha. Sigh, the cook, and his human mate Juliette, had said there might be magic in the special burgers, and clearly Riggs had drunk the Kool Aid.

Luke wasn’t sure he believed in burger magic mojo. But he rubbed the space over his heart anyway as they drew closer to the tavern and saw the line starting to form at the front door.

“What’s the burger of the week?” he asked.

“Audrey’s ‘We’re Gonna Have a Gouda Time’,” Riggs said. “Which is why I want three of them, because I freaking love gouda. And it’s a damn shame that my bear isn’t acting up. I should definitely find my truemate with my favorite cheese on a burger.”