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Wanting to get as far away from the man who’d been asking about me as possible, I drove until my tank was nearly empty before filling up the first time. I kept pushing through until I was only a couple of hours away from my destination. I wanted to be well-rested when I approached the local alpha, so I stopped for the night at a roadside motel that didn't require a credit card to check in. I paid in cash and used a fake name, hoping to make it more difficult for anyone to track me if they got this far.
I was a jumble of nerves when I arrived in town late the next morning, but that didn’t stop me from appreciating how cute the businesses lining the small downtown were. As I drove past a restaurant, a delicious aroma filled my car. Peering at the name stenciled on the window, Timber Treasures, I realized I’d heard of it before.
The place had gotten lots of press when it opened, and my mom had mentioned the chef was a lion shifter who’d left a Michelin-starred restaurant in New York to open the restaurant in the small town. She was supposed to be amazing in the kitchen, and my stomach rumbled in anticipation of enjoying some of her food.
Deciding it was better to eat now, in case the alpha told me I wasn’t wanted here, I parked and headed into the restaurant. I paused just inside, second-guessing my decision when I saw the place was packed. There wasn’t a single open table available, but as I took a step back, a woman seated to my left waved and called out, “You can join us.”
The young boy seated next to her flashed me an adorable smile that melted my heart. Walking over to stand beside their table, I returned his grin and asked, “Are you sure? I don’t want to be an imposition.”
“It’s no trouble at all.” She gestured toward the mostly full plate in front of the boy. “Arbor is just eating his way through the menu while we wait for his dad to finish in the kitchen.”
A server walked past with two plates of food, and my stomach growled again. That clinched it for me. Flashing her a grateful smile, I murmured, “Thanks.”
Sitting with my back to the door made me antsy, but I couldn’t ask her to move when she was already doing me a favor by sharing her table. So I took one of the open seats across from them, setting my backpack on the chair next to me.
“What’s good here?” I asked, perusing the menu the server set in front of me.
“Everything,” Arbor mumbled around a mouthful of food.
“I might be biased, but you really can’t go wrong with whatever you order.” She leaned back and pointed at her rounded belly. “Although the pregnancy cravings have me asking for strange combinations that aren’t on the menu lately.”
She swirled her fork through the mashed potatoes on her plate before plopping a slice of pickle on top, making me laugh. “I think I’ll go for something a little more mainstream.”
I placed my order when the server stopped by our table only a few minutes later. Once she jotted it down, she beamed a smile at the woman seated across from me. “You need anything else, Ramsey?”
Ramsey shook her head. “Nope, I’m good. And we both know Aero will bring something from the kitchen for me because the man cannot stop trying to feed me, even when I’m full.”
The server gestured toward her rounded belly. “That’s what happens when your man is head over heels for you and you’re pregnant.”
Although I’d never been a part of a pack, I knew how much shifters valued children. And my mom had shared stories of how much my dad had cosseted her when she was pregnant with me. So I wasn’t surprised that Ramsey’s mate wanted to make sure she ate well while she was carrying his baby. Especially if he was a chef since food would be even more important to him.
“What brings you to Timber Ridge?” she asked, drawing me out of my thoughts.
One of the benefits of being my kind of shifter was being able to scent others and know what inner beast they carried. Which meant that I knew the woman and boy seated across from me were falcons. And that everyone at the tables nearest us were also shifters.
I didn’t think anyone else would overhear us, but I still leaned forward and lowered my voice as I answered. “Umm…I was hoping to speak with the local alpha about staying here for a little while.”
Her eyes held a considering gleam as she studied my face. Seeming to come to a decision, she murmured, “Kace and the pack are great, but if you’re looking for a place to lay low for a little while, I have a better suggestion for you.”
I didn’t think I had done anything to give myself away, so I didn’t know how she guessed I was in trouble. She seemed nice enough, but I wasn’t going to share my problems with a stranger. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
Glancing at her son to make sure he wasn’t paying attention to us, she leaned forward and whispered, “It takes one to know one, and I was in trouble when I came to Timber Ridge. Kace gave me a safe place to be, and then he found me somewhere with the space I needed while I healed. If my guess is right, you could do with some of the freedom The Wilderness Pack provided me.”
My inner animal let out a neigh of approval in my head. “I’m not saying I’m in any kind of trouble, but space to roam and the freedom to do it is always a good thing for a shifter. So I wouldn’t mind hearing more about this place.”
“Well, to start off, The Wilderness Pack is more of a nickname than anything official,” she explained. “They’re a small group with different shifters in the middle of the wilderness, led by a grizzly named Keane. He found his mate not too long ago, Laina. She’s a human, and they have an adorable cub named Atlas.”
Arbor looked up from his plate and pointed at his chest. “Atlas my friend.”
“He sure is, buddy,” Ramsey agreed, ruffling his hair.
Her son went back to his meal with a satisfied nod.
“His brother Leyton is Keane’s beta, but they’re not all grizzlies. Rome, one of our wolves and the man we named Arbor after, is still unofficially part of their pack, although he spends more time in Timber Ridge than up there now that he has Thora and the girls. She works here with my mate.”
“What other kinds of shifters do they have in their pack?” I asked, my curiosity piqued.
“Hmm, let’s see…Booker is a wolf too and used to be part of the Timber Ridge pack. Garner is a cougar, but he’s not around a lot since he works so much. And Artemis is a dragon.”
