Rath scrubbed a hand over the two-days’ growth on his face, thought about shaving and then shrugged it off. He was going to be out all day again, repairing the cabin by the river and clearing up a few more odd jobs he needed to complete around the settlement at the other dozen or so cabins spread throughout the trees on his side of the river. A little insulation on his face wasn’t a bad thing.

Winter had loosened its grip on Cougar Creek, but the mornings and evenings were still chilly, the air holding a bitter bite that was slow to go as the sun struggled to heat the land and quick to return once darkness fell again.

He had been working non-stop since the snowmelt, when that damned feeling had stirred in his gut and he had found himself pacing the porch, scenting the air, hungry for a female he didn’t want and didn’t need.

Wasn’t going to chase.

Gatherings meant one thing for him and his brothers—patrolling the area, acting as a security force to keep the community safe when they were together and in danger of attracting attention.

They also acted as a security force within the pride too, breaking up any fights that weren’t over a female.

Cougars were solitary, so things always got tense when the entire pride gathered in the small village of cabins. The lodges were scattered throughout the broad band of forest that hugged the mountain behind him and the river before him, with enough space between them to keep everyone calm, but there were always a few males too riled up by the season and the reason they were at the village, and fights always broke out.

Last time a gathering had happened, he had personally intervened in more than a dozen brawls, tearing the two opponents off each other and confining them to their cabins for a day or two as punishment.

His three younger brothers weren’t as diplomatic. Storm in particular loved getting stuck into a fight, bashing heads and drawing blood, giving the two males a taste of his strength.

Storm hated being in charge of overseeing the gathering, would prefer to be in the thick of it, fighting and fucking, but it was tradition for their bloodline now, and that meant his brother was confined to the side lines with the rest of them.

Personally, Rath wasn’t interested in the gathering at all, would rather it never happened, or at least happened elsewhere, somewhere far away from Cougar Creek.

He didn’t need females invading his territory.

Wasn’t interested in the silent, or sometimes not so silent, invitations they issued to him.

He would leave the job of satisfying them to the other males who would follow their instincts back to the pride village, forgoing their solitary life for a few weeks to wait for the females to come and to fight for dominance and the right to be the one who would ease her needing.

Hell, some of them would even mate.

Rath paused at the kitchen counter in front of the picture window, staring out of it at the lush grass and the valley beyond it, and the snow-capped mountains that rose in the distance, seeing a different time, one close to fifty years ago now.

When he had found a mate of his own.

One who had been ripped from him.

He shoved her out of his thoughts and focused on his morning ritual, reaching for the cafetiere and setting it down on the polished wooden counter, spooning coffee grounds into the bottom of it and then grabbing the steel kettle. He set it on the stove, stooped and grabbed the white plastic water container and growled.

It was empty.

Shit.

He had meant to fill it last night before heading to bed, but had been so tired after finishing the repairs to the inside of the cabin nearest the river, one of a couple that had been damaged by a winter storm, that he had passed out on the couch.

A cabin he would have to work on again today, getting the roof repaired, because he was running out of time.

The family who owned it had sent word that they would be arriving soon.

The letter he had picked up on a supply run to the nearest settlement had contained more than just news of their imminent arrival though.

It had contained a request for him to personally court the female who would be coming, one who had recently reached her one hundredth year and matured.

He wasn’t interested and he would make that clear when the party arrived, would have sent them a damned reply already if they had chosen to email him rather than sending a letter. A flat refusal wouldn’t appease this particular family, would only see them trying to convince him, so he would use his position as pride protector as a shield to get them to change their mind, telling them he couldn’t participate.

The only thing he wanted to take care of were the cabins.

He stuffed his feet into his black boots, grabbed the empty water can and a metal pail, and zipped up his fleece before opening the door and bracing himself. Damn, it was cold. He needed water, and then coffee, lots of coffee, before he could brave the weather and start work on the roof of the cabin.

His strides were quick at first, carrying him off the raised deck and down the steps to the grass, but they slowed as he looked at the valley, at his home, breathed in the crisp air and absorbed the silence, falling back into savouring it again, clinging to these last remnants of quiet before the storm hit.

Literally.

Things always got crazy when his brothers descended on him all at once, returning from the cities to annoy him for weeks on end, stomping all over his territory and invading his space.

His second youngest brother, Storm, always lived up to his name, and he was due to return soon, before the others and before the males came for the gathering, having drawn the short straw to help him prepare all the cabins, opening them up and airing them out, and getting any last minute repairs completed.

A smile tugged at his lips. It would be good to see him though. It had been more than a year since Storm had hit the creek, his work keeping him away. Rath appreciated the extra funds rolling in from his direction though, so he wasn’t going to complain when he saw him. Everyone who owned a cabin at the creek donated to running the village, paying Rath a small wage that covered whatever food and supplies he had to buy and couldn’t just hunt or gather.

He glanced at the single storey log cabin nestled beneath the trees to his left and groaned as he saw the state of the right hand side of the pitched roof. He was going to be up there for hours, repairing and replacing all those shingles. Still, he would have one heck of a view.

Rath looked to his right, at the river and the mist that danced above it, swirling in places as the breeze stirred it. Birdsong filled the air, the sound a melody he always loved hearing, and the sun cast a golden glow over the fog as it rose, and turned the snow on the peaks amber too. The sky beyond them was clear today, threaded with only fingers of clouds that burned gold in the sunrise.

Fuck, it was beautiful.

The bite in the air felt good in his lungs, invigorating him.

He looked back at the cabin, at the damage that had been done to the roof when the lodgepole pines that sheltered it had shed snow on it, the sudden impact breaking a whole area of old shingles and one of the roof trusses. The square window on that side of the gable end had a crack in it and would need repairing too, but he would have to patch it up for now, until he could get some glass in. He was sure the family would understand he had prioritised the roof and replacing the old rotten deck planks, and that other cabins had needed his attention so he hadn’t been able to get new glass.

The cabin was larger than his own, formed an L shape in the woods, branching off to the left of the front of the cabin, around the tallest lodgepole pine, and the ceiling was vaulted inside, left open above the rooms.

It added a feeling of space, but Rath preferred having his bedroom in the loft, making use of the roof area.

Plus, he had a fantastic view of the valley from his bed.

He twisted the cap off the white water container and stuck it in his back pocket as he approached the river. When he hit the pebbled bank, he set the container down and bent to scoop water into the pail.

He paused.

His ears twitched.

The birds fell silent.

His instincts rose to the fore, heightening his senses, and he swept them around him, searching for the source of the disturbance he had felt. Something was out there. It was probably just one of the local animals on the other side of the river, stepping out of cover to scare the birds. With the mist, he couldn’t see the bank on that side, and it had him twitchy, his cougar instincts putting him on high alert.

Only one thing in the valley could harm him, and possibly kill him, and the bear shifters tended to keep to themselves and avoid the creek.

Whatever had just wandered into his territory was just an animal, not a threat to him.

Still, he tipped his head back and drew air over his teeth, scenting it to see what he was dealing with.

Rath stilled as he didn’t scent an animal.

He smelled a human.

A floral note, tinged with sweat. Probably a hiker, but he was damned if a human was going to encroach on his territory.

He set the pail down beside the container as he rose onto his feet in one fluid motion. He tracked the scent through the mist, following it along the bank to the right of the clearing. It grew stronger as he reached the trees, and he slowed his breathing and moved stealthily through the fog, his acute senses charting the route ahead of him. His muscles coiled as he focused, his senses heightening further, and he assessed the danger and the human he could now feel ahead of him, barely twenty metres away.

They were still on his senses.

Stalking something?

He slowed his movements, each step careful and silent, so he didn’t alert them, just in case it was a hunter strayed into his territory.

His vision sharpened, allowing him to see the human before it could see him through the mist, giving him the upper hand.

Rath stilled again.

It wasn’t a male.

It was a female.

A curvy brunette who looked as stunned as he felt as the mist cleared between them and she lifted her head and blinked at him.

She wasn’t a hunter either.

She had been shooting, but it wasn’t a gun she had aimed at him.

It was a camera.