Chapter 1

Chapter One

O range and pink streaks crisscrossed the deepening blue sky over Sapphire Ranch. Duncan Ross —no one called him Duncan and lived to tell the tale except his mother—paused for a moment to enjoy the sunset before he rejoined the pack inside the ranch house. Inside, there would be loved-up gay couples, shifters and humans, and ongoing discussions about the human hunters trying to kill them. Sometimes a single man just had to appreciate the quiet of the evening, the endless sky, and the critters settling down for the night before walking into a world that had turned his life upside down. Except Ross wasn't truly a part of this strange world…yet. He was still waiting.

He opened the kitchen door, expecting a wall of sound. Instead, he was greeted by tension he could cut with a knife. What had happened now? Was more trouble heading their way? Ross hoped the hell not. The local hunters were dead or in jail and they weren't expecting trouble from outsiders yet. His pack was exhausted and needed time to decompress from the past few months.

Into the silence, he said, "The horses are all settled, but we're low on feed for the cows. I'll get supplies tomorrow."

Then he realized all eyes were on a slim, lithe man with light brown hair tied back in a ponytail by the door. Ross glanced at him curiously to discover the stranger gazing at him, his face going ashen, as he made a choking noise. What was wrong with this guy? He was a shifter. Ross was sure of that, but he hadn't met him before. "Oh hey, sorry, I didn't know we had a visitor."

"Oh, shit," Eli, his boss and the leader of the Cavalry security firm, said. "Not another one." He knocked his head against the large kitchen table.

Then the guy turned Ross's world upside down. "I came to find you. I just don't know how I got here."

Ross furrowed his brow. "I don't understand." At Owen's snort, Ross glanced at him, then back to the young man. "Are you all gonna be cryptic and shit?"

Well, this is a clusterfuck.

You're telling me.

"Wait, I heard that in my head." Ross furrowed his brow, confused, then he went pale. He didn't need someone waving a sign to tell him what a voice in his head meant. "You're my mate."

"Give the guy a gold star," Owen muttered.

"But how?" The shifter stared at Ross, his light green eyes wide and shocked and looking as if he were about to faceplant on the kitchen floor. "You're a…human."

Joe, whose family owned the ranch, grinned at him. "Welcome to the Sapphire Ranch pack, Dylan. Sit down next to Ross."

Eli held up his hand. "Before you put your feet under the pack table or get jiggy with my operative, Anderson, let's start with the basics. What the hell happened to you?"

Ross turned to his mate. Your name is Dylan Anderson?

I don't know. The grumpy guy seems to think so.

Ross grinned at the accurate description of his boss. He's always grumpy. Just ignore him.

Then Dylan looked between them all. "I've got no clue. I don't know who you are. I just knew I had to find him." He waved at Ross who took his hand.

"We'll find out," Ross assured him. "That's what we do."

He had ultimate faith in his new pack and the security agency he worked for. "Eli?"

"He's Dylan Anderson," Eli growled. "He was one of us. I can provide his personal information…once we find out where he's been."

Dylan flinched and Ross gathered him closer, glaring at his boss for scaring his mate.

"He had long, black hair in the photo you showed me," Owen said to Zeke.

Zeke shrugged. "Maybe he dyed it for an assignment."

Ross glowered at them. " He is sitting right here."

Both apologized to Dylan, but his mate was ready to bolt. Ross held him close, not about to let him get away that easily. He'd been waiting for his mate since he'd discovered the existence of shifters. A naked man changing into a wolf was damn convincing. That naked man was now Eli's mate, Sheriff Milo, sitting next to Eli.

Ross wasn't stupid. He understood Eli's reservations about welcoming Dylan Anderson into the pack. He'd heard the name before, and a Cavalry operative gone dark was a danger to the whole pack. As they'd been betrayed by a shifter operative recently it was no wonder his boss didn't trust Dylan.

Betrayal hit him like a strong wave in his head, and Ross realized it came from his mate. He could hear everything Ross had just thought.

"I'm sorry," Ross said immediately, turning to hold Dylan's hands and gaze into his light green eyes. Ross had never seen eyes like his. They were the deepest spring green with gold lines. He could drown in Dylan's eyes. Ross pushed Dylan's hair back from his face, noticing a small scar edging his left cheek. "This is all new for me."

"Duncan," Dylan whispered.

"Call me Ross, everyone does."

"Okay, I don't care who you are, Dylan." Cal, the omega wolf of the alpha pair, interrupted their conversation. "Right now, you're tired and shaking. You need food. Bring him to the table, Ross. Budge up, Milo. There's two of them now."

Cal's mission in life was to feed his pack and Ross, even as an unmated human, had always been part of the pack, so his mate was too. Milo obligingly shifted closer to Eli.

Dylan was shaking. Ross was embarrassed that he'd been so overwhelmed at the idea of finding his mate that he hadn't noticed. For a wolf to be this exhausted, he had to have been on the road for a long while. Ross put an arm around Dylan's thin shoulders and led him to the table. He eased Dylan into his seat and sat down next to him, taking his trembling hand.

"Are you sure you want me here?" Dylan glanced around the table. He caught Eli's scowl and pushed closer to Ross who put his arm around him again.

"No," Eli growled. "I'm not fucking sure."

"He's not going anywhere," Ross insisted.

"Eli, back the fuck down," Joe, the alpha of the pack, ordered. "We take care of our mates, you know that. Let him eat and decompress. You can question him later."

Ross smiled gratefully at Joe, but his boss wasn't finished.

"What if he brings the hunters here?" Eli barked.

"Then we deal with it," Cal said, "but no mate of our pack goes hungry."

"What hunters?" Dylan asked, looking confused. "I don't know about any hunters."

They all stared at him.

"You don't know who the hunters are?" Ross asked gently.

Dylan shook his head. "I don't remember anything except waking up four days ago with this address imprinted in my head. I had to get here."

Ross took Dylan's hand and held it tight. He watched Eli bristle, but Milo was clearly talking to him through their link, because he sighed and nodded. He caught Dylan's bemused expression as he watched the dynamics around the table.

"I know this is confusing and not like any pack you've encountered before. We're humans and wolves, and we're all gay." He nodded as the two older men coughed. "Bisexual too."

"All gay?" Dylan asked.

"Sapphire Ranch pack is run by Joe, that's him, and his mate, Cal."

Dylan stared at Joe. "But you're human."

"What gave it away?" Joe said dryly. He rolled his eyes as his mate shot him a scowl. "Ask all your questions now and we'll try to answer them."

Dylan turned to the older men. "You're the strongest wolves. Why aren't you the alpha pair? You're an alpha," he said to Peter. "My wolf wants to submit to you. And why are you a wolf and he isn't?" That was aimed at Joe Senior.

"I'm Joe's dad, but I've only just become a wolf." Joe Senior counted the points off his fingers. "I'm getting used to the wolf thing. This is Peter, my mate. We were friends as kids, and we've just met again."

Peter smiled at him fondly. "I have to remind him not to broadcast his power to everyone."

Joe Senior shrugged. "It's complicated. I was dying and they found my mate. He saved me."

"Joey is mine." Peter held him close. "I know I'm the strongest alpha, but I was thrown out of my family's pack as a teenager. Since then, I've never wanted to be an alpha or even part of a pack. This…" he waved around the table, "is all new to me. My mate and I need us time, not dealing with pack politics."

Joe snorted. "Like the rest of us got a minute to ourselves the second we mated. I met Cal when he came into my yard as a wolf, and I shot him." He grinned at Dylan's gasp. "Then my friend, Eli, met the sheriff, who's hidden his wolfy side for years, and Zeke met Owen, who was exiled from Cal's former pack."

"I get the feeling you're missing a lot out."

"You have no idea," Joe said with feeling. "I want to welcome you with open arms, Dylan, but Eli has been my friend for years and came when I asked him. I trust him with my life. If he needs to know what happened to you before he trusts you, I agree with that too."

Ross saw Eli relax a fraction at the praise. He knew it was hard for an alpha guy like Eli not to be in charge, but they all knew Eli would defend them to the end of days, him included.

"Do you want me to go?" Dylan asked, his face pinched.

"You're not going anywhere without me," Ross assured him.

Joe coughed and they both turned to him. "Dylan, you get to eat, decompress, and meet your mate. Ross will take care of you. You're welcome on these terms. I'm gonna listen to what Eli has to say and maybe we can make sense of your past. Owen here is real good at working out who's talking bullshit. He's got those instincts."

As Dylan shrank back, Ross wrapped his arms around his mate, scowling at Joe. "We can go elsewhere if you're gonna throw threats at him."

Dylan tipped his head to look at him. "You can't speak to your alpha like that."

Cal snorted as he placed a plate on the table with a thick, juicy steak, a baked potato with all the trimmings, and mac ‘n cheese. "Dylan, this is going to be hard to understand, but Sapphire Ranch isn't like a normal pack. We've all got a voice here. From the alpha to the omega, from the exiled wolf to the newest member, that's you, even if you're still finding your way. We're an unusual pack."

"I don't think I've met a pack like yours," Dylan admitted.

"I don't think anyone has a pack like ours," Cal said and turned to his mate. "I guess we won't be going to your apartment right now?"

Joe shrugged. "Not until we find out what's going on."

"You can stay with us," Milo said.

"I don't want to throw you off the ranch," Joe Senior said.

Joe rolled his eyes. "So you haven't been telling me it's your ranch and I'm just the hired help every other conversation?"

"He's got you there," Peter said.

Joe Senior grunted. "Maybe."

From the whimper, Ross had a feeling Dylan was more focused on the food than the discussion around the table. He could feel the hunger pangs in his belly as if they were his own.

"Eat," he said gently, and Dylan tore into the meal like he hadn't eaten in weeks.

Ross caught Owen's sympathetic expression. The exiled wolf knew what it was like to be hungry.

Owen raised his eyes to Ross. "Take care of him," he mouthed. "He's empty inside."

He wasn't sure what that meant, but he nodded and kept his arm around Dylan even as his mate ate as if this was his last meal.

Ross knew he was going to have to make nice with his boss before the evening was out. Eli was fiercely protective of his security company and his pack. Since they'd discovered shifter traitors in their ranks, Eli's protective nature had intensified to where Milo grumbled that Eli would send every pack member with a guard, no, two, if he could get away with it. Eli never denied it.

But for the first time, Ross understood what it meant to have a mate. He would stand between Dylan and the world to keep him safe, even if it meant leaving the job he loved and the pack that had become his new family. Dylan was his and there would never be anyone else. Ross was also a Cavalry man to his fingernails and knew his boss was right. He needed to know what lay behind Dylan's vanishing act and sudden reappearance. It was suspicious to say the least.

Dylan stared at his empty plate as if he couldn't believe he'd finished it. He whimpered as Cal took it away.

"It's okay," Ross said. "He's refilling it for you."

"I don't want to be greedy."

"No one goes hungry here," Cal said, returning to the table with another plate, and Ross noted the pointed stare at Owen.

"I'm used to being hungry," Owen said with a shrug. "Being part of a pack that gives a shit whether you live or die is new."

"I will always care," the Black guy by his side rumbled.

Ross had known Zeke for years and still found it hard to believe how loving and gentle he was with his mate. The man scared the daylights out of some of the other operatives, but Ross had seen another side of him since meeting Owen. He'd wanted that for himself and now he had, he wasn't sure how to handle it.

He glanced at his mate. He had the feeling Dylan was still only half-listening as he dove into the second plate, as full as the first one. Dylan hadn't moved out of his hold. He seemed to need the touch as much as he needed the food. Ross caressed Dylan's back in soothing circles.

It's okay, just relax. I'm here and I won't let anything happen to you.

He wasn't sure whether his mate could hear him like he could hear Dylan, but all the other mated couples had mental links.

Am I a traitor?

It worked! A surge of excitement pushed through Ross as he heard Dylan's worried response.

I don't know. Ross couldn't lie. He had no idea who Dylan was, but Eli did. I didn't know you before.

Dylan seemed to shrink back. Eli hates me.

No, he doesn't. He's just protective of us, is all. He runs a security firm. I work for him. So did you. You have to understand, Dylan, we've been under constant attack since Joe met Cal.

From who?

Ross was just about to answer, then he hesitated. No matter what he thought about Dylan, the young shifter was still an unknown quantity, and the Cavalry needed answers. But he hurt at the sadness over their link.

You don't trust me.

Would you trust me if I walked into your pack and your pack member told me you were a traitor? Eli is my boss and my pack. I would walk through fire for him.

And me?

You're my mate.

Dylan turned to him. "What does being my mate mean to you?"

Ross blinked as Dylan switched to talking out loud.

"If you'll walk through fire for him." Dylan pointed at Eli and the conversation at the table died. "What will you do for me?"