1. Cassian

Sweat drips down my forehead, stinging my eyes as I continue to count my push-ups. "Two-thirty-six, two-thirty-seven…" My voice trembles with the strain of lowering my body onto the floor in a controlled manner and then pausing momentarily before pushing my massive six-and-a-half-foot frame up again. "Two-thirty-eight," I grunt out.

My muscles are shaking, my abs are burning, and my lower back is screaming at me to stop, but I keep going. Two-fifty. Two-sixty. Two-seventy-five…

"Fuck," I roar as I collapse onto the hardwood floor. I roll onto my back, heaving out a breath before gasping for more air. My arms and legs are spasming from the strenuous workout while the muscle formerly known as my heart hammers against my ribcage.

The adrenaline from pushing my body to the absolute limit is starting to wear off, taking what little dopamine my brain gets these days with it. As I lie in a sweaty heap on the floor, I try to keep my eyes open. When I close them, all I see is the exploding grenade that changed our lives forever.

Wilder is the one who came up with the hair-brained idea to buy an old mining town up here in the Smoky Mountains and rebuild it into our own place. A safe haven from the rest of the world while we heal from the trauma of war. I know Wilder blames himself for what happened overseas, but he"s found a little bit of peace since he settled down with his girl, Ari.

Huxley and I joined Wilder about a month ago, and the three of us have been hard at work to make this the oasis we dreamed about while literally in the trenches together. The demolition was mostly done by the time Huxley and I arrived, so we've been focusing on erecting new buildings and fixing up the few stable structures left. It's solitary, backbreaking work, and it's exactly what I need right now.

Elliot will be joining us soon, and I'll admit, I'm nervous about how it will affect Wilder. Our fellow Army Ranger received the worst of the damage from our last mission. While the three of us caught shrapnel here and there, Elliot damn near blew his leg off and bled out.

Wilder carries so much guilt from that day, but it wasn't his fault. He was the leader, yes, but none of us saw the surprise attack coming. We didn't know we were walking into a trap…

I grunt and peel myself off of the hardwood floor, making my way to the shower. As I turn the water on and adjust the temp to scalding hot, I'm reminded of all the days we didn't have the option to clean up, let alone the luxury of hot water. Even though we're in the middle of nowhere, Wilder made sure we had all the modern conveniences. Hot water, electricity, and recently, high-speed satellite internet. I can thank Ari for that, though I haven't yet. I'm not good with people, let alone women.

I was always a bit awkward and gruff growing up, and living on the streets in my later teen years didn't help that. Joining the military gave me direction and purpose, as well as a chain of command. I wasn't used to that, but it helped shape me into the man I am today.

Stepping inside the shower, I groan as the boiling water hits my skin. The burn feels good. At least this is a physical pain that will pass, unlike the darkness that's poisoned my mind.

After a few minutes of standing under the stream, I grab the bottle of body wash and soap up, scrubbing my skin vigorously as if I could somehow wipe away the fucked up dreams and flashbacks I still get.

My mind wanders to the projects we need to finish at the work site, along with the myriad of projects we haven"t even started yet. That"s all in addition to working on our homes and building this town from the ground up. I don"t mind the hard labor. In fact, it suits me just fine. It"s a great workout, and I"m all too eager to do literally anything except sit alone with my thoughts.

Before I continue on any projects, however, I need to find out who has been sneaking around the worksite. I had a suspicion we weren"t alone the other day. It was a gut feeling, something raw and undeniable that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I don"t like being watched. I like surprises even less.

The next day, there were a pair of dainty shoe prints, much too small to be mine, Wilder"s, or Huxley"s. Their women don"t usually come down to the site unless they need something specific, and as far as I know, it"s been a while since either of them was there. Hence, an intruder.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I catch the little punk, but trespassing is a serious offense in my book. Especially up here in the mountains. I've learned in the short time I've been up here that mountain folks are nothing if not territorial. Works for me.

Maybe a good scare or yelling at them in my deep baritone voice will do the trick. Most people are cowards when push comes to shove, and I could do with a little cathartic shouting.

After rinsing off, I take a few more seconds to savor the hot water before shutting it off and drying myself with a towel. I throw on jeans and a t-shirt, then shove my feet into a pair of work boots before grabbing a jacket and heading down to the worksite. The sun will be setting in a few minutes, which means our little trespasser will be back to strike again.

As soon as I step off of my porch, I look over and see Huxley with his girl, Jordan. The two of them are, uh, a bit distracted by the makeout session I accidentally walked in on. Averting my eyes, I shake my head and push down the sting of jealousy.

I'm not in love with Jordan or anything like that. She seems like a sweet girl who was sheltered her entire life, and Huxley was the perfect person to pull her out of her shell and get her to smile and experience the world.

Great. Good for them. I'm happy for my friends. Wilder and Ari, too. Well, maybe not happy. I don't remember the last time I've had that emotion, or any emotion, really, but that's beside the point. The jealousy is mostly…. They found their person. I thought the four of us would be loners together, even if that's an oxymoron. Then two of my friends went and fell ass-over-heels in love with their women, leaving me up here to play the third wheel - fifth wheel? - until Elliot shows up.

I'm not concerned about Elliot finding someone to settle down with anytime soon. He's an even grumpier bastard than I am, only instead of keeping his bitterness locked inside like I do, he vocalizes it. It would take a special kind of woman to smooth down those rough edges, and I'm not seeing a plethora of options up here at the moment.

Still. Knowing Wilder and Huxley have a new priority and a new purpose in life has me feeling a bit out of place.

"Where are you off to?" Huxley asks in his booming voice. It seems that he's managed to untangle his tongue from Jordan's long enough to address me.

"Worksite," I grunt.

"A bit late to be starting on anything. Do you have enough light?"

I wave away his concern. "I'm not starting anything. I'm going to go see who has been camping out during the nights in our buildings. I know we have a squatter."

Huxley looks like he might say something, but then he just nods and turns his attention back to Jordan, who is looking at him like she can't believe she's here, with the love of her life.

It'd melt my heart if I had one.

Scowling to myself, I trudge down the well-worn path that leads from our cabins to the actual town. I"m in a horrible mood, which almost makes me feel bad for whoever I come across tonight. I won"t be holding back anything, so they better be ready for a rude wake-up call.