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ONE
OLIVER
Oliver set down his Montblanc Pix Ballpoint pen, rolled his shoulders, and stood. It was nearing the end of the day. While he didn’t usually call it quits this early, his bear was restless, reacting strongly to the full moon due to come out that night.
“Easy,” Oliver muttered.
The urge to shift was compelling, and he needed his bear to settle down so he could, at the very least, finish the task at hand. In an attempt to ease the disquiet inside him, he walked over to the window that looked out over his small rural town.
His reflection stared back at him. He was tall, standing at six foot five. Like his bear, he was muscular, strong, and intimidating. His hair was dark brown, like his beard, the same color as the fur that sprouted from his skin when he shifted. Incredibly intense chocolate-colored eyes stared back at him as he continued gazing out the window.
He was the town manager of Dsorloo, a community filled with bear shifters about an hour outside of the city. Oliver ran his town the same way he ran his life … with an iron fist. He was fair and kind, but he had zero tolerance for disobedience and disloyal members of his sleuth.
Not that there was an issue with that kind of behavior. The bear shifters of Dsorloo were all loyal. They loved Oliver, and he loved them. It was his greatest mission to make sure he provided them with the best possible life he could.
Every day, he worked tirelessly to improve their small town. If something was broken, he made sure it got fixed. If something was old and unable to be mended, he procured a new one. If a member of his pack needed help with something, he was the first one on the scene, eager to make sure every tiny grievance was alleviated.
Nothing in the world mattered as much to him as those he was sworn to protect. What he loved, he loved with everything he had.
He was stubborn, though. Oliver had a passion for his own beliefs, and this made it hard for him to accept other’s ideas, even if those ideas would promote bigger and better things.
His shifter side was his greatest asset. He relied heavily on his intuition and his insight. His bear often compelled him to take action when he might falter. Together, they made an unstoppable force that was incorruptible.
Another wave of restlessness washed over him, and he was fairly certain his workday was coming to a bitter halt. He debated heading to Callum Power’s house early, just to get out of the office and give his bear some peace of mind.
Callum hosted the Full Moon Masquerade, a party where shifters gathered to release all their pent-up sexual frustrations. It had been a long time since Oliver was so worked up, but now, for the first time in many, many months, he was eager to relieve the tension building by the minute.
One night on Callum’s four-hundred-acre estate would allow Oliver and all the other shifters to sate their needs. By tomorrow, Oliver would be back to his normal self, able to dedicate his full attention to the needs of his town.
The use of hunter’s block, a potion created to block pheromones, allowed shifters to have sex freely without the worry of forming mate bonds. Because of this, shifters of every kind … wolves, bears, panthers, and more, could choose their partner or partners for the evening without the threat of anything serious following them around in the morning.
For Oliver, there was no greater security net. He didn’t want anything serious. He wanted a night of cavorting with a faceless woman that he’d forget about completely once morning struck.
Callum’s masquerade party gave him exactly that. However, there was something off about today. His bear was more than restless, he was keyed up at the thought of tonight. And while the full moon always called to them, the pull of the impending masquerade was screaming frantically.
A resounding knock on the office door had Oliver turning toward the source of the sound. With a wordless invitation, Quintin walked in. Oliver’s second-in-command and closest friend was similar in stature to Oliver, but that’s where the similarities ended.
Personality-wise, Quintin wasn’t quick to anger. He was calm and even-tempered. They were opposites, and it worked because they offset each other’s worst qualities and spent their time bettering the bear shifter community.
Quintin’s blue eyes twinkled as he strolled into the office. His bald head gleamed in the sunlight.
“Eager for tonight?” Quintin questioned, a grin lighting up his face.
Oliver shrugged a broad shoulder. While it was true he was eager to sate his needs and give his bear some reprieve, he had work to do. He wanted, more than anything, to be able to focus.
“I wouldn’t say I’m not looking forward to it. The shit on my desk just keeps piling up. The bridge on Old High Fort Road is out from that flood. We need to secure funding to rebuild that. I have that meeting with the city council on Tuesday, and I’m not prepared for It …”
“But you will be,” Quintin interrupted. “Why don’t you focus on tonight? You’re restless. You can’t sit still. You’ve been in this office since four-thirty this morning.”
Oliver arched a dark brow. “How the hell do you know that?”
Quintin grinned, and for Oliver, that grin was answer enough.
“Ah, Ronnetta. But she didn’t come in until six.”
“My wife knows everything. That, and she checked what time the security system was turned off.”
Oliver couldn’t help but smile at that piece of information. “Well, she’s nothing if not thorough.”
