Chapter 2: Riley’s Mate—Chapter 2

Tyler Vargas lifted the ax and slammed it down, splitting the wood cleanly down the middle. The two pieces fell to the side of a respectable pile he had going.

He might not be able to run anymore, but he could certainly use his strength to be useful. He shot a look of disdain at the wood splitter sitting a few yards away. Whoever had ordered that thing needed to have their head examined. Who used a wood splitter when they could wield an ax for an honest day’s work?

He stood the next piece of wood on the stump, turning it to get the best shot for a clean cut.

And why had Riley Harrison chosen to find her way back here the very same month he’d chosen to come back to the lodge? Everyone said she’d left the day after high school graduation and hadn’t set foot in Colorado since.

Well, she wasn’t the only one. His exit had just been a little quieter and more unnoticed. She’d left without a job or a plan. He’d left a week later to play baseball, as planned. Nothing exciting or dramatic about doing what was expected.

The thing he hadn’t planned on was going alone. Riley was supposed to go with him, though he hadn’t gotten around to telling her.

Asking her. No one told Riley anything. He grinned as he split the log in half. That had been one of the things he loved about her. He always knew what she was thinking.

He knew why she was home. He just hadn’t expected to see her. He figured the old man, Joel Harrison, would go stay with his daughter while he recuperated.

He’d lost track a long time ago how many times he’d woken up in the early light of dawn with his thoughts on Riley and wet sheets. He’d come to think of her as the reason he almost always had clean sheets.

There was one image in particular that was burned into his brain. Riley Harrison getting up from their lovemaking, a satisfied smile on her face as she morphed into a tiger.

He hadn’t been high, and he’d never been prone to delusions or hallucinations. Doubtless seeing the look of horror on his face, she’d morphed back into her human form.

His only words to her then, moments after taking her virginity, had been, “What the hell?”

She’d taken off running back to her father’s cabin. He hadn’t had the clarity of mind to go after her.

That had been the last time he’d seen her.

Fast forward to today. He now knew about shifters. In fact, he had grown up among them and lived among them now. They were good people. Harmless. Good for the environment.

He took the wood he’d cut and stacked it neatly into a growing pile in front of the wood splitter. His goal was to hide the atrocity behind a mountain of hand-split wood.

Now he had to figure out what he was going to do about Riley Harrison.

The strenuous work hadn’t done anything to dull the pull he felt toward her.