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off her feet if you needed them.” He cleared his throat and gave her a side glance. “Charlotte got on well with the Chastells, despite 29
    their contrary natures. And they loved your aunt. Burke and his brothers were always helping her with one thing or another.”
    “Really?” To ingratiate themselves with the old woman so she’d sell them her property?
    Gerald chuckled. “Such suspicion in those pretty eyes. Really, Rachel, Charlotte loved those ‘lost boys,’ as she liked to call them. Yes, Burke and his brothers want the land back that once belonged to them, but they never pressured Charlotte to sell. She told me that Burke had asked once, and only once. She said no, and he accepted her decision.
    He still put new shingles on her roof when the old ones wore down. And Grady and Dean still mow her lawn and help with odds and ends when she needs, ah, needed it.”
    “Grady and Dean?”
    “Burke’s brothers. The Chastells are three confirmed bachelors living on a large spread out here. Catamount Ranch isn’t that big by ranch standards, a few hundred acres at most. And much of their land is hilly, being so near the mountains. But it’s pure and clear. And it’s theirs.”
    Like this place is now mine. Rachel rolled down her window as they pulled onto a long drive. Over a small hill a two-story, cream-colored house came into view. Warmth settled in her belly, the possibility of a new beginning taking root. Any unpleasant feeling vanished as she caught sight of her new home.
    And then Burke arrived in his pick-up, kicking up dust, and shattered her peace.
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Chapter Three
    Burke slammed the door to his truck and ignored Rachel, scanning the surrounding forest for the uninvited signs of life he’d sensed as soon as he’d stopped the truck and took a sniff. Someone was out there, but he couldn’t determine friend or foe. Too many other scents clouded the wind, though once again, Rachel’s wasn’t one of them. No womanly smell, no sexual need, nothing.
    “Burke?”
    “Why don’t you show Rachel the house, Gerald? I just remembered something I forgot to take care of the last time I was here.”
    Gerald shot a sharp look at the woods directly beyond Burke and nodded, his nose twitching. “Good idea. Come on, Rachel. Let me show you the box Charlotte left for you.
    It’s inside.”
    Rachel glanced from Gerald to Burke and nodded. To Burke’s relief, she filed inside the house without a murmur of protest. His skin itching to make the change and investigate his source of unease, he walked quickly into the treeline a few hundred feet from the house and began shedding his clothing. In less than a minute, he’d stashed his clothes behind a massive boulder and shifted into his inner beast—a large mountain lion.
    Breathing deep, he closed his eyes to focus, and headed west. A short distance from his starting point he saw an equally large catamount facing off against a trio of gray wolves. Didn’t those bastards ever travel anywhere solo?
    “How long have they been here?” he sent his brother Grady.
    “Too long.” Grady hissed, scratching at the ground in front of him. One of the wolves growled, but the bigger ones by his side held him back with a small sound. The wolves eyed both cats and slowly backed away, their eyes locked until a reasonable distance had been asserted. Then they turned tail and raced into the woods.
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    Grady made ready to follow when Burke planted himself firmly in his path. “No, not now. Rachel Penny, Charlotte’s niece, is with Gerald in the house.”
    Eyes wide, Grady sniffed at Burke and smiled, dropping onto his belly with a grin.
    “So that’s why I smell sex on you. You finally used the condom, eh?”
    Burke swiped at his brother, swatting his flank with a sharp slap.
    “What the hell was that for?” Grady glared and bared his teeth.
    “Do I really need a reason? You’re a pain in the ass. How’s that?”
    “Jerk.”
    “Bastard.”
    “Asshole.”
    “Nice