Page 5 of Delivered to My Fury

Zyon whirled around, knife in his hand and growled. “There’s no point. You know that. I don’t date.”

He wasn’t. I would bet my bear paws he’d die a virgin before fooling around with a female that wasn’t his fated mate. Orcs were apparently rigid in those rules. That was why he’d left his former horde. They were trying to force single orcs to mate outside of Fate, for the good of the group—or so they said.

“I do, but that doesn’t stop them from wanting you.” Eero and I weren’t squeaky clean like Zyon was. We had dated in our youth but, once we knew we would share a mate with the orc, we stopped casually dating. We’d searched and searched for a female but had come up empty.

“They can’t have all this green deliciousness. Only my mate can. Our mate. Fuck. I need a beer.”

Shay dug into the fridge and pulled out IPAs for himself and me and a porter ale for the orc.

Good thing we made these for a living. Otherwise, we’d go broke.

We laughed while preparing dinner in our cabin. We lived modestly, only spending real money on food, beer, and reinvesting the rest in our business. Eero and I had some business skills from the pack, but Zyon’s knowledge of ale-making from his horde was the key to our success.

He made flavors and varieties that all shifters and monsters loved.

“Any ideas about the cream ale? I tasted the latest batch, and it’s still not quite there. It wants to be.” Eero had impeccable taste buds and, out of the three of us, he was the best with the humans. He could sell them a case of our beer even if they weren’t drinkers.

“I’m messing with the formula more tomorrow. I want the best variety when we propose our products to that human grocery store chain. They only carry the best. We have to have something that humans can’t get anywhere else.”

We all agreed, of course. We would always run the brewery, but manufacturing on a bigger scale would give us financial security.

We’d always sought that stability and a home for ourselves and a mate. Life goals. But sometimes, especially the last year or so, I was convinced the other two members of my fury had given up on a mate altogether. We lived in a small town and had seen every female here, even in neighboring towns when they came into the tasting room. Some people passed through. Tourists to the area. Visitors. Social media creators coming to taste our beer.

Our mate wasn’t among them.

Even I was beginning to lose hope.

Zyon sat back, patting his stomach. The orc could put down some steaks and beer. Before meeting him, I thought shifters were the biggest eaters. He put us all under the table.

Eero finished off his dinner and began picking up the plates while I drained the rest of my beer, wondering if we were shooting too high.

Maybe we should just be happy with the success we’d found and find a way to save more for a bigger house.

Be grateful for what we had.

My bear wasn’t satisfied and wouldn’t be until we found our mate, but I had no idea on how to find her. We had to make a living. It wasn’t like I could pack up and go on a mate hunt like in the old days.

Fate would have to work her magic.

“I’m gonna go in and work,” I announced after everything was cleaned up.

“Again?” Eero asked, wiping his hands on a dish towel. “Give it a rest, Shay. We can go for a run. It’s been too long since I let my wolf out.”

I stood there, halfway between the back door and the front. One way was back to work, and the other would let my bear expend some of the energy I barely contained. Each had its advantages. We didn’t think of only ourselves. We were a fury.

“A run. And then I might still go in. I want that cream ale the best it can be.”

Zyon started up the stairs. His big feet dwarfed them. We thought it was funny when we first walked in. “I’ll go with you. You’re right. We have to have it perfect. We can do this. It will only take a few more tweaks.”

Eero and I ran for a few hours and when we came back, Zyon was ready. He’d showered and changed into jeans and a sweatshirt. He’d baked brownies, and there was a fresh pot of coffee. Part of me knew he worked so hard to ease some of the frustration of not having a mate, and he couldn’t go run in the woods like we could.

“I’m on my way,” I said after a quick shower. “Let’s do this.”

Chapter Five

Opal

I never drank much hard liquor, choosing beer or occasionally wine when out with friends.

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