Page 3 of Grey
Grey Williams walked out of the farmhouse as the first fingers of dawn stretched out over the sky, turning everything a soft gold and chasing the darkness of the night away. He sipped on the coffee in his metal travel mug with the Little River Farm logo, which they’d designed using an online program.
He’d just passed Avi, one of the other members of his stallion shifter herd, as he headed in to go to bed after his night shift on patrol, helping to keep their small herd safe. Avi had told him thatall was well, which was a good thing. They’d had enough problems over the last couple weeks to last a lifetime and he truly hoped that they’d seen the last of the asshole alpha stallion Colton Kane, who’d decided that he and his herd should take over the Little River Farm and drive away—or kill—Grey and his people.
He kind of doubted they’d seen the last of them, though.
Colton Kane seemed like the sort of male to hold a grudge.
Grey wasn’t. He just wanted to live his life in peace, take care of livestock, and hopefully someday find his soulmate.
The sooner the better.
He spent the morning before the August heat hit its peak tending to the cows, Daisy the solitary goat—who was more like a puppy than a goat—and the chickens. After pushing Daisyaway from the chicken coop so he could gather eggs before he fed them, he chuckled to himself.
He never thought he’d be happy taking care of livestock on a tiny farm in nowhere New Jersey with a small herd. But he was. He’d left behind a stifling herd life in Montana, and while he had some lingering regrets although it was years ago, he didn’t regret the life he had now. He was in a herd with his four best friends—their alpha Crew, Khyle, Avi, and Ford—and their elder Dexter and his mate. Khyle’s mate Tris and Crew’s mate Zara had made their farm into a thriving home for the herd.
Now it was just the three males who hadn’t found their soulmates, and Avi and Ford were taking bets on who the next lucky male would be.
Grey hoped it was him.
But since shifters weren’t known to humans, and the need to keep the secret safe from the public was of the utmost importance, if Grey’s soulmate was human, he’d have to win her heart before he shared the truth of his stallion nature with her. That way he’d know that she cared about him enough to keep the secret, even from her family.
There were stallion females, but they didn’t shift, only the males did. And herds didn’t hang out around each other, except for the occasional get-together. After what happened the last time their herd had invited another herd to spend time with them—Colton Kane deciding his herd should run the farm—Grey doubted that they’d be inviting any herds to hang with them in the future. At least it had resulted in Crew and Zara finding each other.
“How’s it going?” Crew asked as he and Zara walked into the barn where Grey was checking the eggs he’d gathered.
“Good, how are you guys doing?”
“Not bad,” Zara said. “We saw you walk into the barn and wanted to see if you needed anything. We’re heading on a run to the big-box store to stock up on paper goods.”
He turned and said, “If they have any of the zero-sugar sports drinks, I’d love a case, the one that has the yellow one in it.”
Zara made a note on her phone. “Sure thing. We’ll be back later on. See ya.”
“Have fun,” Grey said.
He finished up his work for the morning and then stopped in at the farmhouse to see Tris, their caretaker, hanging freshly washed laundry on the line.
“I have to run to the feed store—do you need anything?”
“I’m good, thanks. Are you taking someone with you?’
“Yeah, Ford’s waiting for me.”
Tris sighed. “How long will we have to worry about Colton coming after us?”
“I don’t know. I want to be hopeful that he’s moved on, but it seems premature to think he’d walk away so easily.”
“I suppose. I’m glad that Crew and Zara found each other, but I really hate that he even came our way.”
“Me too. But it’ll be okay. We’ve got a good security system in the territory and around the farmhouse and outbuildings, and the patrols too. If he does try anything, I think we’re prepared.”
Tris nodded and turned her attention back to the laundry line.
Grey walked away and met Ford at the truck and climbed behind the wheel.
He told Ford what Tris had said.
“I’m hopeful too, but who the hell knows with a guy like him? He’s got at least one screw loose.”
