Page 6 of Fated to the Wolf Cowboy
Parker groaned, then exaggerated every step as he stomped upstairs to his room. I followed since I didn’t trust what he would choose to wear.
After a bit of arguing, we finally agreed on a clean blue shirt. I picked him up and threw him over my shoulder as I ran down the stairs, out the door, and to the old minivan.
That van was sort of nostalgic for us all now, but I’d nearly pissed myself laughing the first time I saw Oliver drive up in that thing. He’d made a sacrifice trading his most prized ride for a mom-van, but he’d done it for his daughter. It had been the right thing to do. We all had our own vehicles now, but we kept that thing just for emergencies. Or, since I still drove my motorcycle, I used it when at times like this when I had the kids.
Driving into Collier Pack territory occasionally felt a little strange, even after all these years. It was hard to forget they had once been our enemies before Luke Larken had stepped down to merge Larken and Collier Packs. It had been what was best for the Pack, but as an Alpha, it was difficult to imagine how he must struggle being a Beta to Thomas now.
I didn’t think about stuff like that often. In truth, they were all just family now—Pack. Peyton was Thomas’s sister, and Luke Larken was mated to my brother Tim’s mate’s sister. It made my head hurt to try and think about it. But as Oliver always said, you’re either family or not, and the Alpha and Beta were definitely family.
That didn’t mean it gave me any perks, though. I’d had to work hard to find my place in the Pack and I was still working hard to ensure a better place for myself at Collier Ranch, Dairy, and Farm.
By the time I finally arrived to work after dropping Parker off, Kenneth and Tim were already there.
It was a bit infuriating at times, knowing my little brothers were more equipped to manage the farm than I was. Someday I hoped they got that chance. I just prayed that would mean I was back on the range.
Pushing that thought aside I put on a smile and changed my attitude so I could do my job to the fullest. It might not be my dream, but it was a damn good job and I had an important role to fulfill.
“Brady! About time you got here,” Kenneth teased.
“Peyton put me on Parker duty this morning.”
“Well, that explains it,” Tim said. “We spoke to the foreman this morning and the exterior structure on the greenhouse should be completed today.”
“That’s wonderful news.”
“And the tomatoes are coming in, like big time. We’re going to have to start harvesting soon,” Kenneth informed me.
“We agreed we’ll get a team in to handpick this year, right?”
I wasn’t looking forward to that, but there wasn’t much of a budget left for me after investing in the greenhouse, plus updating the farm equipment. There were still things I wanted, like some picker equipment I didn’t even know the name of, but Kenneth was still insisting we didn’t need it, that handpicking the vegetables we were growing was better anyway. I hadn’t wanted to agree, but my budget told me I better.
Hell, I hadn’t even wanted to plant the damn tomatoes and, despite his arguments, put a stop to anything else until we had the greenhouse up and running. The rest would wait until spring planting when we were actually up and running and capable of supporting an agricultural line.
“Yes. That’s the best route to take,” he insisted again.
“I’ll talk with Luke, Emmett, and Cruz, maybe even Clay if the others couldn’t spare enough workers for harvesting.”
Luke oversaw all of Collier Ranch, Dairy, and Farm. Emmett and Cruz managed the ranch. Clay and Ruby were in charge of the Dairy, and I got the Farm. I’d been informed from the start that it wouldn’t be a forever thing unless I decided I wanted it to be. That helped a lot, knowing I could someday return to life as a true cowboy.
When I’d first been brought on for this project, Luke and Thomas had a long, hard discussion with me. It was universally agreed upon that my baby brother should oversee the farm operations, but he was still so young that they wanted me to step in for guidance and leadership. Tim had more of an engineering mind. Setting up the infrastructure, plotting, greenhouse, and the hydroponics system inside the greenhouse were more of his expertise and he didn’t really need a management title for that.
Of course, I wasn’t dumb enough to actually tell Kenneth that I was grooming him to take over, but that was the plan.
“Are we on track for interior as soon as the exterior is done?” I asked, changing the subject and looping back to Tim.
“Ready. All parts have arrived and Oliver’s finishing up the raised beds. We should be able to start setup in the next few days.”
“I’m looking to you to manage that, Tim.”
“What about me?” Kenneth asked.
I knew how excited he was about the greenhouse. If it hadn’t been for him no one would have even considered it.
Kenneth had met Peyton first. I don’t even really understand how that happened, but before she even met Olivershe had already sort of adopted Kenneth, Evie, and Tim. All they had talked about was Peyton this and Peyton that. Well, I guess technically he had met her first, but it was brief, unforgettable, and that dumbass had walked away from her before he even got her name. What an idiot.
While I wasn’t big on the idea of taking a mate, if I ever crossed paths with my one true mate, I’d stop at nothing to make her mine, not if it meant a chance at the happiness my big brother had found with his.
Tricia
