by Kim Fox
“Fine,” Hannibal said, releasing the handle and getting into the backseat. “Just because we have to get home to sign and we don’t have an hour to argue.”
Khan started the car and opened his window. “Where the fuck is this guy?” he asked, looking around the small town.
“Alexander the Irate?” Julius asked. “He’s probably walking home in his bear form.”
Khan hissed out a breath as he pulled the car into drive. “I wish he wouldn’t do that in town. He’s a fucking polar bear for shit’s sake. We can get away with that, but he can’t.”
The three brothers in the car could all get away with their bear being spotted. Montana was full of wild bears and Khan with his Kodiak, Hannibal with his brown bear, and Julius with his grizzly could all be seen by a local and nothing suspicious would be thought. But if Alexander’s big, white polar bear went strutting through town, like it often did, people would call the police wondering what zoo or circus he escaped from. But try explaining that to Alexander. He didn’t give a fuck what people thought.
They drove the twenty minutes it took to get back home in silence. Just the rumbling of the big engine and the sound of Khan’s heavy breathing filled Julius’ ears as he leaned back on the seat and looked at the finest scenery that Montana had to offer. The cool breeze washed over his face and ruffled his hair from the open window. They drove past a slow moving river that babbled and sloshed as it hit against the rocks jutting out for a breath of air. Julius bit his bottom lip when the memory of his dad bringing the four boys to that spot and teaching them how to fly fish, came flying to him like a knockout punch.
These past few days had been hard but this morning was the hardest. Julius had really been looking forward to seeing his father once again and the news of his passing had hit him like a truck. He put on a brave face and was quick to make a joke but he was hurting on the inside. It’s okay. You’re home now.
At least he could heal on the ranch that he loved, and start his new life. One that didn’t involve guns, bullet wounds and death.
“There’s the bi-polar bear,” Hannibal said as they pulled into the Vega Ranch. A huge polar bear was sniffing around the vegetable garden, trampling their father’s tomato plants. The backs of his legs were splattered a blood red, reminding Julius of a particularly bad battle they had gone through in Ramadi. It’s just tomatoes. It’s going to be just tomatoes from now on.
The polar bear swung his massive head over, glanced at them with disinterest and then walked away, trampling the cucumber plants as he left.
“At least there’s not a news crew following him around this time,” Khan said.
“You guys know how he is,” Hannibal said from the backseat. “Just give him time. He’ll come around.”
Hannibal was the only one who could get through to Alexander. They had a relationship that Julius could never have with his older brother. Alexander hated jokes and Julius could never hold back his tongue. The combination usually didn’t go well.
They got out of the truck and Julius smiled as he breathed in the sweet, fresh mountain air. The Vega Ranch was a stunning nine thousand acre ranch with a gorgeous backdrop of the Absaroka white-capped mountains. A huge, three hundred acre private lake was a quick horse ride away from the main house and it was stuffed with some of the best trout that Julius had ever eaten.
The ranch was loaded with wildlife from whitetail and mule deer, wild turkeys, antelope, pheasants, and not to mention the over three hundred head of cattle that roamed the pastures, and the stable full of horses that they used for transportation along the rolling hills, cropland, mountain valleys and light forests.
Their grandfather had built a magnificent log home with over ten bedrooms, that didn’t even include the guest cabins. The kitchen alone had more square footage than most houses. Julius walked to the side of the main house to the enormous garage in the back. His chest was still tight, thinking about his dad, and he wanted to wander around the place where his dad spent the most of his time: tinkering around in the garage, although it was more the size of a small warehouse than an average garage.
Julius smiled when he walked in. The place was a disaster, full of metal junk, tools and boxes of crap. It looked like an episode of Hoarders to the untrained eye but Julius knew the truth. His father knew where every single item was in that garage. The boxes were stacked with rare civil war memorabilia and other historical artifacts. Julius spent the next hour going through boxes, looking at old grainy photos of war photos of soldiers long dead and sorting through the various items. If you knew what war was actually like, Dad, you probably wouldn’t have been so enchanted with it.
Julius moved some boxes and gasped. Wow. There was an old dusty motorcycle that belonged to his grandfather sitting there, rotting away. Julius’ dad had always wanted to restore it to its former glory but he never got around to it.
Julius picked it up and started to dust it off. I’ll fix it. For you, Dad.
He didn’t know the first thing about motorcycles but he was going to make it work.
A knock at the door jerked him out of his daydream of driving over the hills on the shiny bike. Hannibal was leaning on the doorway.
“Is that Grandpa’s bike?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
Hannibal let out a sad laugh. “He never did fix it up.”
No, but I will.
“There’s only so much time that we have,” Julius said.
“That’s a nice phrase,” Hannibal said with a nod.
“Why don’t you go get it tattooed on your forehead?”
Hannibal laughed. “You always got to ruin the moment by being an asshole, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” Julius said, nodding. “It’s like a disease or something.”
Hannibal took a deep breath and his face became serious. “He’s here,” he said. “It’s time.”
Julius nodded and stepped off the bike. He took a deep, nervous breath as he looked around the garage. In a few minutes, all of this would be his.
two
Julius walked into the main room of the house with Hannibal. Khan was sitting on the couch with a can of beer resting on his bouncing knee. Alexander was leaning against the far wall with his thick arms crossed over his massive chest. He was glaring at the small man who was standing in front of the large flat-screen TV.
The lawyer was looking from large man to large man with wide nervous eyes. He was a tiny man, about the size of one of Alexander’s legs, and wearing a suit that was way too big on him. It hung off his body, looking like a kid playing dress-up in his dad’s closet.
He was clutching a DVD in his trembling hands as he swallowed repeatedly. Julius guessed that he had heard the rumors that were sometimes whispered around town. The rumors of the four Vega brothers who could turn into man-eating bears. Or he could have just been nervous at the way Alexander was staring him down. That look would have made even a rhino shifter shake in his boots.
“Hi, Mr…” Hannibal said, reaching out to shake his hand and trying to make him feel more at home. Hannibal was always doing nice stuff like that.
“Mr. Collins,” he said with a crack in his voice.
He swallowed hard and took a deep breath as Julius and Hannibal sat down beside Khan. “Come sit,” Julius said, turning to Alexander and tapping the empty spot on the huge couch beside him.
Alexander just glared at the man. “Let’s get this over with.”
“This is your father’s will,” he said as a bead of sweat dripped down his temple. “He dropped it off at my office two months ago when you guys were away in the-”
“On business,” Khan interrupted. “We were away on business.”
“Of course,” Mr. Collins said with a gulp. He turned to the DVD. “I’ll let your father do the talking.”
He fiddled with the remote while muttering something to himself as he mashed the buttons with his shaking fingers. The TV flashed on and Julius’ breath caught in his throat as his father looked back at him
with a smile on his face. Julius clenched his jaw together to stop it from trembling.
“Hello!” his father said from the TV. He was sitting behind his desk in his office as he recorded the video. “If you guys are watching this, then I’m dead. Sorry for the inconvenience.” He chuckled at his own joke. Julius wanted to grab the remote from the lawyer’s hands and pause it. His father’s face looked different than he remembered with a few more light wrinkles and the wrinkles that he did remember were deeper and longer. His brown eyes were still bright and full of life like Julius had always pictured them. It made him nauseous to think that they were sitting in a grave, deep in the ground right now, and would never open again.
“I’ve raised you boys well,” he continued. “And I am deeply proud of each one of you. Genghis you were my first born son. You are strong, powerful and as headstrong as an ox shifter. You are the natural born leader for your brothers and a true warrior, fit for your name.”
Khan looked down at the beer can on his knee. A tear escaped from his eye and traveled down the scar on his cheek.
“Alexander,” he continued. “You are passionate and fierce. A true polar bear shifter. In all of my years, I’ve never met a man so full of intensity and fire. You bring the Vega name pride.”
Alexander just stared at the TV with no emotion on his stoic face. He always hid his feelings well.
“Julius,” his father said making shivers break out down his flesh. “You are full of humor and wit. You’ve made me laugh until my stomach hurt and smile until my cheeks burned. I’ve never laughed in my life like I did when you were by my side.”
Julius looked away to the giant moose head hanging over the fireplace. It was too much to bear to think that he would never make his old man laugh again.
“And Hannibal,” his father continued. Julius felt his younger brother tighten on the couch beside him. “In your young age you are smarter than I ever was. I admire your intelligence and thirst for knowledge. You are a true scholar, like you love to point out, and you have the potential to do amazing things in your life.”
Hannibal wiped his eyes and sniffed.
“You four boys mean the world to me. You really do. You’ve filled my days with joy and wonderment as I’ve watched you grow into the incredible men that you are today. But still,” his father said with a sniff, “I feel that I’ve failed you.”
Julius and Hannibal glanced at each other with a curious look.
“The greatest gift that a shifter could receive is a mate.”
All four boys glanced at the lawyer and his wide eyes darted to the floor. He knew their secret now but from the way his face went pale and his knees were shaking it didn’t look like he was about to betray them anytime soon.
“These are my dying words so listen to me closely boys,” he said. His eyes were starting to water as his voice got stern and his face became serious. “I loved your mother. I know that you all had issues with her but she was the best thing to ever happen to me. That day that she took her life was the darkest day of my life. If I didn’t have you boys I would have joined her. I’ve heard all four of you swear that you’ll never take on a mate and I fear that you’re making a grave mistake. A mate is more than a wife, more than a girlfriend and more than a woman. A mate is more than love, more than feelings and more than emotions. A mate is you. It’s more you than you. As a shifter, you’re not whole until a mate comes and completes you. Your souls are one; made of the same substance, woven of the same matter. You won’t understand this until you experience it.”
Julius shifted uncomfortably in his seat. All of this talk of mates was creating a lot of tension in the room. He knew how his brothers felt about it, because he felt the same way, and one elegant speech by his father wasn’t about to displace years of seeing the damage that having a mate could do to a shifter.
“So I’ve failed you in life but I will not fail you in death,” he continued. “You boys will see how a mate will change your life for the better.” Their father cleared his throat as a feeling of dread washed over Julius. This was not going to be good.
Their father lifted up a piece of paper off the desk and read from it. “The Vega Estate, including the ranch, all lands, holdings, savings, and possessions, will be left to the great state of Montana, unless Genghis Vega, Alexander Vega, Julius Vega and Hannibal Vega all take on mates within the next year and get married to them.” He looked at his watch. “Starting now.”
The lawyer stared at the floor with his eyes closed as the boys erupted in complaint around him. How could his father do this? This ranch had been in the family for four generations. It was their birthright and he was just going to hand it over to the state? This was bullshit!
His father paused on the television and waited in silence as if he knew that they would be bursting out in anger right now. After a minute, he cleared his throat. “I know that you’re probably mad and upset right now. But this has to be the way. You’ll all thank me one day. I promise you that.”
“Don’t fucking count on it!” Khan yelled at the TV as he crushed the empty beer can in his hand.
“I love you all,” his father continued. “I’m sure that each one of you will do what is right and make the family proud.” He reached forward to turn the camera off and the TV went black.
Khan whipped his head to the lawyer who was trying to blend into the wall. “Get us out of this!” he ordered.
Mr. Collins gulped. “I can’t. It’s airtight. Your father made sure of that.”
“Then cut it open and let some air out,” Khan said, glaring at him.
The small man lifted up some papers that were shaking in his trembling hands. “There’s more,” he said in a voice as quiet as a mouse. If Julius didn’t have enhanced shifter hearing he wouldn’t even have heard.
“What is it?” Julius asked, feeling his stomach roll.
“Your father was afraid that you would all wait until the last moment and then fail to find mates in time.”
This wasn’t good.
“He came to my office last month to change the terms of the will.”
“Well, what is it man?” Khan asked impatiently when Mr. Collins just stood there.
“One of you has to find a mate and get married within the first month or you all lose your inheritance.”
Khan was grinding his teeth so loud that it sounded like a truck was going to come through the wall. “Anything else?” he asked in a tight voice.
Mr. Collins shook his head no.
“You know where the door is,” Khan said. He didn’t have to tell him twice. Mr. Collins was running towards it before Khan could even finish his sentence.
The four Vega brothers sat in silence for what felt like an eternity.
“Shotgun not me,” Julius called out.
“You can’t do that!” Hannibal complained.
“I just did!”
Alexander turned and walked away while they were bickering. “Where are you going?” Julius called to him. “We’re going to figure this out fairly.”
“You guys figure it out fairly,” he said coldly. “I’m out.”
“What do you mean you’re out?” Julius said, jumping up off the couch.
Alexander just ignored him and walked out of the house.
“Forget him,” Hannibal said. “He’s a lost cause. He won’t find a mate. He’d rather go back to the army.” Julius knew that it was true. If they pushed Alexander right now he would just leave and then they would all lose out on the family estate. They had to work on him slowly over the next year.
“Fine,” Julius said, shaking his head. “I can’t do that to a poor girl anyway.”
Hannibal sighed. “I guess it’s between the three of us.”
Khan stood up, squeezing the crushed can in his hand with white knuckles. “Between you two.”
“What?!?” Julius snapped, his arms flying out. “Don’t fuck us over like this!”
“I’m not taking on a mate,” Khan grumbled and stormed out o
f the room. The house shook as the front door slammed, nearly ripping off the hinges.
“What the fuck?!?” Julius said when it was just him and Hannibal left.
“He’s still hung up on that girl,” Hannibal said. “He’s not going to take on a mate. He’s still in love with Bailey.”
“Well, I’m still in love with banging a different chick every weekend but you don’t see me being a little bitch about it.”
Hannibal sighed. “They’re lost causes,” he said. “We have to worry about them later. It’s between us or we’re going to lose the ranch.”
Julius sighed as he dropped down onto the couch, letting his frustrated body sink into the soft cushions. His younger brother was right. He just had to suck it up and face the reality. It was either Hannibal and him fight it out or he gets a shitty apartment and goes to work at Starbucks.
“How do you want to settle this?” Julius asked with a sigh.
“Chess?” Hannibal answered with a raised eyebrow.
“Fuck that,” Julius said, jumping up and grabbing the matches over the fireplace. He pulled out two. He placed one in his teeth as he lit the other one against the side of the pack. It whooshed into a flame and he blew it out.
“The burnt match has to find a mate,” he said, mixing them up in his hand.
Hannibal jumped up and rubbed his hands together as he started to breathe heavily. “Alright,” he said as Julius held out his closed fist with the bottoms of the two matchsticks sticking out.
Hannibal closed his eyes and pulled one out.
Shit.
“Woo hoo!” Hannibal cheered, jumping around the room like he just won the lottery.
Julius felt like he was going to throw up as he opened his fist. He felt more burnt then the matchstick sitting in his open palm.
“Use that picture,” Julius said, looking over Hannibal’s shoulder at the computer. “It shows my abs. Chicks love my abs.”
Hannibal clicked the picture and it popped up onto Julius’ new profile. It was Hannibal’s idea to go on The Bride Guide website to find a suitable match. The tagline read: You’ve tried, you’ve been denied, now order a bride. It sounded stupid to Julius but what choice did he have? They were in the middle of a nine thousand acre ranch. It wasn’t exactly like there was a long line of women to choose from and the women at The Call of the Wild bar on the weekends were city girls looking for a quick fuck. They weren’t looking for a quick marriage and that’s what Julius needed right now.