He graduated college with a net worth that rivaled the biggest tech tycoons of the time. But Corey didn’t care much about the money. He just squirreled it away and invested it in stocks he picked using one of the secret pieces of software he’d developed.
That was before the war. When the draft was implemented, he was among the first to be drafted. Since both his parents were out as shifters, his name was among the first on the government registry list.
He’d just finished college, had a few billion in the bank, and was ready for a change. The war taught him a lot of important lessons, and he’d made his best friends for life while fighting for his country.
The measly VA benefits he’d been given were his cover now. He told everyone he was living off his benefits while he freelanced as a computer programmer.
Everyone knew he’d created Mate.com. The shifter/human dating site was bringing in seven figures a month, but Corey didn’t tell anyone that. He didn’t want the crew to think differently about him.
He liked staying in the cabin at Levi’s lodge and didn’t want anything to change. All those zeros in his bank account didn’t mean anything and wouldn’t give him a better life than he had now.
All he wanted was to be left alone with his work. He didn’t care about the money. He didn’t even care about the outcome. All he cared about was creating something new with his substantial brain power. The need to make breakthroughs in computer programming was what drove him.
He didn’t want women, or drugs, or rock and roll. He didn’t want money or fame. He wanted knowledge. He wanted to create. Maybe some bears would think he was humble, but Corey was anything but humble.
The power he felt when he created some amazing new piece of code made him feel like a god. There was nothing better than that in the entire world.
No matter what Levi thought, Corey loved is work too much to stop. He put his phone back on the desk and started to type on his keyboard. It was hours later when he finally pulled himself away from the computer screen to relieve an overdue call of nature.
When he passed the mirror leaving the bathroom, he stopped and took a good look at himself. Two days of stubble grew from his chin. He had a mustard stain on his cheek from a hot dog he’d eaten two days ago. How long had he been wearing this shirt? He lifted his arm and took a long sniff.
Disgusting.
He realized he hadn’t taken a shower since he’d gone out on the last rescue mission. That had been three days ago.
He growled at himself and pulled the shirt up over his head and threw it in the corner of the bathroom floor. Maybe the crew was right. He really did need to get out more.
As he turned on the shower, he rubbed his abs absentmindedly, thinking of ways he could be more social. He took off his glasses and stepped into the shower.
Maybe he should join the white water rafting club. Or maybe he should take up baking. There was plenty going on in Fate Mountain Village, but Corey had never been interested in any of the clubs or events. He just wanted to be left alone.
But he was beginning to see how his single-minded focus was having a negative effect on his life. Becoming a serious hermit could eventually hurt his ability to focus on his work. If that happened, it would be bad.
Corey didn’t know who he was without his work. It meant everything. It was everything. He had to take care of himself so he could do his work. If that meant joining the Rotary Club, then that’s what he was going to do.
Corey always felt it was important to give back to the community. He’d felt that way ever since he was a kid. His family never would have survived if not for the community organizations who’d supported his mother.
Maybe what he should do was start a charity. He stepped out of the shower and started to dry off. What kind of charity should an ex-SEAL, grizzly shifter start? There were a lot of shifters on Fate Mountain. Maybe he should start a charity that ensured shifter children got enough to eat. Or maybe he’d start a scholarship for bright young shifters in technology.
He had so much money stocked away in various bank accounts, he could start any or all of his charity ideas without the slightest financial strain. The problem was, if he started these charities, he’d have to actually run them. That meant leaving his cabin and talking to people.
He pulled on a clean pair of boxers and wiped the steam off the mirror.
Slipping on his glasses, he smiled at himself in the mirror. He could deal with people for the greater good, right?
Chapter 4
Willow spent the rest of the evening trying to write. She just couldn’t figure out how to make her heroine care that the hero had left her. The character had everything she needed, and he hadn’t added anything special to her life. Her character just didn’t feel anything.
She pressed her period key three times...
This damn book was a complete rewrite. She had to go back to the beginning and learn who these characters really were or they would never be able to fall in love.
As she was thinking about her characters, she was reminded that her stalker was still out there. This guy was a twisted sicko. Each letter got more insane. Willow was afraid he was going to eventually hurt her. Detective Johnson was on the same page about the danger level, even if he couldn’t do a thing to help her.
The stalker’s letters made it clear that he wanted her. Was this what it had come to in her own love life? An anonymous, dangerous stalker was the only man she had to think about?
She picked up her phone and navigated to Cory’s picture on Mate.com. He had a warm smile and handsome face. From what she could see, she could tell he had the big muscular frame that shifters were known for. She bit her lip and scrolled down the screen to read his profile again. He was really smart. But he worked for himself and lived in a cabin at Fate Mountain Lodge. It was an interesting lifestyle choice, one that Willow could respect. As a writer, she wouldn’t mind living in a cabin by a lake. It actually sounded quite cozy.
She sighed, thinking about a week vacation to Fate Mountain, Oregon. It wasn’t that far of a drive from Seattle. If she left first thing in the morning, she’d be there by the afternoon.
The letter from her stalker had really shaken her up. Maybe if she got out of town, it would allow her to relax enough to figure out her story.
Clicking on Corey’s profile, she took a deep breath and opened the text pad. She let out the air in her lungs and started to type.
“I’d love to come to Fate Mountain to meet you.”
It only took about two seconds for a reply to come back.
“Fantastic. All the arrangements have been made at the lodge. All you have to do is show up. See you soon.”
Well. That was easy.
He seemed to be all business about meeting her. She definitely didn’t feel that way. There was too much going on in her life to not be nervous about this. Corey just showed up out of the blue during one of the biggest challenges she’d faced in her six-year long career with her publisher. She looked at her manuscript on the screen of her computer and groaned, rubbing her temples.
Willow closed her laptop and went to her bedroom. She pulled her suitcase out of her closet and started to pack. It was the middle of summer and a perfect time for a vacation to the mountains. She packed her cutest, sexiest summer things, including a swimsuit that was perfect for her curves, and a pair of flip-flops.
She finished packing and put her suitcase near the door. This was all so crazy. But no crazier than sticking around Seattle, waiting for her psycho stalker to escalate the crazy. She needed to get out of town. She needed to clear her head and get things straight. Maybe this shifter could help her put her mind in order.
Maybe not.
At least it would be a change. As long as Willow had been writing professionally, she knew that a change of scenery was often the best way to spark creativity.
With that decided, she climbed into bed and pulled the covers up over her shoulders. Her imagination ran wild with all the horrible fantasies
she had about what her stalker would do to her if he finally got her alone.
Falling asleep was nearly impossible. Between her fantasies about the stalker, she fantasized about Corey. What would he do when they met? Would she feel something like in all the stories about fated mates? The idea of it sent a thrill through her. Could she handle that kind of distraction?
Willow decided she would be open to the possibility that she and Corey could be something. It had been far too long since she’d been in a relationship.
It took at least another hour of rumination to fall asleep. When she woke up the next morning, she felt like she hadn’t slept at all.
Moaning and rubbing her eyes, she pulled herself out of bed and hurried to get ready. With a travel cup full of hot coffee in one hand and her suitcase in the other, Willow left her apartment.
She passed her mailbox, dreading what she would find in there when she returned home. When she made it to her car, she put her suitcase in the trunk and got behind the wheel.
The drive would take all day. Willow hadn’t taken a drive that long in a while. She’d been spending most of her time obsessing over her latest manuscript. Now she was on an adventure. She felt a little like a troll who was being exposed to the light for the first time in a century.
As she passed Tacoma, she thought about her life. At least she had work. A lot of the other writers that had been in her Master’s program weren’t working as writers at all. She should count herself lucky. Even if her publishing company was using her work to make themselves millions off her work.
She’d dreamed about going out on her own, but getting published as herself was not that easy. Even though her books had been bestsellers, she was still an unknown author with no name for herself.
The prospect of suing her company to get out of her contract stewed in her mind as she crossed the border into Oregon. As she turned east toward Fate Mountain, she gave up on that idea. Dealing with the cops and her stalker had put her off dealing with legal stuff.
She’d just have to suck it up and figure out how to finish this book. Even if it killed her. The landscape was truly inspiring as she drove up the mountain. She let out a long sigh, taking in the beauty of the place.
Willow liked to get out of town and take hikes in the woods, but she hadn’t been out of Seattle in over a year. Where was her life going? What was she doing with herself?
Willow had always wanted to be a writer. That’s why she’d entered the writing program at the University of Washington and gone on to get her MFA. But all that education hadn’t meant a damn thing at the end of the day.
Most of the writers she knew were either unemployed or were working in corporate America doing something totally unrelated to writing fiction.
The last time she’d heard from her graduating class, only one other student was actually writing fiction. That one other student had gotten a contract with the university press for a small work of literary fiction.
That book was far from paying the bills for her classmate. Willow gritted her teeth. She kept telling herself she should be happy, but she wasn’t. It wasn’t fair. Millions of copies of her books had been sold. Millions of people loved her work. But she couldn’t remember the last time she’d bought herself a sexy pair of shoes.
When she pulled into Fate Mountain Village in the late afternoon, she stopped in the parking lot of the Fate Mountain Diner.
She was getting more nervous by the moment about meeting Corey and needed a bite to eat. Willow grabbed her purse and walked into the diner. The pretty blonde waitress came to greet her and showed her to a booth by the window.
“I’m Lily and I’ll be your server,” the waitress said as Willow slid into her seat.
Lily put the menu in front of Willow and she filled her glass with water. “Our special today is the Fate Mountain Burger with Shane Keenan’s secret sauce.”
“That sounds great. I’ll have that with fries and a wild blueberry shake.”
“Good choice,” Lily said, smiling. “What brings you to Fate Mountain?”
“I’m here on a working vacation. And to meet someone I met on Mate.com.”
Lily’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped for a split second before her face went back to normal.
“I’ll be right back with your shake,” she said, taking the menu.
Willow twisted around in her seat to see Lily behind the diner bar, whispering to someone in the kitchen. Willow could see the cook’s tattoos and beard through the order window. He looked at Willow inquisitively and she turned away.
What was that all about? They must know about Mate.com. Fate Mountain was supposed to be full of shifters. It said so on the Fate Mountain Lodge website. Shifters were some kind of attraction in this town.
Did the cook and waitress know Corey? Was he showing people her picture?
The stalker had gotten her paranoid. She shook her head. The waitress was probably talking to the cook about something totally unrelated. She had to get her head on straight if she wanted to finish her novel.
Lily came back with her shake a few minutes later and set it in front of Willow. Willow wanted to ask what Lily had been talking with the cook about, but she didn’t want to sound like a crazy person. Best to just forget about it and eat her lunch.
When Lily delivered Willow’s meal, she hesitated for a moment, standing over the table.
“So, you met someone on Mate.com? What was his name? I know almost everyone on Fate Mountain.”
“Oh?”
“You don’t have to tell me. I’m sorry. I’m being a busybody.”
“No. It’s fine. This is a small community. I understand why you’d be curious.”
“Thanks for understanding.” Lily smiled amiably.
“His name is Corey Bright.”
“I knew it.” Lily smacked her hand on her thigh, turned to the cook, and nodded.
“What’s that all about?” Willow asked, pointing back and forth between the waitress and the cook.
“My mate Shane and I were having a disagreement. I was right.”
“Your mate?”
“Yes. I mated with a shifter. We found each other on Mate.com. Now I’m a shifter too.”
“He turned you?”
“Yes. But mating with a shifter doesn’t mean you have to be a shifter too. It’s your choice.”
“What’s it like, being mated with a shifter?”
“Hot. Exciting. Shane is the light of my life. We adore each other.”
“You’re lucky,” Willow said wistfully.
“I am. It could be that way for you and Corey too. Enjoy your meal.”
Lily walked away, and Willow started to eat her burger. It was literally the best burger she’d ever eaten in her life. That was no exaggeration. The secret sauce was definitely special. She licked her fingertips to get the last bits of flavor.
When Willow went to pay at the front counter, Lily met her there.
“How was your lunch?” Lily asked.
“So good. I didn’t expect to have such a good burger in the middle of nowhere.”
“The cook is a world famous chef. My mate, Shane Keenan. He’s cooking today.”
“Was he that cook with the show on the Food Channel?”
“Yeah. Before the war. Before he got outed as a shifter.”
“I remember now. It was a big scandal.”
“But Shane is still as good as ever in the kitchen. Maybe better.”
“I can tell,” Willow said. “My compliments.”
“He oversees the kitchen at the lodge too. You can sample his upscale cuisine during your stay.”
“How did you know I was staying at the lodge?”
Lily stopped for a moment, holding Willow’s credit card over the card reader. Then she slid the card and finished the transaction, closing the cash register door.
“Lucky guess,” Lily said.
“Well, see you around.”
Willow walked out into the parking lot as the sun started to tip
toward the edge of the mountains. What the hell was that all about? Willow was beginning to feel like there was something going on here, and she didn’t like it. She opened her car door and gripped the steering wheel.
“I’m just being paranoid. I need to relax. That stalker is getting to my head.”
She turned on her car and followed the GPS directions to the lodge. It was early evening by the time she made it there. The golden sunlight glinted on the silver waters of Lake Fate.
She lifted her suitcase out of the trunk and rolled it down the long walkway into the front lobby of Fate Mountain Lodge. She walked up to the front desk and met a pretty middle-aged woman with a smart haircut and a name tag that said “Kelly” on it.
“Hi. I’m Willow Rhine. I’m supposed to have a reservation.”
“Oh, of course,” Kelly said.
“You have a bridal suite. Here are your keys. You have an all-inclusive package during your stay.”
She handed Willow the keys and gave her a brief rundown of what was available to do at the lodge. During the summer season, visitors spent a lot of time on the lake swimming and fishing. There were even evening bonfires where guests got together to roast marshmallows and tell ghost stories.
As Willow took the elevator up to her room, she started to feel excited about her stay. She hadn’t had a vacation in a long time, and getting out onto the lake would be just the diversion she needed to clear her head.
When she opened the door to her suite, she was blown away by the luxury accommodations. The front room had a full living area with a couch and big screen TV. There was a dining table and a kitchenette off to the side. Beyond the living room area was the door to the bedroom.
She walked through the door into the bedroom and left her suitcase by the dresser. There was a king-size bed in the middle of the room, covered in a luxurious, fluffy comforter. She couldn’t wait to sleep in that bed.
Outside the sliding glass door was a private deck that looked out over the lake. The sun started to slip behind the mountains beyond the lake, casting pink and orange light across the shimmering water.
Fate Mountain; Complete Series Page 54