4

I sighed. He’d just saved his job. “This type of fuck up can’t happen again, Bill. Each time we have to process a return and then re-ship to the proper address, it slows production time. And what does that affect?” I wanted to hear him say the word.

Bill scowled. “Profit.” And that affected his bonus the same as it did my family’s bank accounts. “I’ve already put a secondary checklist in place to ensure this doesn’t happen again.” That was a good thought, but it didn’t excuse the fact that it had taken a month to catch and a couple million dollars to fix—so far—and if he’d been doing the entirety of his job like he should have, this secondary checklist would have already been in place.

“I appreciate your diligence.” He’d been with the company for a while. My father would say we owed him our loyalty since he’d been loyal to us. I didn’t subscribe to the same philosophy as my old man, but there wasn’t much else I could do but give the guy another chance. “I want to give you a chance to make this right. You’ve been a fantastic manager, and I don’t want to lose you.” I lowered my voice because the lie hurt. “But if something like this ever happens again, I’ll fire you.” There wouldn’t be a third chance. “I depend on you to keep things running smoothly. This type of mistake is unacceptable, so I hope your computer fix is indeed fixed. I have a business to run and a reputation to uphold. Next time, this shit will be dealt with swiftly.”

He nodded and cleared his throat. “Yes, sir. Thank you for giving me a chance to make it right. The shipments will go out on time, even if I have to do the deliveries personally.” And that was why my father was as loyal to Bill as Bill was to us. “Guaranteed.”

I shook his hand, then walked him out of my office. He veered off into the plant, and I went to the parking lot.

My family owned several businesses in town, and Keller Motors was just one of them. We had the parts factory, a tanning and beauty salon, a car lot, a grocery store, a bookstore, and a few other things I didn’t do much with. I spent most of my days putting out fires my father was too busy to handle and attempting to keep the businesses moving smoothly, despite the fires still burning.

I usually enjoyed the work and interacting with the employees. Stupid shit like this, though, made me want to retire at the ripe old age of forty.

Now that the shipping issue was settled, I took a deep breath of fresh air and slid my sunglasses on. The sun was shining, the temp was warm, too gorgeous of a day to be stuck inside a manufacturing plant, and for a moment, I felt sorry for our employees. But we paid a fair wage, allowed plenty of paid time off that could be used at their convenience, and we were providing jobs to the inhabitants of Presley Acres, Texas, that simply wouldn’t be available if we weren’t around. If we gave the whole plant off for every nice day of the year, not a lot of work would get done.

The Kellers, my family, were pillars of the community. All around in our town and neighboring ones, shifters and humans alike respected the work we’d done for the city and for the pack. We acted with the thought of all the people in Presley Acres and made sure that shifters and humans lived in harmony in town, working together, playing together. For the most part, there was harmony. Of course, there were times that keeping peace was difficult due to fear, some egos, the ever-present machismo.

My phone buzzed, and I pulled it from my back pocket, looked at the screen and considered shoving it back where it came from. The eye roll that came from seeing my mother’s name on the screen was involuntary. After all the stress at Keller Motors, the last thing I wanted was to deal with her high-strung nit-picking. Ever since we’d been chosen to host the lunar mate ceremony a month ago, she’d become an absolute tyrant who couldn’t be reasoned with. I’d been keeping my distance and had a wealth of excuses at the ready for whatever favor or chore she had for me today.

Any other time, she was a great mom. The kind who loved unconditionally, the kind who did what she thought was right—and she usually was—without thought of consequence. She was the kind of woman others looked up to. But for the love of all that was good in the world, someone needed to confiscate her fucking phone. This was probably the tenth time today she’d called to make sure I’d picked up my suit, scheduled a haircut and a car detail, and at least five other things. But I sure as hell didn’t have time to do any more of her bidding.

I usually looked forward to the ceremony, though I’d never found a mate, but this year it couldn’t pass quickly enough. I was a long time past ready for it to be over.

Against my better judgment, I answered the phone. “Yes, Mother. What can I do for you now?” There was a twinge of guilt at speaking to her this way, but I was fast becoming immune.

“When are you going to be home?” Her voice was high-pitched and anxious. Likely, there was a problem with the flowers or the caterer, and she’d reached her limit for a day.

But her tragedy was my quick fix, so I laughed. “It’s so good to hear your voice, too.”

“Don’t smart mouth me, Ty; I’m not in the mood,” she scolded. I could practically see her clenching her teeth. “You need to make sure you’re home in time to get ready.”

I cleared my throat and focused on saying all the right things—the things I’d practiced after the last call that would end this call quicker. “Yes, Mother. I’ll be home in plenty of time. I’m actually on my way to get the haircut now.” She just needed reassurance. This was an easy call.

Her breath quickened, and she let out a soft moan.

I’d failed. My mother was losing her shit.

“Mom, you have every detail taken care of, including me, and I’m no easy task. You’re formidable. Everything will be perfect because nothing would dare be imperfect. You don’t need to worry.” I paused to make sure I could still hear her breathing on the line and that she hadn’t fallen over from either the fit of her dress or her anxiety. When I heard her sigh, I continued. “The ceremony will be the most extravagant this town has ever seen.”

That was all it took. She erupted.

“I’m not worried about any of that!” she yelled into the phone. “I know how to throw a party and, of course, it will be the most lavish ceremony that anyone has ever attended. I’m throwing it.” Confidence wasn’t an issue that plagued my family. “My worries lie… elsewhere.”

Fuck. Elsewhere usually meant me, and I didn’t have to guess why. She was assuming this would be another year that I wouldn’t find a mate.

This wasn’t one of those conversations I was going to get out of easily, and I had an appointment to get to. I hopped into my car and started the engine. “Don’t worry about things you can’t control.”

“How can I help but worry, Ty? You’re forty, in case you hadn’t noticed.” She said the number like it was a curse to be this old and single. Maybe back in the day, but not now. Nevertheless, Mom had to have her say, although she did pause and soften her voice. “If you don’t find a mate tonight, we need to discuss other options.”

“Other options? Like, I should choose a mannequin?” I knew damn well she meant that I would need to consider choosing my own mate instead of counting on fate to do it for me, but teasing her was too much fun. Of course, she was right—she usually was—but I didn’t want to think about that right now. “I’ll see you soon, Mother.” I tossed my phone onto the passenger seat and sped to the barbershop.

Other guys like me had switched to the salon by now for one of the four-hundred-dollar haircuts that were preferred in my circle of friends, but I liked to keep it old school.

Tradition.

Routine.

Things that lasted.

Unfortunately, the newest trend must’ve been barbers. I had to circle the building twice to find a parking spot. Of course, the one day I needed to rush, the barbershop was super busy.

“Ty, good to see you.” Stanley, the gray-haired barber who’d cut my hair since I was a boy, looked up from the cut he was giving to a guy about my age. I didn’t know the guy, which was a rare occurrence. “I’ll be done here in a few.”

“Sorry, I’m late.” I smiled and shoved my hands into my pockets. “I got held up at Keller Motors.”

“No worries.” As expected, Stanley finished up the other cut and cleared his chair for me. “It’s only a few minutes.”

Averting my eyes from the long line of men waiting for a haircut, I took my seat.

“Doing something special for the big party?” Stanley draped a cape around my neck. “Or just the usual?”

I stared at my reflection. This cut fit my face. “Yeah, just give me the usual. Pretty sure my mother’s heart will stop if I walk into the ceremony with something different.” I tried to imagine the look on her face, but I’d save that for her birthday.

Stanley chuckled. “That party is all anyone’s been talking about today. Are you looking forward to it?”

We had this conversation every year, but this year the pressure weighed on me. I pursed my lips. “Eh. I could take it or leave it.”

“Is tonight the night, Ty?” The voice came from behind me, and I turned to see one of the elder pack members sitting a few chairs down. He probably meant well, but it was the kind of question that pissed me off.

It was no secret that I’d attended multiple lunar mate ceremonies. It was also common knowledge that I’d gone home alone each time.

Unclenching my jaw, I cleared my throat. “There’s always hope.”

“Yes, indeed.” Stanley smiled at me in the mirror as he sprayed my hair with water. “Never stop believing. Your perfect mate is out there.”

I wondered whether that was true. It had to be. It had happened for nearly everyone I knew. There was no reason it wouldn’t happen for me. Nothing made me different.

By the time I made it home, I was nearly starving to death, but I bypassed stopping to grab a snack from the kitchen, even though my stomach had been rumbling since before my meeting with Bill at the factory. Instead, I ran upstairs because my mother would lose her mind if I wasn’t in my suit and ready to party in T-minus five.

While I was dressing, though, and counterproductive to speed, my mother had me on speed dial and kept calling every ten seconds until I finally decided to answer. “Yes?”

“Are you on your way?” She breathed heavily into the phone. “Please don’t tell me you’re going to be late for an event our family is hosting.”

“Mom, if I do nothing else in my life, if everything else I ever do is a disappointment to you, I promise I’ll be on time for the party.” I let out a low growl because sarcasm didn’t dispel enough frustration. “It would help if you’d stop calling me every damn minute.”