Dire Wolf Mates - Chapter 4: Chapter 4

The huge, barnlike structure had already been converted into a makeshift garage. They’d just made it better. It sat at the opposite end of the bar, through the long, paved parking lot. It was perfect for storing, maintaining, and fixing up motorcycles, and the boys had all gone apeshit for it.
A few hundred yards west of the garage, past an old, wooden privacy fence he intended to have replaced with something sturdier, was an enormous two-story house. The driveway for the house was private, and far enough away from the bar to be comfortable. There was a gate in the fence and a lock, only he and his Pack had the key too. The bar crowd could not access it from the parking lot, and that was enough security for him and Sheila and the guys.
It really was some house. At first, grossly overgrown with weeds, field mice, bird's nest, and a host of cobwebs, but after some TLC it was all sparkly and fine to move in. The twelve-bedroom monster had been abandoned for some time, but someone had loved it at some point.
Derrick could see that in the stained glass windows on the doors, and the hand-painted flowers someone had put in every bedroom. The guys moaned and groaned about it, but no one had painted over them just yet. It was a little worse for wear, in truth, all three buildings were, but none had anything wrong with them a little spit and polish couldn’t fix.
They’d been working on it for just a couple of weeks and already the place was unrecognizable. The property positively gleamed. There were new locks on the doors and windows they’d installed. Security systems in place. Cable and Wi-Fi already hooked up. Hell, there was nothing they hadn’t thought of, and when they couldn’t get a crew in well, Derrick and the guys, Sheila too, just dug in themselves. They’d power-washed, scrubbed, scraped, and repainted just about everything, except that flower trim inside the house.
They’d repaired or swapped out most of the outside moldings and trappings, got new TVs, and furniture galore. Sheila, Weylin, and Phoenix were into antiques and had insisted on hitting flea markets and secondhand stores as opposed to ordering everything new, which is what Derrick would have done. Still, he allowed it. It made them happy, and he could see why they preferred older digs. They simply did not make stuff the way they used to, and Dire Wolves required sturdy seats and what not.
Sheila had a real knack for things like that. The older furniture added character and comfort in the house. Lucky for them, the bar had been mostly intact on the inside. They’d had to do a massive cleanup, and the kitchen needed new appliances, but the old wood bars were good.
Thor had sanded and refinished both the front and back bars with Derrick’s help until they gleamed and sparkled. Same for the floors and fixtures. They’d ordered glasses, booze, and a few of the newer, more energy compliant fridges and coolers along with the ovens and prep tables for the kitchen.
Serious Moonlight was a bar first, but they would start with the staples. Wings, Burgers, fries, pretzels, and such. Eventually, they would bring in a larger menu for dining in. His Beta, Brock Laurent, was a talented chef, and Derrick had left him in charge of outfitting the kitchen.
This was a risk. A Huge one for a group of nomadic Shifters, but something about Blue Valley called to Derrick. It pulled him in like a magnetic pole. He sighed as he dropped the bucket of cleaning supplies. They were going to open in just a few days and everything was near perfect. Except for a few minor details. Like hiring another bartender. But all in all, Derrick was confident the Pack would make back their investment and then some.
We damn well better.
The Pack had some money, but this endeavor had taken a huge chunk of that. As Alpha, Derrick was responsible for the money, the investment, and the decision to settle in Blue Valley. Was it the right move? He sure as fuck hoped so.
His Pack was not like others. They needed this. Unique and rare even in the paranormal world, they’d traveled long and hard for an opportunity to settle in a place unoccupied by other Shifter groups. Most Shifters didn’t want the trouble they brought with them.
Not that it was their fault. Not really, anyway. But that’s what happened in supernatural circles, and for the sake of keeping their big secret, it was best their kind stay away from settled areas.
The issue was dominance. Dire Wolves were bigger, stronger, lived longer, and grew more powerful than most other species of Shifter. Derrick was the biggest and baddest of them all. In the past, challenges had come at him from every direction whenever he’d settled in one place for too long. It was his natural dominance combined with the fact he was a rare, and almost extinct species of Shifter.
True, their numbers were few, but they were still kicking and fuck anyone who tried to make it otherwise. Their prehistoric species of beast had died out in the wild thousands of years ago, but their Shifter relatives were still around, though rare and small in number.
The most basic difference between a Wolf Shifter and a Dire Wolf Shifter was size. In their fur, they were more than double the size of the modern Wolf Shifter. That, coupled with their unique ability to tap into elemental magic, made them special as well. His kind practically oozed power and strength.
A fact other Shifters, especially Alphas, had a hard time dealing with. He had no wish to take over other Packs, Prides, or Clans—but did they believe that?
Hell no.
Fuckers always wanted to try to take a piece of him. Not that they got close. Derrick was one hell of a fighter. His body was a testament to that. At almost seven-feet tall and two-hundred-ninety pounds of pure, rock hard muscle, he was, in a word—efuckingnormous.
They all were.
Sheila said it was time they got lucky when he’d been sent the listing from the Shifter Council. Derrick didn’t know a thing about luck, but he was damn grateful for this shot. His entire Pack—Brock, Cole, Phoenix, Weylin, Thor, and Sheila—were all grateful. So tired of life on the road, they’d broken off from their nomadic parent MC two decades ago and had almost immediately started searching for a place they could land.
The graybeards and old ladies didn’t believe any town where Shifters resided, which was every town these days, would ever accept Dire Wolves in their territory. Not without a war, anyway.
It went without saying that Derrick did not want that. War was not good for anyone. He just wanted a small piece of earth to call home for him and his Pack. A place of their own where they could settle down, find mates, maybe even have cubs.
Cubs.
His Dire Wolf growled inside of him. The great black beast’s loneliness was a heavy and constant presence in his heart. It was time to change that. Time to find a mate before he succumbed to the wild side of his existence—a condition that often led to death.
Once a Dire Wolf went feral, there were few who could take him out. It was often left to his Pack to do the dirty work. He did not want that for them.
Derrick watched the rain smack against the newly paved lot and breathed deep. It was true, he’d tried this before. Tried settling once or twice, but it had never felt right. He was taking a hell of a chance, but he had to for the sake of survival.
I’m not ready to call it quits. Not yet. This time will be different.
This time. This place. Derrick would make it work.
Mistakes, accidents, a misalignment of fate or whatever other reasons past attempts had failed were not an option now. Past hurts, jealousy, and bitter disappointments abounded in his memory, forever ingrained in his mind. Yes, he made damn sure he remembered them. All of them. Without memory, history repeated itself, and fuck that. Derrick refused to be a sad statistic.
The tattoos covering his massive frame told his story. The story of his Pack. Good times and bad. Every significant event in his life and the lives of his ancestors covered his arms, chest, stomach, and even his legs.
His back, though, that was bare. An empty canvas of skin and muscle. That place was reserved for his future mate, his family. He’d left it alone solely for the bonding ritual that would one day complete his mating to his one and only true mate.
He’d only ever seen it done once, and Derrick had wanted it for himself ever since that day. He wanted someone of his own. Someone to love, to protect, and cherish for all his days.
Gods willing.