Burning Bright

Egon Thatcher isn’t just the Sheriff of Thatcherton. He is also the alpha tiger. It’s a big responsibility, especially during the tourist season. With summer starting, he has one goal: make sure the mountain’s visitors have a good time to fund the town’s survival. All that is forgotten when he finds his mate lost in the forest. Having a trouble-free summer is soon the least of his problems. Finding out his mate is a sassy beauty just adds to the distraction.

Bree Elsher is having one hell of a bad week. She learned — on live television while delivering the evening news—her ex-boyfriend is a murderer. Everyone thinks she might have been his accomplice. So she hides out on a secluded mountain away from everyone. But when she is rescued from a tiger attack by Sheriff Egon Thatcher, everything changes. He makes her emotions crazy and her hormones go up in flames.

The threat of her past is dragged through the forested mountain. Bree is in danger while her entire life comes crumbling down. Egon wants to keep her safe, but there is so much more at stake than his streak of tigers and his mate.

Bad things have come to Thatcherton, and the fated mates might not get a chance to explore their bond. Not if the killer has anything to say about it…

Egon

Which one, which one?

Egon Thatcher scratched his scruffy chin as he contemplated which snack he wanted. The bottom drawer of his desk was full of candy, enough to make any kid weep with jealousy. Licorice sticks, lollipops, hard candies, jellybeans. The list went on and on. 

Suddenly in the mood for something tangy, he grabbed one of the lollipops, the kind that was sour until reaching the center, which was nothing more than an overly soft gum that couldn’t be chewed longer than five minutes before it came undone in your mouth.

Egon ripped off the wrapper and threw it on his desk on top of all the files he had to go through. He tucked the lollipop in the corner of his cheek and smacked his mouth, relishing in the sour flavor overtaking his taste buds.

“You know what I’m gonna say,” Valens grumbled, walking into the office like he damn well owned it.

“Nope,” Egon told one of his younger brothers, “what were you gonna say?”

Egon did know, but he still wanted to rile up his brother.

“You eat too much candy. You’ll rot your teeth out. Can you imagine how fucked up that would be? The town Sheriff with no teeth. The streak alpha with no fangs. Stop. Eating. Candy. All the fucking time.”

Egon shrugged. “You’re my little brother, not my doctor.”

“I’m both,” Valens shot back, sitting in the chair in front of him. “And my medical advice is sound. Stop eating so much candy. Have an apple. Eat some protein.”

Egon smacked his tongue again with the sole purpose of pissing off his brother. Valens rolled his eyes, pushing his button-down sleeves up to his elbows. Egon was sort of surprised his brother wasn’t wearing his white doctor’s coat. Valens loved to lord it over people that he was the town doctor. He was one cocky motherfucker, but he was also the middle child. Weren’t those supposed to be attention-seeking nutcases?

Or maybe that was the baby of the family.

The youngest Thatcher brother, Oz, was definitely an attention whore. He walked the thin line between scandal and juicy small-town gossip.

Not that anyone in Thatcherton would ever say a damn word about the Thatchers.

After all, they had started the town a long time ago. All the citizens knew the importance of being good to the Thatchers. It was only partially because Egon was the Sheriff, Valens was the doctor, and Oz was the Mayor. The truth was the brothers — and the rest of the family — were really decent to their people.

Egon and his family had a secret.

Well, okay, so they had a few secrets. The main one was they were tigers. As the alpha, Egon’s job was to protect the land. His two younger brothers were his right hand men. It helped to have a doctor on call at all times to help with the sick and injured. And having the Mayor on his side? Well, that just meant he could spin whatever he wanted to the public, especially during the tourist season. The locals knew all about the tigers… being tigers themselves.

Oz might be an attention addicted goofball, but he was a charmer. To a fault. At least it got the family out of more trouble than it put them in.

Egon was usually the one to cause trouble through no fault of his own. He had to deal with all of the lawbreakers and tourists. 

It was only natural that he would attract more trouble than his doctor and politician brother.

“Where the hell is he?” Valens grumbled. “I’ve got appointments all afternoon. I can’t let my patients wait.”

On cue, Oz sauntered in, using his best cutting-ribbons-and-kissing-babies smile. “Greetings, dear brothers.” He settled in the chair beside Valens.

“Finally,” Valens snapped. “I was about to leave. I can’t —” 

“Keep your patients waiting,” Oz finished for him. “Yes, we know.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s always the same with you, isn’t it? I’ve got a meeting with all of the neighborhood watch leaders in a few minutes, so let’s make this short, shall we?”

Egon took out his lollipop and pointed it at his brothers. “We know we could have these meetings by phone or text. This is a waste of time. I have nothing to report. Everything is really quiet.”

Valens nodded. “Right. Good. But tourist season starts this weekend. We want things to be quiet before the town is overrun with humans who don’t have a care for nature or for anything else.”

The Mayor said, “I’ve already talked to the rangers. They’re ready to make sure this is a quiet summer.”

“Good,” Egon grumbled even though the forest rangers should’ve been approached by him. Pietro Thatcher was his enforcer. Sure, Oz was the Mayor, but he was overstepping.

He did that a lot.

Had been doing it since the day he was born.

“Colleen had a doctor’s appointment yesterday,” Valens said. “She said all of the cabins by the lake are rented out for the summer. It’ll be a busy season.”

“It’s always a busy season,” Egon argued. “Now, if there is nothing to report, we can go about our days.”

“Yes, alpha,” Oz teased with an eye roll. “Before we adjourn our meeting, I should mention that the Mayor from Mainville wants to talk about amalgamation again.”

“No,” Valens and Egon snapped at the same time.

That could never happen, and the Mayor from Mainville knew it. The man was an old and balding wolf shifter in the next town over. Mainville, at one time, was nicer than Thatcherton until the wolves took over and neglected to take care of it. Nature was resilient but easily damaged if not loved.

They had been trying to merge with Thatcherton for a few decades now, ever since Egon’s grandfather had turned the town into a booming economy for tourists. People came from all across the country to stay in the cabins, fish, and have a good time away from the crazy bustle of big cities. Mainville tried to do the same, but tourists saw through the bullshit, or dog shit, to be more precise. 

Consolidation would never happen. Not on his watch.

“Did you tell him to shove it?” Egon asked Oz.

“Of course, I did. Who do you take me for? A complete idiot?”

Egon shrugged. “If the shoe fits.”

Oz growled low at him but with no real malice. They were brothers who ran the town together. There were bound to be some disagreements and head-butting. 

“Okay, okay,” Valens cut in. “Let’s not bicker. I’ve got —”

“Patients to get to,” Oz and Egon said in unison.

Valens snickered. “Exactly. Now, is that all we had to discuss? A quiet town leading into the tourist season and Micky Elsher with his panties in a bunch because he wants our money?”

“I think so,” Egon said. “There haven’t been many calls out here or with the rangers. I think it’s safe to say this summer will be quiet.”

“Famous last words,” Oz laughed. “You might have just jinxed us.”

Many things were unusual in Thatcherton, and they didn’t need to share that with the rest of the world. It was a shifter town for the Thatcher tiger streak, and the human authorities had no place here. It risked exposure and all kinds of trouble Egon didn’t want to deal with.

“Let’s hope nothing too insane happens,” he commented, crunching down on his sour lollipop. The taste exploded on his tongue, and he blinked in surprise. It was always a little bit of a shock how sour the damn things were. The sting was fun, though.

“Well, if that’s all there was, that’s all there was,” Oz said, getting to his feet. “I guess I’ll see you at Mom and Dad’s Sunday night for dinner.”

“Great,” Valens said, rushing for the door. “I’ll be late if I don’t go now.”

“Why don’t you just have Mary book your appointments later on the days we have meetings?” Oz asked as they left his office.

Egon knew the answer Valens wouldn’t give. His brother always overbooked himself, and Mary was old and a little bit senile, but Valens refused to push her into retirement.

His phone rang, interrupting his thoughts. “Sheriff Thatcher,” he barked into the receiver.

“Sheriff, sorry to bother you, but Old Man Warner is at it again.”

Egon blew out a breath. “I’ll be right up.” He slammed the phone down. “For fuck’s sake.”

Just as he thought, he had jinxed himself. Now he had to convince Old Man Warner to stop roaming the mountain in his tiger form before a tourist saw him.

He liked his job, but sometimes, Egon wished he had more important things to do than to convince an old man to keep the shifter secret actually secret.

“Just need a little excitement,” he said to his candy stash, grabbing something spicy to keep his life interesting.