The soft breeze across the old farm land owned by the Morgan clan signaled the coming of a new season. Drake Morgan raised his nose to the air, and the bear inside him rumbled from the need that ached deep in his bones. It was a need to prepare his home, his life, for things to come.

Winter had been brutal. He and his brothers had spent most of the time inside, staying warm and sleeping through the worst of the snow and ice. When they had emerged from their hibernation three weeks ago, their first line of business was to prepare their land for the crops. Since it was mid-March, it was time to get the seeds in the ground.

"Spring's comin'," Gunner, Drake's baby brother, drawled as he kicked at the patch of bright green grass next to the gravel driveway. He adjusted the worn baseball hat on his head and wiped his hand over his face in frustration.

"Yup," Drake replied, tossing several limbs into the bed of his truck before running his hand through his curly brown hair. He growled when his fingers caught in the tangled ends, reminding him how his mother used to fuss at him for working with his hair down. She'd known from first hand experience how frustrating it was to have a headful of corkscrew hair that had a mind of its own.

Gunner and Drake looked more like their mother, while Rex, the middle brother, was the spitting image of their father with his long, dark blond hair. Bears kept their human hair long as it appealed to the opposite sex when it came to searching for mates.

"I hope this year is different." Gunner shook his head and looked up toward the house with a sigh.

It was the same way every year. Their bears called to them to start preparing for the mating season, and that included sprucing up their home. Neither Drake nor his two brothers had found their mates, and this year would probably be no different. They kept to themselves, as far away from the city as possible. It was in their nature not to be around people, finding humans to be the worst companions of all, and it didn't look like there were any female bears in the area again this year. Maybe they needed to travel to a different clan? The thought gave Drake a hard shiver of disgust. He just didn't want to leave his land other than to grab what he needed from town. Going to another town? Not happening.

"I need to go into town for supplies," Drake grunted, ignoring his brother's statement. There was no ranking in their world. Unlike other shifters, bears did whatever the hell they wanted to do and didn't care much for powerful leaders. Drake was in charge of their business only, and he preferred it that way.

"Can you pick up some parts for the tractor?" Rex asked as he approached, wiping his oily hands on an old rag. Rex was the middle brother of the Morgan clan and usually spent his days tinkering around with the equipment they used to care for their land.

"Write down what you need," Drake replied, tossing more branches into his truck. With all of the snow and ice from the winter storms, the trees that dotted their yard had lost several limbs from the weight. Now that the temperatures were warming up, it was time to clean up.

"Corn needs to start being planted next weekend," Gunner worried. "Are you going to have that plow ready?"

"I've never missed a plant date yet, have I?" Rex rolled his eyes and walked away, tucking the dirty rag in his back pocket. His hair was pulled up and away from his face. Grease from the tractor streaked across his left cheek, and his dark-brown eyes looked tired.

"Damn, he's grumpy," Gunner mumbled, walking over to grab some more limbs. He tossed them on top of the ones Drake had gathered and finally looked up at his oldest brother when he grunted in frustration.

"We're all grumpy," Drake snarled. "It's mating season and we have no mates."

"Don't remind me." Gunner flinched and removed his gloves, tucking them in his back pocket. "My bear and his cock are going crazy."

"Your cock is always going crazy," Drake teased with a straight face.

"Yeah, well," Gunner shrugged, "I need a woman." "Don't we all," Drake mumbled.

"I'm going in to make dinner," Gunner announced. "After that, I'll burn those limbs."

"Get to work," Drake ordered, but it was met by Gunner's two middle fingers raised to his brother.

"Man, fuck off," he barked, stomping off toward the house. He was mumbling something about how he didn't need a female and disappeared inside.

Drake chuckled and dug the keys out of his pocket before climbing into the front seat of his old truck. Rex waved him down as he passed by the barn, handing off a sheet of paper with the required parts written down in his elegant handwriting. Drake never understood why his middle brother preferred working with the machinery when he was smarter than anyone else in the family and could've taken over the business side of the farm.

He stopped at the firepit between the house and the barn to unload the limbs to burn later. With a heavy sigh, Drake turned the truck around and left his sacred land. The drive into town took almost half an hour, and with every mile, he dreaded the task. Drake didn't care to waste time getting his parts and needed supplies, and he usually ignored the stares of the humans who watched him with keen eyes.

Their kind was still unknown. It was the panthers who'd been outed to the humans a few years prior. Riots and protests had broken out, hate groups had been formed, and the U.S. government had stepped in to protect any and all shifters. Not that they wanted, or needed, their help. Being an outcast seemed to be working for them so far, and he had enough strength and gun power to make sure no one came for them this far away from the town. At least, that was the hope he and his brothers shared.

A hate group had kidnapped several species of shifters and took them to a lab off the coast of Maine, but thankfully, the grizzly bears were not included. Drake shook his head. Those damn cats were working with the local law officials to make sure it didn't happen again, and if he found his mate this spring, he was going to make sure no one stepped on his land that didn't belong.

He'd never let his secret out, preferring to stay to his farmland far away from civilization. Being in the most rural of areas in Northern Mississippi, the Morgan clan spent three quarters of the year working from sun up to sun down to grow and harvest their crops. The money they made from selling their corn was set aside for their retirement and to shower their mates with whatever their hearts desired.

As a grizzly bear, their kind were very protective and tended to spoil their females. In their eyes, their mates were everything. They were revered in their society as if they were royalty. The males prepared their den for winter hibernation, making their homes comfortable and safe for their mates. When spring came, and if they were carrying a cub, the male's instincts would go into overdrive and demand they provide for their females for the duration of their pregnancy. It was a pull that couldn't be denied.

Drake passed the werepanther-owned bar, The Deuce, and made a mental note to stop in for a beer and check on those cats. They'd become somewhat of an ally to his clan. He didn't trust anyone to begin with, human or shifter, but Talon Shaw and his pride had proven their worth when they'd saved his bear clan from exposure to the humans a few years back. His brother, Gunner, had been taken by a group of scientists who were gathering up shifters and then left him for dead in the county dump. Thankfully, he'd gotten away, but not before the law had seen video of him shifting.

Good thing for the shifters, the sheriff of the town wasn't quite human himself. Sheriff Lynch was some sort of angel, and he had been tasked with watching over the cats. Drake hoped the sheriff stayed far away, because he didn't need anyone protecting them. He was taking care of that on his own.

The bell over the door to the parts store clanged as he entered ten minutes before they closed. Tulley McCray was sitting at the counter with his cowboy hat pulled low over his eyes. Drake went on about gathering his supplies, making a stack by the register. Tulley nodded and retuned to flipping through the local paper. Drake made note of the headline and huffed quietly. The humans were still talking about the raids on the labs that had studied the shifters. Thankfully, he didn't have anything to do with that, and his family was safe from being known to the humans.

"Ready for the spring?" Tulley asked as he ambled to his feet, taking a moment to stretch.

"Getting things prepped," Drake answered, grabbing one last thing before removing the piece of paper from his pocket. "Need some parts for the plow."

"Let me see that list Rex gave you," Tulley chuckled. The older man had been selling parts to them for years and knew how Drake's brother worked. "Ah, I have one of these, but the other two I have to order and can have them delivered to you day after tomorrow."

"That's fine," Drake grumbled, not really wanting to have anyone deliver anything to his home, but it would be better that he not make two trips into town that week. He had more important things to do.

"Let's get you rung up," Tulley said as he keyed in the items on the register.

Drake swiped his credit card and took the receipt. The parts were costly, but it was what they needed. He didn't put up a fuss because the business had been lucrative and they were doing quite well for themselves. Tulley shook Drake's hand with a promise to send someone out to their land as soon as possible.

As he turned to leave, a sweet scent crossed his nose, stopping Drake in his tracks. It was honeysuckle, but more powerful. His heart galloped in his chest and his cock stirred to life. His face turned blood red from the blush of embarrassment.

"Did you forget something?" Tulley asked as he walked up behind the bear.

"What's that scent?" Drake growled, feeling a strange anger inside him at the human male who had approached him from behind. It took all he had to push his bear down to keep from unleashing his claws and taking a swipe at him.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Tulley frowned, taking a deep breath.

"Honeysuckle," Drake mumbled as he regained control over himself. His long curls brushed over his shoulder as he turned to look around the store. There were no candles or frilly, feminine concoctions in sight. What the hell is wrong with me?

"No," Tulley said as he shook his head. "I don't have any of that in my store."

"Sorry," Drake replied, shaking his head and turning for the door.

He really needed to get back to his land. Being around humans was driving him insane.

A blonde female pushed the door open as he was about to grab the handle.

She was beautiful for a human, and he'd be a fool not to have noticed. Her hair was so blonde it looked like it'd been kissed by the sun. She was half a foot shorter than him, and her curves were what shifter men dreamed of when they thought of their mates. He shouldn't be eyeing a human female, but this one intrigued him.

"I'm sorry, Tulley. I forgot this in my car." The female handed Tulley a bag and flipped her keys around on her index finger as if she were nervous.

"No worries, Tessa." The old, human male smiled and took the bag from her. She waved and turned to exit, freezing when she saw Drake still standing in the doorway. Her sapphire-blue eyes widened, and she took a step back. Drake didn't fault her. He was a predator, and even though no one knew he was, it was in a human's nature to be wary of someone his size.

"Excuse me," she mumbled as she ducked her head and passed him to leave the building. As soon as she was out the door, he inhaled deep and cleared his throat when his chest rumbled from the scent of honeysuckle. She was the source, and if she were of his kind, Drake would've followed her out to talk to her. The fact that she was human kept him from doing just that.

Drake frowned as she attempted to crank her car. He could see her mouth moving as if she were cursing, and a small smirk tugged at the corner of his lip. The engine fired up after a few tries, and the woman was on her way.

"Need anything else, Drake?" Tulley called out.

"Naw, I'm good," he drawled and headed toward his truck. He'd had enough of humans for the day, and it was time to return to his home where he could have some peace and quiet