“Hey, Rierdon.” Nedrick Quittor smirked as he answered his phone, greeting his friend. “Running late again?”

His fellow wolf shifter and friend of nearly eighty years always seemed to be running late. It was a good thing the man didn’t have the standard nine-to-five job. He would’ve never been able to hold it down.

Instead, Rierdon was a sculptor, working with metal to turn what Nedrick saw as random pieces of scrap into works of art. Nedrick had no idea how Rierdon did it, but he had to admit, his buddy had a gift. His pieces sold online for hundreds and thousands of dollars, depending on the size and scope of the piece.

Perhaps that’s why he’s always late. His mind’s busy working on his next piece of art.

Being somewhere on time just wasn’t important enough to stick in his brain.

Considering nearly everyone in their wolf shifter pack knew of Rierdon’s inability to be punctual, no one ended up upset about it. Even their alpha, Declan McIntire, would smile indulgently when Rierdon showed up thirty minutes late for a pack barbeque. His friend would grin sheepishly, duck his head, and blush. Then he would rush to the food because, of course, he would be starving.

Guess forgetting to eat landed right in there with being punctual.

“Uh, well, yeah,” Rierdon replied. His voice sounded more stressed than usual, putting Nedrick on alert. “Well, ya see—”

“Hey, don’t sweat it, Rierdon,” Nedrick rumbled, doing his best to soothe his friend. Having been relaxing on his front porch swing with a sweating glass of iced tea while waiting for his friend, he lifted a bare foot to the railing in front of him and began a slow swinging. “There’s no rush, man. Ya get here when ya get here.”

Being a lazy Saturday afternoon, Nedrick had the entire day off. He worked as a mechanic at Kade McGraw’s shop. When the fellow wolf shifter had earned an enforcer position with the pack nearly a decade before, he’d hired a few more people. His duties for the pack often took him away from his work, and with the town growing, Kade had been smart to expand his workforce. His boss’s shop had a fantastic reputation, and people from other nearby towns would come to him, too.

“It’s not that I’m just late,” Rierdon stated with a sigh. “I’m, uh…my truck broke down.”

“Your truck broke down?” Nedrick moved his foot back to the porch planking and straightened. “What happened? Are you okay?”

Rierdon sounded so dejected when he replied, “Yeah, I’m okay. Just…embarrassed.” He groaned out his next words. “You warned me.”

“The tie-rod ends?” Nedrick guessed, doing his best to hide his laughter. He had indeed warned his friend. Nedrick had borrowed Rierdon’s truck to move a sofa just the prior week and had heard the telltale thuds when going over a few potholes in his driveway.

I need to fix those, too, come to think of it.

“Yeah.” Rierdon heaved a put-upon sigh. “At least, I made it into the campground.”

“Which campground?” Nedrick rose to his feet and headed into his cabin. “Maybe I can cobble something together to get you to town and the shop.”

“I really appreciate it, Ned,” Rierdon stated, then told him he was at Tall Timbers Campground. “I know this isn’t how you wanted to spend your Saturday.”

Nedrick grabbed a pair of jeans from his dresser drawer and tossed them on the bed. “No worries, Rier. Life happens, and that’s what friends are for,” he countered. Pulling out socks next, he admitted, “I’ll need a few to get dressed. Then I’ll hit the road. I should be there in twenty.”

“Thanks, Ned.” Rierdon sounded so relieved. “I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome. See you soon.”

Nedrick closed the call and tossed his phone on the bed beside his clothes. After shucking his jogging shorts, the only thing he’d had on, he quickly began to dress. Nedrick had been waiting for Rierdon to arrive so they could shift into their wolves and go running through the trees together.

Sensing his wolf’s disappointment, Nedrick soothed his inner animal by promising him a moonlit run instead. Mollified, his beast accepted the change of plans and relaxed within him.

While Nedrick—and most shifters in general—considered them and their animals to be one and the same, they each had slightly different instincts. Keeping both sides of their nature in harmony was a balancing act. Nedrick had watched his mother try to deny her wolf, and she’d almost ended up losing herself to her animal side.

That was when Nedrick had been young, and for a long while, he’d feared his nature. His alpha had uncovered what was going on and helped his mother recover. Declan had also explained to Nedrick what had happened, and he’d taught him their true nature and how to balance both sides of himself.

Nedrick would forever be grateful to Alpha Declan, and he couldn’t imagine living under any other alpha’s leadership.

After grabbing his keys, Nedrick strode out the door, ready to help his friend…and maybe tell him I told you so.

*

Arriving at Tall Timbers Campground, Nedrick turned into the lane. He spotted the small guard shack ahead, but he didn’t see the ranger who was supposed to be manning it. Rolling by slowly, Nedrick searched the area ahead of him.

The road split into three directions. The one to the right had an arrow indicating you could drive in that direction, as did the one straight ahead. The road to the left had an arrow pointing toward him, as well as a no-entrance sign.