Free Matt: Tales of the Were (Redstone Clan Book 5) by Bianca D'Arc

was people. And Jenny and her tiny Pack of females were good people. They deserved a fresh start in a comfortable, safe place. Matt would move heaven and earth to give it to them.
    By the appointed time for the meeting, Matt had gone over every inch of the acreage set aside for the preserve. He’d met the local wildlife, which included some skittish deer, a few raccoons, possums, a skunk family, and assorted squirrels. There was also a wide range of birds, from a predator hawk pair, what he thought was probably an owl’s nest, and many, many smaller birds from woodpeckers to chickadees. He’d found the natural stream that ran through the property and the small pond that was home to a few ducks.
    He thought he had a pretty good handle on the wildlife and the lay of the land. He’d take the eco nuts on a tour and point out all the natural beauty of the spot and give them precise details about the small changes they would make to mark off trails for the humans who wanted to partake of the natural beauty of the spot. He had it all planned out, with little presentation folders Irma had helped him prepare for each guest.
    What he hadn’t prepared for all that well was the surly attitude of the group as they arrived en masse in an old, beat up van that smelled of French fries and Mexican food. The thing reeked of the grease they used to fuel it, and Matt had to find a place to stand upwind of the monstrosity.
    Morgan parked right behind the eco van and greeted Matt frostily as he did his best not to gag on the smell of the eco guys’ bio-fuel. He handed out the prepared materials and tried to learn everyone’s names, but the odor of the fuel was clogging his sensitive nose and making him want to sneeze. Badly. He had to get them on the trail, and that’s what he did, right away, deciding to do his presentation as they walked, rather than talk and then walk.
    Slight change of plans, but he was good about rolling with the punches. He led the group out, ignoring, for the moment, their antagonistic attitude. With time, and some well-placed information, he hoped to change their attitudes. He put his best foot forward and began to speak about the land and their plans for it while Morgan brought up the rear of the small group, saying nothing.
    When they arrived at the pond, Matt invited everyone to sit on a log he had pre-positioned and staged to look as if it had been there for years. The eco guys seemed to buy it, a couple of the females remarking on the ducks and one adventurous soul examining the various mushrooms that liked to grow in the area.
    Matt decided to stop here. What better spot? It was free of the French fry smell of their biodiesel, and the flora and fauna were already doing their best to enchant the newcomers into a better mood.
    He began talking about the project and did his best to paint a picture with his words. He noted Morgan’s every move, but he did his best to concentrate on the human audience, impressing upon them how much he loved the land and how little he wanted to change what nature had done here so beautifully.
    “We’re going to put in marked trails of varying skill levels and a waste bin at the trailhead, which will be checked daily, but other than that…” he said as he was wrapping up his discussion of the nature preserve, “…we’ll leave Mother Nature to do what she does best.”
    “What about security?” the leader of the group asked. His name was Daryl, and he was the owner of the French fry mobile. “Since this is private land, have you given any thought to private park rangers or some kind of ready assistance if a hiker gets in trouble?”
    “Actually, we have. Several of the families that will be moving into the housing development are naturalists. There’s one man, in particular, who is a retired Yellowstone Park Ranger.”
    Matt knew exactly which of the wolves would be moving to Napa to form the nucleus of a small Pack along with Jenny and her family. Mostly, the spots were