Eli hadn’t cared much one way or the other. Not then. He had plenty of money from his trust and a job that kept him gone most of the time. Still, if Bannaconni said there was oil, there probably was.

He’d met the man through a mutual friend, Drake Donovan. Eli had spent weeks with Drake in the Borneo rain forest, and Drake had taught him more about shifters in those few weeks than his father had ever had a chance to teach him. Bannaconni had somehow tracked him down, explaining Drake needed a bone graft from a shifter, that if he didn’t get one soon, he would never shift again and they’d lose him. Eli had immediately volunteered for testing and had been compatible, grateful he could repay Drake for his friendship and knowledge.

He’d refused to take the considerable sum of money Bannaconni had offered him, but he’d let it be known he was interested in acreage out of the way where his leopard could run free, and to call if they stumbled on anything suitable. Bannaconni contacted him the instant the property next to his came up for sale.

Eli had a lot of respect for Jake Bannaconni. He could have purchased the prime real estate and added it to what he already had, especially suspecting oil on it, but he’d let Eli know it was coming up for sale and when Eli was interested quietly arranged the sale and hid it under multiple layers of his own corporations.

It was Jake’s wife, Emma, whom he emailed when he was coming to the property. She personally didn’t stock his fridge, he knew better than that, but she had the supplies bought and delivered. The Bannaconnis were good neighbors and Jake certainly deserved a heads-up that a rogue would eventually be coming their way.

He shifted as he got closer. As a rule shifters weren’t in the least bit modest, but he was always careful to know who was close by before he allowed himself to be seen.

“Jake?” he called out the moment he identified two of Jake’s men with him.

Joshua Tregre and Elijah Lospostos were two of Jake’s shifter crew. Eli knew them both fairly well. They’d come from Borneo with Drake to work for Jake. Eli knew Drake was now living in New Orleans but was still very tight with Jake and these two men.

“Eli?” Jake called back.

The three men moved closer to the property line.

“I’ve been out for a run,” Eli warned them.

They didn’t hesitate. “I’ve got a spare pack,” Joshua said. “Do you want a pair of jeans?”

“Seems silly just for a short visit. I’ve got my mate in the truck and she could decide to take off any minute,” Eli said.