GRAYSON
"You sure you don’t need any help?”
I waved Devan away, ignoring the skeptical look on his face as he watched me grab the grill lighter from the kitchen
drawer.
“All of FurBitten Falls may think you’re a master when it comes to cooking. But I am the master of the grill.” I tossed him a cocky grin and made my way through the open living area toward the back deck.
Devan didn’t seem convinced as he followed me outside.
Stepping out on to the top level of the massive two-story deck, I breathed in the fresh summer air. It was always a good time when the pack and I gathered at our cabin, The Grove. Though cabin was a bit of an understatement. The giant mountain home was more of a compound, perfect for getting the whole wolf pack together out in the rolling hills just beyond our homes in Howling Hills.
Which is just what we were here for today. Only this gathering for our monthly full moon run happened to coincide with the summer solstice. And I planned on making this one better than anything we’d had lately. Courtesy of my sick grilling skills.
“You do know I have a whole series on grilling, right?” Devan persisted. Dude really thought I couldn’t do this. I guessed having his own cooking show was going to his head. Well, I’d show him.
“Look,” I said, spreading my arms wide as I turned and walked backward on the deck, eyeing Devan, “I’ve got this. Stand and observe, and prepare to be amazed.”
Devan snorted. Shane, who was already out on the deck soaking up some rays in his swim trunks, lifted his sunglasses and gave me a sarcastic smile.
“Dude, even I know you need to put on a shirt if you’re going to be standing over an open flame.”
I glanced down at my bare chest, already bronzed from the time I’d spend outside this summer and flexed my pecs, making them jump.
“Jesus,” Devan said, rolling his eyes.
I just laughed and turned toward the deck railing. I leaned on the thick wooden beams and looked out over the mountains. It really was beautiful. Peaks and valleys as far as the eye could see, robust evergreens battling it out with flowering trees in a midsummer display of the glories of nature.
Yeah, this was my favorite time of year to be at The Grove. There was nothing better than coming out here and getting away from it all with the guys. The six of us tried to get out here for every full moon. Devan always kept us well fed—though I was going to give him a run for his money today. Shane and his carefree attitude always kept things fun. Thorne was the more level-headed of the bunch. And of course, we couldn’t really call it a party without our prime alpha Nyle and his mate Seph. This time they’d even brought the kids—Thorne’s little guy, Mason, and Nyle and Seph’s six-month-old, Novalee. It was guaranteed to be a good time. party.
I breathed in the mountain air, my cheerful mood only slightly dampened by the fact that I didn’t have anyone in my life to share this with other than our little friend group. I mean, yeah, there was the rest of the Howling Hills Wolf Pack back in town. I wasn’t lacking for friends in my life. Or people throwing themselves at me hoping maybe we could be more than friends. No, what was missing was a certain someone.
Harvey.
I’d been thinking of him more lately than I cared to admit. Likely because seeing Nyle and Seph so happy together, especially with the addition of their baby girl, reminded me of what I couldn’t have. I didn’t want to be jealous of the happiness and love two of my best friends had found. But I couldn’t help it sometimes.
I knew it was something I’d never have. Harvey had done a number on me. Even with a pack full of omegas who’d be more than happy to give me a good time, I just wasn’t interested. And it wasn’t even just about sex. It
was that connection I craved. A relationship on a deeper level with someone who just got me. Like what I’d had with Harvey.
I shook my head, pushing back from the railing, irritated that I’d let myself go there. Harvey was gone, and that was that. He’d up and left me to go to medical school and had no intentions of ever coming back. Apparently what we’d felt for each other wasn’t strong enough to keep him here. Not that I could blame him, I guess. We weren’t fated mates. If we were, we would have known that a long time ago.
The asshole of a little voice in my head whispered to me, as it did from time to time. What if he’s found his mate?
Ugh. Not something I wanted to think about. So, I tossed another cocky grin at the guys and planted myself in front of the grill, ready to get the fuck out of my head and focus on what we’d come here to do: have a hell of a good time.
“You have to clean out the old wood chips first,” Devan said. He just wasn’t going to let it go, was he?
“I’ve got it, dickhead.” I laughed, removing the grate from the grill and setting it down on the deck. “When’s the last time someone used this thing, anyway?”
I grabbed a little shovel and started scooping up the charred remnants of the last time this baby had been fired up. As I bent to toss them in the garbage can, I grimaced. The grill was pretty nasty. It was a wonder no birds or other small animals hadn’t made a nest out of it. A couple of bees flying around and waved them away with the shovel.
“Who wants to place a bet on if Devan’s going to take over the job?” Shane joked as Thorne made his way out onto the deck too.
He laughed. “I’m in.”
I scooped the rest of the wood chips into the trash. “Ha. Ha. Ha. You guys are a bunch of smartasses. But we’ll see who’s laughing when I serve up the best burger you’ve ever put in your mouth.”
A bee flew up out of nowhere and hovered in front of my face, and I swatted at it lazily. I turned back to the grill and filled it with fresh chips as the guys heckled me from behind. No skin of my back though. I was used to the constant joking and pranking from these assholes. It was pretty much what we did.
All of a sudden, I felt a tickle on my leg. I reached down to scratch my inner thigh, but the itchy fluttering seemed to be on the move, headed right
toward my dick.
“Oh fuck,” I muttered, realizing way too late that some creatures had nested in the grill—bees. And one of them had just flown up my swim trunks. Shit. Had I really just poked around in a bee’s nest? Yep. Sure had. And then I’d gone and swatted at it—while it was mere inches from my crotch.
Next thing I knew, I heard a piercing screech—realizing a second later it was coming from my own mouth. The fucker pulled out the big guns and stung the shit out of me.
“Holy shit, Grayson,” Devan said, stepping toward me. “What the hell?
You haven’t even lit the damn thing.”
“My dick. Oh shit. A bee. Holy fuck!” I let out a string of profanity as the guys looked on in confusion. It took me half a second of not even understanding my own gibberish to realize I was screaming incoherently.
I stopped, drew a ragged breath, then gritted my teeth and stared at them. “A bee just stung me on my dick.”
You’d have thought I’d just told them the funniest joke they’d ever heard, not that my most precious appendage currently felt like it had caught on fire from the inside out.
They laughed while I just screamed in horror. Jesus. They thought I was
pranking them?
“Cut it out, you assholes! I’m fucking allergic to bees…”
Shit. I had to look and see how bad the damage was, but I’d never been more afraid of anything in my life. And that’s when I realized the bee was still in my shorts. I yanked them down to my ankles in one quick motion, too concerned with what I’d find to pay attention to the offender that just flew slowly away as if nothing had happened.
“Oh fuck,” Shane said, standing from his chair and taking a cautious step toward me.
“What the hell?” Devan asked. “You been tossing back the Viagra?”
We were no strangers to each other’s anatomies, considering we’d been stripping down in front of each other to shift for most of our lives. So, they had to know something was wrong if they were acting like this.
Damn right something was wrong. “I didn’t take a damn Viagra,” I bit out in a growl. “I just got stung by a bee.”
I squeezed my eyes shut as I fell back into the pit of raging agony, unable to contain my cries of pain. It felt like my whole body was on fire,
starting at my dick and radiating out in waves of white-hot misery. “We have to get you to the hospital,” Thorne said urgently.
I cracked one eye open and forced myself to look down, peeking to see what the damage was.
“Or maybe to the nearest bar,” Shane laughed. “I’m sure there would be plenty of volunteers to help you out with that problem.”
Under any other circumstances, I’d be nothing but swagger…because my cock was fucking massive right now. Holy shit. It was swollen and red, and it looked like I hadn’t just taken a Viagra but downed the whole damn bottle.
I looked like a porn star. Or…fuck, I don’t know…a goddamned Clydesdale.
“Hospital,” I choked out. “Now.”
They guys sprang into action. Nyle and Seph volunteered to stay here with the kids while the rest of them took me back to the hospital in Howling Hills.
“Look at his face,” Shane teased. “He looks like he just lost his best friend.”
“It is his best friend,” Devan quipped. “The most action that thing has seen is from his right-hand man.”
They all collapsed in a fit of laughter as they ushered me down the deck stairs and toward the vehicles. Wiseasses.
“Do you not see how serious this is?” I muttered in between the moans. “Whatever,” Shane said, waving his hand as he climbed into the driver’s
seat of his car, “you’ll be fine. Though I’m sure your dick will take a nice beating at the hospital before it’s over.”
Jesus. I tried to ignore the joking at my expense as we piled into the car and Shane kicked it into gear. They seemed to get the serious of the situation now, moving a bit faster and easing off with the laughter, but still, I knew it without a doubt: if I lived to see the end of this, these guys were never going to let me live it down.
2
