That didn’t stop him from pulling into a gas station and loading up with essentials—bottles of water and granola bars. Jason’s eyebrows were practically in his hair as Riley grabbed the M&M trail mix.
“Seriously?” he asked, before he could stop himself. But comeon, the one thing Jason knew was food, and that was justwrong.
“Want a bag?” Riley offered, a grin in his eyes. Like he was having fun.
And Jason found himself smiling back. “Not in your wildest dreams.”
* * *
They chose the trail with the shallowest inclines and wandered along in the shade of the trees, listening to a stream running its rocky course beside the path and birds’ alarmed calls as they neared. Low, scrubby bushes lined the track, their leaves dusty after weeks without rain, while ahead, the foothills rose into the summer sky in soft, rolling curves.
Every now and then, Riley stopped to take a photo—“To remind me when I’m writing it up”—until Jason scarcely noticed anymore. At least, not until Riley suddenly looped an arm around his neck, tugging him in close. Jason’s breath caught as he felt Riley’s warmth, the press of his cheek against Jason’s. Then—click.
Jason wanted the photo so badly, but he had no idea how to ask for it without sounding needy. Before he’d been able to figure out what to say, Riley beat him to it.
“Want me to send it to you?”
Jason practically levitated with happiness. “Thanks,” he said, and had to clear his throat.
They wandered on, enjoying the peace. It was warm but not sweltering, the kind of dry summer heat that didn’t feel heavy. The nape of Jason’s neck was slightly damp, but the shade of the pines along the path kept him from getting too hot.
After a couple of hours, Riley suggested they stop for a break and followed a well-worn path to the edge of the stream. A magpie scolded them as they sat in the shade of a clump of aspens, white trunks reaching into the clear blue sky.
Riley dug in his backpack and pulled out the trail mix that was an affront to God, nature, and the laws of cookery.
“It’s so cool we’ve got the place to ourselves,” he said, as he opened the bag and pulled out a handful. Then he paused, and when he turned to look at Jason, his brow was slightly furrowed. “You don’t think we need worry about bears, do you?”
Good question. It was something Jason had never needed to think about—he’d just shift if he ever ran into a bear. But of course, Riley wouldn’t be able to shift, and although Jason could protect him, he hesitated to tell Riley that. It sounded patronizing, somehow.
It also would remind Riley about Jason being a shifter, and though Riley had accepted it, Jason knew that even the closest allies could be weirded out when confronted with the reality of what being a shifter meant. Which was fair enough, seeing as he found it weird that theycouldn’tshift.
“I guess we should just make some noise and not smell of food,” Jason said in the end.
“So much for a relaxing amble,” Riley commented. “Though you’ve just persuaded me to eat my trail mix all in one go, so that’sa plus.” He crunched happily. “You really don’t come out here?” he asked. “It’s beautiful.”
“I guess, with work, and the ranch and the pack, I just—” Jason began to stumble through a list of excuses before remembering. This wasRiley.Maybe, for once, he could be honest about what he was thinking.
“The pack feels safe for me,” he said, his voice quivering slightly with the force of his emotion. “I like that, and I guess it just never occurred to me to go further afield.”
Riley tossed back another handful of mix and offered the bag to Jason. “I mean, if you like where you’re at, why would you want to leave?” Riley said, and Jason relaxed. Rileygotit. “How long have you been with Urban’s pack?”
Jason decided that part of the culinary arts was exploration of unfamiliar things, so he took a small—very small—portion of the mix while he counted back over the last few years. “Almost three years,” he said, before braving it and eating the mix. Not quite as bad as he’d expected.
“Where were you before that?”
Jason froze. No one in the pack had ever asked him that. They all had their pasts, their own reasons why they’d ended up in Elk Ridge, and they all avoided the subject. The only one who’d ever broached it was Matt, when he’d offered Jason the chance to stay and become part of the pack, and that was fair enough—Matt needed to know who he was taking in.
As Jason’s mind ran around in panicky circles, Riley carefully folded up the empty bag and stashed it at the bottom of his backpack. Then he glanced sideways, apparently realizing that maybe there was a reason Jason hadn’t answered him.
“Didn’t mean to be intrusive,” he said. “Forget it.”
He made as if to stand, and Jason touched his arm, halting him. He—he had to learn to be brave. He’d never managed it physically,not until that night Cale’s pack had attacked them when, buoyed by the presence of his pack around him, he’d stood his ground. It had helped that he wasn’t fighting forhimself.But maybe it was time to be brave in other ways. Because if he wasn’t honest with Riley, what they had was built on nothing.
And Riley had been interested enough to ask—that was a new experience for Jason.
“I was kicked out of my old pack when my mom died,” he confessed, his voice strained. “They thought I wasn’t—I’m not… I’m too timid to be a proper wolf.”
He bit his lip, but the words were out now, hanging between them. “I’ve never liked fighting, not even play-fighting in wolf form. It just—I don’tlikeit.”
