“So, are you going to feed me or am I going to have to raid the kitchen myself?” Brody said with a large smile on his face.
“It depends. Are you going to keep your naked flesh off the dining table?” Chasen teased and Brody rolled his eyes.
“Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.” Brody smirked.
“Please don’t try it.” Hunter shook his head, laughing.
“We should definitely grill out today,” Adam said, looking toward the pavilion at the back of the pack house.
“I’m feeling hungry again, too. I’m all for grilling out.” Chasen then turned and looked at Hunter.
Hunter chuckled. “Winston and Adam, go and man the grills. Let’s have a cookout.” He then looked at Xander and Levi. “I’d like to talk with the two of you. It would be nice to get to know you both better.” Hunter took a couple steps closer to Levi and Xander, shaking Levi’s hand, then extending his hand to Xander.
Xander hesitated for a moment, then slowly took Hunter’s hand. He looked at Hunter as if he was waiting for something that never happened. “Well, I guess Hunter is immune to me, too.”
“Immune to you?” Hunter raised his eyebrows and smiled.
“Xander, give it up. You were meant to be part of our family. It’s obvious. So your parlor tricks are not going to affect us.” Reiya turned and looked at Hunter. “Usually, people can’t be really close to Xander or touch him without being burned. But so far, no one in our family is affected by him. I’m beginning to think the whole burning aura thing is a joke.” Reiya winked at Xander, who chuckled.
“You’re awfully brave with that deity of yours keeping you tucked in his side.” Xander grinned as he provoked her.
“Are you saying you could do something about it even if he wasn’t here?” Reiya batted her eyelashes at Xander as she looked at him in innocence.
“It doesn’t matter, though, does it? I am here.” Levi’s eyes flashed at the amber eyes. He tilted his head and did a half shrug, all but daring him to continue.
“You know, Levi, Brody and I were talking the other day. We’re curious … exactly how strong are you? Sure, you can take me one-on-one. But how many can you fight off at once?” Xander glanced over at Brody, who already had a playful smile on his face.
“We don’t want to embarrass him, Xander. After all, he has his reputation to think about.” Brody egged the situation on as Levi’s eyes began to shine with humor.
“Who would be the ones getting embarrassed? That’s the real question.” Levi looked at the two and leaned back on his heels confidently.
“You boys will look for any reason to spar, won’t you? I just told Brody and Chasen no, and now you three are trying to.” Reiya pouted as she stepped away from Lee.
“You three? I’m thinking it’s you five. Chasen and I won’t be getting left out of a sparring match.” Hunter grinned, intrigued and ready to flex his muscles. If it was against Levi, he wouldn’t have to worry about holding back.
“Ugh, you guys. This shouldn’t be some macho, male testosterone, chest-bumping match.” Reiya looked over at Freja. “What do you think?”
Freja shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve seen Chasen and Hunter fighting. I mean, they really could use the practice.”
Reiya held her hand up over her mouth and giggled. Hunter let out a dark chuckle, while Brody and Xander snickered. “My queen, it sounds like you’re doubting my competence.”
“Oh? It only sounds like I was? Hmm, I guess I need to work on my speech delivery.”
Hunter held Freja captive in his arms and leaned toward her face. His lips hovered over hers as his hot breath fanned against them. “Maybe I’ll have to show you my competence, then.” He smiled against her lips and kissed her softly. He couldn’t help it. Everything she did drove him crazy. Even her teasing.
Damn, I love her so much.
CHAPTER SIXTY
Two large bears, a titan of a red dragon, and the biggest werewolf alive all lay sprawled on the ground. The loud sounding of heavy breathing filled the air, followed by the creaking of slow movement as they lifted themselves to their feet. In front of them stood a colossal blue dragon, his tail swaying slowly from side to side as he calmly looked at them all. A proud smirk rose on his face and he cleared his throat.
“You did good. I’m serious, I’m impressed. You guys held your own better than I thought you would have. Honestly. You guys should be proud. I even had to go up to half my strength to fight against you all.” Levi listened to the low snarls in front of him as they shifted back to their human selves. He took this time and shifted back as well.
“He was freaking patronizing us right there. Did you hear him?” Xander said as he huffed, catching his breath.
“I never realized how strong a tier-one deity actually is.” Chasen looked over at Hunter.
“What’s scary is that I don’t think we even made him break a sweat,” Hunter groaned in disappointment. No matter how strong they were, there was a night and day difference in theirpower. He had hoped that, as the Werewolf King, he would have been able to cause more havoc against him.
