“Yeah…well actually his friend did all the cooking, but Quin asked him to do it,” Sawyer said, smiling. “Theo is the first friend Quin ever had…other than me and my brothers…surprised the hell out of all of us that it happened.”
“Why didn’t he have any friends?” asked Alex.
“Uhm…he’s very shy…but when Quin met Theo…they just clicked.”
“Is Theo a wolf too?” asked Alex.
“No…can you believe he’s a bear?” Sawyer asked, shaking his head. “The first time I met Theo and his fiancé was when they came out to the motorhome to bring us lunch. Mase was in Quin’s bedroom, and when he came out, boy did he freak out.”
“Why? Because they’re bears?” asked Alex, wondering if Sawyer’s brothers would have a problem with him not being a wolf.
“Not because they were bears…well in a way it was...see our father warned us when we were growing up not to get into a fight with a bear shifter because they are bigger and stronger than we are…so Mase was afraid Theo and Norm…that’s his fiancé…would attack. Fuck, like that would ever happen. Theo and Norm remind me of stuffed, toy, teddy bears…you know, all cuddly and soft. Anyway, that’s when Quin met Theo and they’ve been thick as thieves ever since.”
“And none of your brothers is upset because Theo isn’t a wolf?” asked Alex.
“Not at all…” Sawyer studied his mate, wondering why Alex kept bringing it up until it suddenly dawned on him. “Hey…if you’re worried about not being a wolf, trust me,it won’t matter to any of my brothers…just like no one cared that Hunter’s mate is a dragon.”
Alex’s eyes widened. “A dragon? Really?”
“Yup…so you see…it won’t be a problem,” Sawyer said, setting his fork down. “So you're a fellow New Yorker. How did you end up in California?”
Shrugging, Alex studied his empty plate. “I wanted to see what was beyond the place I grew up in.”
“Hey, I get that…it’s why I decided to look at the bright side when my brother said we were going to visit our cousins.”
Looking up sharply, Alex asked, “You haven’t gone anywhere either?”
“Nope…well, I did live in California when I was very young, but my father moved us back east when he took over our pack from his father…so I really don’t remember much from that time.”
“And you haven’t traveled since then?” asked Alex.
“Uh-uh. I didn’t go to college like some of my brothers and my father never brought me along when he traveled for pack business…so, nope, the trip out here was pretty much my first time anywhere.”
“Do you like it? You know…traveling?” asked Alex.
“Not the way Hunter did it. We drove straight through, and it was boring as shit…even though I tried to get him to stop along the way to see some of the touristy stuff.”
“Oh, I did that!”
“Oh yeah? Which was your favorite? Oh wait, I bet it was the giant ball of twine!” Sawyer exclaimed.
“What? No! Is there really such a thing?” asked Alex. Then, throwing his paper napkin at Sawyer while shaking his head, he said, “You’re full of bullshit.”
“Me? Never!” Sawyer exclaimed. “It’s in Cawker City, Kansas. Here…I’ll show you.” Opening his browser on his phone, he searched for it, then finding the site, Sawyer handed the phone over to his mate.
Quickly scanning the web site, Alex looked up and grinned. “That’s freaking amazing! And in August, there is a ‘Twine-a-thon’ where more twine is added to the ball.”
“Told ya.” Smirking, Sawyer took his phone back. “So, you missed that on your trip out here…so what did you see?”
Laughing, Alex said, “I was too busy stopping at national parks like the Grand Canyon. I spent almost a month there…it was just amazing. It’s so different when you are standing there in person, looking down and seeing millions of years of geological history, instead of looking at a photograph. I did all of the touristy stuff and then there were days, I just sat on the edge and stared at it, trying to commit it to memory. It truly is breathtaking.”
“I take it that’s your favorite place?” Sawyer asked.
“So far, it is…but then I haven’t seen the Redwoods yet,” grinned Alex.
“Me neither, even though they aren’t that far from my cousins’ place,” Sawyer said, gathering up their dishes. “What are your plans for today?”
Frowning slightly, Alex considered his mate’s question. What he was going to do was head to see the Pacific Ocean because he wanted to see if it was different fromthe Atlantic Ocean. When he left New York, he arrived in Cape May just in time to find himself on the outskirts of a tropical storm. Sitting on the beach, watching the wild waves crash ashore, Alex was mesmerized by the wind while watching the low hanging, heavy, gray clouds move across the sky. It spoke to his soul like nothing else ever had. The next day, after the storm had passed, he went back, but this time sat in the water among the steel-gray waves as they tumbled ashore. He’d never experienced anything like it, and he ended up staying a week at the Jersey Shore, spending hours a day at the beach.
