It’s only when the terrain smooths and the path widens that he finally speaks.
“So… my brother,” he says, carefully casual.
I stop walking to give him my full attention.
He sighs, scrubbing a hand through his hair. “I couldn’t find him. We got separated after… everything, and then my phone completely lost signal. I searched for ages, but…” He shakes his head. “I’m sure I saw him. It had to be him. Once we’re somewhere with reception, I’ll try calling again.”
I nod, though my thoughts have already wandered elsewhere.
There’d been rumors at the Solstice.
Nothing concrete. Just whispers that the Beast of Bray Road had arrived with a human. They hadn’t stayed long—long enough to set the gossip running before disappearing again. I vaguely remember hearing a name. Milo, perhaps. Or Micah. Something close enough that the coincidence now prickles uncomfortably beneath my fur.
Calder has always preferred letting speculation die of old age rather than correcting it. Trying to confirm anything with him is another matter entirely. The Beast of Bray Road has developed an almost legendary talent for ignoring Network messages, emails, and anything else requiring a reply.
Still... once I have the chance, I’ll reach out.
If the rumors were true, and Elias’s brother really was the human who’d walked beside Calder into Yellowstone...
Well.
That would be one astonishing coincidence.
We start walking again, the path bending eastward, sunlight filtering through the canopy in soft, broken beams. Elias tripsonce more—less dramatically this time—and grumbles under his breath.
I chuckle. “Careful.”
“I am being careful,” he protests. “The ground is just… aggressively uneven.”
“Welcome to my world,” I say dryly.
He laughs, the sound bright and unguarded, and a quiet peace settles over me. This—this—is what I want. The journey. The missteps. The shared humor. The quiet understanding that we’re moving forward together, even if we don’t yet know where we’ll end up.
We crest a small rise, the forest opening ahead of us, the path stretching onward like an invitation rather than a threat.
East, then south. More checks. More stops. More conversations and choices and moments that will shape whatever comes next.
For now, I am content.
For now, I have Elias’s hand in mine, hope stirring cautiously in my chest, and the certainty that whatever waits ahead, I won’t face it alone.
And that feels like enough.
EPILOGUE
ELIAS
Consideringhow patient I can be when studying—how I can spend hours observing, cataloging, waiting for patterns to emerge—I know I should be going with the flow and not rushing this.
Unfortunately, patience is a finite resource.
And the giant butt plug currently lodged up my ass—courtesy of a successful, slightly mortifying detour into an adult store while Boone stayed safely in the mountains—has reduced my reserves to zero.
For five days now, Boone has been prepping me. Methodical. Thorough. Almost reverent about it. Carefully opening me up—sometimes with his human cock, other times with his cryptid fingers, and once or twice with his tongue—making absolutely certain I’ll be ready.
What he fails to understand is that I am already so ready for his giant Bigfoot cock.
And it’s not that I’m ungrateful. That would be impossible. Every orgasm he’s dragged out of me over the past five days—including the frankly excessive three-in-one-day incident—has been mind-meltingly, soul-altering incredible.
