Page 344 of Pucking Feral: Part Two

He lands flat on his back beside the fire.

Wraith hauls himself to his feet to loom over him, mud streaking his shoulder and ribs and hair, marshmallow and now dirt still stuck to one side of his exposed jaws.

"I saved your life," Valek says. "Bugs can be poisonous. You should be grateful."

Wraith grabs a handful of wet leaves and drops them directly onto his face.

"Oh, no, you didn't," Valek sneers, hooking a leg behind Wraith's knee. Wraith crashes to the ground and Valek tackles him with a snarl.

They roll, grappling, and crash into the river together. Wraith surfaces first, water streaming off his bare shoulders, dark hair plastered flat. Valek comes up spitting and barking laughter, his white hair hanging in his face like drowned silk.

Wraith shoves him under.

Valek comes back up and drives his shoulder into Wraith's ribs, pushing him backward through the current and soaking everything within ten feet, including me.

I pull the blanket over my head. "Thanks for that."

Wraith shoves Valek back underwater again, looking up toward me, water streaming from his hair and scarred jaws.

He's laughing. Even from here, I hear the rough huffs and see the brightness in his eyes. There's nothing feral about them now.

Just pure happiness.

Valek’s hand shoots out of the water and drags Wraith down with him by the hair. By the time they both surface again, still shoving and splashing each other, the last of the marshmallow has finally washed off Wraith's jaw.

Oh.

The marshmallow.

I look back at the ruined s’more lying in the mud beside the log. There was never a bug on it. I knew this when Valek pointed at nothing, but I didn't understand then.

Val was saving Wraith by distracting him.

I love him.

Fuck, I love him so much.

In the river, Valek shoves Wraith's head underwater and Wraith surfaces snarling, grabbing the other alpha's arm and dragging him sideways through the current. They look like they're trying to drown each other.

They look like brothers. Feral brothers.

Two wolves.

Chapter 72

Wraith

Ivy finally gives up trying to keep the blanket dry.

She gets to her feet beside the fire, lets it slide off her shoulders, and calls toward the river, “I’m going to try to get signal again before Thane, Plague, and Whiskey go full Mission Impossible and rappel out of a helicopter.”

Valek and I stop fighting.

Well. I stop. He keeps trying to sneak up on me while I keep my hand planted on his chest, ignoring his rough laughter as my eyes stay fixed on Ivy.

She gathers the blanket under one arm. "My last text went through a few hours ago, and knowing Whiskey, he’s already drawn up a rescue plan."

Then she walks toward the tent.