Mission Primal (Men of the Pack Book 1) Page 5

  Ben struggled to decide what, if anything, he should do with this information. After all, he was sent here by his Alpha on a mission to retrieve Adam for unknown purposes. He still felt bound to complete that mission, but at the same time, he was destined to be Adam’s provider and protector. He was his destined mate, for God’s sake. Surely, his alpha would understand.

  Ben had no idea what Alpha Liekos wanted with Adam, but he worried it wasn’t anything good. Liekos could be volatile at times and wasn’t known for his touchy, feely side. You didn’t get to become pack alpha by popular vote, but by proving your strength and power by killing the previous alpha. It wasn’t abhorrent like Ben supposed humans might think it was. It was just how things were done in the shifter world. If there was any risk Adam would come to harm from his alpha, Ben didn’t like to think how his wolf would react. He needed more information before he risked endangering his mate.

  Ben sighed as Adam’s arms tightened around his waist in response to a tight curve. For now, he just wanted to enjoy the evening. He tried to push his worries aside and focus on the connection developing between them instead. Ben sped through another turn, forcing Adam to tighten his arms around him again. He smiled widely as he felt his wolf preen at the added contact. He hoped Adam was enjoying himself as much as he was.

  Chapter 9

  Adam

  Adam loved it. He freaking loved riding on a motorcycle. The wind in his face felt awesome. The way they had to lean together a little as they flew around corners made his heart race in such a new way, not like the fear he was so used to, but like anticipation. That was it, anticipation of what lay around the next turn.

  The night sky seemed clearer this far out from the never ending lights of town. It seemed to overflow with more stars than he had ever seen. The air felt more alive, like it was alternately caressing and attacking his skin, depending on how fast they were going. Adam felt like at any second they could die, as they had almost no protection if they wrecked, sparing the helmets. But surprisingly, that realization didn’t make him fearful, like it should. It made him want to go even faster, to lean even further on the next curve, to hold even tighter to Ben as they drove through the night. He feared when the ride was finally over, he would never get his cheeks to look normal again, he was smiling so hard.

  After about thirty minutes, Ben pulled off onto a dirt road. He slowed to a crawl as the bike took the bumpy dirt path. Ben tried to steer around the biggest of the potholes, but there were so many, it was impossible to avoid them all. Adam imagined this is what clothes might feel like in the dryer, but eventually Ben coasted to a stop on the edge of a clearing and killed the engine. Adam’s ears faintly hummed as if the engine was still running softly in the background.

  “Where are we?” Adam asked.

  “Come on, I want to show you something,” Ben replied, getting off the bike and holding out a hand for Adam to follow. He removed his helmet and held out his hand for Adam’s. Adam stared back at Ben’s outstretched hand, confusion apparent. He slowly raised his hand toward Ben’s, mistakenly thinking Ben was offering to shake his hand.

  “Your helmet, Adam,” Ben replied, the corner of his lip doing its best to avoid smirking.

  “Oh right, forgot I was still wearing it,” Adam laughed, feeling utterly stupid. He pulled off the helmet and Ben placed both on the bike’s seat. He reached into the saddlebags and pulled out a small cooler and a large metal flashlight like the ones cops carry. Ben switched the flashlight on, flooding the ground with light and headed toward the trees lining the edge of the clearing. Adam, pulling his hood back up, followed close behind.

  After what felt like an eternity of walking through the dark woods, Adam was starting to wonder if Ben was actually a serial killer marching Adam off to his certain death. The forest was pitch black and full of horror movie sound effects. The buzzing of mosquitos kept flying past his ears, causing him to swat at them ineffectively. What he assumed were bullfrogs throatily clicked and groaned off toward the shore. Something or someone screamed and Adam screamed back in response.

  Ben turned back, and put his hand on Adam’s shoulder reassuringly. Adam could see the laughter trying to bubble up on Ben’s face and scowled in return.

  “What the hell was that?” Adam said, the encroaching panic evident in the way his voice pitched higher and cracked at the end.

  “It’s okay, Adam. That was just a fox. It’s mating season.”

  “Well, hell,” Adam replied, feeling like he imagined a slowly deflating balloon must feel. “Why the hell would anyone be interested in fucking a creature that makes that noise? Scared the living daylights out of me.”

  Ben couldn’t help chuckling, but continued to run his hand up and down Adam’s arm soothingly. Adam was shocked when Ben took hold of his hand and lead him further forward into the woods. Adam restrained himself from entwining his fingers with Ben’s and pulled back gently. He was sure that Ben would drop his hand as soon as he realized he still had hold of it. Surely two guys holding hands was too gay for it to continue for long.

  The leaves and sticks crunched underfoot, and every loud crack was like a jolt to Adam’s racing heart. It was so dark that even with the help of the flashlight, Adam could barely see anything. “Come on. It’s just a little further,” Ben said, still holding Adam’s hand tight, obviously not as worried about labels as Adam.

  Ben was otherwise silent and appeared to be completely at ease. He just kept walking, but every few moments he would look over his shoulder as if to make sure Adam hadn’t fallen behind. Adam did his best to keep up, pushing branches aside if they swayed too close to his face. Adam was about to let his imagination get the best of him again when they finally broke through the trees and into another clearing.

  Adam gasped at the sight before him. This clearing was completely circular and lit up surprisingly well by only the light from the moon and stars. The center of the clearing was covered in flowers of every shade. Surrounding sat boulders of differing shapes and sizes that looked like they had been purposely placed there to mark the edge of the fairy ring.

  Adam looked at Ben wide eyed. “What is this place, Ben?” he asked in a whisper.

  “Magic.”

  Chapter 10

  Ben

  Ben switched off the flashlight, leaving Adam completely blind in the dark. Ben, of course, could still see perfectly well. He watched the confusion play across Adam’s face, as it slowly turned into fear.

  “Hey, wait a minute. I can’t see anything. Turn it back on,” Adam almost whined. Ben shushed him and pulled him closer, letting his chest brush along Adam’s arm, hoping the added contact was comforting.

  “Give it a minute. Let your eyes adjust. Don’t worry, there’s nothing bad out here. Besides, you’re safe with me, Adam,” Ben replied, squeezing Adam’s hand in his as a reminder. After a few minutes of seeing nothing but total black, Adam started to notice the details of the field before him again. He was finally able to make out the edges of the boulders and muted colors of the flowers within the circle of stones.

  “Wow, this is great,” was all Adam could say, as he gazed around him at the surrounding beauty. It was hard to be sure of exact colors with only the light from the moon and stars. “It’s so beautiful,” Adam said, voice still quiet in awe.

  “Mmhmm, absolutely beautiful,” Ben agreed, not looking anywhere near the field. Scared he would creep Adam out, Ben stop staring at Adam and took in the familiar beauty of the clearing. Ben had been slightly worried that Adam, being a child of human technology, wouldn’t appreciate the simple beauty of nature present in the fairy ring. His wolf chuffed in happiness at his mate’s obvious excitement as he took in the magical clearing.

  Ben had to shake his head slightly to clear the mental fog that had settled around his brain. His wolf wanted only one thing and the animalistic side of him was flooding his mind with crazy ideas of future, forever love, and family. Not being a wolf, Ben realized Adam would never be on the same waveleng
th this early in their relationship. He dropped Ben’s hand and stepped back to put some distance between them again.

  “Told you, it’s worth the journey,” Ben said, backing up toward the field. Ben motioned for Adam to follow again and moved over to the ring of boulders. He climb up onto one of the larger boulders with a flat depression near the top. It had several cracks up the side that functioned as a rugged natural staircase. Ben vaulted up the side effortlessly. When he reached the top, he looked down to find Adam looking up at him, disbelief evident.

  “I’m not climbing that.”

  “You need some help? I can come back down there and carry you up,” Ben replied, sarcastically. He suspected by now the way to get Adam to agree to something was to question his ability.

  “Fine, but if I fall, my death is on your head,” Adam grumbled, grabbing for a handhold as he struggled up the side of the boulder with much less grace. Ben’s wolf paced back and forth, concerned as soon as Adam’s foot left the ground. Adam carefully moved upward, searching for adequate footing and Ben almost sighed in relief as Adam came closer to reaching the top.

  Faster than he could have imagined, Adam’s foot slipped and he canted backwards, flailing in free air. Ben reached out and grabbed the arm closest and tugged, pulling Adam to safety as if Adam was virtually weightless. Adam looked at him in shock as he mumbled out a confused ‘thanks?’

  Ben berated himself at his overly obvious display of strength. He’d panicked and had no other thought than keeping Adam from falling. He decided the best course of action was to pretend nothing had happened. Ben sat down hanging both legs off the side. He patted the spot next to him in invitation. Slowly, Adam took the offered seat and pulled his knees up close to his chest protectively. Ben’s wolf was irritated at Adam’s unconscious show of insecurity. I know, I know, I’ll fix it so just calm the fuck down. Ben could feel the disdain with which his wolf was looking at him in that moment and exhaled loudly in frustration. Adam turned his face toward him at the sigh, questions evident in his gaze.

  “It’s nothing. Just thought of something stupid that happened earlier today.” Ben pretended he meant something other than every interaction he’d had with Adam since they’d met.

  “You want to talk about it?” Adam offered, picking at the frayed end of one shoelace distractedly.

  Ben considered for a moment. Figuring it couldn’t hurt, he told Adam all about what had happened with Julie and the unknown jock during school. Adam listened quietly until the end, which Ben found oddly soothing. He wasn’t one of those people to interrupt fifty times putting his in his two cents worth. He just listened.

  Finally, when Ben had stopped talking, Adam met his gaze and asked the question of the day. “So are you?”

  “Am I what?” Ben asked, only slightly confused.

  “Are you gay?”

  Ben, not knowing how to answer that, could only come up with the truth, “Maybe for you.”

  Chapter 11

  Adam

  Well that was more honest than Adam had expected. Funny, but he wasn’t freaking out like he thought he would. Interesting. Adam just continued to look into Ben’s weird glowy eyes, chin propped on his knees. His lack of reaction was obviously not what Ben was expecting either. Adam watched as Ben’s face went from enthusiastic to confused to shuttered.

  “Well, I guess that answers that,” Ben muttered, turning his gaze back to the field, shoulders hunching up closer to his ears. Adam placed his hand softly on Ben’s bicep and squeezed gently. Ben slowly turned back, fear of rejection painted across his overly expressive face.

  “It’s not that I’m not slightly freaked out by what you just said, Ben. Don’t get me wrong. The antisocial, straight guy in me is totally freaking out right now, but strangely I think I’m going to be okay with that.” Ben leaned forward as if to close the gap between them, but Adam leaned back, too, keeping the distance between them the same.

  “But let’s take it slow, okay?” Instantly, Ben straightened, smoothing his hand through his blonde locks. He was still smiling, though, as he agreed with a nod.

  Adam couldn’t get enough of sitting in that magical little field with Ben. Not only was it the most bizarre natural formation Ben had personally ever seen, but it was strangely soothing to his soul. It was like the land called to him to just stay, stay and be happy. More than once he had to resist the urge to go into the middle of the field and lay spread eagled in the flowers.

  Adam had enjoyed the small picnic Ben had provided. He sniffed suspiciously at the weird cheeses Ben had assured him were quite lovely, but he had thankfully found that Ben was right. Adam patted his full stomach after finishing the last blackberry, surprised at how much he had eaten. If he wasn’t wrong, he’d already consumed at least twice what Ben had managed. He suspected that wasn’t accidental and secretly liked the feeling of being provided for.

  “So if you just moved here, how did you know about this place?” Adam asked between bites of apple and manchego cheese.

  “Trip Wizard,” Ben responded. “It’s this travel app for your phone and it lists local things to see and do and cool places to eat and stuff. Here, let me show you.” Ben went to pull out his phone from his back pocket, but Adam stilled him with a look.

  “Ben, I’ve been on Trip Wizard and there is nothing like this listed for this area. Seriously, how did you know about this place?”

  “You caught me. I could tell you but then I would have to kill you. Sorry, it’s a secret,” Ben said a wide, but oddly uncomfortable grin spread across his face.

  “I don’t like being lied to, Ben,” Adam said, his voice stony to emphasize his displeasure. Ben visibly deflated at being caught.

  “I don’t mean to lie to you, Adam. I honestly just can’t tell you yet, but I will. I just need a little more time. Can you trust me that long?” Silence met Ben’s request while Adam thought it over.

  “I won’t wait forever for answers, but I can give you some time. Next time I ask though, I want the truth. Deal?”

  “Deal,” Ben agreed, handing over a bottle of water like a peace offering. Adam took the proffered beverage and went back to eating silently, just enjoying the evening.

  The longer they stayed, the closer Adam allowed himself to drift to Ben. The distance between them had finally dwindled until they were pressed against each other shoulder to hip on one side. Adam graciously allowed Ben’s arm to stay wrapped gently around his waist after Ben did a poor job of pretending to stretch. He knew it was totally cliché, but also it was adorably cute and he let Ben get away with it.

  The chill on the night air deepened and Adam started to wonder how long they had been there. Never having been one to spend long periods of time outdoors willingly, he wasn’t sure he could tell time by the position of the moon. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone, squinting at the harsh blinding light when he checked the time.

  “Holy shit. I’ve got to go.”

  “Why? What time is it?” Ben asked.

  “It’s two in the morning. I’m gonna be dead if my father catches me out this late.”

  “He doesn’t know you are gone, does he?”

  “Um, no. And it’s best if he doesn’t find out,” Adam replied.

  “What am I missing here?” Ben asked, taking Adam’s chin between two fingers and turning it so Adam couldn’t avoid looking at him as he answered.

  “Nothing. He’s just an asshole. He wouldn’t have let me go if I’d asked, so I just didn’t ask.”

  “Next time, ask. I don’t like to think of you getting in trouble for being with me.”

  “Okay, sure, next time I’ll ask,” Adam lied. “Can we go now?”

  Adam could tell Ben wasn’t truly convinced but he thankfully dropped the subject. He helped Adam down off the boulder, grabbing Adam’s hand again as they headed back through the woods. Adam stumbled along behind, not even seeing his own hand in front of his face. It had gotten so dark. He had no idea how Ben wasn’t walking into
trees blindly without the flashlight.

  Adam’s face kept getting scratched as he couldn’t see the sharp branches hanging in their path to push them out of his way. Finally after one poked him in the eye, he planted his feet stubbornly and refused to move. Ben turned around in confusion to find Adam holding one hand over his left eye.

  “Oh, shit. Sorry, Adam. I forgot to turn the flashlight back on, didn’t I?” Ben said sheepishly as he flipped the switch and the area was flooded with light. Adam continued to glare one-eyed at Ben while Ben examined the scratches on his cheeks more closely.

  “Are you okay? I’m really sorry, Adam.” His eye finally seemed to be done watering and Adam lowered his hand and blinked a few times, ensuring he still had intact vision. He looked over Ben’s face and arms which had been more exposed than his own, but didn’t see a mark on him.