* * * *

“Wake up and get dressed. We’re going on a hike.”

Kevin opened one eye and peered up at Tucker, who was standing by his bedside, fully dressed and grinning at him. “You may be,” he grumbled, turning over to get away from him and pulling the covers back over his head.

Tucker ripped them off, laughing at the startled curses coming from the bed. “C’mon, it’s a gorgeous day outside. Perfect for a climb up to the waterfalls. A bunch of us are going, and I want you to come too.”

Kevin leaned up on his elbows. “Tucker, what is wrong with you? You know I don’t hike, or climb or anything resembling that shit. Go ahead and I’ll see you when you get back.”

Tucker crossed his arms stubbornly and stood by the bed until Kevin huffed out a breath and opened his eyes again. “Seriously? I don’t want to go.”

“You don’t need to sit around inside all day. Come on and go with us. Richard’s coming.”

Kevin sat up and shot him an evil glare. “And that’s supposed to make me cream in my pants? What are we, in the eighth grade?”

“C’mon, it’ll be fun. I haven’t spent any real time with you yet, other than fighting over all of this.” He waved his hand again in that languid way of his, an oddly old-fashioned and endearing gesture.

Kevin swung his feet over the side of the bed and stretched. “So who all is ‘a bunch of us’?”

“Some of the newer mates and their…uh…spouses, and just a few others. It’s so nice out, and it’s a not a work day. Gavin and Richard and some of Gavin’s guard are going along because the falls are near one of the perimeters of the property and they can use it as a jumping off point to patrol, as well as guard the mates on the trip.”

“Guard you? Why do you need that?”

Tucker walked over to Kevin’s dresser to take out some of the clothes he’d furnished him with. “You know I told you about the Hunters and the recent attacks. They’re being careful still, though we don’t know for sure if they’re still in the area. Some innocent people died, including humans.”

Kevin turned his head and stared. “What did you say?”

“Huh? What?”

“You said, including humans.” His eyes narrow and suspicious, he asked quietly. “Don’t you think you’re human anymore, Tucker?”

“I…uh…you must have misunderstood me.”

“No, pretty sure I didn’t.”

Tucker’s cheeks were pink, but he hurried back to where Kevin sat and handed him some clothes. “Here, you can put these on.”

Kevin grabbed his hand. “Talk to me, Tucker.”

“No,” he said, twisting away. “Just put that on and come downstairs. We’re leaving in an hour, and you’ll need breakfast first.” He held up a hand to stop Kevin from saying more. “No, just get dressed. Please. I think they’re going to talk to you tonight after the ceremony, and you’ll know everything then. I can’t say more. You wouldn’t believe me anyway.” He turned and hurried out of the room, leaving Kevin staring after him and shaking his head. Whatever they’d said to Tucker, whatever they’d brainwashed him into believing, Kevin himself had to stay lucid and not fall prey to it. If an opportunity arose to get out of here, with or without Tucker, he had to go for it. It was too easy to get caught up in all of this and lose yourself. In the meantime, he’d bide his time and learn all he could.

He went in to shower and shave and get ready for the day, giving himself a stern talking to about the little butterflies that were dancing around in his chest at the idea of spending most of the day with Richard.

* * * *

“Come on in with us, Kevin. Don’t be such a wimp,” Tucker called out, his hands on Gavin’s shoulders.

“It looks cold. I can watch just fine from here.”

The hike down to the falls was almost worth it for the view, though Kevin refused to admit it, still a little angry with Tucker at his strange reluctance to share anything with him. After breakfast, the group of about twelve people—a mixture of the big ones and the others, who Kevin now knew were their so-called mates, a mixed group of both men and women—set out on the hike through the forest. Richard and Gavin went along too, though they’d kept at the back of the group, talking quietly to each other on the trail down the mountain.

By the time they finally reached it, they’d been hearing the roar of the falls for some time. Then suddenly they came out into a large clearing and Kevin looked up to see two huge fountains of water splashing down from the rocks above to form a pool below. Tucker told him the pack called them Twin Falls, though they didn’t really have an official name.

The pool formed below was large and hemmed in by more rocks, before making its way downstream in a fast moving current.

Some of the group went immediately into the woods to pull off their clothes and put on their swim wear, but Kevin plopped down on the grass to rest. His feet were sore, though Tucker had found Kevin some hiking boots that fit. He wasn’t used to hiking so he was too hot and just wanted to rest. The sun had beat down unmercifully on their shoulders as the group made their way up the trail, and he felt sweaty and sticky. It wasn’t a terribly steep trail, but the black gnats, which seemed to appear out of nowhere, drove him crazy, buzzing around his head. Tucker, walking beside him, noticed and smiled in sympathy. “You must be wearing some kind of hair product. The gnats love it.”

“Well, I don’t love them, the little bastards, and I’m not wearing anything. What do I have?” he said, desperately swiping a hand at the little cloud of them over his head.

“May just be the shampoo I left in the bathroom for you. When we get there, we’ll go in swimming and you can wash it off. That way, they’ll leave you alone on the walk back down to the lodge. I brought you some trunks.”

“Maybe. We’ll see how cold it is. I like my pools heated.”

“God, you’re such a city boy,” Tucker said with a laugh. “It’s cold, but it’ll feel good after this hike.”

Kevin shrugged and trudged forward, wishing for the hundredth time he hadn’t come. He still felt that way, sitting here watching everyone else having a good time. He’d finally gotten up and put on his swim trunks, just because they were cooler than his jeans, but he had no intentions of freezing his balls off in the frigid water. Maybe he’d stick his feet in later.

“C’mon, Kevin. Let’s go in.”

Kevin looked up at Richard, who was standing over him, his muscular body totally nude. “Damn Richard, exhibitionist much?” Then as he looked at him, he noticed something else he’d never seen before. There was an extra ring of flesh at the base of his shaft, almost like a growth of some kind wrapping all the way around his penis.

“Does it bother you?” Richard said, following his gaze down to himself.

“Huh? Oh, no,” he said, turning his head away and watching the swimmers. “Why should it? What…uh, what is it anyway?”

“It’s something all the men in my pack have. We were born with it. We call it our knot.”

“You mean like a birth defect that runs in the family or something?”

Richard’s lips twitched. “Or something. It doesn’t hurt. I never pay attention to it unless I see someone stare at it.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“No need. But is that the real reason you’re uncomfortable? Or do you not like me showing my body to everyone?”

“You can show the world for all I care,” he said irritably. “It’s your body. If you want to flaunt it around, go ahead. Except I don’t see why you have to stand there and let everybody get a good look.”

“Jealous, baby?” He bent down and pulled Kevin up into his arms as if he weighed nothing much at all, and strode toward the water with him. Kevin was too shocked to struggle much until he hit the frigid water where Richard tossed him. He landed a few feet away, coming up thrashing and sputtering to the surface. He stood up, shivering and pointed a finger at Richard.

“Damn you, you’re going down for that!” Richard waded in after him, still laughing. Kevin made a wild leap for him, intending to push him under. Instead, Richard caught him and thrust him under again. When he came back to the surface a second time, he felt strong arms pulling him along with the current and going farther away from the group to the edge of the pool of water. A powerful arm wrapped around his waist, and Richard pulled him against his body.

Shivering, Kevin clung to his shoulders and wiped the water from his eyes. Pressed up against his body so closely, Kevin could feel the hardness of Richard’s shaft on his thigh and he found himself lost in the dark brown eyes that were far too close. “What’s the matter, baby? Do you want me to treat you with more gentleness? I can do that for you if you’re too delicate,” he purred.

Angrily, Kevin smacked his fist on Richard’s shoulder. “Fuck you! Treat me like a girl and I’ll tear your balls off.”

“You, a girl? Never, baby.” He reached down under the waistband of the trunks and palmed Kevin’s dick. “I like your parts right where they are.”

Kevin glared at him anyway, as he floated, pulling Kevin with him. He kept his hand right where it was, but only rubbed his thumb gently over the broad head of his shaft and Kevin gradually relaxed into him. The icy water was preventing his erection, but still his touch felt so good, so right. He realized that these last few days he’d felt more alive with Richard than he had maybe for years. Fighting with him, becoming so angry at him that he wanted to scream and then making love to him with such passion was emotion, plain and simple, and something he’d run away from for a long time. For years, he’d been numb to everything, really, especially after Tucker had turned him down, and he believed, at the age of thirty-four, that maybe real love and a strong relationship simply weren’t in the cards for him.