APEX

Ch. 20: What Happens in the Wild Stays in the Wild

Calla

I awoke to the distant call of a hawk circling the air above the canyon. The sun nearly at its zenith, I calculated the hours that had passed since Rhys's fateful encounter with Barnell. The longer he slept, the longer he'd have to heal, and so, I refrained from waking him.

When we were both still in wolf form, I'd dragged him by the scruff of his neck, away from the pine tree he'd crashed through, and over to a bed of moss. Human again, he lay there now, turned away from me. I examined his backside. Scrapes and bruises covered him, but there was no indication of broken bones. I tried unsuccessfully to avert my eyes from his firm, muscular ass, and was even less successful at keeping myself from imagining what was on the other side of it.

His breathing even and untroubled, I stood as quietly as I could. Just a quick peak. That's all I'd do. Just tiptoe around him until I got a look at his parts, and then I'd return to my spot.

All went well until a twig snapped under the weight of my foot. I held my breath, not so much because of the sound I'd made, but because of the view I now had.

Rhys truly was an Alpha. His cock was a thing of beauty—the kind of appendage bards would write stories about so they could be sung down through the generations. It's girth was like the mast of a ship—and a tall ship it would be. That cock could surely sail me straight across the ocean.

I had nowhere near enough time to contemplate what I was seeing before I realized I'd been caught.

"Like what you see?" Rhys stared up at me with one eye open.

"I'm just...assessing your injuries."

"Is that what you were doing?" He shifted onto his back, spreading his legs to better showcase his prize possession. "In that case, I am a little stiff. A massage might help."

It took every bit of my resolve not to give him what he wanted immediately, but there were pressing matters at hand. "Rhys, you just fell off a cliff. Be serious for once."

"Oh, fuck, I did, didn't I?" He pressed himself up onto his elbows. "The other wolf? Where is he?"

"He was gone by the time I made it down here. His scent continued to fade all night, so I think he took the hint."

He nodded, and his eyes wandered up and down the length of my body. Werewolves are used to nudity. We aren't easily scandalized by a show of flesh, but I found myself blushing anyways, not because he was seeing me naked, but because I didn't know if he'd like what he was seeing or not.

He scrutinized me for what felt like forever before speaking again. "We should probably talk about who that asshole is, but I'm pretty sure I already know and I'm finding that at the moment, I don't really care."

"He's Barnett, the shifter my mom—"

"Shhh." He held out a hand to me. "I said I don't care. It's the forgotten hours and I intend to forget everything."

I stared at his hand. "Am I supposed to take that?"

"You're supposed to come here and spend the forgotten hours forgetting with me."

"That's presumptuous of you, Alpha."

"Is it?" He grinned the grin of a man who knew his sexual prowess was unmatched. "You're the one who couldn't resist looking at me. And now you're putting yourself on display, radiating lust like a goddamned naked sex goddess. What—would you like to play a game of checkers instead?"

"First of all, I'm not radiating anything but concern," I told him, even though the heat I was experiencing could have evaporated a small lake. "I'm here because I thought you were dead! I watched you tumble off that cliff and thought I was going to have to tell your father that his Alpha heir had bit it."