Page 13 of Delivered to My Fluffy Alphas
The walk to the diner was short, but it gave us amazing views of the mountains. Down below, there was a river with kayakers and people swimming.
“Do you like to swim or kayak?” I asked. We’d mostly walked in silence. We had tons to say on video chat, but I had a feeling my friends were having the same thoughts about her not being impressed as I had.
“I’ve never done either one. Some of the wolves used to swim in the river on the perimeter of the pack lands, but they said it was too dangerous for me. That other wolves might attack. We butted up to another pack’s property and it wasn’t an amiable relationship.”
“We could teach you. We have kayaks at home.” Aldrin led the way to the diner and opened the door for her. It was a quaint place. The walls full of pictures of campers and visitors. Some even of famous people.
“I might suck at it.”
I placed my hand at the small of her back as we found an open booth. “We all suck at things when we’re learning. I certainly did.”
Things only became more awkward after that. We ate together and were all polite. A little too polite. Too careful.
Weird.
Awkward was the last thing I wanted to be with my mate sitting in front of me. She excused herself to go to the bathroom, and I took the opportunity to voice my concerns to the sleuth.
“Is it just me, or is she not excited like she was before?” Saber took the words from my mouth.
“She’s not. It’s like she’s bored? Disappointed?” Aldrin had been quiet all morning. “I don’t know what we did wrong.”
“Should we ask her instead of assuming?” I wondered if she would tell us. It could be nothing to do with us at all.
Or maybe she didn’t like us as much as we thought.
The not-knowing was exhausting.
Aldrin put his hands up. “Let’s not assume the worst. She has been traveling and left her pack.”
When she came back from the bathroom, we told her about the trail and taking a hike.
She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
Chapter Eleven
Posy
They hadn’t even picked up a camera.
As we walked along the nearly level trail, it occurred to me that no filming had taken place. Not that they had ever said they’d be doing it, but they released videos very frequently. Sometimes, one every few days, and that meant that if they didn’t do any for the entire week, I might be causing them to have a big loss of income. From what I understood, not posting content as frequently could be the kiss of death for a channel.
But then, I only got my information from watching other channels, obviously never having made a video of any kind myself. I just didn’t want to hurt these bears who were being so polite and kind to me. We probably hadn’t walked a half mile before they were asking if I was tired or hungry or thirsty. Did I need a break?
The scenery was beautiful, with mountains looming above and shimmering lakes in the valleys below. My first national park was a true experience—not that this trail was allowing me much of one. It was smooth and even, and most of those we passed were senior citizens. But, even so, we were surrounded by tall trees, breathing clean, sweet air, and the company was good. I’d always loved the woods, despite not being able to turn into a wolf or a bear to run around in it. I’d always played in the forest, roughhousing with the other kids, and nobody worried about how I held up then. Lots of bruises and scrapes never killed me.
If they treated me with any more care, even I would start to think I might be made of glass.
Or a hundred and five years old.
And it was taking a lot of the joy out of the whole experience. So, when they suggested for the tenth time I might be in need ofa nap, I stopped arguing and let them walk me back to the trailer. I really liked them, but if they couldn’t relax around me and be themselves, I was going to have to admit defeat and figure out another place to go.
The pack was not an option, but neither was staying with three bears who were super polite to me when I was so attracted to them, I wanted to tear my clothes off and beg them to…to… Well, I wasn’t exactly sure how it would work with three of them and one of me, but they had expressed a desire to share a mate, so it would have to work somehow.
Hopefully they had an idea about it.
But when we got back to the trailer, they escorted me to the door with instructions to take a nap. Okay, maybe instead of a hundred and five, they thought I was five. But it got worse.
“The trailer has lots of food if you want to eat something before we get back. As you may have noticed, the connectivity up here is almost nil, so if you can’t reach us, don’t worry, all right?” Judah’s announcement preceded the three of them taking off on another—presumably more fun—hike. They promised to return well before dinnertime, and off they went, camera bobbing along in Saber’s pack and GoPros attached to each of them.
