Page 2 of Fearless as an Eagle

“Don’t do that, Mase. Go. You can still have fun without me. There’s no reason for you to stay home and mope in your room just because I have to work.”

We’ve been friends for years, but I hate how he can do that. He just knows me too well. Only a true brother would know what I was thinking at that moment AND call me out on my shit. Tilting my head back, I pull at my hair as I groan. “Fuck you. I don’tmope.”

His deep laughter rings through the phone, and I roll my eyes. “Oh! God, I needed that!” he chuckles through his words. “Bro. You are the mopiest mother fucker I know!” He laughs again.

He may not be able to see me right now, but that doesn’t stop the glare I direct at him. “Shut the fuck up. If I find out you’re blowing us off to go fuck some chick, I’ll kill you myself.” I can forgive a lot of things, but the sayingbros before hoesis a thing for a reason.

“I would never do that,” he says seriously. “At least not without admitting to it,” he retorts. Anyone else saying shit like that to me and I might be pissed. But I know he can’t help it. He’s not a serious guy. I know what it cost him to be serious for that long. There was actually a decently long dramatic pause before he flipped back to the jokester.That’show you know he’s serious.

“Just a friendly warning.”

“Yeah, yeah. Go finish loading all your crap. Try not to suffocate Riley with all the extra shit you’re bringing.”

“How the hell am I gonna suffocate Riley?”

“Well, I figure you’ve packed so much shit there won’t be enough room for everyone and Riles will have to shift and burrow into it all to find a place to sit.”

“I hate you. One of these days, my over-preparedness is going to save one of your lives and we’ll see who’s laughing then.”

“And I know you’ll never let any of us live it down,” he chuckles.

“Damn straight. Now, fuck off. I’ve got shit to do,” I grumble and hang up as he howls with laughter. Shoving my phone back in my pocket, I grab the bag I was holding and throw it on top of one of the supply containers before slamming the hatch.

Chapter 2

Bennett

OncewegettoWillow Grove National Forest, I follow Alex’s directions to the service road that will take us to our destination. It sucks that he’s not able to be here, but I’m thankful for the detailed directions. We would have definitely gotten lost without them. The drive is bumpy since it’s just a dirt road through the forest, but that’s why we drove the jeep. It also has enough room for all the supplies that we most likely won’t need, but Mason insisted we bring, anyway.

I keep driving until I see the lake Alex told us about and pull over when I see the perfect spot to set up. There’s a nice size clearing between two full October Glories. I plan on climbing those trees and cocooning myself in the brilliant reddish orange leaves. As soon as I've put the Jeep in park, Riley flings his door open and jumps out before running around the clearing.

Mason is quick to get out and yell at him. "Don't be running off. You're helping set up the tent. Once everything's settled, you can let your bunny free. But until then, you're mine."

Rolling my eyes at my two closest friends, I hop out and walk around back to unload everything. As I do, Mason follows behind me, reorganizing everything.Fucking control freak.When I finally have everything out of the jeep, and Mason has shit organized in whatever crazy order his OCD demands, Riley bounces back over to us. In typical Riley fashion, he avoided the heavy lifting. I am the strongest of us, so I let it slide like I always do. But the fucker isnotgetting out of helping with the tent. Mason went overboard as usual and packed the big ass tent. That thing takes foreverto set up. We're lucky we got here so early, otherwise we'd be setting it up in the dark. And that is no fucking fun. Trust me.

Mason lays out the tent poles as Riley stops beside me. “Why’d he have to bring the big tent? I hate the big tent.” He groans.

“Because… If the weather suddenly changes and it gets cold, we would freeze in the smaller tent. I know you like sleeping in an icebox, but I thought maybe you’d like a place to keep warm if the temps drop,” Mason retorts.

“You brought the damn stove too, didn’t you?” Riley arches his brow at our friend.

“Of course I did.” Mason rolls his eyes as he continues to empty the tent bag, placing everything in the order we’ll need them.

“If you really think it’s going to get that cold, why did we even come?” Riley huffs indignantly.

This causes Mason to stop what he’s doing and stare him down. “I don’tthinkit’s going to get that cold. I’mpreparedin case it does. There’s a difference.”

“Fucking boy scout,” Riley mumbles under his breath.

“I heard that. You won’t be complaining when I save your life because of my preparations.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s just get this over with. I’m ready for a run.”

Shaking my head at the two of them, I grab the tent and lay it out on the ground. Mason and Riley quickly grab an end and help me spread it out to where we want it. Once we’re sure of its placement, we stake the corners before assembling the center poles and attaching them to the top of the tent. Riley and I then put up the corner poles, raising the walls enough for Mason to walk inside the tent and push the center up with the inside support rod.

With the tent finally set up, Riley and I move all of our shit inside while Mason gets the wood fire stove set up. I dig out the sleeping gear from the storage container and inflate my sleeping pad before covering it with my sleeping bag and pillows. Mason’s not the only one who has an obsession with camping. I had to have my sleeping pad specially ordered so I would be comfortable when we camp. The last time I tried to use even an extra large pad, my feet kept hanging over the edge. It didn’t take long for me to give in and order one that could accommodate my size. It’s not that I’m freakishly tall or something, but six and a half feet is above average and thus just tall enough to not comfortably fit even the biggest mattresses.

With everything arranged to Mason’s liking, we’re finally able to shift and let our animals take over. I know my bear is getting restless. He’s been growling in my head since we got here hours ago. Riley, of course, is the first of us to shift and he runs off without a backward glance, leaving his clothes in a puddle where he was just standing. I shake my head and strip out of my clothes, folding them and laying them in a pile by the tent before finally giving in and letting my bear out to play. Must be nice to shift and not have to worry about either getting naked first or shredding your clothes to pieces.

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