Page 5 of Big Top Bear Raid
As Zion parked hisHarleynext to Eurik’s, his stomach grumbled once more.The delicious fragrances of cooking meats tantalized his taste buds.His mouth watered in anticipation, and he licked his lips and swallowed.
“Damn, that does smell amazing,” Eurik stated from beside him, expressing what Zion was thinking.Resting his helmet on a handlebar, his buddy hummed.“Can’t wait to get a plateful of whatever that smell is.”
“No doubt.”Zion couldn’t stop his pleased rumble of anticipation.Glancing between the others, he saw that he wasn’t the only one with an expression of hunger.“Think we can grab food first, Congo?”
Congo hesitated even as he licked his own lips.“Well,” he began slowly, clearly wanting to say yes.“Heard at these shindigs that the alpha usually does the grillin’.”Curving his lips into a wide grin, Congo claimed, “I suppose that’d be the best place to look for him.Right?”
“Hell, yeah,” Madagascar cried with a fist-pump.Then he slung his arm around Ishmael and began leading the way to the right and around the large, lodge-style building.“Let’s check it out.”
Congo chuckled, but he didn’t counter his younger brother.Instead, he rested his palm on Zhaul’s lower back and began guiding the large panda shifter after the other men.A second later, Valentine did the same with Stone.
With a chuckle, Eurik side-eyed Zion and crooked his elbow.“Shall we?”he teased, as if offering Zion his arm.
Zion rolled his eyes and shoved Eurik’s shoulder.“Fuck off, man,” he responded good-naturedly before hurrying after the others.
Eurik laughed as he trotted forward and fell into step beside him.
Smirking, Zion shook his head at his friend’s silly antics.
Focusing on the scents, Zion inhaled deeply.“Wonder if they have fish.”As a bear shifter, he loved fish, and for some reason, his bear was really riding him hard to find some.
“Don’t recall that being mentioned by Congo,” Eurik told him.“And it’s not like that’s a normal barbeque item for a bunch of wolves.”
Disappointment surged through Zion for a few seconds, and he pushed it away.He knew he should just be grateful for what was being provided for him.After all, there would be all he could eat steak and brats.That was definitelynotsomething he should be disappointed about.
“We’ll have to have our own fish fry and crawfish boil soon,” Zion stated instead.On a whim, he added, “Maybe some of the wolves would like to try it.”A memory zipped through his brain, and Zion commented, “Hey, isn’t one of their enforcers Cajun?Manon something?”
“Yeah!”Eurik exclaimed with excitement.“I bet he has an epic crawfish recipe.”Grinning, he began peering around as if the mentioned wolf shifter would suddenly appear.“I’m totally going to ask him.”
A chuckle escaped Zion upon seeing his friend’s excitement.A whiff on the breeze quickly changed the noise to an appreciative hum.Inhaling deeply, Zion couldn’t help his grin.
“We just may be wrong about that fish,” Zion stated, inhaling again.The faintest hint of fish—something similar to honeyed-salmon—tickled his nostrils along with a very pleasant earthy, masculine scent mixed with...salt and wolf?“Or maybe not?”
Perhaps someone there had just been handling fish recently.Still, he couldn’t help but enjoy the aroma.In fact, as Zion inhaled once more, he would even label it a little intoxicating.
His blood began to heat, and arousal slowly began chugging through his veins.
Holy shit!
Zion couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt arousal.It’d definitely been before they’d been captured and bespelled.He’d seen the others respond to their mates...so did that mean?
Could it be?
A wealth of hope flared within Zion, and he peered around swiftly even as he breathed in again, trying to track the heady fragrance.He needed to know if his hunch was correct...so damn bad.
Could one of Alpha Declan’s wolves be my mate?My one and only?
Turning left, Zion followed the scent.
“Hey, Zion,” Eurik called.“Where ya goin’?”
“I need a minute,” Zion murmured absently, his entire focus bent on finding the source.Everything else was forgotten.Hearing Congo call his name, Zion waved a hand absently.“Just a sec.”
Just as Zion’s gaze fell on a handsome black-haired man, he felt a hand on his arm.He glanced briefly to see that it was his alpha, staying his desire to brush the big shifter off a second time.Zion opened his mouth, intending to explain, but then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a slender blond guy slide up beside the black-haired male.The blond rested his forearm over the first man’s shoulder and practically draped over him as he pressed close.
The black-haired man’s jaw clenched, and his eyes narrowed.He attempted to step sideways, away from the blond, but the other shifter followed the movement.That caused the black-haired shifter’s scent to intensify with his annoyance.
The wolf shifter’s irritation caused Zion’s bear to rumble angrily within him, and he was onboard with his animal.He needed to extricate the handsome black-haired wolf, who smelled oh-so-delectable, from the clingy blond, and as swiftly as possible.For the first time in his life, Zion pushed away Congo’s staying hand, then began stalking toward the pair.
