Ray of Hope: The Cursed Elements Series Book 1 Read online

  “Liam, sit back down. We can’t just run over there and spill our guts to her. That’s stupid,” I tell him.

  Sitting down he looks to us, “Well, what’s the plan? I can’t wait much longer or I’m gonna burst.”

  Cayden snorts. “Calm down, dude, you’re shaking like a chihuahua.”

  Wyatt busts out laughing. “Holy fuck, he does look like a chihuahua,” he says, wiping his eyes.

  “Shut the fuck up. I’m sorry I don’t have a giant stick up my ass all the time and can actually be excited about something,” Liam responds defensively.

  Chuckling, I say, “Alright, so what should we do?”

  Liam and I start bouncing around ideas while Wyatt throws out one or two and Cayden just sits there in stony silence.

  Deciding on an idea, we get ready to go. A thought hits me before we head over. “I don’t think we should tell her anything yet,” I say, looking at each of them.

  Liam goes to argue but I cut him off.

  “This will be a lot for her to take in. Not only are we telling her she isn’t human, which will be a huge fucking shock, we will also be telling her that one or more of us will be her mate. I just don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  Nodding, Wyatt says, “I agree. Obviously, we need to tell her about her wolf before the end of the trip, but the mate topic can wait awhile. We all need to agree on this though.”

  “I’m good with that plan. I still need time to process this shit myself,” Cayden says.

  Liam’s practically pouting, but he nods his head in agreement.

  “Great. Let’s head over after breakfast,” I say, eating a little faster now, staring through the trees that will lead us to her.

  Chapter Five

  Brayleigh

  I wake up early to a truly horrific smell. I don’t know what it is, but someone on this campground should be banned from cooking. It’s a little cooler this morning, so I pull on a light black hoodie over my tank top and don’t bother with changing out of my pajama pants.

  Exiting the tent, I see I’m the first one up. Not surprising, my friends like their sleep.

  I make a cup of instant coffee and grab a pack of Pop-Tarts to take over to my fold-out chair around the fire pit. Pulling out my phone, I start getting lost in the world of social media. I freeze on a video Kelsey posted late last night.

  “Oh, that freaking bitch!” I whisper out harshly. Murder. I’m going to murder her. I can’t believe she posted a video of that damn lap dance. There should be some sort of rule about drinking and videoing your hot mess moments. That’s got to be against some sort of girl code!

  Hearing the zipper from one of the tents, I look over and oh, look, it’s the she-devil herself. She gives me a small smile, but it falters when she sees my death stare.

  “What crawled up your ass this morning?” she asks.

  “You. I’m going to hurt you, Kels, I swear to God.”

  Staring blankly at me she asks, “What? Why?”

  “What do you mean why? You posted that damn video of me giving Hudson a lap dance!” I practically shriek at her.

  Her eyes go wide for a second and then she starts laughing hysterically, bending over with her hands on her knees.

  Standing straight again, trying to catch her breath she says, “I don’t even remember doing that,” she continues laughing. “I must have had way more to drink than I thought.”

  “Yep, you’re dying today, it’s for sure happening! You don’t even remember doing it? The damn thing has over two hundred views already!” I shout.

  “Calm those chi chi's down, Bray, I’ll take it down right now,” she says chuckling.

  Crossing my arms and leaning back in my chair I glare at her again. “Damn straight you’re taking it down, and you better pray that people forget about it before this trip ends!”

  Taking a seat in her chair across from me she takes out her phone to remove the video. Hearing footsteps approaching we both turn our heads to see who it is.

  I freeze. Ho-ly shit! I think I just died and went to heaven. Four of the most mouthwatering men I have ever seen are walking through the trees next to our campsite, and are headed toward us. It takes a few seconds for the shock to wear off, but once it does I’m standing to greet them.

  I pat my hair to make sure it isn’t a wild mess as I glance down at myself. Oh hell, I’m still wearing my hot pink Disney Princess pajama bottoms. Well, this is embarrassing. At least the hoodie is hiding the matching tank top.

  Glancing over at Kelsey, I see she’s got her mouth hanging wide open. I hope a bug flies in there, I think to myself. I feel a light breeze as I start to turn back to the hot boy band heading my way, and hear Kelsey start to cough.

  “Oh my gosh I just choked on a fucking bug!” Kesley shrieks in horror.

  “Ew,” I say while laughing evilly in my head. Sometimes dreams do come true.

  Focusing back on the guys, they all seem to be in their mid to late twenties, and all of them are at least six-feet or taller.

  Reaching us, they fan out in front of us.

  The two in the middle are wearing bright smiles. One has jet black hair, a short trimmed beard, and amazing green eyes. He’s also sporting a barbell through his left eyebrow, which adds a level of badassery to his country boy persona he’s got going on. He holds out his calloused hand for me to shake. I take it as he speaks, “Hey, I’m Barrett. These guys here are Liam,” he tilts his head toward the strawberry blonde man in the middle next to him. He oozes sexiness, with a five o’clock shadow on his angular jawline and almond-shaped gray-blue eyes. I can also see a really neat spiraling tribal tattoo on his right bicep.

  “Wyatt,” he points to the one with the kind face on the right. He has light brown hair in a surfer type of style, he’s clean shaven and has vibrant blue eyes. I start imagining him running in slow motion on a beach somewhere when Barrett interrupts my thoughts by introducing Cayden on the opposite end of the line. He is the tallest of the men. I wouldn’t say he looks angry, but he definitely doesn’t look very happy. He has long brown hair, tied back in a bun, with shaved sides that make him look like a Viking. He has light amber eyes and a full but trimmed beard. His muscled arms are also completely sleeved out. I wish I could get a closer look at those.

  Removing my hand from his, I smile again. “Hey, nice to meet you guys. I’m Brayleigh and this is my best friend Kelsey.”

  My hand is tingling from our shake. Weird, I’ve never felt anything like that before. Almost like there was energy flowing between us.

  Liam smiles brightly at me. “Hey there, sweetheart, nice to meet you.” Shaking his hand, I return his smile. Man, he’s hot. Well, they all are really.

  Taking his hand back after a little too long of a handshake he says, “We’re trying to figure out where to go hiking, but we aren’t really from around here. We were wondering if maybe you guys knew of any good locations?”

  Wyatt, I believe is his name, coughs nervously, running his hand through his hair. “Sorry if we are intruding on you. If you’re bothered by us coming over here we can go back to our camp and figure something else out.”

  “Oh no, you aren’t bothering us at all. We actually aren’t from around here either. We are traveling from Houston, but we do have some brochures here with different trails on them.” I say, smiling softly at him.

  “Kels, go get Lincoln’s hiking information so they can take a look,” I tell her, interrupting her drool fest, courtesy of the hotties in front of us.

  Barrett smiles his thanks to her before she heads to her tent. Turning back to me he says, “Thanks so much. We didn’t want to have to go up to a store or something to get one. I’m glad we came over here first.”

  “Yeah, no problem at all,” I respond. I don’t know why, but I am having such a strange reaction to them. I’m really not the type to get all flustered around men, but my stomach is churning with butterflies. Just being near them is making me feel a weird tingling sensation throughout my whole b
ody.

  You have a boyfriend! Stop these thoughts right now, I think, internally berating myself.

  “You guys can go sit on the picnic table to wait for her if you want. She could take a while,” I say.

  “No, thanks. We don’t plan on staying here for long,” says a deep, gravelly voice. I look over to Cayden who had been standing like a statue up until this point.

  He seems a little annoyed to be over here. He wasn’t being rude though, just short and to the point. He comes off as a no-nonsense kind of man.

  Meeting his eyes, I notice the subtle softening of his amber eyes. Oh, so there is a softness somewhere in that beast of a man. Good to know.

  “Ok, well, she should be back any minute,” I say to them as I glance back over my shoulder towards her tent.

  “So, how long are y’all here for? Where are y’all traveling from?” I ask, looking back at them, flipping my hair over my shoulder.

  Liam responds first. “We’re here for about five days, thank God. I drove down here from South Dakota, and I’m really not looking forward to the drive back.” He grimaces at that thought.

  “Same here. I drove down from Pennsylvania. It’s definitely not a fun drive,” Barrett adds.

  Wyatt smiles at me. “I’m from California. I actually enjoyed the drive here though. It helps clear my mind and I found it relaxing.”

  Chuckling at them I say, “Wow, you guys are from all over.” I glance at Cayden. “What about you? Where are you from?”

  “I live outside of Houston, in Magnolia,” he responds gruffly.

  “Oh, you’re only like an hour away from me,” I say as Kelsey walks back up with the hiking guides.

  “Here y’all go,” she says, handing them the pamphlets. “You can keep those. Lincoln had multiple of the same ones for some reason.”

  “Awesome, thanks!” Liam responds cheerfully.

  “I guess we better go look over these pamphlets now and get ready to go. Thanks again for your help,” Barrett says, smiling at us.

  “No problem. It was really nice meeting you guys,” I say.

  They all give me a wave before walking off. I’m kind of sad to see them leaving but man do they look good from behind.

  Turning to go back to my chair, I spot Hudson in the doorway of our tent glaring at me. I raise my eyebrows at him in question. Shaking his head he storms back into the tent.

  Great, I hope this doesn’t turn into a thing. He can be such a jealous ass sometimes.

  Chapter Six

  Brayleigh

  I’m sipping a cold beer and chillin on my floaty, enjoying the cool, relaxing water. Hudson’s been a moody bastard for the last few hours. I’m trying to ignore the glares that keep getting thrown my way, but it’s starting to piss me off.

  Kelsey, in her hot pink bikini, is sitting next to me in her own float talking to Nikki, who’s in the water clinging to the sides of our floats. The guys are further away from us, having a water gun war. I’m trying to stay engaged in the conversation, but my mind keeps wandering back to those sexy as fuck guys from earlier.

  Taking a sip of my beer, I glance at the trail they went down a couple of hours ago for the hundredth time. I feel bad because I’m with Hudson, but I can’t help it. I feel like I’m being pulled toward them. Also, Hudson’s being a major douche canoe, so I don’t feel that bad. Especially after the argument we had after they left. He’s acting like I walked up and started humping one of their legs. It doesn’t help that he's been pounding beers back to back ever since.

  “Earth to Brayleigh,” Kelsey says, waving her hand in my face.

  Ripping my eyes from the trail, I look over at her. She’s giving me a shit-eating grin. “Damn girl, you’ve got it bad for those delicious hunks of man meat.”

  Nikki busts out laughing at that.

  “Y’all, shut up. I do not,” I say back.

  “Dude, you keep staring at that trail every five seconds. You’ve definitely got it bad,” Nikki adds with amusement in her eyes.

  “No, I don’t. I don’t know, I just had this weird feeling around them. I can’t explain it and y’all are just gonna make fun of me for it,” I say kicking water at them.

  Gasping, Kelsey puts her hand on her chest. “Make fun of you? I would never!” That lie makes us all bust out laughing.

  “Oh, Lord, he’s glaring over here again,” Kelsey says looking over at Hudson.

  “Yeah, God forbid I sit over here and have fun with y’all while he’s pissed off.”

  As the guys start swimming closer to us, I whisper, “It’s getting old. This isn’t the first time he’s acted like this and honestly I’m over it.”

  Reaching us, Lincoln clings to his girl’s float while Sawyer treads water next to Nikki. I can’t see Hudson anymore. I start looking around for him but he’s gone. Next thing I know, water is engulfing me. That butthead flipped me over!

  Coming back up for air, I start laughing. Apparently, Hudson isn’t playing around like I thought though. He’s giving me a snide look. “Thought you could use a cool down since you got all hot and bothered by those fuckers earlier.”

  I’m shocked for a second as I look over at Kelsey. She looks like she’s about to Superman fly off that float and drown him.

  I look back at Hudson. “Are you kidding me right now? What’s your malfunction today? I haven’t done a damn thing wrong. Those guys wanted hiking information and we gave them some, that’s all. You’re acting completely childish.”

  “I’m childish? You’re the one drooling over complete strangers with me only feet away! How about you grow up and stop acting like a whore!” he shouts at me, his eyes going dark.

  Oh, hell no! I’m about to lose my shit, but Lincoln cuts me off. “Woah, my man, you need to calm down. Don’t talk to her like that.” As he’s saying that I see a beer can fly through the air and nail Hudson right in the forehead.

  Kelsey has a huge smirk on her face. Man, I love her.

  Nikki high-fives her. “Good shot, Kels.” Yep, I love her too.

  Turning back to Hudson, I glare at him, “Don’t you ever talk to me like that again. I don’t know who you think you are, but I won’t tolerate that shit. How ‘bout you go back to camp and sleep that attitude off and we’ll talk about this when you’re sober?”

  Or you can choke on some of this water, I think to myself.

  Just as I think that, a small wave hits him in the face. He immediately starts spluttering and gasping for air. It passes as fast as it came.

  I’m stunned for a moment. That’s weird, and I’m feeling slightly tingly again. Brushing off the feeling as nothing, I watch Hudson make his way back to camp embarrassed. Good, you gotta love that instant karma, I think, as I’m pulling myself back up onto my float.

  Liam

  Man, this hike was amazing. It was exactly what I needed to burn off all the excitement from meeting Brayleigh this morning. She took my breath away. I’ve never seen a more beautiful woman, even in Disney pajamas. Her southern accent makes her all the more cute. It’s not strong but she definitely has one.

  Reaching the end of the trail, I hear a commotion down in the water. I look down and see Brayleigh coming up from underneath the surface. Looks like her float was flipped over or something. We all pause before the exit to the trail so we won’t be seen eavesdropping. Being a wolf is awesome, especially when I want to hear shit people are saying from so far away.

  Brayleigh is currently yelling at her boyfriend for being a childish prick. He starts yelling back at her, and the word whore echoes around us. I go still. I’ll knock his ass out right now. I glance over at the guys who look equally pissed off. Cayden, as much as he’s trying to deny the mate bond, looks like he wants to go down there and kill that guy himself.

  I laugh as I see him get hit in the head with a beer can. Ha! I think I really like her friend now. We stay put until the boyfriend finishes climbing the rocks and heads back to camp, hiding in his tent.

  I look at the guys. “I cou
ld go for a swim, how about you guys?”

  They all nod in agreement and we head over to the cliff. Good thing we went hiking in our swim shorts. Now we don’t have to waste time changing.

  I shout over the edge. “Hey, do you mind if we join you guys?”

  They all look our way. Kelsey is the first to speak up. “Hell no, we don’t mind. Come on.”

  Laughing, I strip my shirt off and cannonball into the water, The rest of the guys following.

  “Can we get a redo? I don’t think I burned that into my memory good enough,” a girl I haven’t met asks.

  “Nikki, why don’t you go drink some water to quench that thirst,” Brayleigh says, laughing and splashing water at her friend.

  Kelsey starts howling in laughter followed by the rest of us.

  One of the men swims up to us. “Hey, I’m Lincoln. I’m the boyfriend to that laughing hyena over there.” He says, pointing a thumb back at Kelsey.

  “Hey!” she shouts at him, “well, at least I’m a cute hyena,” she says with a pout.

  “Of course you are, babe,” he replies.

  We all start chuckling and finish up with the introductions.

  Brayleigh is looking sexy as sin in her tiny black bikini. I’m going to have to make sure I cover myself when I try to get out of here. A hard-on would be very noticeable in this damn swimsuit.

  “Hey, sweetheart, how’s your day been?” I ask her.

  “Can’t complain too much. We’ve pretty much been in the water since this morning,” she replies.

  The others swim up closer to us. Her face is starting to flush with all of us around her like this.

  Clearing her throat she asks, “How was y’alls hike? We were thinking about going tomorrow,” she pauses for a second, “well, Lincoln was thinking about it. I don’t know if I want to do all that walking.”

  Laughing, Barrett responds, “It was good. We like going out and taking in all the scenery this place has.”

  “Yeah, it is beautiful here,” she says. “It’s crazy that Houston is only a few hours away and it’s so flat and boring.”