It suddenly hit him. Vail wrapped his arm around the man and squeezed. “You’ll find your mate,” he assured. “You know none of us will stop searching until every last one of us is happily mated off.”
Adam rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I know.”
Grinning, Vail teased, “Maybe you and some of the guys should head out to a club or something. I bet letting loose would lift your spirits.” He pulled away as he spoke and picked up his food. Shoving it into the microwave, he rested his hip against the counter and waited for Adam’s response.
The big shifter nodded and gave him a smile that appeared just a little forced. “I’m sure that’d do a number of us good. It’s been a while since we’ve been cooped up this long.”
Vail agreed. “You got that right. If I didn’t need to stick around because of Draven, I’d love to get on my bike and ride to the beach. Spending a day surfing sounds like a blast right now,” he stated ruefully.
Adam seemed to brighten. “I bet I could get a couple of the guys to do that with me. Spend a few days scoping out hot, half-naked guys on the beach…” Once more grinning, he took a swig of his beer.
Smirking, Vail took his food from the microwave and grabbed a fork. “Now you’re making me jealous.”
Bumping shoulders with him, Adam winked. “Where is Draven, anyway?”
Vail shrugged. “Off doing his cop thing, rescuing some girl, if I understood him right.” He grimaced, thinking of the kidnapped girl’s family. “I’m sure her parents will be happy to have her home,” he murmured absently.
“I bet having visions is wicked helpful in his line of work,” Adam said, using his fingers to grab one of the fried pork pieces from Vail’s sweet and sour pork.
Vail gave him a mock glare and stabbed at him with his fork. After they both chuckled, he stated, “It didn’t really sound like it. I mean, how do you explain to your partner when you find a kidnap victim, but have no evidence or clues that led you to them.” He cocked his head and frowned. “That wouldn’t put him in a very good light,” he mused.
Adam grimaced. “Didn’t think of that.” Narrowing his eyes, he stared at Vail. “How about you? How you doin’?”
“Well, I don’t know,” he admitted. “I mean,” he waved his fork around as he chewed and thought. “It never occurred to me that the spell could be broken. I just assumed I’d spend the rest of my life alone.” He chewed another bite and swallowed, trying to analyze the jumble of feelings going on inside him. Finally, he just shrugged.
“Change is never easy,” Kontra stated, striding into the room. He leaned over Vail and took a piece of pork. Before popping it into his mouth, he added, “You’ll adjust. We all do.”
“Geez, this is my dinner,” Vail groused. He picked up the container and held it to his chest.
That earned him a chuckle from the other two men. “Guess you won’t want any pizza, then,” Kontra stated casually, pulling a couple bottles of beer from the fridge. Smirking, he slid one across the counter to Vail.
Vail caught it on reflex. “I was sure you all would have already eaten,” he groused.
Kontra shrugged. “Adam’s the best cook, and with how depressed he was, it didn’t take a stretch to realize he wasn’t interested in feeding us.” Kontra gave Vail’s shoulder a squeeze. “Thanks for cheering him up, by the way.”
Appreciating his alpha’s praise, and his touch—his wolf always liked being reassured that he was an accepted member of the pack—Vail grinned. “I just told him the truth.” Kontra lifted a brow in silent inquiry. “We’ll never stop looking until all of us have found that special someone,” Vail told him, then winked. “And to go surfing at the beach so he can ogle half naked men.”
Chuckling, Kontra nodded. “Yeah, he and a few others would like that.” Settling on a bar stool, he asked, “How are things with you and Draven? Think he’s going to be willing to move on with us? Or do you think we’ll have to stay here for a while?”
“Damn, I didn’t even think of that,” Vail admitted, his brows creasing. “I sure hope he’s willing to come. After spending over twenty years as a nomad, staying in one place sure would suck.”
“Yeah, it would,” Kontra agreed. “And there’s no telling how long it will take him to train Tim. If Draven thinks it’ll take years, I just might have to see what kind of bribes we need, so we can talk him into traveling with us,” he said ruefully. “I gotta admit. I like the guy better than I thought I would.”