Ray of Hope: The Cursed Elements Series Book 1

by K. Mawhood

  “Well, it was basically built over marshes and shit,” Cayden adds with a straight face.

  “That’s true,” she says smiling at him.

  Her friends join our circle and we spend the next few hours just hanging out and joking around. They’re a good group of people from what I can tell. I like that. Genuine people can be hard to find sometimes.

  “Do y’all want to come to our campsite for dinner tonight?” Sawyer asks as we are getting ready to get out.

  “If you guys don’t mind having us that would be awesome. I don’t think I can stomach another cooking attempt from Cayden,” Wyatt says, shaking his head.

  Brayleigh’s eyes go wide as she looks over at Cayden. “That was your cooking that woke me up this morning? Oh, bless your heart.”

  Cayden’s face goes a little pink as he shrugs his shoulders.

  “We definitely don’t mind then. The more the merrier,” she continues.

  As we are climbing up the rocks to get out, I am right underneath her. Oh god, don’t look up, don’t look up, I chant to myself. I can’t help it though, and glance up at her. Yep, instantly hard. Dammit. At least it’s starting to get dark, maybe I can hide it a little bit.

  Reaching the top, I sit on the edge of the cliff in an attempt to hide my arousal from everyone.

  “Whatcha doing, Liam?” Wyatt asks with a knowing look on his face.

  Great, just go ahead and draw attention to me asshole. “Nothing, buddy, just resting for a second,” I say with clenched teeth.

  He just chuckles at that.

  “So, we’ll see y’all in a little bit right?” Brayleigh asks.

  “We’ll be over there in about thirty minutes or so,” Barrett responds.

  She gives us a small smile and wave before turning and walking to her camp with her friends.

  Standing back up, I see all the guys smirking at me. “Oh, just wait until it happens to one of you bastards,” I say while flipping them off and heading to our campsite. I can hear their laughter trailing behind me. Fuckers.

  Chapter Seven

  Cayden

  Walking back through the trees to Brayleigh's campsite, I'm lost in thought. Her presence eases my always frazzled mind and I'm drawn to her. It pisses me off. I don't want to want her. She probably won't want anything to do with me when she finds out what I did. I don't deserve the kind of happiness a mate brings.

  Clearing the trees and entering the campsite, I shake off the thoughts. Some of her friends are around the fire and Brayleigh and Kelsey look like they are prepping dinner over on the picnic table.

  She glances up at our approach and a warm smile breaks over her beautiful face.

  "Hey, y'all. We're just getting everything ready to go on the pit. Go ahead and set your chairs by the fire and chill," she says.

  Wyatt sets his chair down. "Do you want any help?" he asks her.

  Chuckling, she answers, "I will never turn down help. Come on, we are just seasoning the patties and cutting up the veggies."

  As he's heading over there, the rest of us take our seat and greet the others. The dick she's dating isn't anywhere to be seen. I guess he's still hiding in his tent. Good. I'm not over the fact he called her a whore earlier. No one should ever treat a woman that way. They are precious and should be treated as such; especially one of wolf blood. I know I'm keeping her at a distance but I would never be outright cruel like that.

  "So how long have y'all known each other?" Sawyer asks while stabbing the fire with a long stick.

  "We've been friends since we were little kids. Practically inseparable when we actually are able to get together," Barrett responds.

  Scooting closer to the edge of her seat, Nikki asks, "From what Bray said, y'all are all pretty spread out. How did you even meet?"

  "Our parents were the leaders of our small communities, so they knew each other from that, and we met through them," Liam answers her.

  I glare over at him. We don't know these people or who they're affiliated with. We can't be telling them anything about us.

  He looks over at me and rolls his eyes.

  Nikki's eyebrows raise in surprise. "Leaders of your small communities? Are y'all in a cult or something?" she asks seriously.

  Barrett and Liam bust out laughing, shaking their heads no.

  "Ok, guys, stop with the twenty questions. We invited them to hangout, not to get grilled by y'all," Lincoln jumps in.

  I nod my thanks to him. I don't like being around nosey people. They seem nice enough but they need to mind their own business.

  Looking over at the picnic table, I lock eyes with Brayleigh. She has a small smile on her face, causing my heart to give a hard thud. I can feel a charge flowing between us, and it's powerful. It has to be the mate bond. I just wish I knew why she’s also potentially the mate to my three best friends.

  She breaks our stare and goes back to prepping dinner. Tuning back into the conversation around me, I relax back into my chair.

  A little while later, Kelsey comes skipping, literally skipping, over to us. She plops down in Lincoln's lap and gives him a peck on the cheek.

  "Hey, hot stuff. The food is ready to go on the pit now." She pokes his forehead with her finger, "tag, your it," she says with a giggle.

  Shaking his head, he laughs and stands up while holding her. Turning, he places her in his seat and walks off. Brayleigh and Wyatt are making their way over to the fire now. She sits down between Kelsey and Nikki, while Wyatt takes the seat next to Barrett.

  "So, what have we missed?" Brayleigh asks.

  "Oh, nothing. Just getting to know our new friends here," Nikki says.

  "You've been hounding them with questions, you mean," Brayleigh says, laughing.

  Nikki and Sawyer glance at each other then shrug their shoulders.

  Brayleigh looks over at us, "Sorry about them. They're a little nosey sometimes."

  Liam laughs, "It's all good. We don't mind."

  Yeah, speak for yourself.

  At the sound of a zipper, we all turn to see the boyfriend coming out of his tent. He looks up at us and his face gets stormy. He looks over at Brayleigh and sees she isn't near us and his face relaxes just a little.

  Brayleigh stands up as he makes his way over. "Hudson, these are our neighbors," she points to each of us, "Liam, Wyatt, Barrett, and Cayden. Guys this is my boyfriend, Hudson."

  We all respond with nice to meet yous. Hudson doesn't bother saying anything. He just sits in Brayleigh's chair and yanks her onto his lap. Her whole body goes stiff at the possessive move.

  I clench and unclench my fist. I hope I get the chance to knock this bastard out tonight. Wyatt's running his hand through his hair, Barrett starts bouncing his knee, and Liam is rubbing his hands up and down his thighs. They're pissed too. This poor fool doesn't even know what he's antagonizing over here.

  Kelsey breaks the silence, trying to diffuse the tension. "Man, guys, I'm ready to feast. Swimming all day made me starving."

  Still fidgeting uncomfortably, Brayleigh responds, "Girl, me too. I think I could eat a horse."

  I stare up at the clear night sky, listening to the light conversation going on around me. It’s a beautiful night, and the stars are shining brightly.

  "Foods ready," Lincoln shouts over to us a little while later.

  Brayleigh jumps up in a flash and hightails it over to the table while Hudson is glaring at her back. He looks back over toward us and his face goes white. I can only imagine what their faces look like but I know mine is down-right scary. He gets up and hauls ass after the others.

  I look at the guys and I know we all have the same thought. Tonight's not going to end well.

  After making our plates and taking our seats again, I see that Hudson is sitting in his own seat now. The way this dude's been acting, I'm surprised he hasn't whipped out his dick and pissed on her leg yet.

  "So, what do you do for a living, Brayleigh?" Wyatt asks.

  "Right now I'm bartending at a really neat bar ca
lled Joysticks. It's an arcade bar," she responds with a smile.

  "So, you can play games and stuff like that at the bar? That's pretty cool. Do you like it?" Barrett questions before taking a bite of his burger.

  "It’s definitely a fun place to work, but I'm trying to save up money to open an event planning business. That's my dream."

  At that, Hudson snorts loudly, and rolls his eyes. I throw my remaining food in the fire. I've lost my damn appetite. Brayleigh just throws a glare his way but Kelsey's having none of it. She jumps up from her chair so fast it falls backwards.

  "I swear to God, Hudson, if one more ugly sound, word, or face comes from you, they wont be able to pry my fingers from your fucking throat. Got it?" she says angrily, pointing a finger at him.

  I want to laugh but I contain it. It's funny that this girl, all of maybe five foot four, is threatening this guy. I'll admit though, I really like how fiercely protective she is of her friend.

  Brayleigh is trying to cover her laughs with coughs and only sort of succeeding. The rest of their group though, isn't even trying to hide their amusement.

  Lincoln stands up and wraps an arm around Kelsey's waist. "Calm down, babe, he's just being a drunken ass again."

  "I don't care, Linc! He's going to be a blind drunken ass when I claw his eyes from his face in about five seconds." He tightens his hold on her waist as she says that.

  I look over to the guys and see amusement shining in their eyes. They're enjoying this as much as I am. Brayleigh stands up, walks over to Kelsey, and leans in to whisper in her ear.

  "It's ok, Kels, just ignore him. That’s what I'm doing. You can't reason with a drunk. We'll handle him in the morning."

  Kelsey nods but she doesn't look happy about it.

  Straightening, she claps her hands once and says, "Ok, enough of that. No more drama tonight." She looks over at Hudson then back to everyone else before taking her seat again.

  "Anyways, what do y'all do for a living?" she asks, looking at each of us.

  Liam answers first. "I'm a skydiving instructor."

  Her eyes go wide. "No way! That's cool. You're not scared of jumping out of planes constantly?"

  "Not really. I love the adrenaline rush. I can be sort of an adrenaline junkie sometimes."

  Wyatt huffs. "He means he just does stupid shit a lot and he's lucky he even survives a lot of it."

  “Whatever," Liam responds.

  "I don't think I have the guts to jump out of a plane. It would be awesome to try, but I don't think I could talk myself into it," Nikki adds with a shudder.

  "What about you, Barrett, what do you do?" Kelsey asks, having calmed down a little now.

  "I run my family's farm, taking care of the animals and crops. I also prepare for the sales at the farmers’ market. We have a few people on the farm who help, but I like to do a lot of it myself."

  "So, you have farm animals like pigs, cows, and goats?” Sawyer questions, throwing his plate in the fire.

  "Obviously he has them, stupid! He said he ran a farm," Nikki says, slapping his shoulder.

  "What? I'm just curious. I like farm animals," he says defensively.

  Lincoln laughs. "That's true. He turns into a five year-old girl around them."

  Sawyer just shrugs when we all start laughing.

  I see Hudson crack open another beer out of the corner of my eye. This is like the fifth or sixth one since he came out of the tent earlier. I'm definitely keeping an eye on that shit.

  "I work in marine biology. I help tag sharks and whales and study them," Wyatt says, running his hand through his hair.

  "That is so cool!" Brayleigh exclaims, moving to the edge of her chair.

  "Of course you think it's cool. Why wouldn't you?" Hudson mumbles, but everyone just ignores him.

  "Yeah, I used to read about it a lot when I was in the Navy and decided to do it once I got out. I love it. Being in or around the water and animals is soothing to me," he says.

  "That's amazing. I can't wait to start doing the job I love like that," she says, smiling at him.

  Looking to me next, she asks, "And you? What do you do?"

  "I'm a boxer," I respond. I see Hudson flinch at that. Yeah, be scared you little prick.

  "Wow! So you fight professionally?" she asks with wide eyes.

  "I did a lot a few years ago and I'll occasionally fight, but mostly I just train other fighters. I own a gym," I respond while cracking my knuckles.

  "Man, that's badass. I always wanted to learn how to box," Lincoln says.

  "It's definitely a good way to clear your head. That's why I like it so much," I tell him.

  Brayleigh jumps from her chair, "Oh shit! I forgot we have stuff for s'mores! I'll be right back," she says excitedly before walking off.

  I smile at that. She's adorable.

  Returning, she hands us each a roasting stick, marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate. Taking her seat, she skewers three marshmallows on her stick and puts them over the fire.

  "I like mine burnt," she says, rotating her stick around.

  "Because you're a weirdo," Kelsey tells her.

  "I like them burnt too," the guys and I all say at once.

  They all look over at us with raised eyebrows. "Ok, you're all weirdos then," Kelsey amends with a laugh.

  Brayleigh's smiling at the four of us when a marshmallow hits her in the cheek. My eyes shoot straight to Hudson as do the rest of the groups.

  He stands up, his face full of fury, and begins to yell at her. "Why don't you just go over there and suck their dicks already? It's clear you want to with all the eye-fucking you're doing."

  The guys and I immediately jump to our feet, followed by Brayleigh and her friends. This guy doesn't know when to shut up. He's drunk but he can't really be this stupid.

  "That. Is. It!" Brayleigh yells back. "I've had enough of your drunken bullshit. I'm sitting here having a normal conversation with people. You're the one causing problems for shit that you made up in your head."

  "Made up? Your tongue has been practically hanging out of your mouth all night!" he shouts back, taking a step towards her.

  I take a step forward and ready myself to jump in if needed. I'm itching to hit this fucker.

  "Dude, you're a psycho. She hasn't been doing anything wrong," Kelsey says.

  "Shut the hell up, Kelsey. I don't know why you continue to defend this whore you call a friend," he shouts, waving his hand up and down, gesturing towards Brayleigh's body.

  The sound of skin hitting skin rings out. Brayleigh slapped him in the face. Hard.

  "That's the last fucking time you will call me a whore. You need to leave. Now!" she shouts at him.

  His face is hard as stone and a red handprint is already forming on his cheek. He shoves her so hard she falls to the ground with a thud.

  All hell breaks loose and all I see is red. I'm around the fire in a second. I grab the collar of his shirt and his eyes go wide in fear. I punch him twice in the face and there's a satisfying crunching sound. I hope it was his nose breaking.

  I let go of his shirt with a push and he falls to the ground.

  Liam, Barrett, and Wyatt roughly grab Hudson and drag him towards the car that Kelsey points out, while Lincoln and Sawyer grab his shit from the tent.

  Squatting down next to the other girls in front of Brayleigh, I grab her hand. "Are you ok? Did you hurt anything when you fell?"

  Shaking her head with trembling lips, she says, "No, I think I'm ok."

  Standing, I pull her up with me. I brush the hair out of her face and see the tears in her eyes. I’m trying really hard to keep my cool right now when all I want to do is hit that fucker again.

  "Are you sure you're good?" I ask again.

  She nods and wraps her arms around herself. Kelsey and Nikki both wrap an arm around her.

  I see Hudson's car speeding off and the other guys are making their way back over to us.

  They ask her if she's ok as they join us, and she nods w
hile wiping tears from her face. "I'm sorry y'all had to see all that. It's embarrassing."

  "There's nothing to be embarrassed about, sweetheart. Don't worry about it," Liam says soothingly.

  "I'm so happy someone finally hit him. I just wish it was me!” Kelsey declares while hitting her fist in her hand.

  We all chuckle. It definitely felt good to break that asshole's face.

  "Sorry to cut this night short but I think I want to go lay down now," Brayleigh says sadly.

  "No problem, hun. We're actually pretty exhausted from the hike and stuff so it's all good," Barrett tells her.

  "Yeah, no problem at all, Bray. I'm sure we'll see you tomorrow anyway," Wyatt says with a smile.

  She gives each of the guys a lingering hug. When she reaches me, she hesitates for only a second before wrapping her arms around me tight. I wrap my arms around her and her scent hits me. Apples. My favorite.

  She whispers, "Thank you for jumping in and defending me like that. I really appreciate it."

  I give her an extra squeeze before letting go and look into her eyes. "Any time, darlin’. No one will treat you like that again if I'm around."

  She smiles at that and takes a step back. Waving at us she says, "Goodnight, y'all. Hopefully tomorrow will be less dramatic."

  We say goodnight and turn to head back to our camp. As we're walking through the trees, Liam says, "Well, at least we don't have to worry about the boyfriend now."

  Yeah, that's one problem on a list full of them we can cross off. Thank God.

  Chapter Eight

  Brayleigh

  I wake up right before dawn, having tossed and turned all night. I need to run this morning to clear my head. It’s something I never do but I feel like it’s the only thing that will distract me from the memories of yesterday. Slipping on some shorts and a tank top, I get ready to go. I step out of the tent and get hit by a chilly breeze. I don't feel like going and putting pants on. Hopefully, the run will warm me up enough.

  I take off at a slow jog down one of the trails through the woods by the campsite. I need to make sure I don’t veer off the trail at all. It would suck to get lost out here, and I’m very directionally challenged.