After all, how hard could it be to find one lone Wolf in a theme park?

Jesus Christ! Ben glared around the park. He was tired, hotter than he’d thought he’d be, sweaty and ready to kill the next person who bumped into him. He’d been wandering the park for hours. How fucking hard can it be to find one Wolf?

He’d caught elusive whiffs of his mate, but so far he hadn’t found the man. Where the fuck was he? Hell, he’d managed to find two Lions, a Tiger, six Pumas and a Fox, but his mate was nowhere to be found.

He turned in place, staring around. He was at the entrance to Splash Mountain, wondering if the man had been eaten by Br’er Fox or Br’er Bear. Because this was where Dave’s latest scent trail led and, thanks to the fucking water, Ben couldn’t find it anymore. So he waited by the exit for the ride and prayed he didn’t miss him in the press of people that surrounded him.

Fuck.

There was a gasp behind him. “Holy shit. Ben?”

Oh, thank you, God. Ben turned and smiled into the startled, wary face of his mate. “Dave.”

Dave took a step back, his face pale. “Ugh.”

Ben held up his hands. The last thing he wanted to do was stress Dave out and trigger another migraine. “Hey. No worries, Dave.”

Dave blew out a breath, but his shoulders remained tense. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you.”

Dave rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Right. Tell another me another fairy story, Grandma, I ain’t buyin’ that one.”

Ben glared at this mate. “I’m here for the nachos.”

He’d managed to startle a laugh out of Dave, easing the tension in his mate’s shoulders. He dared take a small step forward, lowering his hands back to his sides. “I’ve been trying to talk to you for weeks.”

“About?” The wary fear was back in Dave’s eyes.

Ben took a deep breath. He had to figure a way to erase that look from Dave’s face before it became permanently etched there. He’d caused his mate enough pain. “Could we maybe have dinner together? I have a lot of groveling to do, and I think it would be better done over steak.”

Dave blinked, his expression blanking for just a second. His shoulders eased. A relaxed, easy smile graced his lips. “Oh. Sure. You have a Hopper pass?” Ben nodded. “Cool. How about the Brown Derby over in Hollywood Studios? I heard the food there’s really good.”

Ben’s brows rose. This was way too easy. “Are you all right?”

“Oh yeah.” Dave looked up at the sky. “It should start raining pizza soon, so we might want to get under cover.”

Pizza? Ben choked down a laugh. “You’re not dreaming.”

“No?” Dave was still smiling. “In about three seconds you’re going to tell me you’re sorry, you can’t live without me, and you’ve got a naked Gerard Butler stuck in your pocket.”

That forced the laugh out. “Two out of three isn’t bad.”

Dave put his hands on his hips, some of the wariness returning. “So you’re not planning on going down on me on the Merry-Go-Round?”

“Nope.”

“Haunted Mansion?”

“Nuh-huh.”

“Rockin’ Rollercoaster?”

“Rockin’— Are you insane? I’d bite your dick off.” Ben winced and waved an apology at the father of the five-year-old girl staring at him with wide, innocent eyes. “Sorry.” He could feel his face turning beet red. He cleared his throat. “Look, can we go somewhere and talk?”

“Just talk?”

Ben nodded. At this point, he’d take anything Dave handed him. Hell, the man was finally talking to him. That was a step up in Ben’s estimation.

“And you’re sure this isn’t a dream?”

“I just gave a five-year-old an accidental education in sex. Yeah, I’d say this isn’t a dream.”

Dave’s mouth lifted in a shy smile, so at odds with the dominant personality Ben knew existed inside the Beta. Ben knew firsthand exactly how powerful Dave was. No one but Rick had ever forced him to bow down the way Dave had, and that had been while the Beta was in blinding agony.

“What are you doing here?”

He took slow steps until he was right in front of his mate, Dave’s heady scent filling his nostrils. “I’m here to claim you.”

Dave’s jaw dropped. His wide eyes darted upward.

Ben, knowing what Dave was looking for, grabbed his arm and pulled him after him. “Nope, still no pizzas. Jesus, you are such a goof.” And now he got to finally enjoy his mate’s innate goofiness. Before he would have held himself aloof, thinking alcohol was the cause of Dave’s attitude.

Now he knew the man was just weird. Ben couldn’t be happier about that.

Dave laughed and pointed to a teenager wearing a huge green Goofy hat. “Then it looks like I’m in the right place.”

But his hand tightened around Ben’s like he was afraid Ben would let go of him.

Ben grinned. As if.

“Where are you staying?”

Ben winced. This was the only part of the situation he knew for sure would get him into trouble. “Bay Lake Towers.”

“How the hell did you get a room there? And on such short notice?”

Ben wasn’t going to answer that if red hot pizza fell down from the sky and landed on his naked testicles cheese first. “How do we get to the Brown Derby from here?”

“Ben.”

Shit, Dave was using his power to demand an answer. Of all the Betas Ben had met only Dave seemed to have the ability to mimic a true Alpha. “I asked a friend for a favor.”

Dave scowled. “Steve.”

The anger in Dave’s voice worried Ben. “What do you have against him?” Ben turned to confront his mate. “He’s been a good friend for a long time.”

“Sure.” Dave’s smile was tight-lipped. “Is he here with you?”

Ben studied the look on Dave’s face. The anger there was mixed with…hurt? Ben was shocked. He’d known Dave hated Steve, but surely it wasn’t because of jealousy? “Dave. He’s just a friend.”

Dave’s jaw clenched.

“Seriously. He’s straight.”

One of Dave’s brows rose. “Really?”

“Let me put it to you this way: I’ve been thinking of introducing him to Chela. I think the two of them would get along great.” And if they turned out to be mates, so much the better. He’d love to make Steve Pack, but Rick had turned him down the one time he’d suggested it. They hadn’t been ready to add another Wolf to the fold, especially with the crap Dave’s sister Gina had been pulling at the time. Gina was gone now, and last he’d heard she’d begun an Amazon Pack with herself as the Alpha.

It was what she’d truly wanted in the first place. She hadn’t wanted Rick, she’d wanted power, and all of them had known it.

Still, Ben was planning on bringing his friend into the Pack by hook or by crook. All he had to do was ease his mate’s fears about the man and he knew everything would work out.

“I think Chela would take your friend, chew him up and spit him right back out.”

If they were still talking about Chela he’d eat that Goofy hat. “She might. She also might find he’s a good man who helped a friend when he really needed it.” He toyed with Dave’s fingers, glad when the other man didn’t pull away. “Please. I have a lot of groveling and explaining to do. Dinner?”

Dave looked off to the side, his expression uncertain. “Groveling?”

“Yup.”

“Lots of groveling?”

“Yup.”

“With beds of nails and hair shirts?”

Ben sighed. “I’ll do anything to make things up to you.”

Dave grinned, and Ben didn’t like the look of it. It was evil. The last time he’d seen that expression on Dave’s face the dining hall got painted purple. Rick had nearly blown a gasket. Rumor had it Dave had spent all night fixing the color. He still didn’t know what Rick had done to make Dave paint the hall that hideous shade of Barney. “Anything?”

Ben nodded.

“You’re sure? Because there’s no taking it back.”

“I won’t chop off my left nut or wear a clown nose.”

Dave started to laugh again. “You put clown noses and cut off balls in the same sentence?”