"What do you mean he’s gone?" said Chris, staring dumbfounded at his best friend’s mother. He’d wandered over, thinking nothing of it, expecting to spend another Saturday planning the summer trip he and Jason were supposed to take before starting university in the fall.

"Jason didn’t tell you?" said Mrs. Brown, a thoughtful look on her face. The perplexed look on Chris’ face must have been enough of an answer for her since she pursed her lips and said, "That’s weird. I thought you guys talked about everything. You just missed him. He left twenty minutes ago."

Chris scratched the back of his head. He and Jason did tell each other everything. Well, almost everything, anyway. They didn’t talk about their own insecurities, but who did? "What… What didn’t he tell me, Mrs. Brown? I’m really confused. He told me we were going to plan our trip today."

"Jason got an invitation to Camp Wild Rush, I think it was? He got the e-mail last night," said Mrs. Brown. "Honestly, I don’t get it, but it seemed like Jason was super excited about it. I figured he would have told you, but I guess he might have been too caught up in the hype and forgot…"

"Camp Wild Rush? Are you sure, Mrs. Brown?" said Chris. Mrs. Brown nodded.

Something was off. Making an impromptu decision to go away on summer camp didn’t seem like something Jason would do, if he was being honest. He wondered if Mr. and Mrs. Brown had something to do with it. Mrs. Brown’s lack of concern was suspicious.

Then again, Mrs. Brown had never seemed to be that kind of person. She’d been very accepting and supportive ever since Jason came out two years ago in solidarity with Chris. And she had been hoping that he’d learn to be a bit more outgoing since pretty much middle school, so maybe that explained the lack of concern.

Chris shook his head. It didn’t matter. It didn’t look like there was anything he could do about it, anyway, if Jason had already left.

The issue at hand was whether the trip was even going to happen, now. Chris had already scheduled the time off, but if Jason was going to be off at camp for the rest of the summer, he’d just keep working and save up the money for the next time an opportunity to go on a trip came along.

"Do you know when he’ll be back, Mrs. Brown?" said Chris. "It’s just… We’re supposed to go on a trip this summer and the fact that he left without telling me is just… I don’t know what to do, now, to be perfectly honest."

"Oh, I’m sorry, dear," said Mrs. Brown, patting Chris on the shoulder. "I don’t think Jason will be back until the end of August at the earliest. I’m really sorry about this, Chris. We’ll have a talk with him when he gets back. Make sure he apologizes for leaving you in the lurch."

"O-Oh, thanks, Mrs. Brown," said Chris, pocketing his hands. "I-I’ll just go home. Say hello to Mr. Brown for me, will you? Thanks." He walked away with a sigh. He was tempted to send Jason a text but Mrs. Brown seemed to suggest that she wouldn’t be able to talk with her son until the end of camp.

There were only two explanations Chris could come up with. Either this Camp Wild Rush, which he’d never even heard of, was in the middle of bumfuck nowhere and hopelessly out of range of any cell-tower, or it was one of those places that just outright didn’t allow digital devices.

Chris pinched the bridge of his nose as he made his way back to his parents’ house. He’d been looking forward to that trip. Not that they’d planned it far enough that he knew where they were going, he was just looking forward to getting away from their small town for a decent amount of time, just his best friend and him.

Oh well. It wasn’t like there was anything Chris could do at this point. Other than looking up Camp Wild Rush and maybe signing up himself.

The website seemed legit enough. It spouted the same sort of inspirational bullshit that most "camps" tended to. This one seemed strangely macho, though. It talked about "experiencing the call of the wild to bring out the man in you," which just made Chris roll his eyes.

It did occur to Chris that maybe this was the Purple Fairy’s way of making his wish for Jason come true, but he had his doubts. It just didn’t seem like the kind of thing an all-powerful being would do. It felt like there were too many hoops.

Unfortunately for Chris, though, it seemed that Camp Wild Rush was pretty exclusive. Entry was by invitation only, and the summer session ran from early June to late August, so it was highly likely that he wouldn’t get to see Jason until university was just around the corner.

Chris was pretty bummed, he had to admit. But if the camp wasn’t bullshit, and if it did help Jason be more confident and outgoing, he wasn’t going to begrudge his friend of that. Besides, the accommodations looked amazing, so it wasn’t like Jason was going to be living in the woods for the whole of summer.

If the pictures on the website were anything to go by, chances were that Jason was going to be living the life during his stay at Camp Wild Rush. "Lucky bastard," Chris muttered under his breath as he rolled his chair away from his computer to stare out the window. "He better bring me home a souvenir."

---

Summer swept past faster than Chris expected. It felt like just yesterday he’d been a fresh, bright-eyed high school graduate, and now he was staring at the tail-end of June. He imagined some of it had to do with how he’d been working himself ragged.

There wasn’t really anything else to do in their small town. Usually, Chris spent his free time hanging out with Jason or playing video games with Jason. With him out of the picture, the things they used to do together just kind of lost their luster.

Before long, the end of July caught up to Chris. While he had a good bundle of money that would go a long way toward paying his university costs, he felt like he’d done nothing fun during what would probably be the last stress-free summer of his life. He dearly missed his best friend and couldn’t help but wonder how he was doing at camp.

Chris tried his best to go over to the Brown residence every once in a while. He didn’t want the two people who’d basically become second parents to him to think that he only cared when Jason was there. That was how he learned, halfway through August, the exact date of Jason’s return.

The things Chris used to tolerate at work because he didn’t really have anything better to do and he felt the money could do some real good frayed his nerves and left him on edge as he counted down the days until Jason was back. A minor argument with a co-worker that turned into a reprimand from management ended with him quitting three days before Jason was due to be back.

Chris had already handed in his notice by then, anyway. He didn’t intend to be working part-time through his first year of university. He was sure he would have more than enough on his plate, and he’d managed to save up enough to be able to afford it.

Those last three days felt like an eternity. It was as if time itself had been running on overdrive and had suddenly overheated and slowed to a crawl. Seconds felt like minutes and minutes felt like hours. Chris even volunteered to help his dad repaint the fence if only to assuage his boredom with mindless, menial work for a few hours.

Excitement made it impossible to sleep the day before Jason was due back, though exhaustion saw to that at around 3 A.M. Chris woke up to bright sunlight streaming through his window and a digital clock, on the floor beside his bed, reading 10:13 A.M. he must have knocked it off the nightstand at some point during the early morning.

Breakfast was the last thing on Chris’ mind as he sprinted past the kitchen on the way out. Jason was supposed to arrive early in the morning, so Chris hoped he was already home. He flung himself up the steps of the Browns’ porch and rang the doorbell, fighting down the urge to jam his finger as fast as he could into the button.

The door opened and what Chris saw knocked the breath out of his lungs. Standing at the threshold to his childhood best friend’s home was a handsome beast of a man a full head and shoulders taller than him, with striking green eyes, perfectly coiffed russet hair, and a jawline so sharp it could probably cut through steel like a hot knife through butter.

"Uh… H-Hi," Chris stammered, feeling all the blood in his body rush to one of two places: his face, or his cock.

As much as he wanted to look the man in the face, Chris’ eyes were riveted to the firm pecs, thick arms, and cobbled abs. He would have whistled if he didn’t think it disrespectful. The man looked like he could snap Chris in half with one hand tied behind his back.

"Chris!" the man thundered.

Chris saw his life flash before his eyes. He’d hoped he’d get to see Jason again before he died, but clearly, it wasn’t to be so. He braced himself for the pain he expected to follow.

The pain never came. Instead, Chris felt his feet leave the ground as thick muscular arms wrapped around him and squeezed him. Not in the tight, vicious way that he expected, but in the friendly warm way that he’d always craved. "Oh, man, it’s been a while," said the big guy.

Chris blinked. He knew that voice. It was an octave lower and far richer than he’d ever heard it sounding, but he knew it all the same. For the first time since arriving at the Browns’ residence, he looked at the man’s eyes with scrutiny and gasped. "Jason?!"

"Yeah, man. Come in!" said Jason, face split by a wide, toothy grin as he set Chris down and stepped aside to let him into the house. "How’ve you been?"

"I-I’ve been okay," said Chris, standing in the entranceway, unable to comprehend the transformation that Jason had so obviously undergone. "Wow… You… Uh… Got big."

"I know, right?" said Jason, chuckling. Chris jumped when Jason’s meaty hand clapped on his back, right between his shoulder blades. "Sorry I didn’t tell you. It was a bit short-notice. I got the invite and the more that I read up about it the more I felt I just needed to go."

Chris chewed on his lower lip as Jason sat him down on the couch in the living room and took a seat right beside him. It was intimidating to be right next to such a big and attractive man, so much more when it was his best friend who’d gone through such a profound transformation in the space of a few months.

Nervous as he was, it didn’t stop Chris from reaching up and touching the bulging muscles of Jason’s arms. They were firm and warm to the touch. He snatched his hand back, embarrassed. "It’s okay, buddy. Feel me up all you want."

Chris chuckled. "Careful what you wish for," he said. He didn’t want to seem too thirsty but there was no way that he could resist. He laid his hand flat against Jason’s bicep and gave it a squeeze. "Fuck, man," he whispered, under his breath. "What did they do to you?"

"Let’s just say it was a transformative experience," said Jason, his chuckle a deep bass rumble that sent a tremor of excitement up Chris’ spine.

---

It had been a few days since Jason returned. Chris still couldn’t wrap his head around how different his best friend was, now. He would have been freaking out more, but university was just around the corner and all the work he had to do to prepare for that was splitting his attention.

The door to Jason’s room was slightly ajar. Chris knocked once and didn’t wait for an answer before he entered. Jason was sitting on the bed with a hand towel around his shoulders, sweat beading on his face and dripping down his arms. The tank-top he wore was stretched tight across the thick shelf of his pecs, and the sweat had plastered the fabric to his hard, cobbled abs.

Jason was all Chris got to see when it hit him. His eyes widened. Heat flooded into his chest. His lungs and nose filled with the musky, masculine, slightly wild scent of Jason.

Unbidden, Chris’ hand flew to his chest, clutching at his shirt right over his heart. He could feel it pounding against his ribs, his blood thundering in his ears. He gasped, feeling suddenly short of breath and full of it at the same time. His cock was painfully hard, unfairly constricted by the fabric of his pants and underwear.

Jason looked up, eyes gleaming with something inscrutable. Chris stood there, feeling like an idiot, as something did somersaults in his stomach. The corners of Jason’s lips curled upward in a small, lazy smile. "I was hoping it would be you," he said, as he rose from the bed and approached, something predatory in the way that he loped to cross the distance between them.

Chris shivered as Jason’s thumb traced a line along the curve of his jaw. He barely noticed as Jason shut the door behind him. Jason was so close. His scent was intoxicating. All he could think of doing was burying his face in his best friend’s chest and never leaving. He never realized that Jason was corralling him until he felt the heel of his foot strike the base of the door, making the hinges rattle.

"Holy shit," Chris breathed. It was hard to think—impossible, even. Every time he looked into the vivid green of Jason’s eyes it was as if his thoughts short-circuited. "What… I don’t… What’s going on?" he mumbled.

"Only what was meant to happen," Jason growled, breath hot and humid as it ghosted across Chris’ cheek. Jason’s voice was thick with something that Chris couldn’t properly put to words, bearing a trace of something ancient and profound. It filled him with a strange, titillating energy all the same. "I would lay claim to what is mine if he would have me."

Chris’ eyes fluttered open. He was melting in the warmth of Jason’s proximity, every exhalation catching in his throat as if his lungs were loath to part with Jason’s wild, earthy scent. "That…" Chris paused, panting, fingers rising to tug at his collar. He felt hot. "T-That almost sounds like a proposal…" he stammered.

"It’s that, and more," said Jason. The grin Jason flashed was wolfish, and it awakened something in Chris, some strange instinct he hadn’t known was there. He tilted his head back, baring his neck. A sign of submission. He didn’t know how he knew, just that he did. He shivered as he felt Jason’s tongue drag along the skin of his neck.

Chris jolted when Jason placed a hand on his shoulder. He shivered, cheeks heating, as broad and calloused fingertips traced lightly down the length of his arm. "What are you…" he trembled as thick fingers clasped around his wrist.

"Making a mate out of you," Jason muttered, leaning in to whisper the words in Chris’ ear, tone low, sultry, and hungry.

Chris felt as if his legs were made of jelly as Jason dragged him toward the bed and felt nothing but a surge of heat in his veins when Jason, who used to be so small and fragile, grabbed fistfuls of his shirt and tore it from his body. The heat brimming under Chris’ skin pooled in his stomach as Jason’s fingers dug into his soft belly, knotting into tight bundles of need.

Thinking was a pointless exercise. Chris felt hot and needy and desperate all at the same time. Every breath, every pulse of arousal that went straight to his cock, made his thoughts fray and scatter. Much more and he feared he would melt into a puddle, never to be human again.

Chris lost himself in the deep green of Jason’s eyes as they approached, and when that wasn’t enough, he was drawn into the interminable rightness of the kiss that followed. Heat flushed his cheeks as he arched off the bed just enough for Jason to slip an arm around the small of his back.

Chris’ awareness of his pants was faint, but he knew he didn’t want them to stay. His fingers pushed uselessly at the waistband. He made a noise of frustration into Jason’s lips and barely had time to process before Jason’s fingers were tracing along the backs of his, coaxing them away from his pants with a gentle touch.

One moment, Chris’ pants were there, scratchy, hot, and far, far too restrictive for what he wanted to be done to him. They were gone the next, torn to shreds, cool air wafting over his legs and making his over-sensitive skin tingle.

Chris raised his legs into the air on instinct, moaning into Jason’s mouth as his twitching hole was exposed. He clamped his thighs tightly around Jason’s waist, belatedly realizing that somehow, at some point, Jason had gotten naked too. He was too enamored, too absorbed by the kiss to do anything more than throw his arms around Jason’s shoulders.

"Mine," growled Jason, when they pulled apart for breath. His fingers dug into the skin of Chris’ back, leaving trails of tingling heat near the base of Chris’ spine.

"Yours," Chris whispered, not really understanding but feeling that it was right in the core of his being.

Chris’ eyes fluttered open. Jason eased into him, slowly rocking his hips forward. It hurt, but in a good way that he hadn’t even known it could. The pain was sharp and burning as he stretched around Jason’s girth, but it felt so right that he didn’t mind.

The minute it took for Jason to settle inside him felt like the longest minute of Chris’ life. He couldn’t help but moan, from pleasure and relief alike, as Jason’s lips pushed flat against his. "It’s difficult to keep control like this," Jason panted, nuzzling his nose into the crook of Chris’ neck as his chest expanded with a low rumble.

Jason hunched his hips into Chris, making him wince. Chris wasn’t a virgin, necessarily, but Jason was bigger than even his biggest toy. He hadn’t yet adjusted, but the pain was fading fast. He could but moan at the fullness he felt.

With small motions at first, then larger as Chris adapted to him, Jason sawed his hips back and forth. His arms, thrust into the mattress on either side of Chris’ head trembled. "Fuck," Jason growled. "Would that I could ravish you without restraint."

Chris moaned. The sensations of Jason’s cock pumping into him felt divine on a level he could scarcely describe. And there was to be more of it? He didn’t think he could survive whatever beast Jason was holding back. He moaned again as Jason’s curved cock thrust into that place inside of him, sending a bolt of lightning straight up his spine.

A raw shout escaped Chris before he could swallow it, sweat dripping down the sides of his face. Jason’s cock was hot inside of him, almost preternaturally so. Every thrust, every slap of Jason’s hips against his, seemed to spread the liquid heat even further across the span of his body.

Chris fought down the coarse sound that threatened to spill out of him but couldn’t. The heat was overwhelming. He was burning up. Burning up. From the inside out. Even the very breaths that escaped from his lungs was hot.

Sweat pooled around Chris, soaking into the sheets, into the mattress underneath. His body rocked, back and forth, his back sliding on the wet sheets as Jason’s relentless pace kept up. He moaned, the heat rising, consuming what was left of him until he felt as if the breath would scald his throat.

"Almost," Jason grunted. His thrusts faltered, the look in his eyes replaced with something wild and untamed. "So close now," he growled, his words somehow ringing in Chris’ ears despite how quietly he’d spoken them, the gravelly sound of his voice somehow soothing.

The wet heat of Jason’s tongue on his collarbone, the sharp sensation of Jason’s teeth grazing the sensitive skin, was the spark that set Chris alight. He felt as if his whole body had gone up in flames. His mouth opened in a wordless, soundless howl of pain and pleasure mixed in a way so profound he couldn’t even begin to comprehend it.

Jason’s teeth broke skin. Chris felt his blood drip over his shoulder, leaving impossibly hot tracks on his skin that felt like rivers of lava. Pleasure raced through his body, then. A white-hot wildfire that obliterated everything.

Chris came. Or at least, he thought he did. It was hard to know for sure when he’d lost all sense of self to the pleasure of being claimed.

---

When Chris woke, the sun had set outside. His head was resting on Jason’s warm chest, his shoulders cradled in one of Jason’s arms. He felt strange. Stronger. Lighter. His hand drifted down to his midriff where he realized, with a jolt, "I have abs?!"

Jason laughed, vivid green eyes twinkling with something still inscrutable but now strangely familiar. "That’s only the first of your changes yet to come," he said, that strange formal affectation jarring now that Chris could really think about it.

"Where’d you learn to speak like that, anyway?" Chris mumbled. It was easier to set aside the strangeness of what had just happened, of his own transformation, rather than confront it. "It’s weird."

"Oh, sorry," said Jason, scratching the back of his head. He laughed. "They all speak like that, at Camp Wild Rush. I liked it. Started talking like it after two weeks. I felt like I was in a medieval court or something whenever I spoke. It was nice."

"Oh my god, you’re such a nerd," said Chris, gently prodding at Jason’s ribs with his elbow. "Um… So I guess we’re… Dating?"

The corner of Jason’s lips twitched. "I suppose so… Camp Wild Rush’s autumn session is starting soon. I intend to go. I want to take you with me."

"What?" said Chris, pushing himself off the bed with the arm he’d pinned underneath him. His fingers remained resting on Jason’s firm chest. "What about uni, Jason? You can’t just not go. What would your parents say? What would my parents say?"

"Tell them you’re taking a gap year," said Jason. "I promise you won’t regret it," he added, eyes twinkling.