C15 Fifteen

Selena's POV

"Wait–wait–timeout!" I wheezed, slumping against the nearest tree before gravity betrayed me and I slid pitifully to the ground.

My lungs were staging a rebellion, sweat clung to every inch of my skin, and my legs had long since clocked out, leaving behind two pathetic strands of spaghetti where muscle used to exist.

The forest felt endless. Moonlight dripped through the branches above, trying its best to light our way, but it didn't change the fact that the priestess's hut was ridiculously far from the Alpha house.

Normally, it wouldn't be a problem. Wolves didn't need cars. We ran everywhere.

In wolf form, the distance would have taken only minutes, maybe an hour at most.

But with both our wolves weak as hell, we were stuck in our human forms. Bodies absolutely not designed for two straight hours of nighttime trekking.

Adrian, who'd been striding several feet ahead like some graceful forest deity, finally paused and turned around. His eyes swept over my half-dead form.

Then came the longest, most judgmental sigh I'd ever heard.

He wasn't even winded. Not a single hair out of place.

"Get up," he said. "It's not that bad. You're acting like someone forced you to run across the entire damn planet."

"Easy for you to say," I dragged the words between gasps. "Not all of us have Alpha genes that make a two-hour death march feel like a Sunday stroll. Some of us are actually dying-"

"It clearly isn't killing you that much," he cut in dryly, "considering your mouth is still running at full speed."

That shut me up so fast my jaw clicked.

How.

Fucking.

Dare he.

Must he jab at me at every fucking opportunity he gets?!

I opened my mouth to clap back, but the words barely left my lips when his stance shifted. Lifting his head slightly, he sniffed the air.

"What is it?" I asked, instantly tense.

Adrian inhaled deeply. "I... I think I smell a lake." His brows pulled together. "It smells... powerful. Like magic."

Magic?

A magical lake?

In Silverfang?

Two hours of walking had clearly fried his brain.

Resting my head against the tree, I let out a groan and shut my lids. "There is no magic lake, Adrian. You're dehydrated and hallucinating water. Sit down before you pass out."

When he didn't answer, I assumed he'd decided to ignore me, as usual.

But the silence stretched longer than normal. And Adrian never stayed quiet this long without throwing an insult my way.

Something unsettled moved through me. I snapped my eyes open, and ladies and gentlemen...the asshole was gone.

"Adrian?" I shot to my feet, scanning every shadow, every tree, every bush. Nada. Absolutely nothing.

He had actually left me.

Alone.

In the middle of the forest.

That bastard.

My guess was that he'd gone chasing his imaginary "magic lake."

Ugh.

Fury had me spinning in frantic circles, trying to recall which direction he'd even been facing when he sniffed the air like a deranged bloodhound.

"Left? No... right? Oh Goddess, why did you give me such a mannerless, infuriating asshole for a mate-"

I dashed left, then right, then back again. Nothing looked familiar.

Finally, I shoved through a wall of bushes... and went completely still.

A huge lake stretched before me, glowing this insane, bright blue under the moon.

It was breathtaking. Ethereal. Unreal.

For a moment, I wondered, Is this what he meant?

But I shoved the thought away fast.

There was a lake, fine, I'd give him that... but it being magical? Come on. Not in Silverfang.

And where the hell was he anyway?

Scanning every inch of the clearing, frustration built when there was not a single sign of him, further confirming that this was no magic lake.

With a sigh of defeat, I kept moving to continue my search...but stopped when I realized just how thirsty I was. My throat was literally screaming for water.

I knew it probably wasn't the smartest idea to drink from a glowing lake, but I was way too parched to care. Besides, another perk of being a werewolf was that any surface water was perfectly safe to drink.

Throwing caution to the wind, I knelt at the water's edge, scooped a handful to my lips, and the moment it touched my tongue, a soothing shiver ran through me. My whole body relaxed, refreshed, alive.

I drank again, greedily this time, letting the cool water fully wake me up.

After drinking my fill, I took a moment to look at the lake again. There was something about the water... it seemed to be pulling me in. Before I even realized it, I was slipping off my jeans, sweater, and shoes, leaving me in my favorite black bra and panties.

The water embraced me the moment I stepped in, and I dove under, letting it swallow me whole.

For the first time these past few days... I felt absolute peace.

Then Adrian slipped into my thoughts.

Not the annoying, infuriating version of him.

Last night's version.

The one who kissed me so deeply I hadn't stopped feeling it since.

I'd never told anyone this–not a soul–but in all the years I'd been married to his father, Alpha Holt, we'd never slept together. Not once. He tried, goddess knew he did, but I always found a way to slip him those witch's pills. Getting them wasn't easy either; I'd gone all the way to another pack just to keep my secret safe.

Every time, he'd pass out before anything could happen, and by morning the pills made him think we had sex.

And I made sure the room matched the lie–rumpled sheets, a few fake marks, whatever the hell it took.

So yeah... it had been a very, very long time since I'd felt anything real or sexual toward anyone.

Perhaps that was why my body was responding to Adrian the way it was.

That, and the mate bond of course.

With my head now out of the water but my lids still shut, my thoughts went straight back to him. I pictured his hands circling my waist, pulling me back into the warmth of his bare muscled chest. I could almost feel his hot breath fanning my neck as he pressed a slow, claiming kiss right over the mate mark.

A quiet moan slipped out of me at the thought alone. It felt so real that I was certain my wetness, already soaking my panties, was mixing with the lake water.

But I didn't stop for a second. In my head, his hips were moving against me now, his hard length pressing firmly against my back. My fingers found his hair, tugging lightly, and he let out a delicious grunt in response.

I leaned my head back against his chest as his hands slid up from my waist to my stomach and finally rested on my breasts. At first, the touch was gentle, but then his fingers pinched my hard nipples through the soaked bra, making me flinch and let out a startled, confused moan.

Had I imagined that too?

Another pinch came, harder this time–painful but strangely sweet–and it made my eyes fly open before I could stop myself.

That... was definitely not in my head.

When I looked down, I froze. Real hands were on me, actually gripping my nipples in the blue water, and a solid body was pressed against my back, impossible to ignore.

My breath seized in my throat, and with my heart in my mouth, I whipped around.