Page 11 of Because You Rejected Me

I hadn’t shifted in over a week, and the wolf inside of me was running circles around my brain. The worst part about being a werewolf was that you had to remember to take yourself for walks. Too long in human form, and the wolf would start to go stir-crazy. But too long in wolf form and you might start to forget you can shift back. Granted, that took a long time to achieve, but feral wolves were dangerous at the best of times. They encompassed all the worst qualities of a predator and a human but lacked any moral compass once the beast took over. It was the main reason I hitchhiked up to Shifter Grove. In my emotionally damaged state, I didn’t want the temptation of just remaining an animal and risk turning into a monster. Being a wolf felt good, but I didn’t want to stay one forever.

Just the thought of it made me shudder.

But the moment I stepped outside the hotel and started heading east, I began to feel better. It was a warm summer day, the sun beating down through a cloud-dappled sky. They were the small, white, fluffy kind that were too tiny to block out the sun for more than a few seconds when they passed over. I walked through downtown, took a right onto a main thoroughfare, and followed that for at least a mile. After that, it was a left onto a dirt road with a brown sign.

Shifter Grove Beach Park

Well, that was nice of Sam. I didn’t know there was a lake in town. Having shown up in the middle of the night, we could’ve driven right by it and never noticed. I was happy for the shade, too, as the trees grew taller, leaning over the road. Their wide green canopy blocked out the sun, although the understory was still warm and humid. I was glad I’d chosen to wear shorts today. Those jeans would have killed me.

A stiff breeze kicked up, sweeping down the road as a silver SUV passed by. It was just enough to drive away the humidity and give that slight tingle of relief. The cars were the only sign of life as I walked down the winding road, and even then, I think I only saw two. There was a small shack near the entrance with a sign stating you needed a special tag for your vehicle to enter the park. But, considering I was on foot, the guard splayed out in front of his box fan just waved me on.

At the end of the road, I came into a wide parking lot that only had a small handful of vehicles parked there. Several people had gathered under a covered picnic area with their kids, probably a birthday party or something. Next to it was a small building with a glass front. Kids ran back and forth to it, and it wasn’t until I got closer that I realized it was a little ice cream stand. I reached down, checking to make sure the twenty-dollar bill was still in my pocket. Sam knew where I was going and what would be there. I made a mental note to thank him profusely once I got back.

On the other side of the trimmed grass, I could see the trees fall away into open land. I figured that’s where the lake was and kept walking, following the little paved path that cut through the park. There was a strange noise I didn’t recognize ringing through the trees. I glanced up, seeing the leaves swaying in the wind, which had picked up, and figured it was just that. But something about it seemed off.

While I was busy staring up at the trees, I didn’t realize I’d come to the end of the path. My feet struck wood and I glanced down, realizing I was on a platform with a couple of benches and a railing on one side. As soon as my eyes rose above the railing, my jaw fell open. I rushed to the railing, my hands pushing me up higher so I could take everything in. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

Water.

But not just any water. This was water as far as the eye could see, all the way to the horizon and beyond. Waves crashed on the shore, creating that low roar that I couldn’t put a name to a moment ago. There were a few people camped out on the white sand beach, their umbrellas blocking them from the sun. Several of them were darting into the water, splashing and throwing themselves into the surf.

“Wow…” I said aloud, taking in the entire scene.

I stood there for a long moment, feeling the wind against my skin and listening to the crash of the waves. But soon, I couldn’t wait any longer. With the exuberance of a child, I ran down the stairs and across the beach. I tossed my backpack down on the sand, kicked off my shoes, emptied my pockets, and threw my shirt on the ground. Then I ran full tilt into the water without a second thought.

The sudden burst of cold caused the breath to leave my body. However, I wasn’t expecting the water to suddenly be three feet deep the moment I stepped off the shore, so that sent me flying face-first into the surf. However, as I got back to my feet, I realized there was an immediate sandbar, putting me in about eight inches of water. It seemed the waves had dug out a sort of trough at the shore. But, since they were small, I just kept going.

Before I knew it, I was a good hundred feet from shore, the water finally up to my chest. I swam back and forth like an idiot, my feet always touching bottom when I needed a break. That far from shore, the waves were no longer breaking but just rolling through. Taking a deep breath, I pushed off the bottom and floated on my back, my face turned up toward the sky. With my ears under the water, all sound was cut off from the world and I felt at peace.

I wasn’t sure how long I floated there. But when I finally sat up, I found I had floated a ways down the shore. Swimming back to the beach, I had to hike back nearly a quarter of a mile to find the stairs I’d come down to begin with. Then there was the problem of figuring out where I’d left my bag.

When I finally laid eyes on it, I realized there was someone sitting next to it. And that someone, to my horror, was wearing a black cowboy hat.

I stood there for a long moment, wondering if I should just get out of there. My phone and the only clothes I owned were in that bag. Not to mention a few other personal items that I didn’t really want to leave at the hotel. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Sam, but it was all I had in the entire world. It just felt better to keep it close.

And my twenty bucks for ice cream was in there.

Finally, knowing I had no other choice, I took a deep breath and started toward the last person I ever wanted to talk to again. It gave me a moment to size him up. Ace was sitting there in just a pair of shorts, his long legs and muscular back exposed to the sun. He looked a little bit sunburnt, and I started to wonder if he’d been sitting there the entire time waiting for me like the fucking creep he was.

However, as I neared him, the wind picked up and I caught his intense scent as it was driven past me. He was definitely an Alpha. That was easy enough to tell. But beyond that, his scent was sweet and earthy, like walking through a damp pine forest. It was so soothing that I caught myself heaving in great lungfuls of it, wanting more and more. Even my body seemed to relax. Although my dick, for some strange reason, decided that was a reason to get excited.

I glanced down, realizing that my wet shorts left nearly nothing to the imagination as they clung to my skin. That’s what I got for going commando. I tried to figure out a way to cover it up, but all my clothing was sitting next to Ace. Maybe if I could sneak up…

No sooner had the thought crossed my mind, Ace turned around and looked directly at me, his blue eyes sparkling in the sunlight. I watched as a smile pulled at his lips as if he was trying to fight it away and failing. Then his gaze tipped down to my crotch, and his cheeks turned red. He lifted his eyes back to mine and locked them there, determined not to look back down.

“What are you doing?” I barked, trying to cover up my embarrassment with anger. “Stealing my stuff?”

He shook his head. “I was watching it for you.”

“How did you find me? Are you following me?”

He shook his head again. “I could smell you. I was going to leave, but I saw you swimming and didn’t want you to lose your stuff. Not everyone around here is trustworthy. There’s a lot of tourists on this beach.”

I gave him a healthy dose of side-eye. “So what? You want my thanks or something?”

“No.”

“What do you want then?”

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