He was another shifter, maybe in his early twenties, and clearly an alpha, one I didn’t know, so I knew he must have been from the other pack.
How long had he been there?
My cheeks filled with heat as I thought about how this intimidatingly good-looking alpha might have seen me naked. Normally beta shifters were more filled out by my age, but I was still only scrawny limbs on a gawky body.
“Hey,” I said, my voice cracking.
The alpha smirked at me and the fire in my cheeks shot all the way down to my toes as I self-consciously crossed my arms in front of my body. I would have given almost anything to have been able to shift into my wolf at that moment, but that ability was still a few years off. He said nothing, simply looked from my head to my feet and back again, before turning and walking away.
Weird.
I saw the alpha again at dinner that night, but he ignored me and I never learned his name.
A year later, however, he was back. Whatever angle Randall was working with the other pack involved annual visits. That visit, the strange alpha actually sought me out. There was no other reason for him to return to the pond than to find me.
At least that time he didn’t find me naked.
“I’m Zachariah,” he said, his lips twisted into the same smirk as the first time I saw him.
“Hi.” I gave him an awkward wave. “I’m Keir.”
He moved to sit down beside me on the blanket I had spread out on the ground. “You’re the Alpha’s nephew, right?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“Why are you hiding out here all by yourself?”
I shrugged, shyly glancing away. “It’s nice here and nobody bugs me.”
“I see.” He glanced at me from the corner of his eye. “I’m supposed to be with my Alpha, but I’m a little sick of him right now.” He paused, then winked at me. “That can be our little secret, right?”
I nodded eagerly, pride filling my chest that this older alpha would trust me with something. After all, nobody else in my life did. We exchanged small talk for a little while until Zachariah glanced at the shiny—and obviously expensive—watch on his wrist.
“I have to get back,” he said. “It was nice talking to you. I’ll see you around.”
He mostly ignored me again at dinner, but I caught him sending a couple of sly glances my way.
By the following year, I’d finally come to a realization about my sexuality. There were zero viable prospects in my pack, but I was nurturing a bit of a crush on Zachariah and looking forward to seeing him again, so I returned to what I had decided was ‘our spot’ and waited.
When Zachariah showed up—cue butterflies in my stomach—I jumped to my feet, straightening my shoulders and puffing out my chest, hopefully making my slender body look bigger and more appealing. Strangely enough, it seemed to work. A gleam of what just had to be appreciation entered Zachariah’s eye as his gaze roamed over me.
Of course, I know now that it wasn’tappreciation.
“I brought you something,” he said. He held out a brand new cell phone and foolish, fifteen-year-old me preened at the gift. I’d never received anything that expensive, nor had anyone ever paid that much attention to me. Well, not anyone who looked like Zachariah, anyway.
“This way, we can stay in touch. You can’t tell anyone about this though, okay?”
Without hesitation, I agreed.
The coverage in the compound was so bad as to be practically non-existent, but we were able to exchange text messages that grew progressively more flirty over the next year.
By the time I was sixteen, I fancied myself in love with him. He told me he understood me like no one else and I thought he was the prince who was going to rescue me from my boring, ordinary life. It didn’t matter to me that he was nearly thirty by that point or that I knew next to nothingrealabout him. All that mattered was that he paid attention to me.
That year, he once again met me out by the pond. He fed me pretty words and promises, and it didn’t take him long to talk me out of my clothes. My kisses were clumsy, but his hands were not. He maneuvered me where he wanted me, only taking the time to unbutton his pants before entering my body.
Sex wasn’t at all like I’d expected. It hurt. A lot.
When he was done, he fastened his pants back into place and stood up. “Thanks,” he said, giving me a somewhat chilly smile. “I really needed that. See you next year.”
