“What?” I sputtered. “You swam all this way just to see me?”
Colton dipped under the surface of the water, then resurfaced closer to me, popping up like a seal. “Yup.”
My cheeks flushed, but at least the refreshing water helped cool my body off.
“Sorry if that’s weird,” Colton murmured. “I know logically it doesn’t make sense to seek you out just for something silly like a feeling.”
“Feelings aren’t silly,” I reassured him with a smile.
Colton smiled now, too, and I noted how different his soft, serene smile was than Ramsay’s bright and hearty one. It was like comparing the moon to the sun--both were beautiful and radiant in their own way.
“How did you know we were even here, on the beach?” I asked curiously.
Colton scratched his head. “I didn’t. It was only when I got closer that I noticed you were already here.” His lips quirked. “Funny coincidence.”
Ramsay chuckled. “So you were just gonna waltz right onto South Pack territory looking like a drowned polar bear and calling for Matheson?”
“More like a not-drowned polar wolf,” Colton said simply.
“I know, I was making a--” Ramsay cut himself off and sighed. “Nevermind.”
I giggled at their cute interaction. Seeing my amusement, they both smiled.
“Well, now that you’re here, feel free to stay and hang out with us,” I told Colton. “Er, I mean, if that’s all right with Ramsay.”
Ramsay shrugged. “Totally fine with me. Besides, you guys know the deal. The lake is a neutral zone, and so is the beach up to five feet from the water.” He pointed a joking finger gun at Colton. “Go up to six feet, though, andbam!”
Colton rolled his eyes and threw himself at Ramsay, who yelped as he was pushed underwater and they began to wrestle. I might’ve been worried that one of them would get hurt with the roughhousing, but then I noticed the two of them weren’t even treading water. They stood on their toes in the sand. I was the only one here short enough to actually be floating.
“Get back here and fight like a wolf, you overgrown seal!” Ramsay called as Colton disappeared underwater again.
The water’s surface was blue and mostly clear, but I still couldn’t see Colton beneath the surface. I blinked and looked around for him until something emerged behind me and I yelped in surprise.
Colton rested his chin on my shoulder from behind and said softly in my ear, “Hey.”
I shuddered at his sudden closeness and the feeling of his warm breath against my sensitive skin.
Before I could react further, Colton dipped back under the water and sped around to harass Ramsay some more. The air split with our laughter, echoing across the lake.
“Dumb alphas,” I remarked in amusement.
But they’remydumb alphas.
* * *
A couple hoursof underwater horseplay under the afternoon sun was enough to make mestarving.Ramsay was feeling peckish, too. Only Colton, who was used to this sort of thing, didn’t seem worn out by the end of it.
After putting our clothes back on, Ramsay and I sprawled out on the beach, feeling the warmth of the sunlit sand beneath our wet bodies. I shut my eyes for a moment and just let the sun beat down on me. Its bone-warming heat combined with the brief coolness of the lake breeze was nice.
“How d’you do this all the time, Colt?” Ramsay asked as he shook beads of water out of his hair. “Seriously, youmustbe part fish or whatever else lives in the water.”
I groaned as another pang of hunger hit me. “I would die for some grilled fish right now.”
“Don’t die. I can arrange that.” Colton nodded to Ramsay. “Make a fire. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
He shifted into his wolf form, a magnificent white-furred beast with ice blue eyes. His frame was muscular yet sleek. Without another word, he paced down the shoreline, his gaze raking the water with laser accuracy.
Ramsay and I leaned in closer together as we watched Colton do… whatever he was doing.
