Chapter 16

ELIZABETH'S POV

The gardens are the loveliest things I have ever seen and I sit on one of the benches and just look at the flowers which seem to have been taken from a poet's dream. I look at the flowers, planted in order of color, from light blue to the darkest red.

“I never liked this place,” I hear his deep voice say behind me. I look up at him to see his face is tight, caught up in a memory that must be unpleasant. He sits down beside me on the bench and looks at the garden, at the fountain in the shape of a beautiful young man pouring water from a calabash into an artificial lake.

“It is beautiful. Why wouldn't you…” I start but he shakes his head.

“It is beautiful. My mother loves it. She sits here every evening and she reads a book or two. She talks to me at times but there are things about this place, memories that keep me from loving it as I should. Come with me Elizabeth. There is something I would like to show you,” He says. I look at him to see that there is a smile in his eyes and something else that I can't actually place my finger on. He stands and I stand with him then he holds out his hand and I lift my head to the side.

“You're not about to pull a prank, are you?” I ask him. He seems to think about it like that is the most profound thing he has ever heard.

“Now you mention it, I think that would be fun but…no, there are other things that are way more fun and I want to show you one of them. Come with me,” he says and we start walking away from the house. There is a quietness about him today, a sort of silence that makes it comfortable to be around him.

I gasp as I see the waterfall and I watch him walk out of the cat then go to stand by the side of the rushing water, powerful and beautiful as it pounds against the rocks. He shoves his hands into his pockets with a smile across his face.

“This is beautiful! Did you come here a lot as a kid?” I call out to him, my voice raised so he can hear. He raises an eyebrow at me then touches both ears and it is then that I realize what he means. There is no need to shout. His hearing is so heightened that he does not need me to raise my voice so he can hear.

“I came here as a kid. My father brought me. I came here after he died as well,” he says. I smile, thinking of him standing here with his father. He slowly starts to pull his shirt off. I watch him, puzzled.

“There is a ritual, you know? Before you can become a member of the pack? You'll have to jump off and land in the water,” he says, his face seems very serious.

“That isn't a thing. You made it up just now,” I say. He nods.

“Yes, we did it when we were younger. It isn't exactly official but I have decided to make it that way. I am the alpha afterall,” he says and takes off the shirt. I can see the large pexs straining against the white singlet, the breadths of his chest and the nipples underneath the thin clothing. He takes that off as well and I see the pendant of the crescent moon balanced between his chest.

I swallow thickly and wonder why it seems as though this is the first time my eyes are actually seeing him. His shoulders are like granite and his belly seems to be carved from marble. He cracks his neck from side to side then smiles at me.

“So, what is it going to be? Are you going to disobey a direct order from your alpha?” He asks.

“What order is that exactly?” I ask.

“To jump with me. Consider it a leap of faith,” he says.

“I don't…I am still not feeling well,” I say, hoping that will get me out of this. He looks at me, his eyes measuring, prodding. Warmth shoots down my belly and I look away from him.

“You are fine,” he says. He stretches out his hand. I look at it, at the veins of his forearms, then up into his eyes.

“I will be in the water with you. Do you trust me?” He asks. I start to speak but I don't trust the words that may come from my mouth. I take his hand and he winks. He pulls me closer to himself then wraps an arm around my waist.

“Take a deep breath.”

“We may break against the rocks,” I whisper. He nods slowly.

“That is what makes all this fun, isn't it? You're a little overdressed,” he says. I start to say something but he shakes his head.

“Don't say anything. Just breathe. One deep breath,” he says. His voice is soothing, quiet, and strong. I inhale deeply then he jumps. We are weightless for a moment and I don't know when a shriek leaves my lips. We hit the water softer than I expected but we are in and the water is around me, pressing against me. Fear wraps around me, making my heart beat faster. I almost start to panic before I feel his hands around my waist and he pulls me closer to the hardness of his body and swims upward.

We break the surface of the water and I gasp, pulling in air by the lungful and I see that he is smiling at me, his face flushed with excitement, eyes bright. I have a feeling I may have known how he looked as a teenager.

“That was great! Let's do it again!” I shout and he laughs and loud as he starts swimming with me to shore. He carries me onto dry land. Then he drops me and steps back. His trousers are clinging to him. He takes them off and shakes like a dog. I look down below his waist and my eyes go back to his face. I know he can tell that I'm blushing furiously.

“We should get back to the car and get warm,” he says and I look back to where we jumped from.

“It would be a long wa..”

I am suddenly suspended in the air and the entire scenery is rushing by me then I am beside the car. He drops me and steps back. I look around to see that I am right back where we were before we jumped. Is this how the speed off an alpha feels? Is this what it looks like?

“I guess being an alpha comes with certain percs, huh?” I say to him and he smiles.

“Come, there is a place where we can properly dry off,” he says as he opens the car door for me. I walk in and he gently closes the door then runs over with almost boyish glee. I see his forearm then, I see the deep scars there and I wonder how I missed them before. They look like he has suffered a terrible burn. But he is an alpha. What could injure him that deeply?