Chapter 44 Chapter 44
"This weekend is like a break for me." He changed the topic and when I raised my head to him, he seemed like he was on the verge of smiling. "I want to feel free from my Alpha roles and just have fun for the first time in a long time. I want to explore different aspects of being a werewolf, aspects that aren't tied down to being an Alpha.
"Being here makes me feel nostalgic because Scarlett's grandmother used to live here and when we were younger, we'd come here for holidays sometimes, she'd make us the best dishes, tell us strange and interesting stories, educate us on herbs and the uniqueness of each flower..." he smiled, staring ahead of him like he could see it happening again. Alpha Keegan was actually 'smiling'? So he could 'smile'? "Those days were such happy days. They made me feel loved, she felt like family, like my actual grandmother. Would you like to know a secret?"
"What secret?" I returned his smile, eager to hear something exciting.
"When she died, I cried." He said like he had just revealed a billion-dollar information. I couldn't control myself and burst into laughter which clearly annoyed him. "What's funny about it?"
"Just because you cried? I'm sorry she died. I know her death must've been painful to you, but I was expecting a more shocking secret."
"Why won't you be surprised that I cried? Crying makes me a coward and a weak person." He gazed ahead of him with a confused frown.
"That's not true. Everyone has feelings and should be able to cry when they want to."
He glanced at me. "Where are you from? Definitely not the pack I'm from. Why wouldn't anyone in my pack be surprised that I cried?" He had his brows furrowed. "By the way, are you hungry?" That was random and unexpected but I nodded in affirmation. " There's a lake ahead and there are amazing fruits around it."
"A lake?" my face brightened with a smile. "I'd love to see a lake and be around it, please just this once."
"Uhm... okay... It's just a lake. Follow my lead." He started walking and I followed closely behind him, trying my best to hold in my excitement.
We finally stopped in front of an extremely beautiful lake; the water was so clear, reflecting the beautiful sky, trees, rocks, and flowers above it..
I couldn't hold in my excitement anymore and was grinning from ear to ear. "It's so beautiful! Thank you so much for bringing me here." I felt like squealing.
"I know it's beautiful but don't you think you're being a little too dramatic?"
"You can't understand. I love nature so much, but I never have the opportunity to visit places like this; I only come across them in pictures or two dimensional books. It feels so divine to finally be here." I crouched beside the lake, letting my hand glide over the beautiful water surface. "Gosh, it feels so amazing!"
"Back then," he started and I turned to him; he had taken off his coat and was taking off his shirt, "this used to be my favorite part of being in this town though Scarlett's grandmother never agreed for me to swim here to avoid me getting hurt, I always snuck out to swim and relax here." He placed his coat and shirt on a rock beside him and took his shoes off before diving into the lake, a few drops of water splashed on me in the process.
When he lifted his head and upper half of his body above the surface of the water, he was completely soaked, his chocolate hair was slicked backwards with his eyes shimmering with delight and the way water slowly dropped down his body made a form of excitement jolt in me, the happiness in his eyes felt like a large piece of diamond and made him look way hotter than normal and I felt like I was drooling over him, appreciating the amazing movements of his biceps and how his even toned skin glowed even more, the sun reflecting against the water on his skin made it seem like he was sparkling.
He splashed water on me, calling me back to reality. " Stop staring at me like that, it's scary. Won't you get in and swim as well?"
"Swim? Uh... no, I'm..." I tried to get back to my senses completely and shook my head. "I won't swim, I'll just enjoy the calmness of the water from up here." As much as I didn't want to let the shoes leave my feet, I had to take off the espadrilles and place my feet in the water; the water was a bit cold and sent a wave of placation down my body. "This feels so good." I grinned.
"So with your life for nature, that's the best you'll do?" He shook his head and plunged deeper into the water.
I tried to locate him underneath the surface but there was no trace of him anywhere. "Can he also breath underwater?" I knew it wasn't possible but how could he be down there and not drown to death.
A scream escaped my throat when he appeared in front of me and pulled me by my waist into the lake. Every air left my body as I sank deeper in the coldness of the water. I failed my arms, trying to swim back to the surface but was almost passing out and freezing. I was screaming, but my scream only came out as bubbles. I couldn't breath, my bones and blood felt frosty. Was this how it felt like to drown? I couldn't die from drowning and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get back to the surface.
It felt like I was losing consciousness until something pulled me back to the surface, giving me the chance to suck in air again with a loud gasp.
I panted heavily as Alpha Keegan lifted me in his arms from the water and placed me to sit on the dry grass. "I almost died!" I cried, still struggling to catch my breath and quivered like a leaf in a storm.
"I didn't know you couldn't swim." He said with genuine concern ringing in his voice as he picked his coat from the rock and wrapped it around my body.
"How'd you expect me to know how to swim?" I hollered at him. "Is this how you've planned my death?! Do you hate me that much to want me to drown?" My heart was throbbing harsher than ever.
"I really thought you could swim. Mrs. Bea was instructed to take you for swimming lessons when you first arrived and you couldn't have died, you were only in the water for about two seconds or more." "She didn't and it wasn't just two seconds. My life just flashed before my eyes." I hugged the coat to my body to control my shivering.
He maintained silence for a while, only peering into my eyes. "It won't happen again, I promise. Remind me to sign you up for training lessons." He was clearly holding back a smile and that pissed me off even more.
"It's not funny." I glared at him, wondering where the courage to do that came back from.
"Yes, it's not." He cleared his throat and extended his hand to me. "Let's just head to the tree. There's a beautiful heartnut tree close by and the heartnuts on it taste so amazing. We should try it out."
My glare was still present but my taste buds needed to try something new. With an angry pout on, I extended my hand to him.
He helped me up to my feet and his eyes took a quick scan of me from head to toe. "You're completely wet. You can get rid of your dress and wear the coat, it should be long enough to serve as a dress for you. You'll die from cold if you remain in that. I'll fetch the heartnuts while you quickly change into it." His voice was a bit husky and his eyes darkened a bit. He shut his eyes and let out a deep breath before taking his leave. What the heck was that for?
I took the coat off and realized my wet dress had almost outlined my entire body, it had become almost invisible; my pink bra and panties were advertising their brightness. "Did he really have to see that?" An embarrassed blush formed on my face.
I glanced around before getting rid of the dress around me and wore the coat back. It wasn't as long as I expected, but at least it was around mid-thigh length after I pulled the zipper up.
I sat on the rock and waited quietly till Alpha Keegan returned with a few heart-shaped nuts and fresh apples and dropped them beside me while he sat on a rock closely in front of the one I sat on. "We'll need to head back before the party starts. I can already hear the music playing from the building." I assumed he was being figurative so I nodded and grabbed one of the nuts, eager to know what its meat tasted like.
"I doubt if you have a skincare routine?" Alpha Keegan asked and grabbed two heartnuts. "I'm an omega in Dark Stone pack, isn't it illegal for me to have a skincare routine?" I rolled my eyes at him.
"You definitely don't need any because your skin is glowing." Was that a compliment I just heard from this arrogant Alpha?
He was avoiding my gaze, focusing on the nut like his life depended on it while I still tried to find the perfect word to reply to him with. He finally met my gaze and took me aback by hitting the nut on the top of my head.
"Ouch! What was that for!" I rubbed my head, wondering what the hell got into him.
"I just wanted to crack the nut." He shrugged.
"And my head was the perfect fit for that? You're literally sitting on a rock." A frown formed on my face.
"You can be hard headed sometimes, so it seemed like a best fit to crack the nut." He shrugged again with a smirk playing on his lips.
I tilted my head at him quizzically, wondering if something was wrong with him. How could he tag me as hard-headed and experiment with nut cracking on me? Wasn't he supposed to be smarter than that?
"I'll just crack this nut like normal person." I cracked it against the rock and he chuckled again and he did the same.
The taste against my taste buds felt so great. "It's actually good." I commented. "Definitely!" He agreed with a small smile.
I glanced at the lake that almost killed me moments ago, the beautiful flowers, fresh grasses, and the sweet smell that accompanied being here made me miss this place already. "I wish I could explore nature more." I let out a sigh.
"We can plan a trip to somewhere really calm and surrounded by nature. There's this really cool house I have in Nashville and the view from the window is so marvelous. I also have other buildings we can consider, they are surrounded by beautiful landscapes and amazing views of nature. I have some in California, Oregon, Utah, Michigan-"
"Really?" A grin formed on my lips. "You'd really consider it?"
"Why not?" He grabbed an apple to eat. "As an Alpha, my roles of paperwork and attending to so many responsibilities can be exhausting and I need a break at least once in a while." He continued talking about his roles as Alpha and how tiresome it was as well as the amazing parts of being Alpha.
I wanted to contribute too, but there was nothing special about my life, so I enjoyed listening to him. The fact that he wasn't sounding as angry as always and how gentle his voice was made me feel like listening to him talk over and over again.
We ate more fruits than I had ever eaten in my entire life till it was getting a bit darker.
"We should get going. More guests have arrived." He grabbed my espadrilles and wore them for me again. The same chills snaked down my spine at his touch. After wearing his shirt and shoes, he held me to lead the way back to Scarlett's parents house. As Alpha Keegan had predicted, there were more guests at the porch walking into the house.
"If we go in through the front door, it'll be dramatic, so we should try going through the back door." He explained and I nodded in understanding. My social anxiety would kill me if I had to go in through the front door with people around. "I know there's a key to it somewhere, I just really hope it's still placed there."
Still holding my hand, he led the way to the back of the house while I eagerly hoped he was going to find the key he was talking about. He searched beneath a box beside a rock and slipped out a key. "It's still here! I can't believe it." He said with a victorious smile.
He quickly inserted the key to unlock the door. "We have to hurry up and get in because if anyone in the Andersons family find out that I used their secret escape way to get in, we'd be in-" he was interrupted as he opened the door and Pam was standing right in front of us with her eyes widened, " -trouble." He completed his sentence.