Chapter Twelve River

I had been staring at my phone for four days trying to build up the courage to text Vincent. Obviously I wanted to so fucking bad. But that's what stopped me from doing it. Texting him was giving into emotions that I knew I shouldn't be having.

I was obsessed. Every waking moment of every day since our night together I'd been thinking about him. Each morning I woke up rock hard and nothing would get it to go away except jerking off. And, of course, whenever I touched my cock, all I could think about was Vincent. Even when I tried to put on porn or think about anyone else, I always saw his face. There was just nothing I could do to get him out of my brain.

And then, every single day, I drove by the cafe at just the right time to see his car sitting outside. I felt like a fucking stalker when I got a sudden surge of happiness at seeing him through the windows of the shop. It was creepy, but I couldn't stop thinking about him. And, every night it took all the willpower I had not to order pizza. In fact, I'd been eating all my meals at the hotel alone in my room. The owner Sam had been trying to get me to join him and his menagerie of charity cases, but I just wasn't feeling it. The only person I wanted to be around was Vincent.

But I couldn't. Every time I thought of texting him, I heard my father's words again.

You've got one last summer to goof off and get this out of your system. But when you come home, it's time to be a real Alpha. This pack will never accept a male pair to lead them and neither will I.

Those words haunted me. And the more I thought about them, the more I felt scared of what I was feeling. I wanted my inheritance and I wanted the easy life that came with being an Alpha. It was all planned out, I understood each facet of it, and nothing was left up to chance. Leaving all that behind turned my life into a fucking mess instantly. It was a lot to give up for something as trivial as a crush on a guy I'd fucked once.

But the wolf inside me told me this wasn't just a crush. In fact, the wolf had taken on the habit of chanting a single word in the back of my mind all day and night.

Mate .

Vincent couldn't be my mate. He just couldn't. And even if he was, it didn't matter. I had a wife waiting for me back home. Granted, I didn't know her at all. In fact, I didn't even know her name yet or what she looked like. But my father said she was all picked out and waiting for me. I couldn't let the pair of them down as well. The entire pack was expecting me to lead them into a bright and glorious future. How could I turn my back on them all for some guy ?

I couldn't. And I was tired of sitting around thinking about it constantly. What I really should've been doing was surfing and enjoying the free time I had left. After spending four days pretty much holed up in my hotel room, it was time to get out and do something. In fact, maybe finding a different dude to get involved with would be a good idea. That might help clean the slate and give me a fresh perspective. The sex with Vincent was amazing, but that didn't mean I couldn't have amazing sex with someone else. He was just confusing me somehow.

Yeah. That had to be it.

Sitting up on my bed, I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and flipped open the app store. It only took a second to locate the most popular hookup app for gay dudes ever invented and hit the download button. Within a minute or two I had an active profile with a sexy shirtless picture and a call out for casual sex with anyone that was looking. Human or wolf, I didn't care. I'd even go cruising if that's what people were into. Whatever it took to get Vincent off my mind.

And thankfully, I didn't have to wait long. That was the perk of having Alpha heritage I guess. The abs and the cut V of my hips got boys hot and bothered so easily. Of course, it didn't help that I made sure I was showing off my goods as much as possible through my paper thin swim trunks.

However, what started out as a pleasant surge of attention soon became a tidal wave. My phone was constantly pinging and messages were pouring in from all over. Some of the guys were already asking to meet up and more than one of them were willing to drive nearly a hundred miles just to let me fuck them. Dick pics came flying at me from all sides followed by asses, holes, and even a few more kinky pictures that just weren't really my thing.

The entire experience was fun for about twenty minutes. However, by then I was so deeply overwhelmed by the sheer volume of attention that I had to silence my phone and find something else to do. Flattery was nice, but too much flattery was uncomfortable to say the very least. And, even after all the cocks and asses I'd seen, all I could think of was Vincent.

It was irritating to say the least.

So, I decided to do the one thing that was sure to take my mind off things for a bit. Surfing. And, if the waves weren't big enough, at least some time out in the water would get me away from this room where I'd been holed up for days.

The beach was just a short ten-minute trip away. When I arrived I was happy to find the place wasn't completely packed. Of course, it was still pretty early in the day, so that meant most people were still at work. There were a few vacationing families, but mostly they kept to themselves.

To my dismay, the waves were pretty small. So I left my surfboard in my van and took only a towel and my bag with me. Both I stored in the shade under a tree at the edge of the beach. There was no sense laying out in the sun because I knew all I'd think about was Vincent. I needed to get in the water.

I jogged through the sand, into the water, and dove in without a second thought. The cold water seemed to penetrate my brain, forcing all thoughts from my head. For a brief moment I was free of Vincent and my wolf's constant chanting in the back of my skull. All the existed was me and the waves.

I'd thought ahead to bring my goggles and slipped them on at the second sandbar. After that, I took to diving in roughly ten feet of water, searching the sandy bottom for cool rocks and pieces of sea glass. To my surprise, I was able to find quite a few which was wonderfully distracting. Not only did I pocket a couple of neat looking Petosky stones, but I managed to find a handful of amber and green sea glass buried amongst the patches of stones.

However, I quickly tired from the constant diving and headed back toward shore. I was just walking up out of the surf when my gaze caught a couple of guys sitting back toward the edge of the beach near where I'd stored my bag. I didn't think much of it at first, but when the wind shifted, I caught the familiar scent of sweet licorice on the wind.

It couldn't be…

And yet, the closer I got, the more I realized I recognized the thin tanned man leaning back on his elbows on a giant blanket. His dark hair had a gentle curl and I would bet my life that if he took his sunglasses off, those eyes of his were bright green. It was Vincent. There was nobody else it could be.

But there was someone else kneeling behind him. Another man.

The scent on the wind told me he was human. But my eyes saw the blond hair, dashing smile, and a body that looked like it had been carved out of Roman marble. The dude was fucking drop dead gorgeous. And judging by the way he was slowly and methodically rubbing sunscreen onto Vincent's shoulders, they weren't just friends. From the looks of it, Vincent was enjoying the attention a little too much for my liking.

I told myself to ignore it. What Vincent did with his time, his body, and his life were none of my concern. After all, I was the one that had been avoiding him. He had every right to go out with whoever he wanted. We both knew I was not interested in a relationship with him.

Mate.

The wolf inside had his hackles up.

Mate .

That blond guy was laughing now, his hands trailing down Vincent's chest and swirling through that beautiful dark chest hair of his.

Mate!

No. I had to tear my gaze away. It wasn't my business and it didn't matter that Vincent was obviously lavishing in this man's attention. I tried to quiet the wolf and turn away from them.

MATE!

Something in me snapped. The wolf broke through my barriers and took over. Instead of heading for my bag like I'd planned, I found myself marching toward the pair of them, my lips curled back in a snarl as a deep growl rumbled through my chest.

Vincent looked up as I approached, his face falling the moment he saw me. The blond guy didn't notice I was there until I had my hand wrapped around his wrist.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I snapped, doing everything I could not to murder him right then and there.

Vincent was on his feet, putting himself between us. He grabbed my wrist, squeezing hard enough to force me to let go. I nearly felt my bones crack under the pressure.

"W-Who is th-this?" blondie stammered, shaking out his wrist.

"He's nobody," Vincent growled, staring me directly in the eye. "Just a piece of shit I went out with once."

It hurt, but I was still focused on the other guy. "Get the fuck out of here!" I roared, lunging at him as my eyes shifted to gold. "And if I ever catch you touching my mate again, I'll fucking kill you!"

A look of instinctual fear filled the man's face as he fumbled backward into the sand. He scrambled back to his feet, grabbed his bag, and ran toward the parking lot. I couldn't help that satisfied grin that spread across my face. A second later it was interrupted by Vincent twisting my arm painfully to the side.

"What the fuck did you do that for?" he yelled. "I was having a good time! And who the hell are you calling mate ?"

I felt a cold streak of fear, but the wolf was still in control. "You belong to me ," I snarled. "You're my mate." My hands were suddenly on his shoulders, pulling him close. "Nobody else is allowed to touch you!"

"I'm not your fucking–"

His words were cut off as I forced my mouth to his. My kiss was hard and possessive, claiming him as my own. Vincent struggled for a moment, but melted into me a second or two later. However, it didn't last long before he found his strength again and wrenched himself away from me. A white hot flash of pain rocketed through my body as the flat of his palm connected with my face, throwing my head to the side. The sound of his slap echoed over the beach and off the trees. Several people turned to look at us.

"Don't you EVER fucking touch me again!" he screamed. "I'm not your goddamn mate you fucking bastard!"

He turned away from me, grabbing his bag and heading back toward the parking lot. I stood there staring and cupping my cheek, the wolf in me finally quiet after getting the shit slapped out of me. Everything I'd been trying not to say to Vincent was now out in the open. And after my behavior toward his date… he'd probably never speak to me again. I stood there wa tching until he disappeared over the dune, his blanket and flip-flops still sitting in the sand next to me.

If I'd felt defeated about the situation before, now I felt completely and utterly rejected. Vincent would probably never speak to me again. And, if I was being honest, I probably deserved it.