Catching myself, I gasped, and blinked. Why had I just turned on sexy, flirting Lola? I cleared my throat. “Thanks.”
He smirked and his eyes dropped, scanning my body. A delicious shiver ran down my spine and I could feel the wetness spreading between my legs.
“I need my clothes,” I managed before walking away.
Quickly, I found my clothes and pulled them on. I could smell Alec behind me before I even turned. His scent was driving me wild. It was taking every ounce of my willpower not to rip his clothes off him right here.
I spun around to face him. “Did you need something from me?”
“I know what you’re feeling,” he said. “I can smell it on you, I can feel your responses to me.”
“Excuse me?” I blurted out.
“It’s normal, don’t worry, give it about a half hour and it’ll fade,” he said.
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“The desire to fuck my brains out.” He shrugged. “It’s pretty clear you’re struggling with that. I would offer my services, but I don’t think I’d be welcomed right now. Just know, it’s normal after a shift to want to succumb to other physical urges.”
My core was practically pulsing with desire and I had to fight against my body. It wanted him, he was absolutely right about that. But he was also right that I wasn’t interested in following those primal instincts right now.
“Why you?” I asked.
“Maybe because you saw me first. Maybe because we have a history. Maybe you simply want me,” he said. “It doesn’t matter the reason.”
“Well, I don’t,” I said.
“Don’t what?” he asked.
“I don’t want you.” The words were harder to get out than I thought they’d be.
“Well, I guess I misread the situation. I’ll see you later, Lola,” he said.
I held my breath, biting back a moan at the sound of my name on his lips. Holy shit, that was an uncomfortable side effect of a shift. I hoped it got easier with practice.
That’s when I noticed a few pairings around me. Other shifters had returned, and there were several who were engaged in very heavy make out sessions at the least, and a few who weren’t shy about taking things further. I guess I missed that last time since I’d been distracted.
“Lola, you want some food?” Sheila called.
I jogged over to where she and Kyle were standing next to a table of desserts. There were at least eight different kinds of pie and more cookies than I’d ever seen. Where did they make all these? I wasn’t going to bother asking, I was starving after the time in the woods.
We filled our plates with too much sugar, then found some burgers at another table. I sat down on a bench and Kyle and Sheila squeezed in on either side of me.
After a few bites, I turned to Sheila. “How do you overcome the whole post shift thing?”
“You mean sex?” she asked, her mouth full of food.
“Oh, that’s tough,” Kyle said. “Worst part of shifting if you ask me.”
“I think if you give in every so often, it makes it easier when you don’t,” Sheila said. “Why? You thinking of taking a tumble with anyone in particular?”
“No,” I said, way too quickly.
She took another bite of her burger. “Shame. I do hope I still get to be an auntie one day.”
I elbowed her, then we both laughed. I hadn’t realized how much I missed her until today. When this was over, would I move to Wolf Creek forever? If I did, I was taking down the barrier, so it wasn’t like we’d be too far to visit. I would miss seeing her daily, though. She was the best part of this place.
She was loyal and kind. What kind of person agrees to have your back when you’ve got to try to take over an entire shifter pack? Concern rolled through my stomach like a wave. What if something happened to her while she was helping me? What about Kyle and Malcom? Even Alec crossed my mind. I didn’t want anything to happen to any of them.
I promised myself I wasn’t going to allow it. Now that I knew what it was like to have friends, I would do anything in my power to keep them safe.