Chapter 8 - Underwater Attraction

••• Seleste’s POV •••

“Alright,” our instructor suddenly clapped her hands loudly, the sharp sound echoing off the damp tiled walls of the facility. “It’s time for the next group to get into the water!”

I immediately breathed out a heavy sigh of relief. At least now I could rest my screaming lungs for a while and try to get my restricted breathing back under control.

While the other Alpha students started to quickly clamber out of the swimming pool to lounge on the bleachers with their respective packs, or boisterously splash water at each other like hyperactive children, I chose to stay entirely inside the deep end of the pool. 

I was still desperately trying to hide myself beneath the surface, terrified that the heavy weight of my wet clothes wouldn't hide my feminine curves as well as I wanted them to if I stood up on the dry deck.

I treaded water quietly near the pool’s smooth concrete edge, waiting for the crowd to thin out, when I felt a powerful, heavy presence rapidly approaching me. 

Someone had seamlessly swum up right beside me, cutting through the water with effortless grace.

At first, my heart gave a hopeful squeeze, thinking it was Ezekiel because he was the only guy so far who had routinely chatted me up or shown any kindness to me in this place.

But imagine my utter surprise when I turned my head to the side and saw it was Skylar Rhiel instead.

His overwhelming presence immediately made my inner wolf stir with a violent shock of recognition, the invisible tethers of the fated mate bond pulling frantically at my soul even underwater.

“Mate…” Freya purred deeply.

I watched, momentarily paralyzed, as clear water dripped from the dark, messy strands of his hair. He grinned roguishly at me, his dangerously broad shoulders and muscular chest entirely visible through the crystal-clear pool water.

I loudly cleared my throat and forcefully turned my gaze elsewhere, staring hard at the far wall lest I kept openly ogling him like a starstruck schoolgirl. 

It was incredibly hard not to stare, given how breathtakingly handsome and sculpted he was, and the constant, magnetic pull of the mate bond made the rejection of his presence even more difficult. But still, through sheer willpower, I at least managed to look away.

He moved a step closer, seemingly wanting to grab the tile edge of the pool to rest, but his broad body brushed directly against mine in the process.

The brief contact sent literal electric shocks through my nervous system, making my breathing turn shallow and ragged. 

Freya’s ecstatic purring didn't help my mental state either, her beastly instincts desperately wanting us to press closer against his radiating heat.

“You moved through the water like you were born for it,” Skylar murmured, his voice incredibly low, dark, and playful when he mentioned it.

My heart skipped a violent beat. My stomach dropped. Did he know?

I tried my absolute hardest to force a casual chuckle, scoffing as if I were simply laughing off a ridiculous joke. “Are you actively mocking me, Rhiel? Do you seriously need to get your vision checked by the academy medic? If I truly moved through the water like I was born for it, I would have easily beaten you to the wall instead of finishing in the middle-ranking, or gasping desperately for air by the end of it.”

“I know exactly what I saw,” he shrugged smoothly, leaning his head back against the edge. “Your first few strokes off the block were absolutely perfect, Aiden. Your technique was flawless, but then it was like you intentionally fell behind the others.”

His dark eyes lingered on my face, studying my flushed features with an intense, calculated interest that made my pulse race at a dangerous speed.

Oh, by the Goddess, did he realize I was intentionally faking my mediocre performance?

I critically studied the lines of his face, looking for any sign of a trap, but I only saw an earnest, curious observation swimming in his eyes. It didn't look like he explicitly knew I had purposely swam slower than I could have, but he was definitely searching for a puzzle piece that didn't fit.

Unable to stand the suffocating intensity of his gaze anymore, and terrified of what secrets he might read in my expression if I stayed, I tried to swim away toward the shallow end. But he followed me instantly, laughing softly as he glided through the water with effortless speed.

“Where exactly are you going in such a rush, Aiden?”

I was completely certain that with him trailing right at my hip, it created a playful chase that looked entirely innocent and brotherly to any external observers, but it felt terrifyingly charged with tension for me.

“Nowhere,” I answered far too quickly, my voice tight.

Skylar raised a thick eyebrow, a knowing grin spreading across his face. “You’re definitely swimming away from me.”

“I’m just swimming. That’s what people usually do when they are inside a swimming pool.”

He chuckled, the deep sound vibrating through the water against my chest. “You’re funny.”

“I wasn’t trying to be.”

“That makes it even funnier, to be honest.”

I rolled my eyes dramatically and continued pushing forward, hoping he would take the blatant hint and leave me to my thoughts. 

Unfortunately, Skylar seemed to have completely different, stubborn ideas. He kept pace with me easily, his long limbs lazily moving through the water without breaking a sweat.

“Are you always this incredibly friendly to your classmates?” he asked, tilting his head.

“I’m friendly enough to people who mind their own business.”

“You haven’t said more than a few words to me since you arrived here,” he pointed out, a mock hurt in his tone.

“That’s because I don’t have anything important to say to you.”

His grin widened, flashing a row of perfect white teeth. “Yet you’re talking to me right now.”

I mentally groaned, cursing my own loose tongue. Why was he so incredibly annoying? And worse, why did Freya seem to absolutely enjoy every single second of this agonizing interrogation?

“He likes us,” she purred smugly, her inner wolf tail practically wagging. “He wants to be near us.”

“You don’t know that, Freya,” I snapped back internally. “He’s an Alpha. He’s just flexing his dominance.”

“He followed us across the pool, Seleste.”

“He probably just wants to annoy me because he’s bored.”

“Still counts as flirting,” she huffed.

I completely locked her out of my thoughts, refusing to entertain her romantic delusions. Skylar swam slightly closer again, his playful expression dropping, becoming significantly more curious as he scanned my damp clothing.

“Is there a specific reason you always try to keep your distance from everyone, Aiden?”

My muscles instantly stiffened, a cold wave of adrenaline overriding the heat of the bond. Was he testing my boundaries? Had he noticed something about my routine?

“I don’t keep my distance.”

“You do.”

“No, I don’t.”

“You’re literally doing it right now.”

I glanced at him briefly before looking away toward the exit doors. “Maybe I just don’t like random people getting too close to my space. It's an Alpha trait.”

Something in his intense expression softened at my words, the predatory edge vanishing. “Why?”

Because if you get too close, you might discover I’m not a boy, and that I’m not who I claim to be, I thought bitterly in the silence of my mind. 

Instead of voicing the terror, I merely shrugged, keeping my voice entirely nonchalant.

“I just do. Personal preference.”

He studied the profile of my face for another long moment before surprisingly nodding his head. “Fair enough. I can respect boundaries.”

I blinked, momentarily caught off guard. That was it? No more prying questions? No more suspicious glances? I almost let out a massive sigh of relief, believing the danger had passed.

Then he flashed that blinding smile again. “But you’re still actively swimming away from me.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, my frustration flaring. “You’re the one following me like a lost pup, Rhiel.”

“Maybe I just happen to like chasing you.”

My heart gave an embarrassing, violent little jump against my bound chest at his choice of words. Freya practically screamed in total ecstasy inside my head, her voice deafening.

“Mate! He said he likes chasing us!”

“Shut up, Freya!”

Skylar laughed softly, his eyes sparkling. “Did you just say something under your breath?”

“No.”

“Thought so.”

I aggressively swam faster, kicking my legs harder. If I stayed beside him a single second longer, the intoxicating pull of the mate bond was going to make me lose my mind and expose everything. Unfortunately, Skylar was a natural born alpha athlete, and he was significantly faster than me.

At one point, as I reached the deepest section of the pool, he finally caught up with me completely. He reached out, catching my wrist firmly underwater to stop me from moving, from swimming away from him again.

His thumb accidentally traced right over the bare skin of my pulse point, making my eyes widen in absolute shock as I gasped out loud without thinking, swallowing a mouthful of chlorinated air.

The exact millisecond his bare skin touched my pulse point, our mate bond violently flared between us like an explosion of liquid fire. 

The supernatural connection surged through our bodies, and I watched as his pupils instantly dilated with a sudden, overwhelming arousal.

Freya was howling and purring wildly in my mind, chanting ‘mate, mate, mate’ in a frantic loop, which once again didn't help my composure at all because I had no idea how to handle a physical claim. 

On one hand, my logical mind knew I had to violently pull away to save my life, but the stupid, primitive mate bond made my body want to throw itself directly into his arms and kiss him, especially since the momentum had pulled our wet faces only mere inches apart.

The cool water of the pool was lapping softly between our chests, and I could physically feel the staggering, unnatural heat radiating from his bare body despite the freezing temperature of the water. 

He was staring at my lips, his grip on my wrist tightening with a raw, possessive intensity.

“Alright, let’s start the endurance laps! Back to your blocks!” The instructor’s sharp voice suddenly shattered the quiet bubble, breaking me instantly from my frozen state.

The spell broke. I violently jerked my wrist away from his grip before anything more dangerous could happen, leaving him floating there in the deep end with a thoroughly confused, stunned, but deeply hungry expression written across his handsome face.