Need.

The water was cool but it did nothing.

I stood chest-deep in the wide pool, the afternoon sun bright overhead, laughter and splashing loud around me, and still my skin burned. Heat lived under every inch of me. low, relentless, impossible to ignore. My bikini, the conservative black one I had chosen earlier, clung to damp skin and felt like too little protection. Every shift of the water against my body only made the ache sharper.

I turned my head.

A few feet away Emily was pressed against one of the boys from her law-school circle, mouths moving, hands roaming with the easy confidence of people who had nothing to hide. Two other girls were doing the same along the pool edge, soft sounds mixing with the music. The sight sent another pulse of heat straight through me. My wolf stirred hard, restless and demanding.

"Why are we still waiting?" she seemed to ask. "Why is he not here?"

The fear followed immediately after.

What if the bond was rejected? What if he decided I was too weak, too much trouble, too much of a complication for the most ruthless Alpha in the region? I had been discarded before. I knew the exact shape of that silence, the way it settled in the chest and stayed. The thought of losing Emily on top of it, of watching her look at me with the same distance everyone else eventually found, made my stomach twist.

I closed my eyes for a second and the memory returned without mercy.

The boutique. The private fitting area. Dominic standing a few steps back while Emily held up options and I tried not to die of embarrassment. His gaze had been steady, possessive in a way that never quite crossed into open claim but never left either. When I finally settled on the simple black bikini. high coverage, nothing dramatic, his eyes had flickered with quiet amusement.

He had glanced at Emily and said, voice dry, “At least one of you understands the concept of leaving something to the imagination.” The comment had been aimed at his daughter’s more daring choices, but it had still stung, a soft reminder that he saw everything and judged it on his own terms.

Now he was on the upper balcony of the estate, a glass in one hand, watching the pool. Watching me. Even at this distance I felt the weight of that gaze like a physical touch. My nipples tightened against the wet fabric. Heat pooled heavier between my legs until I had to press my thighs together under the water.

People were starting to notice.

Pheromones drifted everywhere. young wolves, loose energy, the usual party hazebbut my scent still cut through. Sweet. Unmistakable. A few heads turned. A male near the steps inhaled and looked my way a second too long. Shame mixed with the heat until my cheeks burned. I muttered something about needing the restroom, climbed out of the pool, and wrapped a towel around myself with unsteady hands.

The side bathroom near the pool house was quiet and cool. I slammed the door, dropped the towel, and leaned against the marble counter. My reflection looked flushed, lips parted, eyes too dark. The ache had not lessened. If anything the privacy made it worse. My hand moved without permission, sliding up to cup one breast through the damp bikini top. The contact sent a sharp, involuntary sound out of my throat.

I bit my lip and did it again, thumb brushing the sensitive peak while my mind filled with the memory of Dominic’s stare. possessive, amused, impossible to forget. Another soft moan slipped free. My hips shifted. The heat was becoming unbearable. I knew from the start that going into heat for an alpha as powerful as Dominic was going to feel like something else. But this was too consuming.

The door handle turned.

I froze.

A guy I half-recognized from earlier, one of the visiting wolves who had been hovering near Emily’s friends stepped inside before I could speak. His eyes dragged over me, lingering on the way my hand still rested against my own chest. A slow, interested smirk pulled at his mouth.

“You need some help?” he asked, voice low and thick with implication. “You smell like you do.”

I shook my head, but the sound that came out was closer to a whimper than a refusal. My body was too far gone, too sensitive, and the sudden presence of another male only confused the heat further.

He took it as invitation. The smirk widened. He stepped closer. But despite the heat and my clouded judgement, I still knew that I didn't want this male that was slowly approaching me with nothing but disgusting hunger and lust. I wanted him. I needed him. 

I whimpered again and the male's smile grew. Just as he was about to touch me, a cold, authoritative voice sounded in the air with each words emphasized.

“You have five seconds.”

The voice came from the doorway behind him. quiet, cold, absolute. I knew instantly who it belonged to.

The young wolf spun. Color drained from his face the moment he registered who stood there. Dominic Blackwood filled the frame, still in the dark shirt from earlier, expression carved from something far more dangerous than simple anger. 

The wolf before him shivered in fear. He did not wait for the countdown. He muttered a terrified apology and nearly fell over himself getting out of the bathroom and out of sight.

Silence settled.

Dominic stepped inside and closed the door with a soft, final click. His gaze moved over me. damp hair, flushed skin, the towel I had dropped, the unmistakable evidence of what I had been doing and the look in his eyes held too many things at once. Anger. Lust. Desire. Jealousy. Possession. All of it locked behind ruthless control, but none of it hidden from me.

A dark, almost amused smile touched the edge of his mouth.

“Well, well.”