Lily sighed heavily beside him as they watched the sun set on the water’s edge. The part of the beach they were on was Kyle’s favorite. The sand wasn’t rough, and it looked out on where the lake expanded out to the horizon, where it met the mouth of a large river. It was the perfect place to watch the sun disappear into the water, rather than behind a line of trees. It set the water’s surface aglow, as if it were burning. The thought always struck him as odd and a little morbid, but it was beautiful all the same.

“You’re always going on about how beautiful everything is. How can you sigh like the world is ending when there’s a perfect sunset going on?” he asked her.

“I guess I’m just thinking about last night,” she said quietly.

He glanced at her. She looked depressed as she gazed out on the water. “What, you upset that you didn’t get picked or something?”

She shrugged. “I mean, I still could. it’s not as if all the alphas have left. I guess I’m just really embarrassed you had to come to my defense. It’s funny; I thought of half a dozen different things I could have said instead of just taking what Aidan said to me, but only long after it was all over.”

“I think that’s pretty normal. If it had been any other alpha, I guess I probably wouldn’t have said anything in the first place,” he admitted.

She glanced at him. “He really gets to you, doesn’t he?”

He made an annoyed sound. “He was just…a total bag of dicks when we were younger, and it pisses me off that he’s still like that. When we were younger, all he did was mock me, harass me, and totally torment me. And just like he did at the Showing, he always got away with it.”

Lily bit her lip. “Is it because he’s still like that or because he used to be like that, too?”

“Honestly? The whole time, I just remembered how I was with him when I was a kid: scared shitless. I just couldn’t stand the idea that he remembered who I was and what I was like, and that he’d associate that with who I am now. I may not have a whole lot of things to be proud of, but dammit all, I can be proud that I’m not that scared little kid anymore. I just saw that cocky smirk on his face and I couldn’t help it; everything I was thinking came pouring out,” he said with a weak chuckle.

“You definitely got the whole sept talking about it. They’re all about the almost outcast omega flipping out on the honored alpha,” she said with a laugh.

He eyed her. “I see your hero worship of him has faded.”

“Kinda hard not to when he was a dick to me in front of everyone. Hell, he was an ass to Elder Sky for no reason other than the fact that he could. I might not be willing to tell him off like you did, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to keep fawning over him either. I’m not a little kid either you know,” she told him with a playful jab of her elbow.

Her resilience in the face of disappointment and public humiliation was something he admired. Along with her overall upbeat attitude and willingness to call him out on his crap, was why he had bonded so well with someone younger. In many ways, she was still the optimistic nineteen-year-old who saw bright hope in her future, and he craved that kind of balance to offset his own pessimistic glowering. That wouldn’t have been enough to cement their friendship, though. It was the quiet moments like these, where she showed the wisdom she kept so well hidden, that had done that.

“I mean, Kim and Ace were still trying,” he told her with a grin, remembering the two omegas approaching Aidan earlier that day while Lily had been walking around.

“Yeah, but they’re the first of their packs to seek an alpha. My sisters already did it, so my parents aren’t riding me like I’m sure their parents are riding them. Guess there are some benefits to being the youngest,” she said with a grin.

His neck muscles tensed suddenly as a cool breeze came off the water, ruffling his hair. He would have sworn aloud when he felt his inner wolf stir. The only thing that kept him from making a comment was that he wasn’t willing to give away that he knew Aidan was nearby. As a matter of fact, he knew Aidan was close enough to not only see them, but hear them now.

He turned, searching until he saw the large alpha standing further up the shore on a pile of rocks. “What the hell do you want?”

Lily turned in surprise, groaning softly when she saw who Kyle was swearing at. “Oh Gaia, not this again. Look, it was funny the first time Kyle, but can we just…”

Aidan motioned for Kyle to continue. “No, do go on. Tell me more about myself. You’re obviously the expert. I’m aching to hear your opinion of my character for what, the third time?”

“Answer my question,” Kyle ground out.

“I want to talk,” Aidan said simply.

“Talk? We have nothing to say to you that we didn’t already say, thanks,” Kyle told him.

“I don’t want to talk to her. I want to talk to you,” Aidan said with iron in his tone.

He was using his influence as an alpha to try and make them behave themselves. It wasn’t usually something an alpha did to a werewolf outside their own pack without good cause. Usually because an alpha couldn’t enforce their will on an omega who had already been claimed by another alpha. That they were two lone, unclaimed omegas without support however, would be why Aidan was willing and able to do it so blatantly. He didn’t know what pissed him off more: the fact that he could see it working on Lily or the fact that he could feel the effect of it brush right over his skin like the breeze. It touched him, but it found no hold to take root.

Lily cringed, whimpering slightly under the force of Aidan’s show of will. “Why don’t I…just let you two hash things out? I’m sorry Kyle, but…I can’t.”

Kyle cursed under his breath as she scrambled off the rocks and skirted around Aidan as she made her way back to the village. He stood up, brushing himself off as he stomped up the beach. Lily cast him one last apologetic look as she disappeared through the trees. There was no reason for her to be sorry; it was simply the way things were. It just pissed him off that Aidan had no scruples about abusing it.

“You are, by far, the most unlikable, arrogant, bully that I have ever had the displeasure of knowing,” he hissed at Aidan.

Aidan looked at him curiously. “You didn’t even flinch when I gave an order.”

“I don’t make it a habit of listening to assholes who need to go back to where they came from,” Kyle shot at him.

“No, I gave you, an unclaimed omega, a direct order, and you…didn’t do anything; not even react except to keep glaring at me. So, that actually happened,” Aidan said, wonder in his voice.

Kyle knew what he was referring to and it did nothing to improve his mood. There were various effects of the Joining when it occurred. Immunity to any alpha’s will was just one of the perks. Even the alpha half of a bonded pair would be unable to enforce their will on the omega half, since the Joining was supposedly meant to make them one soul within two bodies. That Kyle had even noticed the attempt to make him obey meant that they were nowhere near the level the stories said they should be, but his effortless immunity was just one more piece of evidence of what happened.

“Nothing happened,” Kyle growled, climbing up the rocks so he could escape into the woods.

Aidan laughed, and Kyle hated that the noise wasn’t as unpleasant as it had been only the day before. “Plenty happened. I felt it when I touched you, and I could see it on your face. You felt it too.”

“All I felt was you touching what you shouldn’t, which, I might add, you have a lifelong bad habit of doing,” Kyle said, evaluating whether he was far enough away to sprint without being snagged by Aidan again.

“What, you found your fighting spirit at some point during the time I was away, and now you’re going to fight this, too? You might as well just give it up and give in,” Aidan told him, smirking now.

Kyle took a step away, not liking the way Aidan looked as though he were about to spring at him. “I don’t have to give in to shit. I know what you think happened, but there’s no way that happened. There’s no way I would be that cursed. Go find some easy omega, get laid, and get rid of whatever delusions you’ve got floating around in that thick skull of yours. How about that?”

Aidan chuckled. “Ya know, I actually tried that already.”

His stomach twisted. “You did?”

Aidan watched him carefully. “Yeah, tried to get some this afternoon. It’s funny. I thought every omega here was unappealing before, but damn, after last night? I think I’d prefer to eat rotten meat. Nothing compares to-”

Kyle cut him off before he could finish. “Don’t finish that sentence.”

Aidan shrugged. “It’s not my fault. I mean, it’s my fault that I didn’t realize how much you’d grown. I saw you at the Showing, and all I saw was that little kid who used to run at the sight of me. That stopped real quick when you ran your mouth off at me in front of the whole sept. I wasn’t kidding when I said I’ve not had someone talk to me like that in quite awhile. It caught my attention.”

“Good for you. I’m sure you can convince someone that you have a kink for being insulted, but I’m not your whore,” Kyle told him, wanting to run, both to Aidan and away from him.

“We both know you’re never going to be a whore. Not now. I don’t know what it was like when you felt it, but I know full well that I’m not letting anyone else touch you again. You’re mine, you got that?” Aidan demanded, a sudden heat in his gaze.

“I belong to no one! I am my own person, you got that?!” Kyle yelled at him, nearly hysterical.

Aidan stepped closer to him. “You’re not understanding me very clearly. We don’t have a choice in this anymore. The Joining happened, and now you’re mine, so get it through your thick skull. You want this just as much as I do, even if you’re fighting it because you’ve got it in your head that you have to or something.”

Kyle raised his hands to try to ward Aidan off when the wind shifted. He froze as the scent of Aidan from the night before blew in his face. His wolf had been pacing restlessly within him but now began to grow anxious, feeling like it was pawing at the edges of his mind. Heat flooded him, and he could feel a craving for the alpha’s touch, stronger than the night before when he’d managed to pull free from Aidan.

“I don’t want…anything, except for you to just leave me alone,” Kyle managed, at war with himself.

He shuddered when Aidan grabbed hold of him, ashamed that his reaction was due more to desire than revulsion. The blazing light of the setting sun reflected off Aidan’s eyes, the golden orange and fiery red swirling on the surface of his green irises. His grip was hard, digging into the muscles of Kyle’s shoulders just enough to get his point across. He wanted so badly to hate that touch, to despise the possession in his hold, but instead he felt himself giving into it, craving it even.

“You want a lot more than that,” Aidan whispered harshly.

If he’d been asked before what he would have felt about the idea of Aidan kissing him, he’d have said he would come out swinging. When Aidan actually yanked Kyle toward him, crushing their mouths and bodies together, he didn’t swing or fight, he moaned instead. Aidan’s kiss was strong, as demanding and aggressive as his hold was. The meanness he associated with the alpha’s personality became a dominance that something within Kyle responded to, pressing him forward into the kiss.

His head spun as he felt Aidan part his lips, exploring Kyle’s mouth with his tongue. Kyle’s hands ended up on Aidan’s waist, pulling them against one another even more tightly. Everything about Aidan was hard, as Kyle could feel the strength of Aidan’s body bearing down around him from every direction and at every point that their bodies touched. He could feel the press of something hard against his stomach, as demanding of his attention as the kiss was.

Kyle couldn’t help the groan that passed up his throat as he realized he was feeling the taller alpha’s arousal pressing against him. At that moment, he couldn’t even pretend that he wasn’t turned on as well. The front of his loose shorts would have tented out before him if he wasn’t busy pressing his crotch against Aidan. Both of them were rutting against one another as their tongues fought, trying to squeeze as much pleasure from the contact as they could.

When the kiss broke, Kyle found he had no air left his lungs. He closed his eyes against the rising tide of desire within him as he gasped for air. It was no sept secret that he’d had his fair share of fun with different werewolves, and he was no stranger to intense make out sessions. Kissing Aidan, however, was in a league all its own. It was as if all the werewolves he’d ever kissed before had been pale swatches in pastel shades, while just the press of Aidan’s lips against his caused vivid color to explode into his life. His head spun and he was having a hard time thinking clearly, he wanted to hate it so badly, even as he craved more of it.

“Told you,” Aidan whispered, his voice rough, as if he was having a hard time getting the air to pass through his throat.

“Fuck you,” Kyle heard himself say.

“I think that’s gonna be the other way around,” Aidan said.

Kyle’s eyes flashed open, and he yanked away from Aidan, his head suddenly clear. He knew full well where it would have gone, but having Aidan say it so blatantly was like a slap of ice water to his heated face. The reality of what he had just done crashed home, and he gave a reedy little gasp as he stumbled away from the alpha.

“Don’t look so horrified. Since you were humping my leg and moaning the whole time, I think it’s safe to assume you enjoyed yourself,” Aidan said, seeming even more cocky for not even bothering to stop Kyle’s retreat.

All Kyle could manage in return was what he hoped sounded like a threatening growl. It wasn’t as if he could deny any of it, they both knew damn well his body had betrayed him. It wasn’t like he couldn’t control himself when he got horny, but his self-control had no chance when Aidan was holding him, kissing him. The moment the alpha’s lips had touched his, Kyle’s inner wolf had taken hold, its own instincts and power stronger than anything Kyle had ever felt from it before. His wolf spirit was so much stronger than when it had awoken for the first time, triggering his first change. It was only the second time in his life, after that first change, that he had ever lost control, giving in to the needs and desires of his wolf.

“Is this the part where you run away again?” Aidan asked, having recovered his own self-control enough to smirk at Kyle.

“I told you, to leave me the fuck alone,” Kyle told him, hating how breathy his voice sounded as he took another step away.

“I told you, that ain’t happening. What’s done is done Kyle, and you’re mine, whether you want to admit it or not,” Aidan said confidently.

If he thought he could trust himself to do it, he would have happily walked over and slugged him. Kyle didn’t trust his wolf half not to betray him though, so he wouldn’t dare get within arm’s reach of Aidan again. The twisted asshole would probably consider it foreplay anyway, and think it was a good excuse to put his hands on Kyle again. There was no telling where that would lead, and Kyle wasn’t about to try and find out either.

“Stay away. I mean it,” Kyle warned as he reached the trees.

“Oh no, I intend to stay for as long as it takes. You think I won all my battles out there by being the first on the field and charging in? Sometimes being smart and waiting wins more battles than charging in without a thought. I know how to play the long hunt Kyle, and I’ve never lost in my life. I’m not about to start with you,” Aidan promised.

A chill ran down Kyle’s back, and he despaired when he realized that he didn’t know if it was from anticipation or fear. “You’re going to have to deal with your first loss then.”

Aidan motioned toward the woods. “Then by all means run, run and hide. Then fight me every time I show up, even though you’ll give in every time. You’ll stop fighting it like I already have, trust me. But for now? Run.”

And so he did, with Aidan’s promise echoing in his mind.