I’m going to drown…I thought, as all the strength was sapped from my body. The scent of the alpha swimming in front of me could mean only one thing: my fated-mate.

I knew I was only smelling a fraction of him, as his body was submerged in the water, but even then his smell was so overpowering that I could barely even focus on staying afloat. Lime with a twist of ginger. It made my mouth water.

And I could see by the look in his eyes that he was feeling it too.

It was like a tractor beam between us, pulling us closer and closer together. If I had a soul, it was crying out inside me as I stared at him. The rest of the world seemed to fade away into the background, like some cosmic engineer was turning down the volume knob on everything but the spectacular alpha swimming in front of me.

He was clearly Mexican, with smooth caramel-colored skin and short dark hair. I couldn’t tell if he was tall or not as most of his body was underwater, but I had a feeling he was. Someone who smelled that sweet and was that handsome couldn’t be a shorty. It just wasn’t possible.

I heard Corey swimming up behind me but his presence barely even registered to me. All my attention was on the alpha in front of me.

There was an omega with him, a little cherub-looking guy who I instantly hated. I had absolutely no reason to feel any sort of ownership over the gorgeous man before me, but I did.

He’s mine, I thought with a passion I’d never felt before. I was intent, focused, feeling the tug of a strong gravitational force pulling our souls together. It was undeniable.

He must feel it too!

“You just gonna tread water forever?” It was Corey’s voice behind me, slithering into my moment like a poisonous snake determined to destroy the Garden of Eden I’d just wandered into.

“S—sorry,” I stammered as I made a half-hearted attempt to swim towards shore. I felt Corey’s hand on my back and recoiled from it, forcing myself to move faster. When I felt sand beneath my toes, I raced forward as fast as I could until I emerged from the water on the beach.

I could feel his eyes on me…the unknown alpha who smelled so sweet.

Yes, look at me…I thought. I stretched my arms high above my head, giving him a full view of my body, feeling sexier than I’d ever felt in my life. In fact, I’d never felt sexy in my entire life, so this was a first for me.

He hadn’t even said a single word to me, but that didn’t matter. I could just feel his desire for me like a warm spotlight on my back as I twisted and let my arms fall to my side. When I turned around, I almost fell over as I watched him come up out of the water.

It was like something out of a movie. His body was chiseled, absolutely flawless, like a fitness model or a Greek sculpture. If Michelangelo had sculpted this alpha, it would have been more famous than The David.

The water dripping off him caused his body to glisten, highlighting every cut in his muscles from his broad shoulders to his washboard abs. And I was right—he wasn’t a shorty. As he came up onto the beach I realized he stood at least six feet tall and there wasn’t a soft spot on him. But it wasn’t just his looks that caused my knees to waver, it was more than that.

It was his scent.

Now that the rest of his body was no longer underwater, the full force of his scent hit me right in the nose like a punch from a heavyweight boxer. My legs were gummy worms and I had to brace myself against a small tree to keep from falling over. With each sniff it was as though his entire being was penetrating mine, swimming down deep inside and embedding itself in my soul.

Fuck!

My dick hardened inside the trunks Corey had given me, and I tilted my hips backwards in an attempt to hide it from view. And that was when he spoke.

“We have a problem.”

What!? What did he just say!?

I was gawking up at him and I knew it.

Say something, you moron!

“H—huh!?” I stammered. “A problem?”

“Absolutely,” he nodded with a confidence like I’d never seen.

“Wh—why’s that!?”

Fuck me!

“Well, I’m here on a date,” he said. “And it appears you are too.”

“Oh!” I blurted out, relieved and overwhelmed. A smile broke out over my face as I swooned. “No, this is not a date!”

My voice was low, but even still, I was worried Corey would hear me and freak out. I barely knew him, but I knew enough to know that he wouldn’t be too happy to see me talking to another alpha, especially if I was badmouthing him.

“No?” he asked. “What is it then!?”

Over his shoulder, I saw Corey coming out of the water, and he didn’t look happy.

“It’s—it’s bad,” I replied as Corey stepped up behind him.

“What’s your name?” he asked me.

“Bailey!” Corey shouted. I almost jumped out of my skin as he stepped up beside me and threw an arm around my shoulders. I felt goosebumps spread all over my body as he touched me, and they weren’t the good kind. “Who’s this? Friend of yours?”

“Uh, no…” I muttered, unsure of what to do.

“No? What’s your name, fella?” Corey asked condescendingly.

“Juan,” the Adonis alpha replied.

“Aye, a beaner!” Corey laughed. “How ya doing’, pal? How’d the taco stand go today? Make some good money?”

I saw Juan’s body tense up at Corey’s racist humor, but he didn’t react. His eyes moved from Corey to me and back again. It took him a long time to answer.

“Just fine, thank you,” he replied. “How was your day living off your daddy’s money?”

Corey’s face hardened for just a moment, then contorted into a cocky grin. “Touché, motherfucker. Touché. Hey, I appreciate a good wit, but what I don’t appreciate, is other alphas hitting on what’s mine. Okay? All right then.”

And with that, Corey pulled me away. I fought back slightly at first, but Corey’s hand tightened like a vise around mine, strong enough to almost cause me to cry out. I glanced over my shoulder at Juan, who was standing there watching as I was taken away.

Do something! I tried to project the words to him with my eyes, but he still stood there as Corey pulled me back up the hill to the parking lot.

“I was just talking to him—”

I was silenced with a slap. It took me by such surprise that I completely lost my train of thought. Corey’s eyes were fierce, and I could see by the way he was looking at me that I was already his property as far as he was concerned. And that meant he could do whatever he wanted to me.

“Don’t ever embarrass me like that in public!” he snarled, a finger waving in my face. I held a hand to my face, feeling the sting. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. I turned to look back down at Juan, but Corey snatched my face and turned it to his.

“Your father made a deal, you understand?” he snapped. “That means you listen to me now!” And with that, Corey threw my clothes at me. “Now get dressed!”

So this is it…I thought as I dried off and got dressed. This is my life…

I’d felt the spark, and instantly was pulled away. As I climbed into Corey’s unbelievably expensive black sedan, I let my eyes wander back down to the water. Juan was standing there, his eyes on us, watching as Corey pulled away.

Please, I thought. Come and find me. Please…