Forbidden Waters

NYSSA'S POV

The chaotic, howling wind mercilessly toyed with my runaway diary pages all night long. I sprinted through the dense, dark woods, my chest heaving as I desperately chased the fluttering white sheets deeper into the timber. Sloane’s vicious laughter still echoed in my ears, blending with the harsh sound of the wind. She had hurled my deepest secrets into the freezing night just to mock me, and Cormac had stood by and let her. He had even growled at me, warning me to back off before kissing her passionately in front of the entire pack. The sheer cruelty of his betrayal burned my chest, driving my legs faster through the underbrush. Mud coated my ankles. Branches whipped against my bare arms, leaving thin red scratches across my pale skin. With every step I took further into the shadows, my internal worry began to deepen into a profound, aching sadness.

It was officially the night of my eighteenth birthday. The highly anticipated Moonday had finally arrived. Yet, as I navigated the treacherous forest floor, I still had not felt even the slightest twinge of the excruciating pain that always accompanied a werewolf's first shift. The absence of the transformation was wholly unnatural, and it was starting to terrify me on a primal level. Most high-ranked werewolves shifted as early as thirteen, and fifteen at the latest. Omegas usually shifted between fifteen and seventeen. I told myself last year I was just a late bloomer, clinging to the hope that because I could clearly hear Vesper’s voice in my head, I wasn't broken. But tonight, turning eighteen and remaining trapped in a frail, two-legged human form felt like a death sentence. According to werewolf biology, we should have shifted into our wolf form the very second the full moon illuminated the night sky. The agonizing cracking of bones and the tearing of muscles should have grounded me hours ago.

'To be honest, Nyssa... I do not know what is going on,' Vesper, my inner wolf, whimpered softly in my mind. She openly admitted her confusion, pacing restlessly in the dark corners of my consciousness. 'We should have shifted. I do not understand what is wrong with our body.'

I could not offer her any comfort. This was rapidly becoming the most miserable night of my life. I just kept running.

The relentless, sweeping wind continuously pushed the loose, scattered pages further downhill, leading me all the way down a steep embankment. I scrambled down the dirt path, losing my footing twice before I abruptly breached the tree line and stumbled upon Artemis's Lagoon.

I froze in my tracks. The lagoon was a breathtaking, mesmerizing sanctuary. A tall, misty waterfall poured down from the jagged rocks above, crashing into a pool of glowing, crystal-blue water. The sacred water shimmered under the bright moonlight like liquid silver. The crisp scent of fresh mint, wet river stone, and rain filled my lungs. However, this beautiful haven was strictly forbidden to everyone in the pack, except for the Alpha and his direct family members. They claimed the water possessed ancient healing properties, and the Alpha refused to let the lower ranks contaminate it with teenage pollution. Trespassing here carried severe consequences. If caught, I risked a brutal whipping in front of the entire pack.

Risking the punishment, I scrambled along the muddy bank and finally managed to catch the rogue pages. With shaking hands, I hastily secured them under a heavy, flat stone right on the edge of the water. With my deepest secrets finally safe from the wind, I stood up and stared out at the glowing pool.

The shimmering, sacred water seemed to magically call out to my exhausted spirit.

'We cannot go in there. The laws are strict. Think of the whip, Nyssa,' Vesper warned frantically in my mind.

I ignored her. I was utterly drained. Seeking solace from the agonizing, stinging humiliation of the party, I reached back and unzipped my dress. I recklessly stripped off the black fabric, letting it fall into the mud. I tore off my undergarments until I was completely naked in the frigid night air. Without a second thought, I dove headfirst into the freezing, cool lagoon to wash away the horrors of the night.

I swam deep under the surface, allowing the heavy silence of the water to fully envelop me. The cool temperature numbed the raw sting of my humiliation. I floated in the tranquil darkness, letting my hot, bitter tears mix freely with the sacred lagoon. I cried until my lungs burned for oxygen.

The moment I broke the surface and gasped for air, a bizarre sensation overtook my body. My pale skin suddenly tingled intensely, as if I had just submerged myself in a pool of liquid mint. The hairs on the back of my neck stood at full attention. My heart began to aggressively race against my ribs, hammering an erratic rhythm against my chest.

"It was a sunny day when Cormac and I said 'I do.'"

A magnetic, deep, and heavily masculine voice echoed loudly across the quiet water, shattering the peaceful silence.

I wildly whipped my wet hair around to see a tall, imposing guy standing directly on the rocky bank. He was fully silhouetted by the bright moonlight. To my sheer horror, he held the very pages of my diary that I had just painstakingly secured under the rock. One of his heavy boots rested firmly in the dirt, while the other propped casually on the very stone I had used to hide my secrets.

He read my childhood, romantic, and deeply embarrassing fantasies aloud. He utilized a mocking, dramatic tone of voice, projecting the words like a theatrical performance.

"When Cormac kissed me on our honeymoon night, I felt so much pleasure," he read, his rich baritone voice dripping with amusement. "I love you, Nyssa, he said, and I replied, I love you too, Cormac. I am so glad you are mine."

He tossed his head back and burst into deep, booming laughter. The rich sound echoed off the rocks, making my stomach drop into my toes. My face flushed with a fiery, furious heat.

"What are you, twelve?" the stranger teased loudly, greatly amused by the childish words on the page.

"No! But I was around that age when I wrote that, jackass! You had no right reading that!" I snapped back furiously, my temper flaring wildly as I rapidly cut through the icy water toward him.

I swam with aggressive, calculated strokes. As I finally reached the edge of the banking, the mysterious stranger casually crouched right down by the water's edge. He brought his face mere inches away from mine.

I instantly jerked my head back, utterly breathless.

The man before me was ridiculously, devastatingly gorgeous. He featured thick, dark, unruly hair that curled just below his sharp jawline, framing a face constructed of aristocratic angles. But it was his striking, piercing cobalt-blue eyes that struck my core like a bolt of physical lightning. My wide eyes rolled over his flawless features in disbelief. Nobody in the mortal world was this breathtaking. His face looked like it belonged to a celestial being, yet his hair was darker than midnight. My internal monologue screamed that he looked exactly like an archangel fallen to earth. I sucked in a massive, trembling breath, my hands white-knuckling the muddy edge of the bank for physical support.

He smoothly shifted his thick, muscular arm, reaching his large hand out to me over the water. "Are you getting out of the water?" he asked, his voice smooth and probing.

"No." I answered sharply, crossing my arms tightly over my bare chest to shield my breasts from his view. I gulped heavily, suddenly and acutely hyper-aware of my total nakedness suspended in the clear water beneath him.

Sighing in amusement, he stood back up to his full, towering height. He was dressed head-to-toe in dark, tactical clothing. He wore heavy black combat boots, fitted black jeans, and a silky, dark shirt that clung tightly to his broad, muscular chest. The dark fabric provided a stark contrast against the glowing silver lagoon.

"You know you are not supposed to be down here," he stated authoritatively, fully aware of the strict territorial laws regarding Artemis's Lagoon.

"So? What is it to you? Who are you, anyway? You do not smell like a rogue." I retorted defensively, lifting my chin in defiance.

The stranger paused. He tilted his head as he looked down at me with a genuinely curious, almost surprised expression. "You do not know who I am?" he asked. His tone was laced with pure disbelief that anyone in the territory would not immediately recognize his scent or his face.

"No. Am I supposed to?" I fired back, genuinely clueless to his identity.

Hearing my total ignorance regarding his identity, the stranger actually let out a deep, heavy, visible sigh of relief. His tense, broad shoulders dropped.

In response to his sudden shift in demeanor, a heavy, intense, and blisteringly hot tingling sensation forcefully pooled deep between my legs. The freezing water of the lagoon did nothing to cool the sudden, radiating heat flooding my core. My vaginal muscles clenched hard, reacting to a sudden, throbbing ache that demanded immediate release. A heavy rush of wetness slicked my clitoris, pulsing with a raw, undeniable sexual arousal that I had never experienced before. It was as if my body was no longer my own, hijacked by his mere presence. I subtly brought my naked thighs tightly together beneath the surface of the water, crossing my legs in a desperate bid to quell the demanding ache throbbing inside my vagina.

His sharp, predatory blue eyes instantly darted down. He perfectly tracked my subtle physical movements beneath the clear surface of the water. He smirked wickedly, fully realizing the intense physical effect he was having on my naked body. He slowly lifted his large hand, deliberately brushing his thumb against his lips and nose, deeply inhaling the scent of my heavy arousal in the cool night air.

A soft, breathless sound involuntarily escaped my lips at the intoxicating, deeply sexual sight of him. Panic set in. I desperately tried reaching inward to communicate with my wolf, needing her guidance to break this mesmerizing spell.

But Vesper was no help. She had fallen into a hypnotic trance. She was practically drooling, blankly staring at the gorgeous stranger through my eyes, captivated by his dominating presence.

The tension stretching between us was suffocating. This massive, unknown man was looking down at my naked body in the water like he was starving. My mind raced with the terrifying, thrilling question.

Hungry for what, exactly?