Beach trip!
HAVEN POV Once we had everything we needed, Wesley paid for it all — including the swimsuit I had on under my clothes from earlier — and we made our way onto the sand. He had a giant bag filled with all kinds of supplies, including sunscreen and several very large beach towels, and I had my purse and a straw sun hat I had found right as he was paying for everything. I waffled on it, trying it on in front of the mirror it had been hanging near, and when Wes saw me in it, he pointed at me and said, “Also ring me up for her hat.” Between the time he had left me in my fitting room and I’d met him at the register, he’d changed into his own new swimsuit and a pair of flip-flops, which he kicked off of his feet when we reached the sand. I paused at the spot where the cement ended and the sand began, and took a deep breath to prepare myself for this momentous occasion. Wesley paused his steps to turn and look at me, heaving the bag further up onto his shoulder. I kicked off my birks and be
WESLEY POV Our beach day flew by. Once Haven adjusted to the temperature of the water, she was more than happy to splash around in the water without me holding her. Much to the chagrin of my Lycan. His whimpering and whining after she left the safety of our arms was so insistent it gave me a headache. He kept bugging me to go grab her and keep her close. He was getting attached; she had him wrapped around her finger, and she didn’t even know it. But the pure joy on her face as she experienced the ocean for the first time — well, it forced me to keep my distance and let her just enjoy herself. Seeing her smile like that was worth not having her in my arms for a moment. However, my lycan was thrilled when she’d said she’d had enough of the water and wanted to soak up some sunshine on our towels. She read a magazine she’d picked out at the store, and I worked on some sudoku puzzles, our comfortable silence interspersed with light conversation. I realized how easy it was to just be wi
WESLEY POV At some point between the kiss at the pier and us getting ready to settle in to sleep for the night, I realized that spending the night in a tent with Haven was actually a truly terrible idea. Especially once I found out there was only one sleeping bag in my truck. I didn’t know if Seb removed the other one that I could have sworn was in there, or if there was in fact only one in there in the first place, but that didn’t really matter. What mattered was that there was only one, and there were two of us. Well, it actually didn’t matter. I could easily sleep without the bag — the temperature wasn’t cold enough to affect me. But, I had to keep up pretenses, and that meant acting as though I needed a sleeping bag. As I came back into the tent with our bag of extra clothes, the camping pad, and the one sleeping bag and pillow, the second reason it was a bad idea reared its ugly head at me in the form of Haven’s words. “I don’t have anything to wear to sleep in,” she muttere
WESLEY POV Soft fingertips tracing along the skin of my chest and my left arm pulled me from my deep, restful slumber. I blinked the sleep from my eyes and found the tent filled with a soft gray light. My little ballerina was laying next to me, still safe and comfortable in the circle of my arms, and I pulled her in closer to me. Her body melted into mine, relaxing against every inch of me, her subtle curves a perfect fit with my muscles and strength. “What time is it?” I grumbled, my voice scratchy and my lips brushing against the skin of Haven’s forehead. She somehow moved her body even closer to mine, seeking either my warmth or comfort or my scent, or maybe all three, so I curled myself even more around her, tucking the sleeping bag up higher so she wouldn’t get cold. “I don’t know,” she replied, her voice raspy too. “My phone died.” “Hmm,” I grunted, then peeked out of one eye to look for the bag of our stuff. “We’ll charge it on our way home,” I added as I reached for the
HAVEN POV I stood on the front porch of Wesley’s house and smoothed my hands over my dress as I waited for him to let me in. His little bungalow house was cute and well taken care of, painted a light green with a swing on one side of the porch. The whole overall look gave off a homey, clean vibe, making me feel comfortable and relaxing my nerves about this date night. I had a strong feeling about why he wanted to make dinner for me tonight. He’d held us off from going all the way at the beach because he said he wanted it to be romantic and special, even though I told him that wasn’t necessary. Then he’d told me he wanted to make me dinner at his house, so I was crossing my fingers that the night would end with us in his bed. No pressure, right? I took in a deep breath and smoothed down the front of my green dress again. I had made sure to actually dress up for this date, since I hadn’t the previous time. He didn’t tell me to, but I wanted to. I wanted to look my fucking best for hi
WESLEY POV Waking up a second morning with Haven in my arms was the best feeling in the world. Actually, make that the second best feeling in the world. Because the first best was the feel of my naked body curled around her naked body, snuggled deep into my comfy mattress together. I had never really been one for cuddling with my females when they’d stay the night. But then again, none of them had been Haven. It seemed everything I thought I knew about myself was completely wrong. Having her back in my life was like waking up, like realizing I had been dead without her. I lifted my head to kiss her shoulder, my lips drawing a line back and forth across her bare flesh. My hands roamed her smooth skin, skimming her hips and thighs with one while the other that was wrapped underneath her body squeezed her small breast, pinching her nipple between my fingers so it peeked out at me as I gazed down at her. Memories of the previous night flooded my mind as I continued my morning explorati
HAVEN POV Wesley pulled his sweatpants off, and then, with some snapping and cracking of his bones, he changed right before my eyes. Changed from the Wesley I knew into a large, dark gray, humanoid beast. I screamed. Screamed the loudest, most bloodcurdling scream I’d ever made in my life. I turned to run away, to run back into the safety of the house, so I could lock the door and protect myself from the monster in front of me, but I ran straight into Nolan’s chest. His hands grabbed my upper arms, and he glared over my head at the beast standing where Wes had been only moments before. “You couldn’t have waited like two more minutes?” Nolan yelled at it. “Nolan, let me go!” I cried. “I need to get inside, get away, and—” “No, Haven,” he said, turning me around, so I faced the monster again. “If you run, he’ll think it’s an invitation.” “An invitation?” I squeaked. “Yes. To chase you and mate with you.” “Mate?” “Have sex. Claim you as his.” “You mean that — that thing would
WESLEY POV“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Nolan shouted as soon as we heard Haven start the car. “‘Don’t freak out?’ Seriously? You just told her not to freak out and then you shifted?”I rubbed my hand over my face and slipped my sweatpants back on. “I wasn’t thinking, I just acted. I knew I needed to tell her, and shifting seemed like a good idea.”“We were literally right here. You could have waited like two more minutes,” he yelled. “We talked through how this should go the other day when you asked me to be here for this. But no. Future alpha had to do things his own way. Had to show off and—”My fist connected with his jaw before he could finish his sentence. His head whipped back, and he grunted, but he turned to face me again as I readied myself for another hit.“Nolan!” Rachel cried, but Nolan put his hand out to stop her from interfering.“You didn’t even think about how she would feel or react when she watched you shift into a monster. You only care about you and what you