Chapter 1
Claire
4 Months Earlier
Aruba isthe perfect romantic backdrop, yet the man I’m hopelessly in love with doesn’t seem to have a clue.
Instead of a wonderful vacation with family and friends, I’m sitting here wondering if I’ll ever find a pack who loves me in that bone deep way I’ve always pictured being loved.
Maybe it’s the margaritas making me so dramatic, or maybe it’s because it hurts to stare at the Alpha I’m devoted to and I don’t know if he would ever feel the same way about me.
Elliot laughs at something Axel says, a beer in his hand before he brings it to his mouth and takes a heavy swig.
“I’m going to head to bed. Don’t stay up too late, Claire,” he says, arching a dark brow at me.
I give him a middle finger as a response, and he just laughs, walking away, leaving Elliot and me alone on the patio. There’s a soothing breeze coming off the ocean, whipping my hair across my face.
It feels like it’s now or never. It’s rare that we’re alone like this and with my heat coming any day now, I don’t have any time to waste.
Plus, I can’t keep living like this, pining after this Alpha and closing myself off to any other relationships because I’m holding out for him. I’m just not sure what to say.
“It’s beautiful here,” I say instead, looking around the gorgeous shoreline.
When I glance at Elliot he’s staring at me. “It is.”
“Almost romantic, in a way,” I surmise, trying to nudge him gently.
Elliot sighs, getting up from his seat and coming over to me. He deftly takes the margarita out of my hand and places it on the coffee table in front of us.
“I think that’s enough. Let’s get you to bed,” he says.
I’m only interested in going to bed if he means both of us heading to his room, but I’m not bold enough to say that. I swear I can be the most confident Omega in the room, but with Elliot, I seem to close in on myself, probably because I’m overwhelmingly afraid of his rejection.
“I’m not tired,” I say, and he groans, the neck of his beer bottle between two fingers as he plops down next to me.
His whiskey and vanilla scent is like a balm to my soul. I know without a doubt if his scent was in the system at Heat Haven, I’d be able to pick him out of millions of Alphas.
Elliot rests his head against the back of the chair, looking up at the star-filled sky and I swallow thickly. I wonder what he’s thinking about. Does he ever think about me?
“I’m happy for Jonah, they all seem happy,” he says. I give him a smile back, because I’m also happy for my oldest brother and the contentment he’s found with his pack.
“They are. That’s what everyone wants, isn’t it? What they have?” I ask him.
He glances at me, his beautiful green eyes boring into my own. “No, not everyone,” he says, clearing his throat and taking a sip of his beer.
My heart immediately sinks.
“What does that mean?” I demand.
“Nothing.”
“It clearly means something,” I say. My hackles are up immediately.
Maybe if I just lean over…I’m in his space. His pupils are dilated as he looks at me and I look at his full lips, wanting to be tasted. His body is stiff next to mine as I come even closer, placing a palm on his chest.
He looks down at where my hand is and I can feel his heart racing in his chest. Maybe he isn’t so unaffected after all?
He’s got to feel this electric charge between us. There’s no way I’m alone in this.