Captivated, Cursed: Alpha Linc | 18+

Episode 22

"The lake?"

I'm sure my surprise is evident in my furrowed brow and confused voice. That is definitely not what I was expecting him to say. The way he's looking at me gives nothing away. Does he regret the kiss? So quickly?

"Yes," he chuckles, "come to the lake with me."

He tosses the ice pack into the sink and takes my hand gently, leading me out onto the patio. I wish he would say something as we walk across the grass toward the water. My head feels it's going to implode. I've never been kissed like that, it was all-consuming, and I want to do it again, to feel his body pressed to mine, to have his breath in my lungs.

I'm freaking out internally. I want to pull him to me and kiss him again. I want to ramble about how I'm feeling, what that was, what it means.

I walk beside him trying to sneak inconspicuous glances at him. He looks cool as a cucumber. If he's freaking out inside, it doesn't show even a little bit.

He walks out onto the end of the small dock and holds his hand out to me.

"This one is seaworthy," he smirks as he helps me into a rowboat.

I narrow my eyes at him and bite into my lip to keep from smiling. I really need to stop embarrassing myself in front of him.

I openly watch as he pulls the oars and starts to row, his hard, muscular arms straining against the button down shirt he's wearing. I know that I'm brazenly checking him out but I can't stop myself. Everything about him is alluring. My heart stings in my chest. If I feel this way about him, I wonder how I would have felt about my mate. How strongly would I have longed for him, how perfect would he have been in my eyes?

"Hey, you alright?" He asks, obviously noticing the shift in my mood.

"Did you ever find out any information about your mate?"

Under normal circumstances, I would never, ever, ask this but somehow I just know that it's alright to ask him.

"Yes," he clears his throat, "her name was Melody and she was my age. She was the daughter of the pack Alpha."

"I won't ever know who my mate was supposed to be... "

"Do you think that's better or worse?"

"I'm not sure..."

He rows around the lake in silence for several minutes. I can't help but think that I ruined the moment by bringing up mates and curses. Painful topics aren't exactly romantic. I'm not sure how to fix it so I decide to ask the most ridiculous question I can think of to change the mood.

"Do you have any useless talents?"

He laughs, "what?"

"You know, do you have any talents that are completely stupid and worthless..."

He looks at me for a moment and I'm not sure if he's thinking or if he doesn't want to answer.

"I can recite the alphabet backward and I can solve a Rubiks cube really quickly."

The smile that grows on his face nearly stops my heart. He starts without waiting for me to ask.

"Z, y, x, w..."

He bows slightly when he's finished.

"What about you? You can't ask a question like that and not answer it yourself."

"I have a weird amount of control over my eyes and eyebrows."

"What?" he laughs.

I roll my eyebrows like a wave then lift them one at a time, up and down. Then I bring one eye in at a time, going cross-eyed then moving one eye back out.