The Selkie's Alpha

Chapter 2

Sweat rolled down Jasper's back as the motor-mouthed selkie led him and his father around the resort. All the other guests wore their brightest clothes, with nary a tie in sight. Meanwhile, his gray suit clung to his skin as the sun beat down on him with all the ferocity of a grizzly bear.

This was ridiculous. He should be in his office, or at least attending to his responsibilities at Uncommon Scents from the comfort of his air-conditioned hotel room. Instead, he was stuck thumbing responses to emails on his phone while the sun glared off the screen and the selkie rambled about the resort's amenities.

Goddess, she'd barely paused for breath since he'd met her. Something as simple as a swimming pool was enough to get her bouncing from foot to foot, her entire face lighting up as her hands fluttered like twin butterflies. Just watching her made him long to crawl into bed and sleep until he had half as much energy as she did.

Yet, despite how much she exhausted him, some small part of him wouldn't let him tune her out completely.

"We have a bunch of pools, but this one's my favorite." Brooke gasped before clapping her hands with a squeal. "Oh my gosh, look! Someone's about to go down the super slide."

Jasper glanced up from his phone and squinted at the rainbow of plastic tubes dominating half the pool. So many pups clamored around each of them their shouts flooded Jasper's ears. "Which one's the—"

A seal shot out of a bright orange corkscrew with a laughing cheer, landing with a massive splash. All the selkies in the pool clapped their fins as the pup's parents swam around her, blowing bubbles in a spiraling ring as the pup barked with delight.

Jasper's throat tightened. When he was that age, he would have shifted and rushed to join them with his tail wagging. Now all he could do was blink back the prickling sensation in his eyes. It was just some selkies messing around. Why did watching them hurt so much?

Why did everything feel so awful these days? Ever since Kudzu Pack's Alpha had offered to let Cedar Pack retain a majority stake in Uncommon Scents if Jasper either married his daughter or found his soulmate by the end of the Blue Moon Ball, happiness had fled from his life like a deer that had caught a wolf's scent on the wind.

Only when the hyperactive selkie who was leading him and his father on this never-ending tour glanced back at him with her moon-bright smile did a gentle warmth fill his chest. That feeling, that sudden, unexplainable feeling, scared him more than anything else.

"Is everything alright, Jasper?" his father asked.

He startled, his eyes darting not to his father but toward the selkie who was back to waltzing down the pathway and blabbering about Goddess-knew-what. If it weren't tied so tightly around her waist, there wasn't a doubt in his mind her sealskin would fly right off.

"I'm fine," he said, lowering his voice to make sure only his father could hear him as they worked on catching up with their hyperactive tour guide. "I just have a lot on my mind."

"That doesn't surprise me, but at least pretend like you want to be here." His father gestured for him to put his phone away, all while keeping a tight smile on his face. Jasper seldom saw him wear any other expression in public. "Besides, the Moon Goddess will make sure everything works out."

"I suppose so." Although he would have preferred if She'd done so sooner.

If the Goddess didn't bless him with a mate of Her choosing, would She doom him to a life of heartache? Or would he not realize if She had chosen someone for him? Though he'd been with his fair share of both men and women, he'd never felt physically attracted to anyone. Sure he'd dated before and even enjoyed taking things further, but he'd never felt compelled to seek what so many other wolves did.