Torn Between Tides

Chapter Thirty Three

"I'm a werewolf."

"Okay," Roman blinked. "And I'm Bella Swan."

"Roman, I'm serious," Colt sighed, running a hand through his hair as he paced around the room. Roman was sitting on the couch, both of them now dressed after their shower.

Colt didn't know how else to tell the swimmer, so he just dropped the bomb as is. He should've expected such a response though. Of course, nobody in their sane mind would believe him without proof.

"Are you kidding me, Colt? So you think I'm an idiot?" Roman scoffed, folding his arms in front of his chest with his lips pressed in a thin line. "I thought we were going to have a proper conversation about why—"

"I'm not kidding!" Colt exclaimed. "I can prove it."

"Uh huh?" Roman rolled his eyes as Colt began stripping again. "Sure. Go ahead. You really expect me to believe that you're a—"

Roman stopped talking. His eyes widened in shock as Colt's body began morphing in unnatural ways, before thick dark fur sprouted out and within the span of a few seconds... in place of the man he had spent the past few months with, stood a huge, all black wolf.

Roman was frozen. His inner survival instincts were telling him to run. But something...something reassured him that the wolf wouldn't hurt him. Roman didn't say a single word, he didn't even move an inch as Colt took a step towards him. Colt was trying to be careful, so as to not scare his mate away.

In his wolf form, Colt didn't have the same inhibitions or level of control that he did when he was human. But his wolf knew his mate, so he knew that he had to be delicate in his approach.

"You're...you're really a..." Roman couldn't even say the word out loud. Colt understood. It would be a massive shock for anyone in his place.

Colt moved closer, hoping that Roman would reach out to him. That he would touch him, but instead, Roman flinched, shifting back into the couch.

It hurt, but Colt couldn't blame the swimmer. He stepped back, and changed into his human form again. They remained quiet as Colt got dressed, only putting on his sweatpants. This wasn't even the hard part. He still had to tell Roman about their bond.

"I'm sure you must have a lot of questions," Colt began. "And I will answer all of them. But there's something else that I need to tell you before that."

"Okay," Roman whispered, looking down at his lap. He wasn't meeting Colt's eyes, and that worried the Alpha. What if after learning everything Roman rejected him?

Colt would die if that happened.

"I'm a werewolf. I'm the Alpha of my pack—"

"This neighborhood...is everyone here..." Roman trailed off, slowly connecting all the dots. "And Alpha? As in their leader?"

Now it made sense why everyone seemed to respect Colt so much. Why his aura was so intimidating and borderline threatening for everybody but Roman.

"Yes," Colt nodded. "My ancestors has been leading this pack for generations. We were one of the founding families of this town."

"Trevor is one of you too," Roman muttered.

"And Matteo. A few others from your college as well and... and plenty in this town," Colt stated. "We're one of the largest packs in the country."

"Oh." Roman couldn't believe he was in the dark about all of this. How could he not be aware of his very own friends and neighbors? A part of him felt betrayed.

"Have you ever heard of mates?" Colt asked. Roman furrowed his brows, finally looking at the older man before shaking his head. "It's said that each werewolf has a true mate. Or a soulmate, if you will. The other half of them. These bonds are made by the goddess herself and nothing can break them. They're considered sacred and one is deemed blessed if they have the fortune of meeting their true mate in their lifetime. Many go without finding their soulmate and settle for traditional partners."