18+ scene ahead, read at your own discretion. skip if you want :)

When I opened my eyes, I found the side next to me empty. I immediately got up and searched the room, Archer wasn't anywhere in sight.

But then I heard clanking sounds coming from outside the room and I breathed, relieved. He was still here. So he's really going to stay here until we leave? Good.

I pulled my body out of the bed, with all the sleep I got, I felt energized and am ready for the day.

Quickly, I went to the bathroom and rinsed up.

I walked out of the bathroom and followed Archer's scent. I was led to the kitchen and found him on the phone while putting something from a pan to a plate.

"Ask Allan to handle it for a while." Archer said, a phone on his ear that was being lightly held by his shoulder.

When I saw him, something in the air shifted differently, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. What is it?

Archer was wearing a black undershirt that was slightly oversized for him so it showed a bit of skin. Unconsciously, I gulped at the sight.

When he saw me, he put down the pan and held the phone properly. "Yeah, in two days. I need to go Derek, get someone to send me a message if anything urgent comes up. Urgent, Derek, not something trivial." he repeats which makes me smile.

Derek was truly a perfect match for Suzy.

"Anything going on at the pack?" I questioned and sat at the counter stool of the breakfast table.

At this height, I saw what Archer was preparing. It was buttermilk pancakes with scrambled eggs at the side.

He put it in front of me and handed me a fork. "Nothing they can't handle." he answered shortly.

I looked at the full plate in front of me and wondered in amazement.

"Wow, this looks pretty good! I'm not sure about the taste though." I say teasingly and he chuckles.

"It'll be good, trust me." he says and pushes a plate besides me. He walked and sat next to me as we ate.

For the first time, he actually cooked something delicious and not plainly edible. I complimented him on that and he simply shook his head saying that it was nothing, but even I could see that he was happy.

After eating, Archer informed me that Suzy came by this morning telling us to meet them at the surfing area later on since they will be surfing some more.

I also wanted to surf more today although I had a hard time yesterday, I still want to learn it because riding a wave actually felt nice. Well... not until I lose my balance and fall off and the wave tries to drown me.

I changed to the blue one piece that I told Archer about yesterday and wore an dress shirt over it. I made Archer wear his blue Hawaiian shirt and even it looked funny to me.

He grumbled, wanting to take it off, but I convinced him to keep on just until we got to the beach.

I also carried a medium beach bag that carried a few essentials and finally, we headed out. As the elevator that Archer and I were on descended, more people got on and Archer had to push himself closer to me.

When our skin came into contact, I almost jumped at the sparks. They were much more stronger and I felt a sudden heat rush course through me, but it quickly disappeared.

I turned to Archer to see if he felt it, but it didn't seem to be so.

My eyes widened as an idea got inside my head of what this could be.

No-- no freakin way.

"Are you okay?" Archer asks seeing that I was a bit distraught.

I took a deep breath and held his arm to confirm, but it wasn't the same feeling. It wasn't same magnitude of sparks. I breathed out, relieved.

"Yeah, of course." I assure him. The elevator doors opened and we all go out.

It was already half past eleven so there were a lot of people at the beach already. Archer and I made our way to the surfing area and it didn't take us long to find the others because I immediately saw Polly carrying her rented surfboard.

"Oh, good morning, Alpha, Luna." she greets. "We already rented your boards too! You just gotta pick it up at The Shack, same place as yesterday." she explained.

"Thanks, Polly." Archer says.

"Where are the others?" I ask.

"Ah, our spot's right there, but Suzy and Frances already went ahead and started surfing because it's currently high tide. You should hurry too!" she says.

After showing us where they let down their stuffs, she quickly waved us goodbye to catch some waves.

I took a look at sea and saw the raging the waves and suddenly I wasn't so sure if I wanted to try riding those or not. When I turned to Archer, he was quickly unbuttoning the Hawaiian shirt just to take it off, showing off his perfectly chiseled abs.

It made me stop on my tracks. Hot.

It's hot.

I felt my cheeks burning alone with the heat that I was feeling so I quickly turned around and fanned myself.

"You know how to surf?" he asked from behind and I was surprised when he was standing so close to me. All of a sudden, I felt so conscious of his presence and the fact that he was shirtless.

'What the heck, is this you?!' I scold my wolf. Sometimes I could feel her emotions and I was hoping this time it'd be the case.

'Are you seriously asking me that? You should know already.' she says and shuts me off.

What?! Know already? I have no idea!

"Hazel." Archer calls out again.

"Ah--! I mean, no. Frances tried teaching me yesterday, but I don't think I'm too good at it. I wanted to try again today, but those waves are scaring me." I confess, not turning to him.

He stood in front of me and looked towards the sea before turning back to me.

"C'mon, I'll teach you." he says and holds my hand leading me to the rental shop.

When he touched my hand, I felt the sparks again and this time, it was making me want to get closer to him.

Inside my head, I was already cursing. There's no way it's that right?

Right?

Archer stopped and looked at our hands, he looked pretty shocked himself and then he looked back to me. "Did you feel that?" he asked me.

What? He felt it too?

Alarmed I shook my head profusely and maybe too soon. "F-feel what?" I say, nervous, my breath a bit ragged.

"Never mind, let's just go." he says.

We took our surf boards from the rental shop to the sea although Archer was the one carrying it for the both of us.

We swam away from the shallow ends to the deep ends where the waves were high enough to practice on.

Archer tried his best to teach me, I could see that and I could see how patient he was. But every time I fell off my board, he couldn't suppress his laughter.

"You're not popping up properly, you have to push your arms and quickly brings your legs up on your board." he explained as I panted for breath after being almost drowned for the millionth time.

I held onto my board and rested my head on it. This was tiring.

I don't know how long we were there, but during that time, some other girls approached Archer asking him to teach them but he flatly rejected them and swam back to me to help me up.

I was on my belly and predicted that the next wave would be a pretty high one. Deciding that it was a good idea to catch it, I started swimming, but then I saw Archer and my mind went blank.

My body moved on its own, trying to surf the wave. In the end, I fell off once again as a failed attempt, the water submerged me and my surf board hit my head. The pain caught me off guard and I managed to swallow lots of water.

I felt a hand pull me up quickly and when I was above water, I coughed it all out.

Yuck, salty.

I tried to look for my board to cling onto it because swallowing all that salty water was making me feel terrible, but I couldn't find my board so instead, I clung onto Archer.

I put my arms around him and rested my head on his shoulder as I tried even out my breathing.

"Okay, I think that's enough." he says and held me by the waist to help me up. Thankfully, we washed off to a distance where he was tall enough to stand on the sand so he kept me stable.

But the trouble was the sparks and the pull that made me cling on him. I didn't want to let him go anymore, I kept him close.

Archer must've felt that because he put his arms around me and embraced him. "Hey, it's okay now. You're fine. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed you so hard." he apologizes and started repeatedly saying sorry. Although that wasn't it.

It wasn't the water at all.

His tone was apologetic and comforting, a tone I've never heard on him before and it felt nice for a change.

These past few days, he's been showing all kinds of emotion, contrary to the calm and reserved Archer I knew and it was making it harder to resist him.

I wonder if he felt the same about me?

When we got on shore, he made me sit down and cupped my face with his hands. He touched his forehead against mine. "Take a rest here, I'm just going to take the boards. I'll be back." he says quickly, kissing me lightly and just like that he left.

Damned mate bond, damned sparks.

Damned heat.

I felt it all. I felt it all too much, his touch on my skin left a burning sensation that was quickly cooled off, but I knew it was only going to get worse from now on. His kiss lingered on my lips and left me wanting more.

And then I remembered-- it was full moon today. The heat is going to be much worse.

I watched as he swam back with both of the boards, a group of friend caught my board and gave it to him. He came by my side to assure if I was fine and I smiled telling him that I was fine now, just tired.

He left once more to return the board and came back by my side. This time, he handed me the dress shirt that I took off earlier to swim and I gladly wore it.

"Do you want to go back to the hotel?" he asks me, still worried about the surfing incident.

I shook my head and I held my hand out to him and he helped me off my feet.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm fine now, Archer? I'm fine, I got hungry from all of that swimming so let's go eat. Your treat." I say.

Seeing that I was fine, he breathed relieved.

For the rest of the afternoon, Archer became my tour guide. He took me to another delicious restaurant, but since it was after lunch, there weren't that many people. After eating, we decided to put off the swimming and go around the mall and the shops around the area.

We had to quickly go back to the hotel to change our clothes because we obviously weren't going to walk around the mall with our swimwear.

It was a leisurely stroll, a relaxed time with my mate which I know that I will treasure. But I could feel my heat getting stronger and I tried so hard not to show the pain through.

I don't know when I will get another time like this with him especially when he's so busy, so I just wanted to bear it and spend time with him.

We were at one of those tourist jewelry shops and I was trying on a few rings and bracelets. I really liked the golden ring with the red ruby because it fit me perfectly, but when I found out about the price, I smiled at the lady and led Archer out of there.

With the sun setting and the moon starting to show, the heat was becoming unbearable and I had to beg Archer to return to the hotel room.

"What's wrong? Are you not feeling well?" he asked with a worried look as I held onto him once again.

Damn it, my legs were failing me. We were still at least five minutes away from the hotel and it'd take another five just for us to get to our suite. Why does this hotel have to be so wide and tall anyways?

I was getting impatient and with Archer holding onto me, I was literally suffering.

When we were at the elevator, I practically couldn't stand on my own and was leaning all my body on Archer. The contact was burning me and made me crave my mate even more.

When the elevator doors opened on our floor, Archer swept my feet off the ground and carried me towards our suite. He quickly opened the door and led me inside. All the while, I could hear him muttering curses under his breath.

He put me down on the bed and pulled the blanket over me.

"Hold on, Hazel. I already called Frances over. She's coming." Archer assured me as he sat beside me.

Please don't tell me didn't!

I took the blanket off of me because it was only making me feel hotter. I sat up and turned to Archer.

I felt like my body moved on its own. "Stop, tell her not to come." I say weakly and stood just so my head was above his. "I'm on my heat, Archer."

His eyes widened in surprise and his jaw dropping. He froze, I waited for him to say something or do something, but he was taking way too long and I was feeling way too hot and impatient to wait.

"Did you hear me? I'm on my h--"

He cursed lowly and put his forehead on mine, his arms pulling me closer to his waist.

"I don't know Hazel,--" he stammered, "are you sure you're ready?" he asks.

Through my weakness, I managed to smirk. "Please be gentle, I've never done this before."

With that, he met my lips and I kissed him back. It was slow at first, but then he deepened the kiss by pushing his tongue in. My arms went around his neck almost out of instinct, as if it was only natural to pull him closer to me. He pushed me to the headboard of the bed and I laid my head there as support because I felt so weak already.

We pulled away for a while just to breathe, but our lips met again not too long, as if we absolutely had to keep each other close.

Archer took his hands off my waist and they roamed under the skirt of my dress and swiftly took the clothing off of me. While at it, I helped him with his shirt off and soon enough, his pants.

Skin on skin, the sparks that flew off were nothing that I've ever felt before. The heat wasn't painful anymore, at this point, it intensified what we felt and every contact we had.

My heart was beating so fast, but the moment felt so good.

He expertly unhooked my bra and off it went. I started to feel shy, but then his hand started to play on one of my mounds and I couldn't stop the moan that escaped my lips. I felt Archer smile on that.

"Ar..cher." I say in between moans when his lips traces kissed from my neck to my breasts.

It felt so damned hot and Archer was the only cure.

He came closer to me so I had to spread my legs, but I didn't expect him to pull my legs closer so that I was practically sitting on him.

Archer kissed me back once again and he seemed to take his time playing inside our lips, fighting on who gets to keep the momentum as he slowly laid me down the bed so that he was now on top of me.

He trailed down once more to my chests and played with them with his tongues. His hands found themselves down to my hip and my heart was beating so fast again when he took off my underwear.

The exposure made me feel extremely shy so I attempted to cover myself with my hands and because I was already feeling wet. I heard Archer chuckle huskily as he came back to whisper in my ear.

"You're absolutely perfect." he whispers and just as he finished, I gasped when I felt his fingers rubbing near my centre. I thought the heat could not feel any better, but here it was.

Archer didn't spare any time, while he did so and worked closely to my centre, he kissed me assuringly.

"I'm scared." I whispered and held on to him.

"Do you trust me?" he stopped to ask and I felt irritated when he stopped.

"Y-yes."

With that answer, I felt his fingers inside me and I reactively arched my back and had to pull Archer closer, my nails digging onto his back as he thrusted.

"Damn it, Archer."

And then he stopped for a bit. "It'll hurt a bit."