I was wrong.

This pack was huge.

Walking around a large twenty foot high rock, I realised. What I thought would be just a normal lake with random groups of friends around it turned into much more. This wasn't a normal lake by any standards. Its water was glistening blue for a start and second, it must've spanned about one hundred meters in diameter.

Despite the magnificence of colour and size, I was drawn to the beauty of the waterfall. Large brown rocks concave at least half the circumference of the lake. Walking around its beauty, it sprayed me with small specks of water, but I was too amazed to even care. Above it was a great landscape full of trees and hedgerows, a forage of wonders.

"Pretty cool, isn't it?" Eve laughed.

I turned back around to follow her, stepping further into the open. Most wolves turned to scan my appearance, some innocently, but others seemed guarded. She led me to a spot where I could see Mya and the other two girls lounging on blankets.

"How is it so... clear?" I wondered.

"It's an ancient lake, blessed by the Goddess." She shrugged.

I shook my head in disbelief, grabbing her shoulder to spin her around. "You're saying... this is magic water?"

She grinned, nodding. "The ancient texts claim she blessed it to purify broken souls. We come here whenever we can as a pack, and if the timings are right, the water changes you."

"Changes you? How can water change someone? Is it blue dye? Am I going to come out looking like a smurf?" I cringed.

She laughed as we came to our final destination. "Not like that! It is meant to... wash away your worries, your sins, that kind of thing."

"Purifies your soul is what our mother says." Mya snorted, catching my attention.

Mya wore a simple green bikini, with bows tied into the strings. Her body was lean and toned, and I had to keep my eyes away from staring at her.

"My heat has gone, if you're wondering." She laughed. "Otherwise, I would not be here right now."

I nodded with a small smile, redirecting the conversation back to the magical lake. "Why do you talk of the lake as though it's a joke?"

"It's just what our ancestors say. It has never happened to us before. We come to this lake about four times a year and nothing magical ever happened." She grimaced.

"But it has in the past?" I questioned.

"Maybe." She shrugged, popping a beer open with an extended claw. "Maybe not."

I hummed, sitting myself down on the blanket Eve had brought with us. So the lake was obviously so blue and clear, and had a majestic waterfall that led to a tremendous amount of forest and wildlife. Said to be blessed by the Goddess in the past to purify them, and yet, they think it's all a joke? If anything I have learnt since being here, is things are not what they seem.

"You say if the timings are right, what did you mean by that?" I muttered to Eve, knowing she believed in a lot of this kind of stuff.

"It's rare the lake works. My mother said the pack only felt it when they were all at war, when not one person was content. It was after a battle up the hill and they came here to wash off." She grimaced. "That was the day we lost the Luna."

"The Luna?" I wondered, glancing around the lake curiously. "Asra had a Luna?"

"Shh, they'll hear you." She chastised me. "But no, his mother. We were at war and she was one of the fallen, sacrificed to the enemy. Alpha Asra was just a pup, his father now mateless ruled the pack until he was old enough to take over."

"That's horrible."

I sympathised with the man. To lose a parent and have so many great expectations was not an easy quest.

We fell into silence. Well, more like I tuned out the sound of their voices, and I chose the time to look across the lake. There had to be at minimum one hundred wolves here, all laughing and chatting whilst they drank, their muscled or lean bodies glistening in the sun that shone through the treetops. There seemed to be small groups of cliques, but most of the time, they just breezed by one another and spoke with everyone. It looked like a comfortable hierarchy to be fair.

I felt a tugging in my brain, an un-scratchable itch that was urging me to pay attention to it. Turning my gaze to the left, I found him stood by the lakeside. He was too busy talking to the female from before, his arms crossed along his bare chest, sunglasses on his face hid all of his emotions. But despite that, I swear I could still feel the crawling of his eyes on me, even from so far away.

Grimacing, I looked down at my feet and took off my shoes, sinking them into the soft fibres of the blanket. There were some people in the water, playing a game of chicken fight, girls versus boys. Some others were just floating, a few sat at the shallow end with their feet dipped in the water. It looked warm and invigorating; it looked welcoming.

"Ailia!"

My head snapped back to the closest person, finding Mya grinning at me. I blushed furiously at being caught daydreaming, running a hand through my hair to diffuse the tension.

"Yeah?"

"I said you smell strange." Mya snorted. "Eve said you had a transfusion?"

"Oh, yeah, I did. I'm all healed up." I nodded, smirking. "You like to sniff me, don't you?"

Her eyes narrowed at the teasing tone of my voice, cocking her head as she stared at me. "Well, when someone smells like an Alpha male, I do admit I get a little curious."

I didn't have it in me to be embarrassed, too happy to just be able to walk and feel so energetic. So free, like this lake... If it wasn't calling for me to dive in, then I was going to start thinking I was crazy.

"Can we go in the water?" I asked, spinning my head to stare at them.

Mya and Eliza grinned, whereas Olive looked shy, and Eve just gave me a gentle nod. With a small squeal of delight, Eliza took off her coverup, Olive staying hidden in the confines of her large t-shirt. Eve pulled me to my feet, grinning when she saw how well I was standing.

Once upright, I pulled the clothes from my body, leaving me in just the bikini. Eve had copied the notion, wearing a one-piece swimsuit covered in small flowers. Mya grinned at me, coming closer to take my hand. In her other hand, she grabbed Eliza, pulling us quickly into the water. Olive and Eve walked slowly behind us, no doubt Eve rolling her eyes at our eagerness.

Like a moth to a flame, I felt the water call me in, enticing me with its crystal clear surface. With an excited rush of breath, my feet sank into the bed of the lake, water flying everywhere as Mya dragged us behind her. The three of us screamed when Mya gave a mighty tug and we went flying head first into the warmth.

I closed my eyes on the impact, but once my body submerged; I crawled and swam deeper into the water, embracing the lack of current beneath the surface. My eyes opened wide, I found they didn't sting, and the water was so clear and lightweight it felt like I was a hot knife through butter. I swam further down and to my heart, and lungs, contempt. My hands trailed the sandy bed, finding small shells, rocks and pieces of nature lay discarded.

I found a pretty rock, shining silver and white from the sun's rays way up above. My hair floated around me and I turned to gaze up at the surface as my lungs eventually burned. Swimming upwards, I must've been about seven meters deep, which meant the lake wasn't as deep as I thought.

Breaking the surface, the water rushed from my ears, and I gasped in a breath. Looking around, I noticed I was in the middle of the lake, Mya and Eliza where I left them looking frantic. Eve seemed to be scolding them, but I just laughed, swimming back over.

"Well, she couldn't have just disappeared!" Eve snapped.

Rolling my eyes, I kicked a large splash of water so it drenched the back of Eve's head. She shrieked, a loud gasp coming from Olive beside her. I was drenched, warm and feeling lighter than life, and she deserved that feeling, too.

"Pants in a twist?" I snorted.

"I thought you drowned!" Mya scolded.

"I just swam for a bit." I shrugged, keeping my torso in the water. "It's so clear and warm down the bottom."

"You were down there for ages! I thought I killed you and you sank to the bottom!"

"Sorry." I smiled, wincing. "I had to swim deeper. I haven't been swimming in so long."

"Why not?" Eliza wondered, coming to sit beside me. "You are obviously an excellent swimmer."

"I am. My Dad taught me from a young age. It was just my fiancé and mother who thought otherwise. It was not womanly enough." I scoffed.

She frowned. "Fiancé? What is that?"

"It's the human equivalent of your mate bonds, I guess. The person you spend your life with." I replied, by now attracting all their gazes.

"Well, he couldn't have been a fit mate for life if he didn't let you swim." She scowled.

"He wasn't." I shrugged.

Rolling onto my stomach, I decided I wanted to go deeper into the water. I pulled myself along the ground, my legs floating behind me as I swam further away. Once I could no longer reach the floor, I rolled back over, letting my body float on the surface. It held me well; I needed hardly any effort to keep myself afloat. Magical lake, where have you been all of my life?

There was movement beside me, and I turned my head slightly to see Mya hovering beside me. She was frowning, eying my skin like it was an essay for her school exams.

"What?" I asked.

"You have a lot of scarring." She murmured, poking the faint bite mark on my thigh.

"I like to see it as an art piece. All my scars are just... tattoos." I snorted, dropping my legs to face her.

I wasn't joking either. I had gathered many marks and scars upon my skin, some from accidents, self-inflicted or Darius-inflicted. But to me now, just proved that I had survived it. I wasn't ashamed of my body; it was merely a shell that got me by. It was for other people to view, not myself, so why not make it a masterpiece?

"That's an odd way to look at it."

"I am an odd person." I shrugged. "Besides, you cannot talk. Eve told me it takes a lot for a wolf to scar, and you have many, too."

"I have." Her lips pursed before she ducked down under the water.

I watched her disappear before she swam around me, the water splashing as she came up behind me. Poking my back, I felt her fingers dig into a large one on my shoulder.

"But mine are from teeth and silver, and I know knife wounds when I see them."

I spun around to frown at her. Her hair was wet, her brown eyes narrowed with disdain. I sighed, pushing my hair behind my ears. I didn't answer her, not willing to give the full details of the past few years of my life. Especially not whilst I was floating on air. With the Alpha blood in my system, the magical lake, and an ego the size of Jupiter, I felt amazing.

She didn't comment further, leaving the words hanging like they had never been spoken. The other three eventually joined us and we swam together until Mya complained she was hungry. I had to agree. The smell of the burning meat on a spit was extremely enticing. They began cooking about half an hour ago, and as soon as the first burgers and chicken sticks hit the tables, wolves had devoured them.

"We'll be lucky to get any." Mya pouted, all of us still dripping wet but unbothered.

"Oh shush, there is plenty." Eve tutted. "Just be patient."

"Who's the oldest?" I asked, cocking my head.

Mya's heated gaze glared at me, her arms crossed with a childish pout. I knew right away I didn't need to answer the question, snorting a laugh in realisation.

"Got it."

Eve giggled, Mya rolling her eyes at our mocking. Eventually, the line moved, and we were next to indulge into the feast. Unfortunately, it only brought us closer to the Alpha and the mystery female. I paused once I stood before them, my half-full plate in my hand grew heavy with the weight of their stare.

He no longer had the sunglasses on his face, and I saw how his eyes scanned my semi-nude body. I scowled at him, dismissing his smirk by turning to the woman beside him. Her long black hair cascaded down her gloriously tanned body, clad in a pretty purple bikini. I hated to admit she was beautiful...

She was not competition. Asra was not mine.

Her brown eyes snapped to me, her nose flaring as she caught a whiff of my scent. They narrowed as she turned to Asra with a disapproving stare. He ignored her, his eyes still focused on the side of my face. I hastily grabbed a chicken wing before moving to turn away, but oh, if only it was that easy.

"Hi... I don't think we have met."

*********

Question of the day;
Do you have a physical activity hobby/sport you enjoy?
I take my kids swimming twice a week! I love it