Ah.

I see it now.

Why everyone shut up.

It was big.

And I mean, like I see it. It was just dangling there for all to stare at. Its length and girth were as impressive as the rest of him. Nobody else seemed to care, too focused on the moon or the atmosphere. Just me. I seemed to be the only one mesmerised.

I didn't need to stare at Asra's groin for much longer when he let out a low whistle and everyone looked at the moon. I kept my eyes on him, taking in his bare skin; covered in dark tattoos. I have seen an elder back in Evermore have similar markings; claiming they had earned them for their strength. Asra's were lines and swirls of black ink, slinking around his shoulders and down his back like wings, carving into his pectoral muscles before branching out down his sides and curving over his hips. Few flooded down his thighs like tree branches, none daring to go close to the monster between his legs.

I mean...

Come on.

Was the tattooist intimidated? Because I would be.

"He's going to try the ritual," Mya whispered.

I stayed silent, much like everyone else, when the alpha descended into the water. The usual comforting warmth of the water grew stronger, like a direct buzz of heat directly into my abdomen. I grew unusually warm at that moment, but brushed it off as nerves. No need to overthink my bodily functions and cause an anxiety moment...

Asra's eyes scanned the various bobbing heads of his pack before inevitably landing on me. I felt the direct touch of his gaze, zapping me right down to the soul. His dark blue eyes burned into me, a string attaching us both taught as he walked deeper. I wanted to go over to him, to embrace him and loosen the tight hold.

It grew harder to breathe the further into the water he swam. My chest constricted with every step, his eyes never leaving mine, only seemed to make it feel worse. What was this? I felt like I was suffocating, like every weight was holding me down.

Warm hands landed on my shoulders, and I jumped, looking at the culprit.

"You need to take your clothes off. It won't work if you are dressed." Eve murmured.

I frowned. Now I was to be a part of this weird cult?

Looking around, everyone was staring at their Alpha as he neared the centre of the lake. I was trapped amid various wolves and knew if I tried to escape, I would disrupt this. Giving Eve a brief nod, she helped me out of my bikini. A struggle to do when one is treading water. She pushed the scraps of bra into my hands, her hands clenching around mine before she helped me out of the bottoms.

It was weird. I had never felt affected by my nudity before, but as soon as the security of those pants was gone, I felt the intrusion of vulnerability hit me. The water brushed my most intimate areas, my body on display, scars and all for everyone to see. The bikini had covered some of my worse markings, the ones along my hips and under my breasts, and left me exposed. It was weird.

I gripped onto the slippery clothes with vigour when the last of the invisible string's slack grew taut and Asra looked away. My heart thumped loudly in my ears, my lungs straining against my ribs. I felt so hot, so unusual, as the rushing of blood in my ears fuelled my adrenaline.

It was silent when Asra stopped in the centre. His eyes flickered back to me briefly, taking in my pained expression. Nothing passed through his eyes as he broke the eye contact again, closing them as he tilted his head back. He fell backwards like a starfish, submerging into the water. The buzzing grew, running along my bare skin and warming my stomach.

Instinctual.

Needy.

Warm.

Confusion.

Desire.

I felt it all.

The lake's gentle current brushed along my back and bare breasts, goosebumps raising on my skin. Trying to distract myself from the growing panic, I looked up. The vibrance of the full sky caught my attention, the glinting stars and lack of a complete moon sent a shiver down my spine. My eyes fluttered, my head sinking further into the water until my lips grazed the surface. A zap like electric ran over me, but I didn't react, rather embraced it with a sharp inhale. The lake would take care of me. I could feel it. It was primal, a truth I knew without even thinking.

The sound of moving water was the next thing to break me out of the content trance, my eyes blinking open to find the stars still shining brightly above me. I dropped my gaze to find Asra resurfacing, and murmuring sounded all around me. His chest was heaving, water pouring down his skin. His large, beautifully sculpted arm came to push his hair from his face, his lips parting as water ran down his nose.

An itching arousal overcame me.

I wanted to touch him. I wanted to feel him.

I inched closer, slowly moving until I was beside Mya. Her arm came out to prevent me, a gentle shake of her head stopping me. My eyebrows furrowed, but when I looked back ahead to see Asra swimming back to the lake's edge, I realised it was over already. Once he was out, his shoulders sagged ever so slightly before squaring off as he turned to face us.

"Never mind, we shall try next time." He spoke.

Never mind?

Never mind!

What did he mean?

Did no one else feel it? Did no one feel the overwhelming restriction of their breath, the beauty of the sky, or the warmth as the water held them?

Looking around at the various frowns, I realised they hadn't. I had felt it. I was so sure of that. Why did only I feel it? Was I making this up? No, I couldn't be. I felt something. Something that drew me closer to the Alpha male. An invisible, amazingly annoying string linked the two of us together.

Mumbling filled the air as many of the very naked people swam out of the lake and I sighed before joining Mya and Eve as they left, too. I scrunched my bikini in my hands and wrung it out once we were on dry land. Walking over to our spot, I wrapped a towel around my body to dry off. It appeared the others were already dry, their hair not as wet as mine.

Eve noticed my grimace at her frizzing hair and laughed. "We're hot. We burn hot. Our hair dries faster."

I pouted. "That's unfair. What do I get? An amazing ability to fall over grass?"

She grinned at me, shrugging as she pulled a dress over her head. I patted my body dry, noticing a lot of the other wolves pulling on clothes as others merely grabbed their stuff and began the hike back to the house. They all seemed disappointed, weathered, and I could see it in the way their shoulders sagged.

"So... if you felt nothing, what were you meant to feel?" I wondered, dropping my towel to pull the large shirt over my head.

Eve watched me dress, a large crease in her brows as her sadness shone through. "It's meant to feel like... bliss. Like your... complete... like all of us are one unit, drawn to protect each other as we banish our ill thoughts."

"That's... deep." Mya hummed before snorting a laugh.

Eve knocked her knuckles against her sister's arm with no effect. "It gets my point across."

"And the naked thing?"

"Oh, that's just a way to look at everyone's ass." Mya snorted.

Eve scolded her, crossing her arms. "Being bare connects you with the water and the moon. Less friction if there're no clothes."

"Just felt a little strange," I muttered, sliding on my shoes. "Thought I was going to be sacrificed."

They laughed at my expense, but I was glad because it changed the topic from the weird naked ritual to something else. I had felt something in that lake, and if nobody else did, then I didn't want to out myself.

"Hey Ailia!"

I spun around to see Piper approaching me, a wide grin on her still very naked body. I blinked to act as though I wasn't staring, but I couldn't help admire her figure. It wasn't often you saw a naked woman in my town, and Piper was an excellent representation of every man's wet dream. It was no wonder she and Asra were so... close.

"Hey, Piper." I breathed, looking back at her face.

"Mind if I borrow your towel? Mine's on the other side of the lake." She cocked her head.

I shrugged, passing her my towel. "Sure..."

She took it with a warm smile, running it along her neck. "Thanks, I just hate wet hair on my neck."

I gave her a small laugh of agreement, turning to see the three companions of mine slither away. Mya gave me a double thumbs up as they walked away, her less than inconspicuous eyes running down Piper's ass. I chewed on my lip to hide a laugh, looking back from her to find Piper stepping closer to give me the towel back.

"Thanks," She chirped, pushing her half-dry hair down her back. "Wanna walk back to the house?"

"Okay," I nodded, smiling at her. "Do you need anything?"

"No, it's only my towel. I'm sure someone will pick it up." She shrugged.

I frowned, looking around at the still junk ridden lake side. I felt guilty for leaving it all here, a small part of me seeing it as wrong to leave the wonderful lake in such disarray. But as we neared the waterfall, I saw a few smaller and thankfully dressed people bending over to pick up the discarded items.

"So, what did you think of the entire lake thing? Total bummer right." She snorted, her slender arms swinging beside her as she skipped a couple of times.

Drawing my eyes away from her bouncing breasts, I sheepishly grinned. I was so not used to see so much nudity, and although I was used to the lack of clothing myself, to be on the opposing side was... weird. Wolves were weird. I get they are naked when they shift and run hot, but if everyone walks around naked every day, I think I may fall into a flustered mess.

"Ailia?" She teased, linking her arm through mine.

"Sorry," I blushed. "I'm just not... used to all of this."

"The nudity or the magical lake?" She teased.

I wrinkled my nose. "Both. I could get used to the lake, though. That was amazing."

"It's so warm, right?" She grinned. "But I get it. It must be weird to come from such a closed off place to here. We are a lot wilder than humans. In the older years, packs tended to just wear skirts woven from skin and string, and tops that only wrapped around our necks. It was easier to shift. We could just slide them off in one go and if your wolf was small enough, the top would stay on your neck."

I laughed at the image of a wolf wearing a bra, shaking the idea away. "How come you stopped and started wearing normal clothes? You have no need for them, right? Being hot all the time and surely it's easier to shift."

"We feel more connected to the earth and moon when we are bare, but we do it because as times have modernised, we have had to fit in." She shrugged. "Some of us still are nude around the pack house, mostly around full moons."

I hummed as we walked through the trees, and Piper continued to tell me about her upbringing. She visits often, being betrothed to Asra. It sounded like a setup to be fair, an arranged marriage by her parents two years ago. It seemed much like my own, but she genuinely seemed happy about it. I think he had grown on her. I mean, who could blame her? He was an attractive, yet broody male with an ample structure for the hungriest of us.

My body warmed as the image of him in the water resurfaced in my mind. The way the water dripped from his hair and down his lips and chest. The way the water highlighted his hips in a sharp v-line, as if calling me. Like a moth to a flame, I wanted to touch him. So drawn to him, I wondered if he felt the same.

We were just about to break the treeline, Piper gushing about the time she first met Asra, when the so-called man walked out from behind a tree, clad in just some cotton shorts. We stumbled to a stop, Piper's laughing simmering down, until a broad smile covered her cheeks.

"Asra! You surprised us." She chimed.

Despite the naked beauty calling his name, his eyes were locked onto mine. I felt the heat, the intensity of his gaze hold me, the meaning getting lost in translation. He glued me to the spot, the dark blue so powerful that it made me shiver. Piper pulled me closer, using her body heat to warm me up. His eyes fell to where we gripped each other, before falling down to my barely clad bottom. If I so much as took a large step or bent over, he and everyone else would get another view of my naked ass.

Not that anyone seemed to care around here...

"Asra?"

His head snapped to Piper, his tongue darting out to his lips. "Yes?"

Just like that, the spell was broken, and I exhaled, not even realising I was holding my breath.

"Did you come to find me?" She wondered.

Another brief glance towards me before he nodded, as if realising her very naked situation. I felt awkward, shifting my weight. His lips quirked with a small smirk as he glanced at her, and I felt a slight twinge of something strike me in the heart. Was it jealousy? It couldn't be. He wasn't mine. They were intended.

The lake just messed with my head.

"Yes," He nodded.

Piper didn't move, looking down at me. "Will you be okay going back alone? I think your friends are already inside."

I looked towards the impossibly tall building in the distance, nodding firmly. "I'll be okay. Thanks, Piper."

She unlinked her arm, grinning as she bent down to kiss my cheek. "Okay! Get some sleep! Don't wash until the morning! It's good for your skin!"

She would know about flawless skin...

Piper giggled as she took Asra's hand, and I cleared my throat before beginning to walk away. In my haste to escape the nudity festival, my shirt had risen, but no matter how hard I tried to keep it down, it wouldn't stay in all the right places. I could either walk slowly and hide it all, or get the fuck out of there. So, I chose the latter, and speed walked towards the pack house, the breeze up my ass making me go faster.

Away from the strange feelings and the naked people and towards my only source of comfort.

My room.

**********

Question of the Day:
Bank holiday here in the U.K so hoping for warm skies.
What're your plans this weekend?