"Didn't I warn you not to play dirty before, princess?"

I stopped running on the treadmill when I felt his eyes glaring deep in the back of my body. I turned around and there he was, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed on his chest. When I caught him staring, he smirked. "Why'd you stop? You looked hot," he wondered, bluntly speaking.

"He didn't scare you off?" I ignored, using my towel to dry my hands and face from sweat. Zaire shook his hand and pushed off the wall. "He didn't shockingly. Now I'm just more invested," he smirked. What does that mean? "Okay well...bye. I have to go," I brushed him off and took a step towards the exit. Zaire was quick to wrap his hand around my upper arm to stop me. "What no. I have a plan for us today and you have to come," he grinned proudly.

"A plan?" I questioned. He nods his head and removed his hand, burying them in the pockets of his pants. "I wanna show you a place, it will be fun. Hey, we can be like future besties and you'll never know until you give me a try, come on! Don't be a buzzkill," he begged, rambling off anything to convince me. "That's no help. What's your plan?" I flatly asked. He groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Stop being so stubborn, Everest. It's a surprise! I'm not gonna kill you, I promise. I sorta like your company now," he playfully says. I sighed, challenging both options. I can go with him, against William, or be his perfect mate and go back to my room and be bored. I guess the choice is already made then, hopefully, I don't regret it. "What do I have to do?" I gave in and he squealed in excitement.

"Just look pretty, you can go just as you are right now," he smirked, looking down at my outfit. I had on biker shorts and a fitted crop top because I was scared to wear a sports bra only. "Okay, then let us go before I change my mind," I urged. His face beamed with a smile. He's cute. I feel bad for admitting that. Our fingers interlocked and Alaska growled at the back of my mind where she kept pacing around. I ignored her again and focused on Zaire.

I remained silent as we walked out of the packhouse and instead of getting in a car or something like I thought, he walked through the forest at the back of the packhouse. "Where are we going?" I curiously asked. Zaire only winked at me as his response. This is infuriating. I deserve to know where he's taking me. "I'm not gonna kill you because I value my life, wouldn't want Willy boy killing me right?" He stated, laughing at the end.

I remained silent, not knowing how to reply to that. Zaire knows something is up and like I said, it's obvious. Eventually, we were buried deep in the forest. I'll consider us lost but Zaire seemed to know where he was going. "Take off your shoes," he commanded. I blankly stared at him while I wait for him to continue speaking. "Everest, take off your shoes please," he sighed and began undoing his shoes as well. "Why?" I huffed and folded my arms across my chest.

"Stop asking questions and take off your shoes please, don't be stubborn," he pleaded again. I already made it this far. So I obliged and slipped off my shoes and socks. "Here goes nothing, follow me alright?" He commanded and I nod my head. There was a cave opening but it was small so you couldn't just walk through or see what's inside.

Zaire wedged his body into a small cave and I followed. Once we were on the other side, we stood freely. I stared up, mesmerized by the blue crystals on the roof and walls of the cave. "This is so beautiful," I gasped. I have never seen anything like it. They looked so fake but they weren't. "Are you happy I said take off your shoes now?" Zaire asked me, his voice echoing. I looked down and saw we were standing in a narrow shallow river. From what I can see, it leads us somewhere.

"Yes," I agreed. My sneakers would've gotten ruined. "How come the water doesn't go outside?" I asked. It was perfectly high enough to slip out the cracks but it doesn't. "Mermaid magic. They spelled this place for them, so no intruders could figure out where their pool is," Zaire explained. His fingers interlock with mine and he pulled me along the inside of the cave.

Mermaids.

He just said, mermaids.

"Wow, are you sure about that?" I asked as we turned the corner and I'm hit with a wide lake like pool. The water was so blue so tempting. I wish I could just jump in. It's crazy how that narrow short crystal cave leads to this beautiful pool. "What is this place?" I asked.

"Like I was saying, this place is what confirmed that mermaids once lived in peace with werewolves. There's a valve that when it's open, leads out to the lake in the woods. After all, mermaids were killed off by demons and witches, this place was abandoned. I stumbled upon this cave when I was playing hide and week at ten years. Did my research, talked with the elders, and found out about the mermaid stuff. Now...it's just a pretty underground pool," he sighed.

"This is so pretty, I can't believe this exists," I mumbled softly. He turned to me and smirk. "Good thing you think that because we're going for a little swim. And not to worry, the water is perfectly fine and I'm sure there aren't any creatures for us to worry about," Zaire started. I stare at him like he's gone mad because that's definitely what has happened. "Not happening," I bluntly say when I realize he was being serious.

How can he be serious?

"You're so boring, woman! Just jump in with me. We'll take off our top layers of clothes so they don't get wet," he wiggled his eyebrows. How can he be so bright and playful right now? "So you expect me to take off my clothes and jump in there?" I summarized. Zaire nods his head and began taking off his pants. I kept my eyes on the roof of the cave, at the corner of my eyes I saw where he kicked his pants and his shirt soon followed. When I heard the loud splash of the water, I stared at the pool as he submerged above the water. "I can't believe you did that," I gasped.

"If you don't join me I'll find another way to get you in here. It's safe, and if you can't swim I'll hold you," Zaire continues to persuade me. Come on Everest, What's the big problem? I'm just going for a little swim. Yeah, that's all. "Turn around ," I sighed. He grinned happily once noticing I was agreeing to his reckless plans. "I'm going to see you either way you take it, babe. The water is transparent," Zaire bluntly stated. I say nothing and waited for him to turn around. Eventually, he gave up and turned around. I quickly slid the pants off my legs with struggle since they were tight on my body and finally I took off my cropped top.

I mentally screamed fuck it before flipping off the cliff and surging into the water. My feet don't hit anywhere to the end as expected. When I pushed myself above the water, gasping for breath, Zaire was happily smirking. He won. I'm in the pool, he won. "Now that wasn't so bad, wasn't it?"

"If a mermaid pops up and slaughter us, I'm so killing you," I grunted and purposely splashed the water into his eyes. He stiffened and stared at me with his jaw lose. "You're begging for war, princess," he warned and easily grabbed my body within his arms and pulled me to his chest. Without further warning, he pushed us beneath the surface and thankfully I held my breath on time.

He went inches below the water and swam around fast using his werewolf abilities to his advantage. When he finally submerged, we were no longer in our first place. I punched his shoulder hard which made jolts of pain shot up my knuckles. "You son of a bitch!" I screamed and splashed the in his face over and over that my arms burnt. Eventually, Zaire stopped laughing and his eyes darkened, bright brown eyes seeping through his chocolate ones.

With one swift move, he shoved me into the rough wall of the cave and held my wrists above my head with his body between my legs. "Didn't I warn you not to play dirty before princess?" Zaire's voice was low and seductive.

Why did that turn me on?