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Theo was so damn hot even his eyelids were sweating.

“Where the hell are you taking me?”

Fee giggled from up ahead on the trail. She was so much faster than him when he was in human form. The forest seemed to part for her, while he kept getting snagged in the underbrush. She didn’t walk. She flitted. Like a goddamn hummingbird.

“Fee,” he grumbled. “Seriously, where⁠—”

He stopped in his tracks as the trees gave way to a clearing.

“Ta-da!” Fee said, wiggling her fingers like she was casting some kind of spell.

Theo laughed. “This is … incredible.”

“I know, right?!” Fee’s nose crinkled in happiness. “It’s my new favorite spot.”

Theo could see why. A waterfall tumbled over the rocky ledge above them into a clear pool below. A stream meandered from the pool through the woods, over and around moss-covered rocks. It was the middle of summer, and because the woods were fairly dry, the waterfall didn’t have a lot of force behind it. Just enough to make a refreshing shower. Theo felt cooler already.

“Wanna go for a swim?” she asked, standing on a large flat rock by the pool. She had already kicked off her shoes, and she wiggled her toes in the sun. Before he could answer, she lifted the hem of her sundress and peeled it off, leaving her in nothing but her little pink panties.

Theo’s life flashed before his eyes.

Was he dead?

Was this heaven?

Would the image of his best friend’s perky tits, golden in the afternoon sun, ever leave his thoughts from this moment on?

Fee giggled, turned from him and dove into the water.

Theo had never undressed faster in his life. He tossed aside his shorts and t-shirt, leaving only his boxer briefs and cannonballed into the pool.

Fee squealed in false outrage as he splashed her. He surfaced to find her grinning at him.

“Are you going to stop complaining now?” she teased.

“For future reference, taking your clothes off is always a surefire way to get me to stop complaining, Fee.”

“Ha. Ha,” she said, swimming away as he chased her through the water. He wasn’t sure what he would do if actually caught her. For years now, he’d managed to not cross the line with Fee. At some point, they’d made an unspoken agreement: sleeping together would only end up ruining what they had.

And Theo was terrified of doing that.

“I’ve missed you,” Fee said, floating on her back.

Theo turned to his back as well, staring at the sky instead of Fee’s body. “Yeah, sorry. I couldn’t find a good time to get away.”

Things with his pack and his brothers and his damn father had continued to escalate and even though his father seemed to have zero faith in his ability to actually do anything, he still insisted Theo participate in his little games.

He’d also been keeping a closer eye on Theo, questioning where he was going, what he was doing. All of a sudden, the Alpha gave a shit about his youngest son.

And Theo refused to put Fee in danger.

He saw what happened to Rafe after Scarlet was killed, and he knew it would be worse for him if Fee was…

His throat closed up at the incomplete thought. His mind wouldn’t let him finish it.

“We should be more careful,” he said, counting white puffball clouds floating by to calm his suddenly racing heart. “We can’t be seen together anymore. I don’t want my father to know anything about you.”

“My sisters aren’t going to report back to your werewolf dad,” she teased.