"Ezra, I think I screwed up," I said, chugging down the last of my drink.

Ezra hummed with a grin on his face and cradled his whiskey. "How so?"

"I didn't mean to hurt his friend. Ya' know?" My head flopped onto my hand as I leaned it against the bar.

"I know," He sighed, watching me with humor in his eyes. "He was on your land, and he was too close to your mate."

"I'm being serious." I stammered, my cheeks already so red from the alcohol. "I just wanted to protect him, but everything I do is wrong, and we end up just fighting." I frowned and flagged down the bartender for another drink.

"You seemed to do just fine without him for this long." Ezra pointed out that, and then told the approaching bartender to close our tab before I could put in another order.

"That's just it!"I grabbed Ezra's shoulder, and he pulled his head back, eyes wide as if I had grown a second head. "I wasn't fine. It didn't matter how much I drank or who I slept with... He was always on my mind... With his cute button nose and those big, round, watery eyes." I dropped his hand and looked toward a group of Folk playing pool. They were blurry, and it was hard to tell how many there actually were.

"Well, he's your mate, I'm sure he'll understand if you tell him how you feel," The doctor said, standing up. He didn't really seem to understand the dire nature of the situation.

"Sure, or he'll think I'm a crazy person!" I threw my hands up in the air and nearly toppled over in my chair.

"What is it with Alphas and Betas thinking they could get wasted all the time?" Ezra cringed and put my arm over his shoulders. "I'm sure he won't think you're a crazy person."

"He already thinks I'm a psychopath!" I confessed as we wobbled out of the bar. "Which I probably am, but as long as he's safe and happy, I don't care what he thinks of me."

What if I bump into him again? What if he saw me like this and thought I couldn't handle myself on top of being a psychopath? He'd think I was a psycho alcoholic! 

I stood up straighter, trying to walk on my own.

"Would you stop?!" Ezra admonished as we walked out of the bar. "You're a mess, and you're going to make us both fall over." 

"Sorry," I apologized and looked around the parking lot for my car. I was in no state to drive, and definitely going to have to get it tomorrow morning. "You just don't understand. I want to hug him so tight, like he's a tube of toothpaste. And I bet he's super squishy. But at the same time, I just get so scared that I'll ruin his life."

"You're right, I don't understand," Ezra mumbled. "And I hope to never understand... Do you want a ride?" He asked when we got to his car.

"No," I shook my head and grabbed my stomach. "It's probably best I walk in case I decide to throw up."

One thing that was nice about a beach town was how close everything was to each other. I probably had about a twenty, maybe twenty-five-minute walk. Depending on whether I stopped for a throw-up break. Which was looking more and more likely with each minute I stood out in the sticky, humid evening.

"Thanks for the transparency. I don't want you ruining the leather seats," Ezra opened his car door and reached for something in the glovebox. "Take this, it's for the nausea."

He tossed me a small bottle of pills.

"I probably just need water," I said, narrowing my gaze at the contents. They were small white pills in the shape of hexagons.

"It's not for alcohol poisoning," Ezra explained. "It's for the separation from your mate."

I furrowed my brows at him. "We don't live that far from each other."

"You'd be surprised what a little distance will do to your body." He was using his doctor voice.

I nodded, looked back down at the yellow, opaque container, and then back at my friend. "Thanks for calling. Sorry, I mostly made it about me. Next time I want to hear more about how things are going with you."

"All good," Ezra said, patting my arm. "I'm boring. Haven't left this town and that's just the way I like it." He smiled and added, "Get home safe and don't do anything dumb."

"Thanks," I said, pocketing the pills. I waited for Ezra to leave the parking lot before heading home.

The walk felt a lot shorter than I remembered, and when I got to my house, all I wanted to do was fall onto my bed and sleep. Until about five am, my plan was pretty much solid, but a sudden heat wave and nausea had forced me to wake up. I couldn't throw up, and I couldn't go back to sleep, and what I really wanted to make me feel better was probably sleeping just fine in his own bed.

I shook my head, knowing it was impossible to get what I really wanted, so instead I opted to go for a run. Outside, the ocean air calmed my restless stomach. I took a deep breath before I shifted into my wolf form. On the rock wall that separated my house from the rest of the beach stood a familiar furry friend. The orange cat had jumped off the ledge and rubbed his face against my foot. After a short greeting, he started running along the beach, and with nothing better to do, I followed.

I was so preoccupied playing chase with whom I respectively called Cheese Puff that I didn't notice the pain in my stomach had completely subsided, or that my mate had been sleeping soundly on top of a sand dune, until I was only a few feet away from him.

When his scent hit me, it took every fiber of my being to just trot over to him and not pounce him right away. Sand covered him from head to toe, getting in his hair and all over his clothes, and the hard look on his sleeping face made it obvious he had a rougher night than I thought. He was sleeping on his side, arms wrapped around himself, wearing a pair of shorts and my black oversized hoodie, which could have been a blanket, but it didn't stop him from shaking. I had more than half a mind to just shift back into my two-legged form and carry home. I wanted to tuck him into my bed and wrap around him like a frog on a log, but the idea of accidentally waking him up held me back. I knew if he saw me, he'd want nothing to do with me.

So I did the best next thing: I walked around him a few times, found a comfy spot, and rested my furry body against his back. I curled around him and noticed my head was twice the size of his in this form, his face just inches from mine. I looked over him once more. Why was he out here? Did that Beta kick him out of his house? A low growl escaped from me. I was going to-  

Jonah turned to face me. His head tucked into my neck, and his fingers brushed through my fur. My tail thumped hard against the sandy floor. My thoughts melted, and along with my heart, drifted off toward the ocean. Nothing else in this moment mattered more than being right here. Watching the sun rise over the horizon. With him.