“ Are you always so fussy when ordering your food?” I ask as I pop my first piece of steak in my mouth. It was one of the most delicious things that I have ever tasted. It was so tender, and the gravy was just right.
“I know what I like. I want what I like, so yeah, I guess I am.” I see his point. I, too, knew how I liked my food and would be disappointed when served with less.
Lobster was the least sexy thing I have ever seen a person eat, someones food should not take so much work to get to, and it defiantly should not sound like that.
“I’m sorry, I know I keep going on about the lobster. But I just can’t believe you have never even tried it before ?” His face was scrunched as he focused on cracking his way through the claws. Food shouldn’t take so much effort.
“I don’t like any seafood.”
His knives and fork and whatever tool he uses clatter against the plates as he drops them.
“I’m sorry, what?”
Dinner went much the same way. I had to take a bite of the lobster in the end. He couldn’t wrap his mind around what he called my lack of culinary experiences and pledged to change that. I didn’t mind it, but it wasn’t something I’d ever order for myself.
Long after dinner, we continued to chat and flirt over the last of the white wine.
Again it wasn’t something I would order for myself, but I didn’t hate the fruity flavour, and eventually, I would even say I began to like the taste.
It was easy between us. I hadn’t noticed many things in common yet, but I feel like our personalities work well together. I couldn’t wait to find out more and more about this man.
I was surprised when the waiter brought over the bill. In my experience, they usually waited until you asked for it. I wouldn’t say she was rude, she was pretty tolerable of us, to tell the truth, but I started to feel she wanted us to move on. I always forgot how the tip system worked. I seldom ventured into the human world, and our pack didn’t work like that.
“Dinner was lovely. Thank you so much for your wonderful service, have a lovely evening.” Kyle thanked the server. If anything was going to impress me tonight, it was that moment right there. He treated the human waiter like an equal, and he was kind to her. I have seen many werewolves make the mistake of thinking we have something more, so we can be rude. It’s always angered me.
He slipped several notes into the small leather pouch and passed a few more to the waiter, and we left.
“Do you have a movie in mind?” I stumble a tad bit on the step down from the door. I wasn’t used to these heels, was all. They were new and rubbing me to the back of my heel wrong. I hope Kyle didn’t think I had irresponsibly drunk too much.
“Are you okay” he catches me. I feel like I’m in one of those romance movies I was obsessed with as an early teen.
His arm held firm against my back, his other hand was in mine, my hair dangled behind me, and I felt the wind blow through it gently. His beautiful green eyes stared into mine. The tips of our noses almost touched. It would make for a lovely picture, I think to myself.
“Yes,” I murmur, somewhat embarrassed with myself.
He pulled me back and let me go. Was it wrong that I was disappointed by the absence of a kiss? It was the perfect moment, and we just let it slip by us.
He doesn't try to hold my hand as we make our way back to the car. I hope I'm doing this date properly.
“I didn't book a movie,” he admits. “I thought about it. I thought about it a lot. I looked up the local cinema, but then I didn't know what you would be into, and so I thought maybe we should decide when we got there together.”
That's lazy. I'm docking a point. Sapphire rumbles.
I didn't realise we had a point system. It was the first that I heard of such a thing. I wonder how many has he earned versus how many he lost.
No. But I'm thinking it's about time we start one. And he's not off to a good start. She was a funny one.
We buckle in and back out. I enjoy watching the trees whizz by me. My mind on our date, I have learned a lot about Kyle tonight.
For example, he has a younger brother, James, but they don't get along. His mother and father are not a part of this pack, and according to Kyle, they never have been. His uncle on his mother's side had been the previous reigning Alpha of Waning crescent. His uncle, however, never had an heir, and that meant there was no one left to lead after he stepped down. That's where Kyle came in. He has wanted some distance from his father, but he didn't want to leave his people without a leader. It was a hard decision, but in the end, he let James take over as Alpha of his old pack, and he came to lead this one.
Everybody won. Both brothers got to be Alpha. Kyle got away from his father. The two packs would each have a blood born alpha to lead them, making them stronger. I had talked about crescent moon and what it was like growing up there as the betas daughter. I told him a little bit about my parents and my older sister Samantha. I was cautious not to mention Declan or tell any of the thousands of stories he had been a part of. Kyle had listened to it all, and he never once broached the subject of my ex mate. I liked that.
“Just for the record, I enjoy anything that isn’t a horror movie. I don’t find them scary, but I do think they're disturbing.” most horror movies were mindless dribble, the plot was ways the same, one or more twisted people, torture and maim other people. Everyone does horrible, cruel deaths. The one survivor, if there is one, is now struggling to cope.
“Yeah, I can’t stand horror. I don’t have the time to watch a movie often, but when I occasionally do, I steer towards comedy and action. The occasional doco.”
Oh wow, our first thing in common.
Does that earn him a point? I joke with sapphire.
I'm thinking about it. She mused.
The cinema was just closing the box office when we arrived. I would say I was disappointed, but it was almost 11:pm. I still can’t believe we had spent a little more than three hours at that restaurant.
“I am so sorry”, Kyle apologised as we strolled around the darkened lobby all alone.
“No, don’t worry about it”, I smiled. “I have a much better idea anyway” if he was still up for it, that is.
“And what is that?”
I hope that he says yes. Sapphire might dock all of these ‘points’ otherwise.
“How about that run?” I suggest.
He looks wistfully off into the distance. I could see him think hard about it. I wonder why? He seemed so okay with it at the dinner earlier.
“I’d love that”, he eventually answered.
“We will head back to Waning crescent, I’ll drop the car off, and we can go for a run.” His hand slips into mine, and he pulls me toward the car. I walked in step happily behind him.
Do you know what this means? I ask Sapphire happily.
200 hundred points. She jokes.
That you are going to meet your mate for the first time tonight, we get to go for a run. I'm so excited we haven't been in over a week. Going so long in between shifts for a werewolf was almost unheard of. I hope it doesn’t hurt all over again.
What did you think he would be like? She gushed.
This surprised me. This surprised me a lot. Wolves could connect with each other as long as they were family or mates. She should be able to talk to
Duke, even now, so why hadn’t she?
Have you not tried reaching him?
She is silent for a moment, and this begins to worry me. She was never withdrawn like this.
No, I haven't. She finally admits.
Why? I feel guilty, I had been so caught up in my own feelings and what I was going through that I hadn’t taken the time to ask sapphire about how she was feeling.
What if we don't like each other? I could understand that fear. It was the same fear that I now had. Declan had caused us a lot of trouble. It made it hard to trust in the mate bond, but we were trying.
Then you don't like each other, and we move on. But how are you ever going to know that he's not the one for you if you don't even give it a chance? She has been the one person or wolf who has encouraged me every step of the way. Now it was my turn to support her.
She doesn’t say anymore after that, I can still feel her, but it’s like she’s made herself smaller somehow. I hope she will be able to come out for our run.
“Is duke excited?” I ask kyle. I wonder how his wolf was feeling about meeting Sapphire, and maybe if he were looking forward to it, she wouldn’t feel so insecure.
“Very, actually. It’s hard to shut him up at the moment,” Kyle chuckled. “What about S”
He cuts himself off mid-sentence.
“I’m sorry, hang on” he pulls the car to a rough stop on the side of the road.
I stuck my hand out to catch myself on the dash.
I watch as his eyes glaze over. I wonder what he could possibly be mind linking some about right now.
Whatever it was, I get the feeling he found it upsetting. His hands gripped the steering wheel that his knuckles were white, and the wheel creaked slightly. I hope he doesn’t snap that thing in half.
“I’m sorry.” He doesn’t even look at me. He pulls the car straight back out onto the road. My anxiety begins to climb as he drives faster and fast down the dark one lane road. At least we were the only ones around because he was driving like a lunatic.
“What is it” I gasp as we slam the car a little too hard around the bend in the road.
He glances at me. Briefly, I know whatever he is about to say next is nothing good.
“Alpha Declan Smith is in my office.” I hear his teeth grind. “ he claims that he is here for his Luna.”
WHAT THE FUCK? Sapphire claws and screams in my head.
Stop. Sapphire, you are hurting me. I beg her, but I don’t blame her. She was upset, as was I. What the hell was he doing here. How had he found me, and why did he want to. He was the one who wrecked everything. I am so unbelievably cross right now. He even found a way to ruin my first date.
“You aren’t going to ask me to leave with him, are you?” I squeaked. What if Kyle thought I was too much trouble now? What if he sent me away to avoid all the drama I caused.
“No, Faith. I would never.” He slows the car a little, and once again, he pulls over to the side of the road.
He slams his door behind him as he exits.
My door is roughly pulled open. He unclips my buckle and lifts me from the car.
He places me on my feet, and my back rests against the car, he cages me in with his large muscly arms, but I don’t feel intimated the way I did with Declan. I felt protected, safe, secure.
“Your mine now. We still have a ways to go, but I’m not letting you go unless it's something you want” his Forrest green eyes stare into mine, and I can’t see anything but sincerity. I love it, but it’s a tad overwhelming, not Kyle but this whole situation. Will I ever be free of that monster now that he knew where I was? There was one thing I knew for certain.
I stare boldly, straight at my mate.
“ I never want to go back”, I admit. His hands immediately grip the side of my face, and his lips smash to mine. The kiss is hot and possessive. I want more. I want so much more. I grab him by the waist and pull him in. I almost whimper when he breaks the kiss.
“We can’t,” he says breathlessly. “If we go any further right now, with the threat of Declan lurking, I might mark you, and I still haven’t told you everything. We need to go.” Kyle drops his arms, and he slowly and regretfully backs away from me. I get back into the car, a whirlwind of emotions.
I wanted Kyle. I hated Declan. How did I get rid of him?
For the rest of the drive, we were silent. I wish sapphire would reach out to Duke to find out what they were thinking, but she was a mess the same as I was, and I wasn’t about to put her under that kind of pressure.