Alpha Charming | Rheon

TWENTY-ONE

"Because of your lack of responsibility -"

"I am responsible, I have been for a while now. You're just too blind to see it." Squeezing my eyes shut to prevent them from welling up, I said, "I have to go. Tell Mom I say hi."

With that, I hung up before he could utter another word of criticism. There was no way I'd let him spoil this evening for me, not while I've been looking forward to this ball for the past couple of days. What excited me the most was the thought of Rheon seeing me in this dress. Tonight will be magical, and my father wasn't going to spoil that as well.

A knock on my door brought me back to reality. "Come in."

It swung open and a very dashing-looking Craig marched in, wearing a dark silver suit that matched his salt and pepper hair perfectly - might I add he's combed his hair for once?

"Miss Ashlyn Grace, I've come to escort ya to the -" His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw me. "Queen's bollocks! What have ya done to Ash?"

Blood rose to my cheeks. "I take it the dress works?"

"Works?" He wiped at his eyes. "If yer not turnin' heads t'night, then every one of them's an eejit!" Shaking his head to focus, he held out his arm for me to take. "Don't know if I'm worthy enough to escort a pretty lass as yerself, but I'll try my luck."

Rolling my eyes, I walked with him through the castle towards the dance hall. It still blew my mind that the Balfours had their own ballroom. I would use that as an excuse to throw a party every weekend, which I'm sure Seren tried at some point because she strikes me as that kind of person.

And speaking of the Balfours, I still had no idea where they all disappeared off to today. "Say, Craig, where has everyone been today? I couldn't find Rheon anywhere."

"He had to be present at the meetin' with the Bloodrose pack," he explained, "They had to discuss Seren's courtship with tha' Larkin lad. Somethin' 'bout her joining Bloodrose cuz he's supposed to take over from Colin. It's like grandpappy Lachlan always said, soon there'll be a Balfour in every pack in Scotland and we'll truly be the largest pack in the world."

The closer we ventured to the ballroom, the louder the music became. Craig stopped at the entrance of the dance hall, and I was awestruck to find it alive with music and dancing people. I saw Emric and Rieka gliding over the dance floor with Reyna and Alexander on their heels. Clemmy had coupled up with Kenna and the two were adding their own moves to the waltz, while Seren and Larkin only swayed on one spot, too caught up in their own world to care.

And then I spotted him at the other end of the room, looking as handsome as ever in that navy blue suit that clung to his figure just right.

My heart jumped as Rheon's eyes found mine, only to freeze once he saw the dress. I could feel him drinking me in, admiring every inch of my figure. His gaze set me ablaze and if not for the room full of people, I would've felt obliged to strip down the dress and give him an even better show.

Craig made himself scarce as Rheon approached us, muttering something about asking if his mother wanted to dance. Once the Alpha of Craven Pride was standing in front of me, he lifted my hand and placed a delicate kiss on my knuckles.

"You're breathtaking," he muttered against my skin, glancing up to meet my eyes, "This was worth the wait you put me through."

"You don't look too bad yourself." I blushed, wishing they could turn the AC up for my face to cool down.

"I am truly the luckiest man alive to have you as a mate." his fingers brushed against my cheek, leaving a burning trail in their wake. Just like that, he stepped back and held out his hand. "May I have this dance, my lady?"