Chapter 13
Azariah's pov
You would think that after spending the last thirty-six hours in bed, I would feel rested.
I don't.
All my limbs are as sore as fuck, and my stomach is only marginally better. Ehron and I were going to be having a talk about his "gift".
Sure, I vomitted up most of it, especially the bones, when I came to, but that didn't seem to help much.
I couldn't even be mad at Jace for it. Seeing as how my wild side tore up his right forearm pretty bad. He tried to assure me not to worry, it would heal quickly, but now I'm left with a ton of guilt. I never should have relied on him to babysit Ari. He's been doing it for the last couple years and I knew one day she would show him her true colours.
Jace even went as far as to try and convince me that it was Ehron's fault. He got to close, he was pushing her boundries, blah blah blah. All the excuses in the world didn't matter. He tried to hide his arm from me on the walk back to Micah's truck, but I seen enough to know she caused some serious damage.
After Micah dropped me off at home, he took Jace to the medical facility to get his arm looked at. If fifty-two stitches doesn't teach him to stay away from my wolf then nothing will. I should bake him a cake or something to apologize with, but unfortunately I didn't have anyone to teach me how to bake. Cakes that are edible anyways. I guess I could just go buy one. He would probably appreciate that more considering he's actually tried my mom's food.
The one good thing that came out of this, I didn't have to go to class yesterday. Zane had text to see if I was alright, and also to ask if we were still on for tonight. Speaking of dinner with him tonight, I glance at my clock, and am happy to see I have a good four hours before I need to be ready.
I slowly peel myself out of the bed, deciding I should probably shower before doing anything else. My entire body feels discusting. I'm sure laying in bed yesterday coughing up rabbit fur didn't help either. I couldn't even bring myself to eat the soup Jace's mom sent over for me. Might as well eat my mom's food, there's already a bad taste in my mouth.
I haven't put any thought into this date, besides that I probably shouldn't show up smelling like swamp ass. I'll figure out what to wear later, after a cup of coffee when I won't be tempted to just wear sweat pants.
I'm still not sure how I feel about this date. On one hand, Zane is super hot, and from the interactions we've had so far, he's pretty funny too. But on the other hand, how could anything serious come of this? Did he really think that I was going to get into a relationship with him, and eventually leave my pack and my future here behind? I just don't see it.
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Zane's pov
I'm sure most people at some point in their lives wonder if there attractive or not.
Not me.
I know I am. That may sound conceited, but it's the truth. Most werewolves were attractive. The moon Goddess must have took pity on us, since we turn into hairy beasts, and decided our human side should be easy on the eyes.
I stare at my reflection in the bathroom mirror for a few moments before I turn and head out the door to go pick up Azariah.
Toad face my ass!!!
I know I have the looks to attract a respectable mate, lets just hope my personality can keep up. I have no clue how to be humble, or how to not act like I'm not better than everyone around me. My whole life i've been raised to believe I was.
This whole finding a Luna for my pack should be as easy as me saying "I choose her" and bam...it's done. Of course, that's not how life works. Even for an Alpha. In my opinion it should, but apparently my opinion won't make it a reality.
I have to figure out how to be charming and seductive, because the one thing (probably the only thing) I know about Azariah, is that she won't put up with some heavy handed, egotistical, dominant Alpha male.
I've dated enough women to know what I do, and don't want in a female who's going to be my Luna. She needs to be smart, strong, loyal, and definitely beautiful. Azariah meets all those. Most would tell you that choosing your mate should be based on love and respect, and while I agree with the respect I find that love is not necessary. Sure it would be nice, but these decisions should be based on practical things, not some notion that love is the answer to all.
Of course this whole thing is gonna be a hard sell. She's close with her pack, and it's gonna take a lot to convince her to leave. And if she's the romantic type, i'll have to fake an emotion I know nothing about. How hard can it be?
As I pull up to her house I start second guessing my decision to not bring her flowers. I read somewhere that women love that sort of thing, that it's romantic. To late now, i'll have to try to remember for next time.
I get out and start walking towards the door when Azariah comes out.
"You know, your supposed to wait inside until I knock."
"Oh sorry. I can go back in if you want. Maybe have my dad come and give you the whole have her home by 9 or i'll come looking for you spiel." she taunts.
"To late now, you've already ruined it." I turn quickly so I can get to the car door before her. I've been told that opening doors is what a gentleman should do. And since I'm pretending to be one I better look like I know what i'm doing.
Neither of us says anything as I start the car and pull away from her house. Azariah waits till were heading out of town before she asks "So where are we going?"
I'm taking her to a nearby human town, it was the closest place I searched that had what I was looking for."Kings buffet."
"Never heard of it" she gets a puzzled look on her face.
"Oh, I think you'll love it. Everything is set up buffet style, and it's all you can eat"
She turns her body towards me, "Ummm, so we have to get up and make our own plates? Doesn't that take away the whole purpose of going out?"
Well shit, I hadn't thought of that. Here I am taking her on our first date, and she has to serve herself. "Did you miss the all you can eat part? I figured as fun as it would be to see the look on the waiters face when you order six meals, that might not be so fun on my wallet" I try to come off as joking but failed.
"I'm happy to pay for my own meal." She tells me with clear agitation in her tone.
Oh boy, this is going south fast. How the hell do I navigate this one. The Alpha in me wants to tell her to lose the attitude, but even I know thats a bad idea.
"Listen Azariah, i've seen you eat, I just thought you would enjoy this place. I'm more than happy to go elsewhere." Not really, but once again, I need to be charming.
She sits there quietly for a few minutes, not looking at me. I'm about to open my mouth to try again to smooth this over, but she starts laughing. "Just fucking with ya Zane, I'm fully aware of what a buffet is. And truth be told I'm a bit impressed you put that kinda thought into choosing a place. Thats why I'm gonna ignore the (she pitches her voice low) I've seen you eat comment."
Holy hell, I might not make it thru this date without strangling her. No woman has ever had the nerve to fuck with me like she does. I blame Micah, he lets her get away with far to much. He acts more like a friend than a pack leader. That'll be his future problem tho, not mine.
"Has anyone ever told you that your not funny?" I ask her.
"And yet at the party last Sunday you were telling me how funny I was. Flattery then?" She's mocking me still.
Man, i'd love to put her over my knee and spank that glorious round ass of hers. Truth be told, I do find her funny, just when her smart mouth is directed at others, not me. Once she agrees to be my mate we'll have to work on that. It would be a shame to have to correct her attitude, but its evident someone needs to.
We arrive at the restaurant, and before I can get to the passengers side Azariah opens her door and steps out. Here in the human town thats okay, but if we were on pack territory, not so much. When an Alpha takes a female out for dinner, appearance is everything.
Were seated quickly and told to help ourselves to the buffet while our waiter gets our drinks.
We both pile our plates nice and high, and sit back down. "So Micah said you were under the weather yesterday. Everything okay?" I decide to start the conversation since she hasn't.
"Oh ya, I'm good. Just an upset stomach." Her stotic facial expression tells me she's lying.
I rub my chin with my forefinger, trying to look deep in thought. " Why do I get the impression your lying?"
Her fork pauses mid way to her mouth and she gives me a tight lipped smile. "Maybe I was just trying to be polite and spare you the details of how sick I was. My stomach still isn't 100% today, but I do feel better."
Shit. Why do I keep turning everything into an almost argument. I'm supposed to be trying to win her over, not have her running in the opposite direction.
"Fair enough. I just know how much you dislike this whole thing and figured you were skipping." I wink at her, hoping she'll respond better to my teasing than my stupid allegations.
She takes the bait and starts laughing. "Lets just say my inner demon ate something she shouldn't have and I paid the price."
I opened my mouth intending to tell her she should have control over her wolf by now, but think better of it. For one, were in a public place and two, I have no business lecturing her.
If she were my mate I would offer to help with controlling her wolf, but since thats not the case it would have to wait. For now.
The rest of dinner goes well. She doesn't eat as much as I figured she would. Guess she really does have an upset stomach. I pegged her for at least four to six plates but she topped out at three. Well plus a whole plate of desserts.
After supper I take her straight home. No point in pushing my luck any further tonight. I pull up to her house and turn towards her. " Thank you for having dinner with me Azariah. Hopefully we can do it again soon."
"Thanks for my first date Zane. I guess it wasn't so bad." She smiles over at me and gets out of the car.
On my drive home I mull over how to proceed with her. I don't have a lot of free time anymore, since my dad prematurely handed over the throne so to speak. But I can't just force this or get to pushy either. How many more dates would I have to put in before this pays off? Something tells me a lot.
If there was a suitable female in my pack I would have gone that route. However i've been on dates with most of them and it's obvious there's nobody that fits the bill. Lots of them were more than happy to throw themselves at me right off the hop, I didn't even need to buy them dinner. Then there's the ones that are to shy and awkward. I need someone who was strong and confident, not a complete pushover or a slut.
When I get back to the pack house I'm not surprised that my parents are sitting in the living room waiting for me. It's only nine-thirty, I don't know why I expected them to be in bed. My mother smiles brightly at me and waves me over. I may be Alpha but I still answer to one person, her.
"Tell me all about it. How did it go?" She starts with the questions right away. No how are you? etc.
"It was fine mother. We had a nice dinner." I tell her.
"Did you pick her up on time? Women hate when men are late." She lectured me enough about all the etiquette multiple times prior to the date.
"Yes mother. I was ten minutes early to be exact." She gets one more question then i'm running. My father is just sitting there, looking at me to see if he can detect a lie. He's been on my case about the Luna situation for years. He started hounding me around the age of twenty about my responsibilities to the pack, and now that i'm twenty-four its ten times worse. Especially because I didn't listen to him and find a suitable Luna already.
"Good. Did you compliment her outfit?"
What?? How the hell am I supposed to remember all this bullshit. If i'm being honest I didn't even really notice what she was wearing. "No mother, sorry I forgot with all the other crap I had to remember."
"Watch your tone when speaking to your mother. It's not her fault you put this shit off for to long. And to top it off she has to educate you on how to catch yourself a female." My father roars at me.
"I have no problem getting a female father." I yell back equally as loud.
"Yes Goddess knows you don't. What self respecting female do you think is going to agree to be your mate when she finds out you've fucked just about every available female in our pack?? Imagine how uncomfortable that will be for her to live here." His face is so red it's practically going purple.
"I dare someone here to go telling my buisness to my future Luna. They'll be finding a new pack to live in real fast I assure you." I glare at him, letting him know he's included in that threat.
My mother just stands there looking back and forth between myself and her husband. I wait a few seconds to see if he has anything else he'd like to add, and then stomp out of the room.
How dare he speak to me like that. He couldn't be any further from the truth. While I have been known to take plenty of girls out, and yes maybe we fooled around some, I have in fact not fucked any of the females here or anywhere else for that matter. I know how the rumours started tho, one nosey bitch hears some questionable sounds coming from your room and then everyone knows. Well thinks they know. There's a lot two people can do that doesn't need to include sex. Trust me, I know.