Jackson's POV (A/N Sorry for all the time changes in this chapter)
When I arrived at the pack house, I was smiling, my cheek still flushed from the feeling of Scarlett's lips.
My younger brother, Luke, ran out of the pack house to me, his eyes glowing.
"What are you smiling about?" He questioned, narrowing his eyes while a smile grew on his face.
"My mate agreed to go on a date with me," I grinned. I had explained to him before that my mate was human and therefore it would take longer for her to accept me, so he understood how much this meant for me.
Luke's eyes grew wide, and he clapped his hands together in excitement. "I'm going to have an older sister!" He exclaimed, laughing. He grew serious all of the sudden, and looked up at me while raising an eyebrow. "And maybe a nephew." He said quietly.
My face grew pink. "Not for awhile," I laughed awkwardly, ruffling his hair. Ace liked what Luke was saying, and I was desperately trying to quiet him.
The door of the pack house slammed open, providing a wanted distraction. Ethan burst out of the door, Matt following slowly behind with Chloe attached to his hand.
"Did I hear you say date?" Ethan shrieked, a wide grin covering his face. "When?" He asked, "Where?" He raised an eyebrow, "How?"
I groaned, putting up a hand to halt any further questions.
"I just asked her, I don't have any real plans."
"Well," Ethan started, holding up his hands with a grin, "I'm glad you came to me."
I raised an eyebrow, a slight smile on my face, "you came to me, Ethan."
"Yeah whatever," he said, "now hush up, I'm thinking."
Ace growled, but I knew Ethan was just joking so I didn't say anything.
Ethan put a finger to his lips in contemplation. He tilted his head and looked me over, as if deciding what would work well for me. Suddenly, he must have had an idea, for he stood up straight, his eyes sparkling.
"A picnic," he declared, a settled look on his face. "It's romantic, relaxing, and it will be just the two of you. Perfect for a first date." He sighed dreamily, his eyes casting away from mine.
"I've read about so many picnic dates on Wattpad. They usually end lying together on the grass, counting the stars." He seemed lost in thought, until Matt, who was next to him, snapped his fingers in his face.
Ethan looked back to me. "Of course, it's a bit cliqué" he said, miming a whisper, "but why would so many people do it if it didn't work?"
And this is why Ethan was my third, because of the idea man, not the hopeless romantic.
I smiled thankfully at him, "I know just the place."
Like most alphas did, I knew every single plot of my land. Also like most alphas, I had a secret spot on my land to relax by myself. I was overjoyed to finally be able to share my place with my beautiful mate.
~
The next day at lunch I pulled Scarlett away from the table to talk to her.
"How's Friday?" I asked. She looked at me confused. "For our date." I said with a smile.
She returned my smile, "This Friday?" When I nodded she grinned and nodded her head. "Sounds perfect," she agreed.
"Text me your address," I said as we had swapped numbers the previous day, "I'll pick you up at 6." I quickly leaned down and brushed my lips over her pink cheek before we turned and sat back at the table, my friends smiling at me knowingly.
~
It was Friday, the day of my first date with my wonderful mate. I couldn't even put it into words how excited I was. I had been waiting my whole life for this, and it was happening. I thanked whatever god was up there for her agreeing to go out with me. I didn't know what I would do if she hadn't.
After school I hurried to get everything together. I had had some mothers from my pack cook some food for my date because I couldn't cook to save a life. They were all happy to hear that I had found my mate. It only took about an hour to set up the picnic but I still had to get myself ready so I sped home to take a shower.
I put on a pair of jeans, a tight black shirt, and some cologne before checking the time, surprisingly, it was already 5:30pm. Walking out to my car, I could already picture her smile, I just hoped she loved our date as much as I loved her.
Yes, I loved her. I was in love with her. I loved her before I even met her, but I knew that she would need more convincing to feel the same way about me. I was okay with that, but I was hoping to speed up the process as much as possible.
I pulled up to her house in no time, and walked out to her porch. Knocking on the door, I pulled a single thorn-less red rose in front of me, symbolizing love at first sight.
Too much? It was Ethan's idea.
I heard some voices talking behind the door but didn't use my wolf hearing to listen in on the conversation, I figured that if I was going to get Scarlett to trust me, I couldn't go listening in on her conversations.
After a moment, the door opened to reveal Scarlett, wearing black skinny jeans, a white tank top, a jean vest, and sexy black wedges, a break from her regular dresses. She smirked when she saw me eyeing her.
"Hey, beautiful," I greeted her. God, did I really just say that?
She laughed, "you don't look too bad yourself."
I handed her the rose, and she kissed me gently on the bottom of my jaw, her blood red lipstick probably leaving a faint mark. She smelled strongly of cinnamon and vanilla, a scent that I could smell all day.
She disappeared inside to put the flower in a proper place before returning to me, and we quickly headed to my waiting car.
"Where are we going?" She asked as I started driving.
I smirked at her, "you know how it always goes, it's a secret." She nodded, and didn't question again. Her hand was unconsciously resting on the center console between us, and I placed my right hand over hers, intertwining our fingers carefully, where they remained for the duration of the car ride.
It was a silent ride, but not in the awkward "nothing-to-talk-about" way, but rather a gentle silence, comforting, of us just enjoying the others company.
A short walk from the spot where the picnic was set, I stopped the car. Scarlett looked around, gazing at the empty terrain surrounding us, and when she didn't see anything date-worthy, looked back towards me. I merely smiled at her confused face.
I walked around the car to open her door. "We have to walk a little," I murmured, as I held out a hand to help her from the car. She took it, and continued clutching my hand as we started to walk.
Finally, about five minutes into our walk in the woods, I stepped in front Scarlett, taking both her hands in mine. "Here we are," I said dramatically and stepped aside. She gasped.
"Oh...Wow." She exclaimed as she looked around us. "It's beautiful."
In front of us was a waterfall that emptied out into a small pond surrounded by flowers. It was truly beautiful, but what was better than any waterfall was the look on my mate's face as she gazed dreamily around us. We walked closer to the picnic blanket that was set up near the front of the pond. She sat down on the blanket and I sat across from her, taking the abundance of food out of the basket.
She was still entranced by the surroundings. "Jackson," she said, making me look up from what I was doing, "did you plan all of this?" I looked down, rubbing the back of my neck with one hand.
"Well... Ethan came up with the idea," I said sheepishly, "but I made it all happen." I said, trying to draw the conversation away from Ethan.
"Well it's wonderful," she laughed. She looked down to the blanket in front of us where I had placed the mass amounts of food I had brought. Her eyes widened. "And... food!" She exclaimed.
I laughed, handing her a plate, which she happily started to load with food.
She grabbed a little of everything, piling her plate full, and though I was slightly surprised that she could eat so much because she was only human, I was happy that I had a mate that could eat just as much as I could.
After a moment of silence I attempted to strike up a conversation. "Let's get to know each other a little more." I suggested and she nodded. "What's your favorite color?" I asked.
"Black," she said with a slight smile, "because it is a color. You?"
"Red." I said, looking up at her dark red hair. She smirked at me.
"Favorite band?" She asked.
"Honestly, I'm partial to Queen." I said.
"Old school." She smiled. "I'm one for Nirvana."
"Really?" I asked. "Not One Direction?" She winced playfully.
"I can't believe you mistook me as a directioner."
"Favorite..." I started, taking a bite of what appeared to be some sort of beef dish. "Animal."
She bit her lip in thought, which drove me absolutely crazy. "I'd have to say... wolf." Ace lifted his head and gave out a deep growl, symbolizing his approval. I looked at her with a smile.
"Mine too," I murmured. She smiled back at me.
"Let's see..." she said, "favorite... season?"
"Spring," I said automatically. She agreed.
My wolf pushed me to ask the next question. "Have you ever had a boyfriend before?" I asked semi-casually. On the inside, Ace was watching Scarlett with with wide eyes, analyzing her next words.
"Oooooooo." She gave out a low whistle. "Don't you know the number one rule of first dates? Never talk about exes." She said this with in a joking tone, but her eyes seemed to harden. She didn't answer the question. She angled her body slightly away from me, so slight that I wouldn't have noticed if if I hadn't been watching her so carefully. She gazed into the pond, watching the waterfall, as if trying to find a reason to not catch my eyes.
By now we had finished our food and Scarlett had laid her vest down as a warm breeze had come through. I tried desperately to salvage the night and looked around me for ideas that would help me out of this grave I had just dug myself.
"Oh. Well I hope you can forgive me-"
"Of course I do," she said, looking back at me.
"-for this." I finished. Her eyebrows scrunched together as she stared at me in confusion. I stood and swiftly picked her up in my arms, walking closer to the pond. Her eyes widened as I stood at the edge of the pond, holding her out in front of me.
"No!" She shrieked, clutching my t-shirt. "Jackson!" She cried as I let her go. She plunged down into the water, a large splash of water erupting from her fall. I laughed. She popped her head up moments later, her hair, wet and stringy, sticking to her face. She looked as she had before, any guarded emotions washed away in the pond, though there was something new in her eyes. Her eyes grew darker as they fell on me, and the look they carried made me suddenly want to be close to her.
She drifted in front of me, and motioned for me to come closer. I crouched down on the edge of the pond, leaning close to her, and she grabbed my shirt, pulling my body even closer. I felt her warm breath on my face, her amazing scent enveloping me. Her face leaned into mine, her eyes drifting shut moments before mine did the same. Her lips were so close to mine.
Splash!
I was suddenly pulled forward, and I lost my balance, sprawling into the pond beside Scarlett. Tease. Still underwater, I found her waist and pulled her down next to me. She struggled for a moment before submitting and falling into the water beside me. I pulled her body to me as she draped her arms around my neck.
Her long hair floated around us carelessly, a veil covering us from the outside world . I leaned into her, quickly pulling us both above water before laying my lips on hers.
All my life I had heard stories. Family members explaining to me what it felt like to have a mate. I had heard that it was the best thing in the world. That when you first kissed, and every time after that, it felt like nothing else existed, and you and your mate were completely by yourself in the world.
I used to only half believe, knowing that mates were a blessed thing but not believing all the stories I heard.
Now, as I felt Scarlett's soft, wet lips against my own, I understood what everyone was saying. The world floated away, if only for a second, and it felt as if Scarlett was the only one there, the only important thing in my life.
Her lips quickly moved against mine in response, and I swept my tongue against her bottom lip, asking for entry. Instead of agreeing, she promptly took my bottom lip into her mouth, leaning into me more. Her dominance, while slightly grating to an alpha, was a huge turn on for my wolf. I hastily pulled away from her before my wolf could take over, and laid my forehead against hers.
I stepped out of the pond and offered a hand to help Scarlett up as well. Since she was soaked to the core, her white tank top was sticking tightly to her magnificent body, her black bra showing through the now translucent fabric.
I, though enjoying the sight myself, growled at the thought of anyone else seeing her like this, and I restrained myself -- with difficulty -- from throwing my t-shirt over her to cover her, knowing that that would seem oddly possessive for a first date. Instead I settled for handing her her dry jean vest, and watching as she slipped it on, successfully hiding the majority of her soaked chest.
She also took off her black heels, chuckling as water leaked from them as she took them off. I was rather glad that she wasn't mad about me completely soaking her, it would have definitely ruined our date if she had ended up pissed at me.
I had packed up the blanket and food, tucking everything back inside the basket and I now picked it up in one hand, grabbing Scarlett's free hand in my other as we walked back to the car together.
If I did say so myself, that was one hell of a good first date.
~~~
Yay! They finally had their first date! And of course Jackson had to ask about Scarlett's old boyfriends. ಠ_ಠ Nice going Jackson, you just reminded her why she never wanted to date again.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed this update, it came really early. (As in less than five months later ಠ_ృ) Ahh...I joke.
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