Adelaide sat in her mum's living room watching the minutes tick by on the large gold ornate clock that hung above their old fashioned TV. This place was sapping her energy, all she wanted to do was strip off all of her clothes and shift into her pure white wolf and run home. This place just felt like a cage, no wonder Connor was so intent on escaping.
She felt guilty for not wanting to spend time with her mum but all she wanted to talk about was local gossip, news, weather and who was going to win Britain's got talent. Adelaide thought about it and couldn't actually remember the last time she sat down to watch the television. It just seemed rather unimportant at home. 'home' she thought, it was amazing just how quickly she had settled in the Kelltoch lands, everyone had accepted her as their Alpha female and now with baby Sofia to fuss over she knew that she could never return to live here.
The front door clicked open "Honey I'm home!" her dad said in his best Fred Flintstone impression, he cracked open the living room and his eyes went wide as he caught sight of Adelaide. He quickly walked over to her and pulled her into a hug "I have been worried sick thinking about you" he sighed as he held onto her. "So what happened you give him the elbow?" he asked sternly holding her shoulders at arms length. Adelaide smiled as her dad spoke about what he would do to him if he had hurt her. 'If only he knew how hard that would be to achieve, even with all of her strength it would be a challenge.' she thought.
She explained to her dad the same story she told her mum that they had gone away on holiday and she had lost her phone and it was abroad so it would have cost too much money to phone home. "If you went abroad, why don't you have a tan?" her mum interrupted causing her dad to laugh deeply "I can think of a few reasons" he grinned and wiggled his eyebrows as he watched a blush appear on his wife's face to say she realised what he meant "Oh" was all she said again on the matter.
It wasn't long after before a chap on the door made her parents jump, she would have to tell Connor to watch his strength as well, as anyone else would have thought it to be a policeman's knock. Her mum jumped to open the door, but Adelaide had felt him before he was even near the door. She knew that they could quite easily spend the rest of their lives together without ever getting tired of each other.
At first Connor looked a little uncomfortable, but as her dad pulled out a dusty bottle of whisky from the back of a cupboard and offered a glass to Connor it became clear that things were going to be OK. She spoke to Connor through their mind link to tell him the cover story on why they hadn't kept in touch.
Connor hinted just how thirsty he was and Mary offered to make him a cup of coffee and to his delight Adelaide followed just leaving him with Peter. "Before they come back, I was wondering if you would do me the honour of allowing me to marry your daughter" Connor asked feeling a bout of déjà vu, he opened up the ring box to show his choice of ring and couldn't mistake the tears that were collecting at the corners of his eyes. "That is just perfect! I will allow you to marry my daughter, but if I find out you are treating her badly I will make you pay!" he whispered patting Connor roughly on the back. Connor smiled to himself knowing it was more likely the other way round, his side still tingled from when Adelaide elbowed him earlier, but he would never let on to her just how strong she really was "I will let you mention it to your wife when we leave it's not fair to keep her in the dark" he winked at Peter just as Mary returned with a tray of biscuits and cups of steaming coffee.
Adelaide was glad to be home, she felt better now she had spoken to her parents and promised to keep in touch, and Connor even gave them his mobile number in case Adelaide lost her phone again. They opened the front door and immediately the stench of dirty nappies hit their noses "YUCK! That's just nasty" Connor spluttered as he wafted fresh air in through the open door. "Can someone please open a window?" Connor growled before bumping into a flustered Colin. He looked at Adelaide with pleading eyes "Help! Sam went to lie down and Sofia won't stop crying, I came here to give Sam some peace but nothing I do seems to work" he rambled.
Adelaide shook her head and followed the smell into a small room that was sometimes used as a spare room. "Have you tried changing her nappy for a start" she said holding her nose and watched in disbelief as Colin shook his head no. "Well that's a good starting point" she huffed and looked around for Sam's baby bag. It wasn't long before Adelaide had Sofia stripped of all her soiled clothes and changed her nappy, luckily Sam had packed spare baby grows and vests in the bag, Adelaide looked chuffed as she admired her handy work, it was the first time she had changed a nappy. She put the dirty nappy into a scented nappy sack and chucked it at Colin who screamed like a girl then growled at Adelaide which resulted in an even bigger growl from Connor for growling at his mate. Colin bowed his head and picked the nappy bag up and put it in the bin.
Sofia was a lot happier now she was clean again but she was still whimpering slightly "I wonder?" Adelaide said more to herself and she proceeded to pick her up and hold her to her chest and rubbed her back in small circles, after a few minutes she heard a long burp "Just as I thought, she had wind" she gently placed the baby down in her pram and rocked her till she nodded off.
Connor had just stood watching her the entire time with a goofy look on his face "Hey lover boy" Colin teased as he walked up to his cousin "She's going to make a brilliant mum someday" he grinned "Sooner than she thinks" Connor smirked. "Oh my god! When are you going to announce it to the pack?" Colin whispered "As soon as she finds out...and no telling anyone, I just had to tell someone before I burst" Connor confessed. Connor knew he could trust his cousin that's why he made the best Beta.
"Right I need to steal my mate back!" Connor grunted having enough of sharing her any longer "You fancy a walk?" he asked casually. "Yeah, I'd love a run!" Adelaide spoke softly so she didn't wake the baby. "No I fancy a walk in human form" Connor winked "I can't hold your hand in wolf form" Colin stood there with his fingers down his throat "Grow up Colin" Connor growled punching him on the shoulder "Ouch! Could you at least not use all your strength" Colin groaned rubbing his shoulder. "Who says I used all my strength?" Connor replied flexing his muscles acting all macho. Adelaide just rolled her eyes "I'm sure I can still beat your ass" she said in a matter of fact way that had Colin roaring with laughter while Connor huffed.
Adelaide took one more look at baby Sofia and hoped that she would stay asleep until Sam woke up, it wasn't until she heard Connor clearing his throat and realised that his patience was running really thin. She smiled at Colin and headed towards the front door.
"So where do you want to walk to?" she asked as he took her hand gently. "It's a surprise" he grinned knowing that he had already called in a few favours with pack members for their services. Luckily the weather was also on his side as there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the breeze was gentle and refreshing. Adelaide just shrugged but didn't say anything else as they just sauntered through the still bare trees although the first signs of spring were visible on the beginnings of thousands of white buds that stood out against the dark tree bark. She had already spotted one or two butterflies that had been brought out by the unusually mild weather.
It didn't take her long to realise that they were heading in the direction of Connors sanctuary, not that she minded, she loved that place but she would have preferred to run there. The feel of the wind rushing through her snow white fur and smell the fresh new grass and earth filling her wolf nostrils but the sensations that were rolling off Connors body into hers gave her just as much satisfaction.
As she got closer she noticed a faint scent but as she was in human form her sense of smell was heavily diluted. It got clearer as she got closer until Connor stopped and turned to face her "I don't want you to see until I say so" he grinned before pulling out a blindfold and used it to cover her eyes, once he was sure she couldn't see he took her hand and carried on carefully through the woods.
Finally he stopped and her nose was overpowered with too many different scents that she couldn't separate them. "Are you ready?" Connor asked with a slight wobble in his voice that she had never heard before. She nodded nervously and waited patiently until Connor untied the blindfold careful not to catch any of her hair. As soon as the thick black material fell away from her face all she could do was gasp.
Right on the stony beach was a round mahogany table with two chairs, on the table was a tall glass vase with a candle that glowed brightly within it. There were two place settings complete with cutlery, napkins and beautiful champagne flutes that looked extremely expensive. "I thought we'd go out for dinner" he grinned pleased with the reaction as her eyes filled as she spotted the band that had set up just within sight, as soon as she spotted them Connor gave them a nod and within seconds the band started to play old love ballads. 'Perfect' Connor thought, he had placed them there so the music wasn't too loud but loud enough to have the effect he wanted.
A man walked up beside Connor, Adelaide recognised him from the pack meetings, he wasn't high up in rankings so wasn't seen as much as others "Your table is ready" he said lowering his head in respect to both of them before sweeping his suited arm in the direction of the table. "You should have told me, I could have dressed up a bit" Adelaide mumbled staring at the casual clothes she was wearing. "You look gorgeous to me" Connor replied as he lifted her hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on it. The man ushered them to their seat. The table and chairs hat been placed on top of nine large marble slabs that allowed them to pull their chairs in with ease and stopped the table from rocking on the stones.
The man waited till they were both settled before handing them each a menu "May I take your drink order?" he said in his poshest voice that made Adelaide smile as it seemed so out of character but she wasn't complaining, this was beautiful. "May I have your finest champagne" Connor said in an ever posher voice that definitely didn't suit him. The man bowed with a wink and walked over to a bush and pulled a bottle out from an ice bucket that sat behind it. She thought she was going to pee herself when he returned to say he forgot to bring a bottle opener. Connor shook his head and took the bottle off him "Champagne doesn't need one" he said in a tone that said that he didn't have any intentions of patronising the man for his mistake. He pointed out how to open it then Adelaide watched as both of them slipped back into character again. It was like watching a film being made.
Once the glasses had been filled, the man left them in peace to enjoy the expensive bottle that he had already brought from his own private collection that he stored in the basement of his house. This was only one of ten bottles that he had bought at an excusive auction in France. Now he had plans to use the rest for special occasions such as their wedding day and the birth of their child. He didn't approve of pregnant women drinking but with their super fast metabolism, it didn't do werewolves any harm.
Connor watched the delight on Adelaide's face as she took her first sip "WOW this is gorgeous, I have never tasted anything like it before" she smiled taking another sip and moaned with satisfaction as the sweet bubbly liquid slid down her throat, Connor hoped that she didn't react like that with everything he had planned for her or the only thing going on that table would be her followed by him.
Connor motioned to her to look at the menu, everything on it had already been organised by his mum who was an excellent cook, she had been determined to help in any way she could. Adelaide scanned the menu and spotted steak with all the trimmings "Mmm my favourite!" she licked her lips unaware of how the simplest gesture was causing serious problems as Connor readjusted himself on the seat. He raised his hand to catch the waiter's attention who very quickly headed over to them. "Can we have two rare steaks with the onion rings, chips, corn on the cob and pepper sauce" he said with a huge grin. Adelaide had never seen him smile so much but seeing him happy made her full of happiness too. "Did you say rare?" she said bringing herself back to reality "Yip, it's the only way to eat steak, don't tell me you have never tried it?" Connor asked wondering whether to bring the waiter back to readjust the order. "I have only had steak a few times and they were very well done" she mumbled, her parents could never afford to cook expensive meals, the only steak she ever used to get was steak mince, although she had bought some in for her mums birthday, but cakes were more her speciality.
"Trust me once you try it you will never look back" he said confidently, and she nodded as she trusted his opinion. The meal took longer than Connor had thought to come, he forgot that the waiter had to phone his mum to tell them what they wanted and then they had to rush it over to them without it getting cold. Adelaide looked so relaxed that it didn't bother him as they both just talked about anything that came out their mouths. It was clear that Adelaide had grown up in a very sheltered way with two people who had given her all the values that he adored about her, he wondered if she had been brought up by her real parents would she be the same?
At last the meal came by two very puffed out men who had carried the food that was kept hot by large silver lids all the way from his mum's house. Connor thanked them and told them that he would thank them later and watched Adelaide's face as the silver lids were revealed to uncover the largest steaks even Connor had seen, the steak was so big that the corn and onion rings were in a separate dish along with a little jug of creamy pepper sauce. The smell coming off the food instantly made Connors stomach growl causing him to blush slightly as he looked at an amused Adelaide "I think we better get started before you waste away!" she joked before her own stomach joined in, they both just looked at each other and laughed.
Just as well werewolves have fast metabolisms because after the meal and a full bowl of sticky toffee pudding with cream, they both sat there completely stuffed. Adelaide had a brilliant time, it was the first time she had eaten anything so delicious, Connor had been right about the rare meat, even her wolf rejoiced at receiving something that resembled as close to raw meat as possible. The champagne had been finished ages ago although Connor had only one glass 'whoops!' she thought feeling a bit guilty.
Connor knew it was now or never, he reached over the table to feel for her hand and waited until he had her full attention "I just hope you believe me when I tell you that werewolves are mates for life, but there are a few traditions that have been integrated into our way of life from the humans" he said hoping his voice didn't give away just how nervous he actually was.
He stood up and walked up to Adelaide's chair and knelt down on one knee while pulling the little black box out from his pocket, "Although you carry my mark that is visible to me and to everyone in our world, I want it known everywhere that we belong together, not just matched together by the spirits but by the love we have for each other and will continue to have...will you be my wife?" Connor held his breath and closed his eyes when he didn't hear a response. He failed; surely he would have received an answer by now if she wanted this. He opened his eyes again when he heard a sniffing noise and realised that she was crying.
"We can wait if it's too soon?" he said feeling rather rejected but he saw a smile spread across her face "What you want to wait?" he asked again and watched as she shook her head "I would love to be your wife, sorry I have been feeling a bit emotional lately" she sniffed as Connor opened up the velvet ring box, her eyes filled up again "It's perfect! Just what I would have picked" she sniffed as she held her left hand out so that Connor could place the exquisite band on her slender finger.
She heard a roar of cheers come from all around her and realised that the whole pack had gathered while Connor was proposing to her.