"Seriously, this is where you want to be on a date?" Luke asks me while a young penguin cutely slaps his tummy with his fins in front of us.
"This is fun! And no one from either of our packs will be here," I tell him.
"Wonder why that is," he mutters sarcastically.
I throw him a glare before checking on Ben and Claire who are glued to a corner seat since we entered the aquarium and have been making out. Don't they take breaks to breathe?
Ben and Claire also needed an escape from everything going on around us, so we turned this into a group date. But the date part is what Luke and I are doing. Those two are just hooking up.
I turn my attention back to the cute penguin and take a photo of him with my point and shoot camera.
"You know these days we have high-quality cameras in our phones, right?" Luke says.
I wave my camera. "Nothing as high quality as this."
"I didn't know you liked photography."
"It's a little known hobby of mine," I tell him before dragging him to see the seals next.
After seals, we go to the coral reef display. While I try to count how many species of fishes are in the tank, I notice four girls looking our way.
Looking at Luke, to be precise.
It's the usual checking out a hot guy pastime that girls do, nothing Claire and I haven't done ourselves.
"Looks like some prefer looking at you than at the fishes," I say to Luke.
He looks at me before looking at where I'm looking at.
As soon as he sees them, the girls lowkey squeal and giggle uncontrollably.
I kinda miss checking out random hot guys like this. Ever since I found my mate, although I can still acknowledge a good looking guy when I see one, it's not exciting anymore to see a handsome man.
The only guy that makes me feel something is Luke.
"They're cute," Luke says teasingly as he turns his attention back to me.
"You used to try to make Katie jealous like this, too?" I ask.
He raises his eyebrows. "Where did that come from?" he asks. He looks surprised by the question.
"Don't know," I tell him. "Just asking." And I really don't know where that came from.
You know how sometimes you're talking about one thing and then your mind brings up something else from the past? That's how I'm feeling like now as I suddenly remembered that he used to date someone else before me.
"No," he answers. "And I'm not the only one who dated before us happened," he says.
Now it's my turn to raise my eyebrows. And I make sure to raise them high enough.
"Sorry," he quickly mumbles. Bringing up Katie is different from bringing up Andy now. After everything that happened.
"It wasn't easy on me either, to see you with someone else," Luke says.
"I know," I tell him. "But it's not just that. Ben and Claire have been with others before. And so have been you. Granted I went on a couple of dates with Andy, that's all it ever was. I feel left out."
Luke laughs. "Well if it's any comfort to you know that any and every relationship one might've had before they met their mate mounts to nothing," he says.
But that's not all. I didn't explain it fully to him. It's not just about going on dates with others.
My first kiss was with Luke. My first time will also be Luke.
On the other hand, I'm neither his first kiss and nor am his first sex partner.
And that's bothering me.
I waited for him. Why didn't he wait for me? I know it's not uncommon for young werewolves to date before they find their mate, and as I said before, Ben and Claire have done it too.
But Luke having a prior relationship makes me feel like I should've had that, too. Then I wouldn't feel our situation so unfair to me.
I decide to get right on point with him. Let's get everything out in the open. "Who was your first time with?" I ask him.
He smirks. "You look sexy when you're jealous."
"Answer me first, then you can go back to admiring me."
He takes his hand to the back of his neck and gives a shy smile.
Even though he looks terribly cute doing that, I'm getting angry at his reaction. Was his first time that good that he's feeling shy about it even now?!
He grabs my hand and takes me behind one of the pillars. He pushes my back against the pillar and rests his hand on it to my side. "What got into you suddenly?" he asks. "You didn't like those girls checking me out?"
"Stop thinking so highly of yourself. I just want to know who you first had sex with. If you don't want to share, that's fine. I was just curious."
"You," he says.
"You what?"
"My first time – will be with you."
In an instant, all the noises in the aquarium fade away. My mouth drops open. "Are you telling me you're a virgin?!"
He covers my mouth. "Don't shout," he whispers. "But yes, that's what I'm saying."
As much as it's common people having sex before they find their mate, it's also common people waiting till they find their mate.
But with the future Alpha and Beta boys, it's rare.
However, Mike stayed a virgin until he met his mate, Violette. And unlike most mates who decide to stay with each other, Mike is here and Violette is in Australia. She wants to stay a while longer in her home pack, till Mike becomes the Alpha of our pack. Then she'll come here and take her place as the Luna.
I remove Luke's hand from my mouth, grinning.
"Where did your bad mood suddenly go now?" he asks.
"You're not lying to me, right? I know you and Katie dated for two years!"
He sighs. "Believe it or not, she was not my first girlfriend. I've been dating since I was ten years old," he says, cockily.
"So then, you were saving yourself for me?" I ask him with equal cockiness.
He pulls me by my waist towards him. "I'll be honest with you," he says. "It's not that the thought of having sex with a girl I was dating never crossed my mind. But whenever I came close to doing it, something stopped me. I could almost feel my mate was waiting for me," he says. "On the other hand, I never felt tempted by anyone that much, either. I knew that the second I met you at the party and my wolf recognized you as my mate. It took every cell on my body to stop myself from taking you to bed."
I blush. I remember that day, too. Ironically, it wasn't the first time I saw Luke. I've seen him before, probably a couple of times, during inter-pack meetings.
At those times, I didn't give him a second thought. He was just one of the good looking guys. That's all.
But the day I found out he was my mate, I couldn't look at anyone but him. Everything about him was alluring. Everything he did was attractive. The desire was instant.
I pull him by his shirt and connect our lips. The place behind the pillar is perfect for a quick make out. No one can see us.
But I had to pull back before my heat triggers.
"A little more," he says trying to kiss me again after I broke our kiss. I stop him. "I can't. My heat can come," I say.
"Didn't you bring the inhibitor?"
"I've one, for an emergency. Not for every time you cause me to go into heat." For some reason, I get into heat quicker than Claire. Probably because I'm still a virgin – like my mate <3
"Why did you bring only one? Stop being so frugal with it. I can get you however many inhibitors you want."
"Thank you for your generosity, Beta," I tell him. "But I prefer not to get in heat in public places just because you can buy me plenty of inhibitors."
I start dragging him towards the next attraction before he could successfully convince me into putting my emergency inhibitor to use today.
After we've seen all the attractions at the aquarium, we pick up Ben and Claire and have a late lunch at the cafeteria adjoining the aquarium.
Then we watch a movie, followed by an early dinner. When it darkens, we decide to visit the port.
Snacking on chocolates, we enjoy the night view of the port from sitting on the hood of our cars and leaning back on the windshields.
On one of the large cruises anchored near the sandbank, I see a wedding reception. There's loud music being played by a DJ, and a small crowd, including the bride and groom, dancing on the dance floor.
I smile and turn to Luke.
"What?" he asks, noticing me staring at him.
"I think you should know something about me," I tell him.
"What?" he asks again.
"I always wanted to get married."
Ben and Claire break into a laugh at the other car.
Smiling, Luke says, "Well, that's a surprise."
"Trust me," Claire says. "She's been dreaming of her wedding ever since I could remember."
Unlike humans, werewolves don't do weddings. The institution of marriage is not in our culture. The one you choose to mate with is your partner for life. The mating is the ritual that bonds you two together forever. No need for anything else.
It's considered very cheesy to have a wedding for a werewolf couple.
But I've always found the idea of a wedding very romantic. The ceremony, the decorations, the guests, everything coming together for one perfect day.
I also like the idea of wedding rings. Sure, werewolves have mate markings to show the world they are taken, but the marks are not that visible if the shoulders are covered, especially on men.
Rings, on the other hand, are for the world to see. And I want any girl who sees my mate know right away that he's taken.
Also, mating is a union of two werewolves. A wedding, however, is a union of two families, and I've always found that notion very warming.
"So you want to get married?" Luke asks.
"One day," I tell him, so he doesn't drag me to a church tonight itself.
"Okay. Let's get married then," he says.
I happily smile and show him the back of my left hand. He looks at it confused. "What now?" he asks.
I wiggle my fingers. "When someone proposes marriage and the other accepts, they seal the deal with a ring. It's called engagement," I tell him.
I know what Luke did was not exactly a proposal, but that's the best you could expect from a werewolf guy.
Claire says, "But you are the one who proposed to him."
I shake my head. "No. I told him I always wanted to get married. He was the one who said let's get married. He needs to give me a ring."
"That's what you get for asking a girl to marry you," Ben teases Luke.
Luke grins and says to me, "But I don't have a ring now."
I frown, acting all sad.
He sighs at me before looking around him. He grabs one of the golden chocolate wrappers and starts to twist it.
He holds my left hand, and wraps and ties the twisted wrapper around my ring finger.
"And now I pronounce you engaged," Ben says, laughing.
Those three can make all the fun they want of it, but my racing heartbeat can attest to what this moment really means to me now.
I rest my blushing face on Luke's chest while admiring my engagement ring.
Then I look back at the bride and groom on the cruise. The groom leaves the bride so she could dance with her father.
The bright smile on my face slowly fades.
Whenever I imagined my wedding, I imagined my dad walking me down the aisle. After knowing Luke is my mate, will my dad still do that? Will he accept our bond?
The more I think about it, the less I feel like it'll happen. My heart starts to feel heavy.
Luke's hand caresses my head. "We'll do everything you want," Luke says. "We'll get the flowers you want, the menu you want. Our families will be there, and so will the rest of our packs. And before that, I'll make sure to ask your father for your hand in marriage and get his blessing," he says.
I still don't believe Claire's claim that mates can't read each other's minds. I bury my face in Luke's chest and let a few tears escape my eyes.
For better or worse, I'm glad Luke is my mate.