The Daughters of Gold and Silver

6. Dates I

I watched a sleek black car pull up in front of my dorm building. My breath caught when I watched Donovon climb out of the driver seat. He looked insanely handsome in his black slacks and maroon button down.

“Great minds think alike.” I said, gesturing to my maroon dress and his shirt. I watched as a smile played on his lips.

“You look beautiful.” He murmured against my cheek, giving it a quick kiss. Having him so close made me feel weak at the knees. He placed a hand on the small of my back and opened the passenger door for me.

“Where are we going?” I asked once we were both inside the car.

“That would ruin the surprise.” He replied with a sly smile. When he turned to look at me I watched his eyes rake up and down my body. A shiver ran down my spine at the hunger in his eyes. He turned his attention forward and put the car in drive. Silence fell between us, the only noise was the quiet music that drifted from the radio. After about twenty minutes, we pulled up to a small Italian restaurant. Donovon hopped out of the car and came to my side to open my door and help me out. I couldn’t help the blush that spread across my cheeks.

“Reservation under Driscoll.” He said to the host. When he said his last name it struck me that it sounded so familiar. I knew he told us in class, but for some reason my mind was sticking to it. Like I knew someone else with that last name. I decided to shrug it off for now. Donovon and I followed our server to our table. The restaurant was beautiful and bursting with life. I was surprised to see that we passed up so many tables. The server led us out to the patio where only one table was set up.

“I reserved the whole patio.” I gasped at Donovon’s admission.

“I wanted some privacy.” He shrugged nonchalantly.

“Oh Donovon you shouldn’t have spent so much-“

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” He murmured, cutting off my words as he cupped my cheek. I felt a blush spread across my cheeks.

“Come, sit.” He said, pulling out my chair. I gave him a smile, taking my seat and letting him push my chair in. He circled the table, taking his seat in front of me.

“Could I get you started on some drinks?” I jumped at the servers question, I was so enthralled with Donovon that I forgot he was still hovering.

“A water please.” I said, opening my menu.

“A glass of pinot grigio.” Donovon said as he flipped through the menu. The server rattled off some of the appetizers and we decided to settle on some bread. I was trying to focus on the menu, but my eyes kept drifting to look up at Donovon. When he raised his eyes from his menu, they locked on mine. I was lost in their red depths and it looked like he was lost in mine. It only lasted a moment before he tore his gaze away.

“You have questions.” He worded it like a statement.

“Yes.” I replied softly.

“Ask me.” He sat down his menu and looked me over.

“Are you married?” I watched as a deep sadness crossed his features.

“I was married, but my wife passed away a long time ago.” He looked away from me, grief was written across his face.

“I’m so sorry for your loss.” Was all I could think to say. He caressed my hand that rested on top of the table, running his fingers along the lines of my palm. It sent calming sparks across my hand that traveled up my arm.

“Were you mated to her?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking.

“No… it was an arranged marriage.” Just as he spoke, the server came back with our drinks.

“Are you ready to order?” The server asked, Donovon raised his brow as he looked at me, I nodded, letting him know I was ready.

“Yes, I’ll have the Parmesan chicken.” Donovon told the server and handed him his menu.

“I’ll have the same.” I smiled as I handed the server my menu. The server nodded and scurried off.

“You have children?” I asked, taking a sip of my water. Pain briefly flashed in his eyes as he gazed out towards the sky.

“I have a son.” He said quietly, taking a long sip of his wine.

“He actually attends Our Lady of Night, he’s just a few years older than you.” His words piqued my interest.

“Oh really, what’s his name?” I asked.

“Marcus Driscoll.” As soon as the name left his lips everything clicked. I remembered why Donovon’s last name sounded so familiar, he’s Rosa’s mate.

“Hm.” Was all I said, but I was honestly freaking out on the inside. Should I tell him? Do I lie to him? Lying really isn’t a good way to start a relationship, but will he freak out when he realizes his son is mated to my sister? As I had my internal panic attack our server came back and dropped off our entrees.

“What about your family?” My eyes snapped up at Donovon’s question.

“Well, my family is very interesting.” I chuckled humorlessly as I sipped my drink. He looked at me and nodded, as if to tell me to continue.

“Well my mom is half vampire and half werewolf and she has two mates or promised as vampires call them.” His eyebrows shot up.

“Two?” I smiled and nodded as I began cutting into my food.

“Yes, two Alphas from rival packs, actually. The stories they told us growing up were very entertaining.” I smiled at the fond memories of sitting in my papa's lap as he told me and my siblings about meeting my mom and papa Rafael.

“Us? You have siblings?” He asked as he forked some chicken into his mouth. It was the most mundane activity, but the way his lips slid across the fork had my brain fogging up.

“Y-yes, a sister named Rosalina and two little brothers, Lucas and Leon.” I stumbled over my words a bit, trying not to watch him eat.

“Are you the oldest?”

“Well, no, not really.” I laughed awkwardly.

“Rosalina and I are twins, kind of.”

“How can you be ‘kind of’ twins?” He raised a skeptical brow.

“Well without going into too much detail, my mother has two uteruses causing her to have two separate pregnancies at once.”

“Is it the same with your brothers?” He asked, taking a sip of his wine.

“No, but they were a year apart. Lucas is sixteen and Leon is fifteen, they also have two different fathers, the same as Rosalina and I.” He arched a brow at my words.

“How do you know? Did they do a DNA test?” I laughed, shaking my head and tapping my nose.

“Wolves can smell their relatives, I don’t really know how to explain it. Like when I sniff my papa, I know we share blood because we kind of smell similar, but also not?” I laughed at my poor explanation.

“I think I can understand what you mean.” He laughed with me and it sounded beautiful and throaty. The rest of dinner fell into a comfortable conversation, being with Donovon felt like second nature, it felt so right. I was smiling on the ride home, butterflies fluttered in my stomach as we pulled up in front of my dorm. I felt my skin tingle in anticipation of being kissed again. As Donovon parked I heard him sigh and watched as he clenched his eyes shut.

“Daniella, you need to reject me.” A sharp gasp escaped me, it felt like a dagger was stabbed into my chest.

“I-I don’t understand.” My eyes stung with unshed tears.

“I’m not the man for you, Daniella.” Donovon stared straight ahead, refusing to make eye contact.

“B-but…” I bit down hard on my bottom lip as the first few tears fell.

“Please reject me.” He finally turned, looking deep into my eyes. There was so much hurt in those depths.

“No.” Despite my crying, my voice sounded firm and strong. Without another word I climbed out of Donovon’s car and ran to my dorm.