Alpha Lance

Chapter 5 - A date with destiny

Calliope’s POV

“Now remember, pet, it’s the new King whom your father has decided should be your mate, so direct all of your flirtation towards him,” mother lectures me as she helps me select something suitable to wear for the dinner date. “Try to avoid giving any sort of encouragement to the younger brother. He’s just the lowly alpha of a small pack in Oregon, but don’t offend him either since we’d rather not make things messy or awkward with your future in-laws.”

“I don’t even know how to flirt,” I inform my mother as she holds a black sequin dress up to my body, then throws it onto the rapidly growing reject pile. “You and daddy have never really allowed me around anyone I could flirt with!”

“Nonsense, flirting is easy! Anyone can do it. Just act like you’re interested in everything the king says, and laugh at all his jokes,” mother claims, now holding a pale pink off the shoulder summer sundress up to me. “This is the one!”

Don’t worry about flirting, Snowdrop chimes in. I’ll be there to help!

Half an hour later and after receiving far too many instructions to follow for this date than I could possibly remember from my mother, and conflicting advice from my wolf, I and my mother’s Gamma wolf Rafe were being led to the palace’s private dining room.

It’s a more intimate room than the state dining hall with a dining table set for four wolves, three place settings on one end, and down at the other end a place setting for my chaperone. Far enough away for a small measure of privacy, but not so far that Rafe couldn’t be at my side in an instant if things were to get out of hand.

The king and his brother are already present. It appears that I am to have the place of honor between them at the head of the table, while the brothers will sit to either side of me. They bow to me in respect, then we all sit down, my mother’s gamma pushing my chair in for me. Then he leaves us to take his own seat a dozen feet away.

Don’t they both look yummy? Snowdrop asks me slyly. Especially the one to our left!

“So… Princess,” the king who is sitting to my right begins after introducing himself and his brother Lance while a waiter begins filling our glasses with champagne. “Do you prefer to go by Calliope, or Callie?”

“I usually go by Calliope,” I explain to him. “I’m surprised you even mention Callie. It’s just a nickname my mother used when I was a little pup.”

“So you really are the little girl I made laugh at the state dinner when we were young pups!” Lance claims in a reverent tone. “Remember this?”

I turn my gaze toward Lance and watch as he first breathes on a spoon, and then attempts to make it stick to his nose. It immediately falls, and I can’t help but giggle as he tries once again, and fails.

“Damn, I guess my nose is too big now,” he claims, sounding disappointed. “I can’t get it to work.”

“That’s OK,” I say, patting his arm in consolation. “I think I do remember you showing me that trick. That was a really long time ago.”

“Yes, it was,” Lance agrees, smiling at me with a dreamy perfect smile. He’s even more handsome close up than he had looked last night on the terrace. I recall how toned and muscular his body was, and I suddenly wondered what it would feel like to be in his strong arms, naked. A warmth begins to spread all over my body at the idea!

Rafe makes a sound like he’s clearing his throat. Loudly. I drop my hand from Lance’s arm, suddenly recalling my instructions not to give the younger brother any encouragement.

“So…” I turn back to the king. Alex. The one whom my father wants to be my mate. I try to think of some topic of conversation. Anything! “Uhh… this weather. Is it always this hot here in the summer?”

Meanwhile a salad of spinach and seasonal berries with a sprinkling of goat cheese is being placed before us, while Alex drones on about how the weather here is typically 20-30 degrees cooler, and how global warming is most likely to blame.

“30 degrees? That’s quite a large difference!” I say, aghast at the very thought. “How is that even possible?”

“Oh, you’re probably thinking in terms of Celsius,” Lance jumps in and the explains that his brother was speaking of the temperature in Fahrenheit. “Yesterday was 105 degrees Fahrenheit, when typical summer temperatures around here rarely exceed 80. That’s about the same as 40 degrees and 26 degrees in Celsius.”

“Oh, I see,” I say, slightly embarrassed by my mistake. “That is still a very large difference, though.”

Both brothers agree with my assessment. But then we are all quiet for a few minutes while we eat our salad course.

“So… since I suppose I’ll be spending a lot of time in Seattle, what do you do for fun around here?” I ask Alex when I start to feel the silence becoming awkward. He starts to list all of the tourist attractions specific to Seattle first.

“But then there are the usual suspects,” Alex continues to drone on. “Theatres, restaurants, parks, sports teams like the Seahawks, the Mariners, and the Kraken, several lakes as well as Puget Sound for water sports, and nearby mountains for skiing in the winter. It’s a great place to call home, really.”

“That all sounds wonderful!” I exclaim, far more enthusiastic about Seattle than about the mate that goes along with it. Not that being Alex’s Queen Luna would be an unbearable burden. Far from it! He’s big and handsome, with a rock hard bod that I imagine is capable of giving me all sorts of pleasure.

And big healthy pups! Snowdrop reminds me. But will he actually truly love us, or will he always hold back a little of himself? Always on the lookout for his fated mate?

Our salad plates had been cleared by now, and replaced with crab cakes dressed with micro greens and drizzled with a tasty citrus buerre blanc sauce. I take a bite, delicious!

“Would you like to know anything about my pack?” Lance asks me suddenly.

“Umm… sure,” I say, trying not to sound overly enthusiastic with Rafe sitting not too far off. Then I listen eagerly while Lance waxes poetic about the beauties of Bull Run, of vast forests, and flowered meadows. Tall mountains and hidden lakes. I soon found that listening to this wolf talk was a pleasure all on its own, as if he was trying to convince me to give him a chance. Like he wanted me to love his pack as much as he does. And I really wish to love his pack. And him.

And then Rafe coughed, loudly, instantly spoiling the atmosphere like a bucket of cold water thrown at me.

“Excuse me,” I say, effectively cutting off Lance’s talk about his home mid sentence. “Can you point me in the direction of the nearest restroom?”

I just needed an excuse to get away for a minute to get my head on straight before I end up running off to Oregon with the younger brother!

Rafe lectured me on my duty to my father and all of Rising Moon as he escorted me to back to the dining room. As if I were stupid enough to risk my father’s fury over a nobody Alpha.

The rest of the meal I managed to keep my focus entirely on Alex, as if Lance didn’t even exist. And we ended the evening cordially, each wolf kissing my hand in parting. The feeling of Lances fingers softly caressing my own leaving a faint but pleasant sparkly sensation for several minutes afterwards.

Blast the moon goddess for making him the younger brother!