Filed to story: Cara Nelson The Guardian: Werewolf Book PDF Free
She smiles as we walk in. “Alpha, Lu…Cara, welcome to Ethereal.”
“Tamara.” I smile at her. “It’s so good to see you again.”
She smiles at me and gives Rik an apologetic look. I wonder what that’s about.
“Please, follow me.” She says and leads us to a private booth in the back. As we walk through, I notice that the restaurant, which wasn’t exactly loud to begin with, goes silent as diners watch us pass. Everyone nods their head in deference. to Rik.
We are seated in a semi-circular booth giving us the ability to sit side by side and also look out over the surrounding forest. “If you need anything at all, please do not hesitate to let me know.” Tamara says as she hands us our menus.
Rik takes my hand in his as we begin to look over our menus. “Is it always like that for you?” I ask, never having spent time with Rik in public like this.
He turns to me. “Like what?” He asks.
“Like it was when we walked in here. Everyone getting quiet and watching you walk by.”
He shrugs. “I think it was for both of us, not just me.”
I scoff. “Why would people show deference to me?”
He looks at me as if I’m missing something important. “You’re a Guardian.” He says as if it’s obvious.
“But…” I’m cut off as our waitress comes over. “Alpha.” She says and while she gives me the barest of looks, just enough to not be considered rude, she makes a point of looking Rik up and down, practically salivating over him. Yes, he looks. gorgeous, but really, he’s on a date and you’re working. Have some respect.
I feel Artemis push forward. She’s feeling disrespected too and wants to put this she-wolf in her place. But before I can say anything, Rik looks up, giving her a brief glance and smile. “Hey Jessica.”
He turns to me. “Do
“Sure.” you want wine?”
“I say. He turns back to the wine menu. “Red, right?” He asks me..
SONCES-C
“Do you drink red?” I ask, because I honestly don’t know.
He turns and smiles at me. “I do tonight.”
“Rik…” I start to tell him not to order it if he doesn’t drink it, but it’s too late.
He looks at Jessica and orders a bottle of red for us and water as well. She gives him what I assume is her best, seductive smile. He doesn’t seem to notice as he turns back to me. I see her smile slip a little as she turns to go get our wine.
It’s like there is no one else in the world for Rik, except me. It’s heady, and I feel myself getting sucked into the Rik vortex.
Today’s Bonus Offer
I can’t wait to see Cara’s face when we get to Ethereal. I’ve only been here a couple of times with family. I’ve never brought a date. She doesn’t disappoint. The look of wonder on her face is worth it.
When we see Tamara, I’m thankful I gave my Alpha command as she almost called Cara ‘Luna’. Thankfully, the command made it impossible for her to say it and she covered quickly.
When Jessica shows up at the table, I cringe internally. I’m polite, but again, I need to make it clear that there is only one person in this room who has my attention tonight, and she’s sitting right next to me. I give Jessica the barest amount of attention possible to get our order and then dismiss her.
I turn my attention back to my girl. I see Artemis has pushed forward. Cara quickly pushes her back down. Interesting. I wonder if I missed some subtle queue that Jessica gave off. I need to pay more attention.
“So, what do you think of this place?” I ask her.
She turns to look outside, her eyes go wide. “It’s amazing. I can’t even fathom how they made this place look like a fairy tale, but they did. They’ve done a great job. And even though I know the restaurant is busy, it’s so quiet.”
Fairy tale. Yeah, that’s a good way to describe how I’m feeling right now. I feel like I’m in a fairy tale with my princess.
She looks back at me, her eyes so full of wonder. I can’t help but lean in and kiss her sweet lips. Her taste and her scent are getting stronger every day. It’s going to be harder and harder to resist her as we get closer to her birthday. I move my hand to cup her face, her hand pressing gently against my chest. I don’t stop kissing her until I hear someone clearing their throat.
I take my time pulling away, keeping my eyes on Cara, until I finally turn to see Jessica standing there with the bottle of wine. She looks like she just ate a lemon. Good. Let the word spread that I’m publicly kissing my girl. I’ll keep making public displays like this until she wears my mate mark on her neck. I want everyone to know she’s mine.
Jessica shows me the wine bottle, asking if I want to taste it. I look at Cara. “Do you want to do the honors?”
She looks at me and I see a moment of hesitation before she looks at Jessica. “Yes.” That’s my girl.
Jessica pours her a taste and she takes the briefest amount of time, sniffing and tasting it before agreeing that it is acceptable. Jessica pours our wine and then asks if we’re ready to order. Cara starts to look at the menu, but I jump in.
“We’re going to be taking our time this evening. You can bring us some bread and a charcuterie board to start us off.” Jessica looks startled but recovers quickly and gives us a small, fake smile. “Of course Alpha.”
When she’s gone, I turn back to Cara. I pick up our wine glasses and hand her one. I lift my glass in salute. “To the first of many evenings together.” I say.
Cara clinks her glass against mine. “Cheers.”
We both sip our wine, our eyes staying locked on each other. The electricity in the air is palpable. Yep, the next several weeks are going to test my patience.
“So,” I say after we set our glasses down, “tell me something no one else knows about you.”
She arches an eyebrow at me. “Something no one else knows?”
I nod, watching her.
“Well,” she starts, thinking. I see her cheeks turning pink. Oh, this will be interesting. She looks at me through her lowered lashes. “It’s not something no one knows, but only my father knows. Does that count?”
“I think it counts.”
She starts pulling at the napkin in her lap, not making eye contact with me. “Umm,” Her blush has gone from pink to scarlet and it’s moved up to her ears and is starting to head toward her chest.
What in the world has my girl this embarrassed? I reach out to take her hand. I don’t want her to be embarrassed or uncomfortable telling me anything. Ever. I want her to feel comfortable sharing every part of her life with me. I certainly had no idea such a simple question would elicit this response from her and now I’m desperate to know what it is. In the past desperate to know what it is. In the past when I’ve used this as an ice breaker on dates, the answer I get is something like, ‘I got my first kiss at seven.’ Or ‘I walked in on my parents having sex in the kitchen.’ Silly things. Whatever this is, it’s important to Cara. And now I really, really want to know.
She continues to look down at her napkin. “Promise that you won’t make fun of me?”