Wolf Wants

Alexander's POV

"Alex?"

I whipped my head around to look at my betrothed. My eyes widened in shock. Cassidy was sitting right there, staring at me. I could hear his heart beating wildly.

"Have you two met already?" The man sitting beside Cassidy asked. Lord Winters. He must be Cassidy's father.

“Yes, sir, we have met indeed." And did things. Today. A rather ill-advised handjob at the time, knowing that I was still injured but it had happened.

I could see Cassidy thinking the same thing since he flushed a lovely bright red.

I dropped as gracefully as I could into my seat.

"Shall we?" I asked.

We all begin to dig into our food. I sighed a little in relief. Maybe now since everyone was busy eating, no one would talk.

“So," Cassidy said conversationally.

Alas, the silence was not to be. I huffed.

“So,” he said again. “Anabelle, what was Alex like when he was young?"

Since when were they on a first-name basis? I looked up at Cassidy. He looked at me with big innocent eyes that were actually really beautiful.

I grit my teeth. Two can play that game, I thought to myself, as my mother laughingly regaled everyone with embarrassing stories of my childhood and my father joining in every now and then.

It's not my fault I wanted to be a horse and ended up crawling all over the place neighing as best as I could like a horse! I was young and the guards' horses were so big and strong, and there were no other werewolves I could look up to. The next best thing was a big strong horse. Never mind that they weren't shifters.

I glared at Cassidy when he laughed at that particular story.

"Lord Winters, what was Cassidy like when he was young? I'm really curious," I asked innocently.

Cassidy’s laughter stopped abruptly, and he glared at me. I sent a smug smile in his direction.

"At least I didn't want to be a horse," he butted in as his father began recounting his tales.

"Oh son, you didn't want to be a horse. But you did want to be a princess," his father said.

Cassidy flushed red and I laughed. 'He could be a princess if we married' I thought.

I tuned in, just in time hear Lord Winters saying, “—You wore your mother's dress and tried to walk around like a princess."

I swear I tried not to, but I couldn’t help laughing at the image of a tiny Cass tripping around in a trailing dress.

I giggled while Cassidy stared daggers at me. He was so adorable! I clutched my stomach, still laughing a little. Apparently, my laugh was infectious and soon everyone was laughing too. Even Cassidy. I smiled. I loved it when Cassidy laughed. I’d get these nice little clenches in my chest. The rest of dinner passed in companionable talk and laughter.

After dinner, we headed to the drawing-room. But my father and Lord Winters kept on walking straight. I looked questioningly at my mother.

"Oh, honey, your father and I have some things to discuss with Lord Winters. Do go on without us first." She smiled. And then winked. I flushed.

I nodded and opened the door for Cassidy and entered behind him. He stood in the middle of the room and look straight at me. I swallowed a little.

"So, that's what today's dinner was for," he started conversationally.

“Yeah," Oh lord. Is he angry?

"Did you know about this?"

“No!” Almost certainly angry then.

"Are you going to keep giving me one-word answers?"

I opened my mouth.

"I thought we had something after what happened today, don't you think?"

I blinked. Heat crept up my neck. I nodded vigorously. He stared at me, and then he laughed. I blinked, confused.

"You're not mad?" I asked.

“Nope. You should have seen your face though," he replied. "So, I guess we're stuck together now. Is it okay if we, you know, date and get to know each other more?"

"I, yeah, we can go on dates. But you don't have to accept if you don't want to?" I said in my best blank voice. I think I failed though. I sounded ridiculously ready to pout if he said he wanted to break it off.

"You don't want to date?"

He sounded disappointed. Wait, what?

"No! No, I want to try. I think we could work," I say shyly.

He smiled back. "Okay cool. Now we have to seal the deal." He bit his lip.

I took a step towards him.

"W-what are you doing?" He stuttered. Aww… That's adorable.

I slowly advanced on him, he inched towards the door. I frowned. "I'm trying to seal the deal!"

"Oh," was all he said. I closed in on him and crowded his lithe body against the door, my hands resting lightly on his hips. He licked his lips. I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his. He made a soft noise in his throat and parted his lips slightly. His lips were so soft. He ran his fingers through my hair and fisted his other hand in my shirt. I tilted my head, our mouth slotted perfectly against each other like puzzle pieces joined. We were grinding against each other, both of us half hard. I wrapped an arm around his waist and cradled his head with the other.

A while later, we finally pulled away for air, panting. I rested my forehead on his and stared into his beautiful blue eyes. The pad of my thumb rubbing circles on his hip.

"Can I take care of that for you?" He asked shyly.

I look at him in surprise. "You want to?" I asked.

He nodded and bit his lip. I reached behind him to lock the room door, then led him over to the couch. I sat down and pulled him on me. He straddled my thighs and put his arms around my neck.

"What do you want me to do?" He asked.

I nuzzled his neck, chuckling into his warm skin. "Cass, you are precious. There are many things I want to do with you, but I think I would prefer to save it for our wedding night," I said. "If we get there," I added as an afterthought.

He blushed and said, "Oh." Then he paused and said, "I want to try something."

He got up and knelt in front of me, resting his palms on my thighs. I brushed his cheek with my fingers.

"Cass, I don't want you to feel obliged to do this. We don't have to do anything you aren’t ready for."

"I want to do this," he said, staring intently into my eyes. I swallowed and nodded.

~

As he rested his forehead against my shoulder, I reflected on what I'd just done. I had just demanded that he be mine in an utterly caveman way. Oh, my god. I was mortified. I blushed in a mixture of horror and embarrassment.

Cassidy pressed soft butterfly kisses on my shoulder and neck. I swallowed, frowning.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. I'm never usually like that." I apologised.

He paused. "You didn't actually want me to be yours?" He asked, his voice thick with disappointment.

"No. Yes! I mean. I do. Want you," I reassured him. "Maybe more than I should,” I admitted.

He smiled brightly. "Me too! I mean I want you. Too. I mean."

I laughed. "Good. When do you want to go on that date?"

"I'm free anytime!"

I chuckled at his enthusiasm and he blushed. "How does tomorrow sound? We could go to the farmer's market, I've never been. Perhaps you can show me around." I smiled.

He nodded eagerly. "Yeah! That'd be awesome! Pick me up at nine? We have to go early if you want to see all the good stuff."

"Of course," I agreed. "But why am I picking you up?"

“Because you're the prince. I'm just a lowly Lord's son. Or...I could just ride you again,” He suggested lewdly.

"I doubt the townsfolk would appreciate seeing a beast transform before their very eyes into a naked man. As handsome as I am, I am still the prince, my sweet."

Cassidy blushed at the pet name. "How modest,” He remarked dryly.

I smiled and kissed him again.

We hastily righted our clothes just as someone knocked on the door. I easily lifted Cassidy off my lap and set him on the couch. Getting up, I made my way to the door and unlocked and opened it, coming face to face with my parents and Lord Winters. I took a step back and they came in.

"Did you guys have fun?" my mother asked, smiling at us. I looked at Cassidy. He shrugged at me, wide-eyed.

"Your buttons, honey." She whispered in my ear; her voice laced with amusement.

I looked down and covered my embarrassment with a cough, quickly redoing my shirt buttons.

We all had a drink and by the time we got up to say our goodnights, it was late, and my parents offered to let Cassidy and his father stay the night. They politely declined, saying they didn't want to trouble us.

“Nonsense! You will stay here tonight. Winters, let me show you to your chambers. Cassidy can have the one beside Alexander’s," my father said in his no-nonsense voice.

Yes! I mentally high-fived myself. Mate my wolf growled. Wait, what? Mate! It growled again. I frowned. Not yet I told my wolf. Soon. I promise. It silenced.

I smiled to myself. Today was just getting better and better.

_

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