Chapter 4
Drake rushed walked towards the shop across the street and stopped in front of the glass door.
"So this is it!... Finally I found her ! My mate…" thought Drake with hopeful eyes.
He pushed the door open and the sound of the same bell as before echoed in the shop. A woman with long wavy ebony black hair was spraying some carnations in the corner of the room, with her back facing Drake. The moment the bell chimed and informed her of someone entering the shop, she stood up from her crouching position on the floor and turned towards the door to welcome the customer.
Drake felt her whole body go numb as she faced him… her midnight blue eyes met Drake's black eyes and it was as if everything suddenly vanished except her and her beautiful eyes.
"She is…. She is just…. Beautiful…" thought Drake while inhaling in her scent.
She blinked at him before coming out of her daze. It was a first for her to act like this towards any customer and towards a man to be precise. But she drew a gentle smile on her pink lips while her doe-like eyes were now looking as if it is the crescent moon itself. She opened her rosy pink lips and said in a gentle voice.
"Welcome Sir, how can I help you?"
The moment Drake heard his voice , he became sure that this is the voice he loves the most in the world. He knew that it was just so cliche but he just can't ignore the reality of him wanting to listen to this beautiful voice every moment over and over .
"I am finally here...:" he said while the woman in front of him tilted her head in question a little.
The next moment, the bell chimed again and another person entered the shop. It was Edward who was pouting a little at the thought of being left behind by his Alpha and his empty stomach weren't helping his mood too.
The woman smiled at Edward too and greeted him the same as Drake. This seems to get on Drake's nerves .. After all she was his mate and she should only show this beautiful smile of her to him and him only. Drake gave Edward a death glare seeing which made Edward whimper internally. The woman noticed this brief unspoken interaction between the two and realized that they both might know each other.
"How can I help you sir?" she asked again, this time while glancing at both of them.
Drake cleared his throat and said " Flowers… I want flowers.." and Drake mentally slapped himself while this made Edward shake his head in pity. " Well we are in a flower shop ..so obviously that's what everyone here comes for… but you should at least try to think harder before uttering this naive response of yours." Hearing this the woman giggled a little which lit up Drake's mood in an instant.
"Of course Sir, But which flower would you like to buy?" asked the woman while giving him a better view of the whole shop which was filled with around 100 different types of flowers and carnations. Drake was not someone who was ever interested in flowers so he came with a convenient way of dealing things as usual and asked his beta instead who had just reached behind him with his panting breath and had his arm around Drake's shoulder in a friendly manner.
"Which one do you like, Ed?"
"Umm.. some colorful flowers?" said his beta ,Edward, half questioning because just like Drake.. Edward too wasn't ever interested in such stuff. His mate , Linda, is more interested in shopping and chocolates than flowers after all.
This made the woman's eyes go a little wide but she quickly put on her previous facial expression back.
"I see. ….. A very good choice Sir. What color would you like to see?" asked the woman , this time keeping her whole attention towards Edward. This made Drake sulky as he wanted her to continue to talk with him only.
" You see, this is my first time buying flowers so i don't know much about them. What would you recommend?" replied Edward feeling a little bashful of himself .
"May I ask what the occasion is , Sir?" the woman asked,
"It's not actually anything special ...I just wanted to buy some flowers to put in our bedroom." said Edward.
The woman smiled brightly and she started showing him different hydrangea and their combinations with other colours to make a rainbow bouquet.
Throughout all that time Drake had a soft smile on his face while watching her every move. He finds her stealing glimpses towards him every now and then too. This made Drake immensely happy. At the end they bought a beautiful bouquet of 5 different colors of hydrangea .. the woman had a satisfied expression on her face .
Drake had a nonchalant expression on as he was glancing around the shop but his attention was still on his mate. He just didn't want to come out strong to her. Drake was an alpha. He never had any issue in interacting with a person of opposite sex. He has looks, money and wits but right now, in front of his own mate , he was actually having a hard time opening his mouth. Drake always thought that when he would meet his mate.. She will just jump into his arms and will coerce nothing but sweet words of love. The mate bond and their wolves adoration will cement their bond even more. But her being a human changes a couple of things in his plan, not like he had any other problem with it. It's just that he can't go alpha possessive on her since the beginning of their relationship. Forget possessive.. He doesn't even know her name yet. He wants to ask.. He so wants to ask her name but it seems that the opportunity isn't showing itself.
At the same time , Edward paid the bill and thanked her for her help.
" Thank you so much for the recommendation , Miss..?" said Edward, waiting for her to answer the unsaid question.
"Ancia." replied the woman with a soft smile. Drake praised his beta for the smooth move and now all Edward could hear was Drake complimenting Ancia like a madman on the mind link while he still had the same poker expression as before. Edward was somewhat impressed by his alpha's ability of not showing his actual love sick expression on his face and was sure now that his alpha might be a bipolar person.
Suddenly Ancia steals another glimpse of Drake. This time Drake caught her eyes on him and with a soft expression whispers
" A beautiful name indeed"
It seems Ancia heard him and with the next moment she stared at him without any expression. Drake and Edward were both confused with her reaction because it was as if she felt offended by his small compliment but the next moment all their worries vanished as they noticed her cheeks slowly getting a rosy tint .
"S...So...Cute!!!!" boomed Drake's voice on the mind-link . Edward had a stupefied expression on his face but after taking a sigh he decided to swallow his thoughts deep inside him.
And then they left the shop. No matter how much Drake wanted to be with his mate as for now it was not possible because they both were practically strangers and he didn't want to look as a desperate man chasing after her by his own mate.
Desperate….that's what Drake told himself and his beta , the reason for not saying much in front of her…
But the reality was different. The next day, Drake went to the flower shop again and bought some beautiful violets. The day after that , he bought a bouquet of beautiful lilies for his mother. And the day after that, different types of flowers for all the old female pack members. This continued on for two weeks and the whole Crimson Moon Pack received lots and lots of flowers from their scary alpha. Edward was skeptical the first 3 days but from the fourth day onwards he decided to face the other way.
It was on the 16th day that Alpha Drake returned home with a grumpy and dark expression. Everyone in the pack knew that it would be better to stay away from him than let their alpha reprimand them for all the mistakes they had committed in the past several years. But Edward and Rick, the gamma, just can't do that .It was their duty to assist their alpha , not only on the matters on the pack but everything else as well. Sighs both, cons of growing up with their alpha as brothers. They might end up as their alpha's training partner or should we say punching bag if things went bad and just to be clear, an alpha during training is not someone anyone would want to witness.
"So….is something the matter, alpha ?" asked Rick in a firm voice while Edward felt an imaginary tear leave his eyes by his friend's sacrifice.
Drake looked up at his gamma's face from his sitting position on the couch .
"....."
Drake sighs again and said
"She thought I was gay and Edward's boyfriend."
Rick and Edward's face went as pale as a white sheet.
"Huhh!", "Why the hell!" squeaked his beta and gamma at the same moment.