I spun around, grabbing hold of my pocket knife's handle on instinct as the distinct pack wolf smell washed over me. Of course, I could tell right away from the voice and the smell and my wolf's reaction that it was Sebastian, but a lifetime of learned behaviours were hard to shake. He was stood a little too close, a friendly grin on his face that faltered when I peeked over his too broad shoulder to check that no one was behind him.
"I can't believe I have to repeat this, but I'm not going to kidnap you." He sighed, rolling his eyes at me. I flashed him a toothy grin.
"Oh, you certainly won't, but you could well try." I decided. He sighed.
"Your arrogance is astounding." He said teasingly, though there was more than a grain of truth in it. I kept my smile in place.
"I'm a famous rogue, of course I'm arrogant. Anyway, did you bring the spray?" I asked him. He nodded, fishing the clear glass bottle out of his pocket. He sprayed some over himself, and then deigned to spray some over me as well.
"Uneducated rogue that I am, I can still do that bit by myself." I drawled sarcastically. He raised an eyebrow.
"I'm under no illusions that if I handed this to you you'd never give it back to me. If some of the packs realise that you rogues had started wearing this, questions would be asked. Anyway, are you hungry?" He asked me lightly, dropping the bottle into his pocket. Oh, I was going to get that spray before this date was done, even if it was more about the principle than actually wanting it. I nodded.
"I'm always hungry." I followed him out of the alley and across the street to the restaurant. Even if the prices weren't ridiculous, they'd never let me in, scruffy as I looked. But when I was with Sebastian, they happily let me in, even if there was a disapproving glance or two as they led us to our table. He'd decided to seat us at the back, where there was a window looking out over a private garden, so we had natural light but less prying eyes. To my surprise, Sebastian pulled the chair out for me. I stifled a laugh as I sat down.
"You do know that I'm just a rogue, right? Not some snooty pack wolf you have to impress." I jibed gently, looking at the table and wondering if he would let me nick some of the silverware. I could probably sell it for a few quid. The candles and roses seemed unnecessary, but I suppose it looked nice. He sat down opposite me.
"Nothing wrong with being polite. Tell me, what wine do you prefer?"
"Usually the cheapest stuff, but I usually get spirits. They get you drunk faster." I assured him with a grin. To be fair, I was trying to see how snobby he was, how cheap and rough I could act before he got embarrassed by me. So far, he was putting on a good show.
"I'll order a rose, then. Would you like some bread?" He offered, flagging down the waiter. I nodded.
"Sure. Is this place too fancy for menus?" I asked, the waiter unfortunately hearing me. I meant to playfully give Sebastian a hard time, not the wait staff. Once when I was fifteen, me and Nate and Gwenna got into a wager to see who could get and hold down a part time job the longest. Gwenna lasted a week as a shop assistant, and was fired for stealing the stock. Nathan won, having to leave his job as a newspaper boy after two months because it was clear he wouldn't be fired. I did worse of all, because I was hired as a waitress and before my first shift was done, I cursed out a rude customer so foully they stormed out and I was sacked on the spot. So, yeah, I had a lot of respect for waiters, because I didn't know how they managed to handle customers. He grimaced.
"My apologies, ma'am, I'll fetch your menus now." He apologised profusely, rushing away. I cursed, pulling out my battered wallet and fishing out the last tenner I had to my name. I tucked the tip under the candle. Sebastian smiled.
"I didn't think that rogues gave tips." He commented. I flashed him a grin.
"You're thinking of stuck up alpha's." I sniped back as he returned with the menus, Sebastian taking one look at the drink menu before ordering the most expensive wine there was. I felt that was unnecessary, but didn't comment. Instead, I busied myself with the food menu, planning out the three course meal so it would be equal parts enjoyable and ridiculously expensive.
"What will you be getting?" He asked lightly, a note of awkwardness settling over us. In truth, I was kind of regretting asking to come somewhere so fancy. I barely understood half the menu, not helped by my less than brilliant reading skills, and I wasn't about to ask for help. I picked out words I did know that sounded nice and decided on them, and then continued to stare at the menu as a distraction for another minute or so. The dates I'd had in the past had involved breaking and entering, or foraging and hunting, or something a bit more distracting than just eating. I couldn't even talk to him about upcoming raids, or favourite camps, or any of the usual conversation topics among my people.
"Uh, the pate, the steak, and then the trio of lemon deserts." That was only because a posset was among them, and while I'd only had one before, I remembered really liking it.
"Good choice. I'll have the same." Was that meant to impress me? Why was he copying me? Or did he want that separately from me? If common likes in food were why we were mated, I wasn't sure this would work. "Why does that make you so suspicious? I just like those foods the best. Lemon posset especially." He commented. I looked at him sharply, probing the walls in my mind to make sure he wasn't somehow reading me.
"Huh. Me too. They're alright, I mean." I played it down, reminding myself that this didn't have to be a battle unless I made it that way. Then again, if Sebastian decided it was a battle before I did, I would be on the back foot. I should keep my guard up just in case. We sat quietly as the waiter returned and poured us both a glass of wine and Sebastian placed our order. I tried not to be too impressed that he instinctively knew I liked my steak rare. We were werewolves, after all, used to eating raw meat, never mind rare. The waiter disappeared, and he returned his attention to me.
"So, how have you been? What happened in the wake of my escape?" I took a deep drink of wine and sighed.
"Well, we broke camp as soon as we realised you'd escaped, and that one will never be used again. My da figured out that it had to be a rogue who helped you, so that's a brand new witch hunt that's been started." He looked suitably worried.
"He doesn't suspect you, surely? You're his daughter, and if the rumours are to be believed, his successor as well." He reasoned. I sighed and shook my head.
"Yeah, blood only goes so far. I'm suspected, as is everyone else who could conceivably have helped you escape. And yeah, that rumour is probably true, though the rogues will only follow me if they want to, no matter how much my da endorses me." I explained. "Anyway, he's currently conducting mind searches to rule people out." Sebastian's eyes widened in panic for me.
"Then you have to get out of there! I understand that he's your family, but what if he manages to crack your mind open?" He hissed, reaching over the table to grab my hand. I cracked a grin and shook my head.
"He isn't forcing anyone to do it, and most people won't even go for it. Trust me, I'll be fine. I know how to look after myself." I reassured him, squeezing his fingers before pulling away. He gave me a smirk.
"Of course you can. You're Natalia of the rogues and you're still alive." I raised a good humoured brow at him.
"Yeah, I've become pretty good at dodging enemies. Especially since someone put a million pound bounty on my head." I said pointedly. His eyebrows shot up and a look of horrified surprise passed over his face.
"By the gods, I completely forgot about that. I'm so sorry, I'll have it removed at once." He reassured me.
"You will do no such thing! I'm winning." I protested.
"What do you mean, 'you're winning'?" He questioned me, looking utterly perplexed.
"Well, me, my da, my brother and my sister have a competition going to see who's bounties can be pushed up the most. When you put your bounty out, I took first place, even if the three of them combined theirs." I informed him with a satisfied grin, confused myself as to why that didn't seem to clear anything up for him.
"It also makes it a lot more likely that you'll be captured or betrayed!" He said slowly, like I wasn't aware.
"That doesn't matter." I assured him. I thought his eyes would bug out of his head.
"I disagree! Gods, I have got to remove that bounty, competition or not." I was not about to let him take that away from me, but I knew 'look, it's important for me to be better than my family' wouldn't constitute a reasonable argument for him.
"Look, you actually shouldn't do that. First of all, it'll look really weird if you suddenly rescind it, and secondly, having your bounty on my head that wants me alive is literally the best thing for me. If I do get caught, which is bloody unlikely, they'll just hand me over to you. And given I have reasonable doubt that you won't torture me until my heart gives out like the other packs will, I reckon being handed over to you would be the best outcome for me in that situation." I argued with him. Unspoken was the assumption that he probably wouldn't throw me into a jail cell to rot, which would make escaping so much easier. I mean, da would definitely launch a raid against the pack to break me out, but that would cost a lot of rogue lives.
"Alright, fair point. I'll keep the bounty on you." He relented. I grinned triumphantly, before letting it fade to ask a more serious question that I definitely shouldn't ask.
"You don't seem to be upset that I killed your da." I pointed out, knowing that it would make the mood plummet. And I wasn't wrong. He winced, taking a long drink of wine before he tried to respond. Before he could even talk, the waiter came and set down our starters, reading the tense mood and excusing himself as quick as possible. Glad of the partial distraction, I tucked in as Sebastian formulated his response.
"Me and my father weren't close. Besides, you are my mate. It's hard to hold a grudge." He explained vaguely. Clearly, he wasn't as dedicated to being petty as I was. I nodded.
"I mean, it was just revenge." I explained, realizing it was probably the wrong thing to say when he winced.
"I would have said that revenge was completed after your father killed my sister." He murmured. I scowled at him.
"Right, first of all, my sister and my ma was killed, so if anything, I was nice by killing your da and not your ma because I recognise that all she did wrong was to be mated to an arsehole. Your da didn't do the same for my mother. And secondly, your sister wasn't killed." I scoffed, though my words were only partly true. After all, I had spared his mother for the time being, but losing your mate would kill you sooner rather than later, and I doubted she was as tough as my da was. But Sebastian was looking at me with wide eyes, utterly shocked.
"My sister is still alive?"