A Beta Before An Alpha

Zac's Point of View

“Why are you not in workout clothes? Aren't you leading the warrior classes this morning?” Lauren asks.

“No, I have a meeting at the firm," I tell her.

“Oh,” she nods. She bought it. I didn't know if I would be able to pull off lying. I have never lied to her before. 1 do plan or going into the firm today, but not until noon. Leaving her at all is a challenge lately, but today is going to be tough. I'l be gone all day.

On saturday we worked all day together, I needed her close and she needed me close too. Yesterday I cancelled our dinn plans with Jack and Lexi because we just needed some time together after everything.

We needed some time for just us. We hid away at our place together all day, and it was amazing. We didn't even go down for meals. We cooked together, spent the day making love, and watching x-men movies. Lauren said I needed to work my way up in sequence through the X-men movies before I could watch Logan. She really wants me to watch this movie and cry. She's convinced I will, but I don't ever remember crying in a movie.

We paused it so much we only got through 2 V2 movies from morning until night. I'm really not looking forward to spendir nearly the whole day away from her. What a shock to the system it's going to be.

“When are you going to be back?” she asks.

“Jack never lets us work past 5, and the firm is 30 minutes away, 50 5:30 at the latest" I explain. Her face scrunches up in the cutest way, and she lets out a sigh.

“Ym going to miss you,” she says as she wraps her arms around me.

“I know. Me too,” I admit.

“I'll take care of the furniture order for the rental units today,”

“Thank you, baby. They have my credit card on file," I add. She has been so helpful, she went through the website and picked out everything they'll need. She wrote down the SKU numbers for everything we need, from the website, and now she can just call in the order. She told me she would take care of that because she wanted to help. I have a ton on my pla and I am so grateful for her, and the way she wants to help take care of the pack.

“I want to take you into the city tonight, it's a lot bigger than Red Riverview and they have some really nice restaurants. I taking you somewhere nice.”

“Really? Okay! That sounds fun. That's a lot of driving for you though, do you want me to save you the trip back, and I can meet you there?”

“Definitely not. It's only half an hour. Its fine" I assure her.

“Well dinner sounds great” she coos as I lean into kiss her goodbye.

I have a big day ahead of me. I only have a few hours before I really need to be at the office. First I mind-link joan and as} her to meet me in my office. I can mind link her now that she’s an official member of Red River, along with everyone from Claw Moon. She meets me there quickly, and I know I need to move quickly.

“I just wanted to talk to you about Lauren. I want to propose to her tonight, and I wanted to have your blessing” I explain “Oh Zac, that's amazing! I couldn't be happier to have you as a son-in-law. I see the way that you love my daughter and th way that she loves you. I don’t think Moon Goddess could have given her a better mate. You have my blessing, and I trust you. Gosh, I'm so happy,” she says through tears and I pull her into a hug.

“Thank you, and thank you for raising such an incredible woman,” I say as I pull away.

“You know, there is actually one more thing that would make me extremely happy.”

“Name it!"Posted by FindNovel.net

She starts laughing now, “Grandchildren!”

“I'm on it," I admit, with a smile.

“I called the local spa and you Lauren, and Jenny have an appointment at 1pm. You're all getting the full treatment. I figured you could pick her up after, tell her that after everything lately I wanted you ladies to relax," I explain.

“Oh sounds nice! She'll love it, and so will I" she smiles.

As soon as I get out of my pack, I head straight to the city. Not Red Riverview, but Blackwood, the city closest to Jack's pa that's where the accounting firm is located. I head into a flower shop and put in an order for a large bouquet that I'l pick up later. Then I head to the best bakery in the city, called “BAKED’

It's busy, and I'm strapped for time, so I'm getting a little annoyed. Finally, when I make it to the counter, I explain to the head baker what I'm looking for. He assures me it will be ready for pick up after 4 pm. When I leave I head straight to the jewellery store. The jeweller brought out all sorts of rings for me to look at, and at first, I felt a little overwhelmed.

So many beautiful rings, how would I choose? I look through dozens, with nothing really standing out to me, but then I se it. “This one,” I point.

“Oh, this is a beautiful one. It's a rose gold cathedral pave crown oval cut diamond. The centre diamond is 1.5 carats, and the total carat weight including the smaller diamonds is 2.51 carats. The quality of this diamond is impeccable. It's flawles and colourless,” she explains.

She hands it over to me, and I take a look at it. It's the only one that reminded me of her. “This is the one. I think she'll lo it” She smiles broadly, no doubt happy to make a hefty sale.

“I'm sure she will love it, sir. It's a beautiful ring,” she adds.

suddenly it's like a weight is lifted off of my shoulders. This was actually the thing that I was stressing about the most. I didn't know if a ring would stand out to me, and I really wanted to feel like the ring that I was giving her was special, and something that she would love, and that would look perfect on her pretty little hand. I have never spoken to her about jewellery before, but I feel good about this choice.

As soon as I'm done, I have a little time before I have to be at work, so I head to the place where the magic is going to happen. “Chateau Noir," is a high-end hotel with also a high-end restaurant in it. I go to the front desk with an overnight bag for us.

I get the key card for our room tonight, “Can I also make arrangements for champagne, fruit and desserts to be delivered before we get here? Say 8 pm? We have a reservation for 7pm, and after dinner, we'll be heading up,” I ask.

“Of course, Monsieur,” he says. I grab my key and rush to our room. I don’t have much time left until I need to be at work, but 1 packed clothes and toiletries for both Lauren and I without her even noticing, and I want to drop them off now. I tak a look at our room, and it's amazing. The view from the balcony on the top floor overlooking the lake is breathtaking.

The place is gorgeous. We have a big fireplace, with a more rustic type of decor. Rich rustic looking though. Finally, I leave and take off back to work. I think everything is on track. Hotels ready, the restaurant is on board with my plan, proposal method taken care of, flowers, I think I'm all set for now.

Lauren's point of View

I spent my morning putting in a large furniture order with a local furniture store, and then I went to the daycare. I only planned to go there to meet Mrs. Potter to make a schedule with her, but I got distracted and stayed until nap time. I don want to do full-time hours here, because I do want to be able to help Zac with pack responsibilities too. He takes on a lot and 1 want to help him, plus I like working with him. I'm going to do mornings at the daycare, and then my afternoons are free for whatever Zac needs help with. As 'm heading to the kitchen for lunch, I have a mind link coming through from my Mom,

Hey! Where are you?-

-On my way to the kitchen. Why?-

-'m waiting for you. See you soon then-

When I get into the kitchen my Mom is eating lunch with Julien, and my regular group. I say “Hi” to everyone and then go- the buffet to grab lunch. I grab a southwestern chicken salad and a fruit cup. I love these salads. I never had them before came here, but they're my favourite. They aren't always on the menu, so today is my lucky day. Actually this morning they were serving my favourite cinnamon Belgian waffles too. What a coincidence!

“So, Lauren. Zac has us girls booked at the spa this afternoon,” my Mom tells me.

“Why?” I chuckle. That's so random.

“He said you've been through a lot lately and you deserve to relax with the girls,” she explains. How sweet is he? He's the best.

I grab my phone out of my back pocket to text him, but I realize I must have left it at the daycare. It's so annoying that I lose it everywhere. I hate carrying it around, so I always just put it down, thinking I'l grab it before I leave but I always forget. 'm not meant for modern technology. As soon as I'm done eating we head to the daycare to get my phone, and th straight to the spa.

I text Zac as soon as I get my phone though,

Me: 1just found out about the spa. So sweet. You didn't have to do this. It was really thoughtful though. You are the best. “Kiss emoji* <>

Zac SLADE <><>

Me: I miss you and love you S0000000 much. I can't wait for our date tonight. xoxo

Zac SLADE <>

Me: Sounds perfect

As soon as we walk into the spa, we are given the royal treatment. We are handed champagne, and they didn't ask for my ID, not that I'd have it. I accepted it though. Zac had everything booked. We got massages, a full-body exfoliating treatme that was so relaxing. We also got pedicures and manicures. By the time we got home, it was nearly 5 pm, and us ladies we all thoroughly pampered and relaxed.

I get into the shower, and I make sure that I am freshly shaved and ready for tonight. I want everything to be perfect tonight. Zac's taking me out somewhere nice, and I can’t wait. I haven't seen him all day, and I'm dying to.

'm in the bathroom blow drying my hair when I see him appear in the mirror, with a large bouquet of flowers. Oh gosh, I missed him. 1 flick my blow dryer off and throw my arms around him.

“fk I missed you so much today,” he huffs, wrapping his arms around me. “Mmm, I missed you too. I missed you so mucl I groan.

“Thank you for the spa day. It was so relaxing. You're the sweetest,’ I gush. “And these? These are beautiful I point to the flowers that are now on the bathroom counter.

“Ym glad you relaxed. You deserve it. You deserve everything. I want you to have everything you want” he tells me.

“l want... you!” I smile into his lips, as I plant a kiss on them.

“¢'m yours," he whispers on my lips.

“What are you wearing? It's sexy” he says, and his hands roam all over my backside.

“It's a robe," I chuckle.

“But its silky and short, what's underneath it?” he whispers into my ear.

“Nothing,” I whisper back. He puts me down, “You're tempting me. I don't want to miss our reservation,” he presses.

“We don't have to leave for 45 minutes,” I pout, as I pull him closer by his belt buckle.

“You're not dressed, and you still have wet hair,” he points out.

“10 minutes?”

“10 minutes isn't enough time,” he states, one brow arched. He's right, but it's been a long day, and it's disappointing.

He lifts me up, and sets me on the bathroom sink counter, and pulls the belt to my robe, and starts to kiss me, pulling th robe off of me. I'm surprised because he just said no. I won't argue though.

I've thought about him all day. I wrap my arms around him and push my naked body into him. He starts kissing my neck and moves down.

“/ll take care of you, baby," he says as he starts kissing down. I rest my hands on the counter and lean back. I watch my sexy man work his way down, lower and lower. His lips igniting sparks on my skin and it feels so good.

When he reaches my core, “Zac, I moan. He's 50 good at this.

“I missed you, baby” he growls. Within a minute or two, I'm coming undone, and crying out Zac's name in ecstasy.

He nips at my thigh before coming up.

“Is that going to tide you over until we get back home, or should I keep going?” he smiles.

“You still have... What? 8-9 minutes of your 10 left. I can get you off probably a few more times before then,” he smirks. 50 cocky!” I laugh. “I feel great now,” I admit. He gives me a quick peck, “Good,” he smiles, and walks over to the shower, and turns on the water.

Not so fast. I jump off the counter and skip putting the robe back on. I grab a hand towel and walk behind him. I reach m, hand in the shower and turn it off as he was taking off his shirt.

“What are you doing?”

“We still have, what? 8 minutes left. Your turn,” I smile. I drop the towel on the tiled floor and kneel on it. I start unbucklir his pants.

“Babe, you don't -"

“Shht” I say to shut him up. He obliges me and watches me as I work him over.