Chapter 18 Dating Comes Before Mating
Josh
Being with Bane Blackwood the second time around is an experience.
“Save me, Josh!”
A four-year-old girl jumps on my back. One of the younger pack members, she turns to me for assistance during a fierce game of tag. I sprint away from the kid who is ‘it’ and race to the other side of the lawn with my passenger.
Playing a rambunctious game of tag with the pack kids is always fun and good exercise, whether in wolf form or human form. The sun is bright overhead, and I love these playful moments with the young wolves.
I dodge and weave as the kids chase me across the sprawling lawn. Suddenly, the roar of an engine cuts through all the shouting and laughing. A sleek red sports car pulls up and parks nearby.
Bane emerges from the car, a damn dream in that fitted black shirt and dark jeans, his brown bomber jacket casually thrown over one shoulder. He looks… amazing. And I’m a sweaty mess with a toddler clinging to my shoulders.
“You’re it, Josh!”
So busy watching Bane, it’s easy for a boy barely as tall as my waist to run over and tag me.
“Uh, I might have to take a break.”
“No fair! I got you.” The little boy follows my gaze. “Whoa, do you know him?”
Bane strides across the grass, commanding every eye on the lawn.
The kids freeze mid-chase, their game forgotten.
I doubt they recognize his status in the other pack, they just respond to his confidence, gawking like he stepped off a movie screen.
Which, honestly, isn’t far from the truth with that killer smile and fierce swagger.
“Are you ready to go?” he asks doubtfully, eyeing the girl perched on my shoulders like she might be a bizarre accessory he doesn’t understand.
“Go? No, I’m not even close to ready.”
“Did you forget about our date?”
The kids erupt into giggles, whispering and elbowing each other the moment they catch the magic word ‘date.’ The girl clinging to my back drums her heels against my sides, and I crouch to let her scramble down. She zooms away, laughter following her as she runs.
“You’re a little early,” I inform him.
“Better than being late. I’m only…” He consults his watch. “Wow, two hours early. Guess I should have checked my fancy new watch more closely. Should I go?”
He tucks his hands in his pockets, expression bashful. Butterflies flutter wildly in my stomach, out of control, and I melt on the spot. He’s a far cry from the distanced alpha I started hooking up with.
“Stay,” I say, leading him back to my place here. “Just let me get changed and grab my keychain.” In addition to a few charms, it holds the keys to the apartment above the potions store too.
“Don’t worry about that. I received permission to spend the night.”
I stop in my tracks. “You got permission?”
Bane’s cheeks actually flush faintly. “It’s not a big deal. Seriously. I asked your Alpha, and he told me to do whatever I want, it’s a free country.”
Not surprising. Our pack isn’t as strict or guarded as his. But Bane still asked. It’s the thought that counts and that thought?
It counts for a lot.
~
Josh
Bane isn’t always two hours early. He’s usually late, though he never keeps me waiting very long.
It’s a huge improvement, even though his lack of punctuality doesn’t bother me nearly as much as it used to.
Not when he’s trying so hard to get things right this time.
He’s just as grateful for this second chance as I am.
Honestly, I’ve probably been falling in love for a while. But now that we’re dating and neither of us is trying to resist the other, I’m falling hard.
We show each other our favorite places in the city as we get to know each other.
The cramped bookstore where I used to escape after school, amazed by the memoirs from actual shifters, vampires, and witches instead of just fantasy novels from human authors.
Or the cozy Italian restaurant that Bane claims makes the best spaghetti and meatballs, but I prefer his.
He tags along as I visit different covens, searching for the craft that calls to me. He even tests the potions I brew and lets me practice spells on him, trusting I won’t turn him into a hamster or were-gerbil.
I bring coffee for the mornings he hits the gym early, training for his leadership fight. Sometimes I even spar with him. Our wolves mesh together well, with his providing the bulk and muscle and mine offering agility. But we still face some difficulties as humans.
“Okay, this isn’t working.” He releases my hands but doesn’t retreat from behind me.
“What? Keep going. I’m getting the hang of this move.”
“And that’s great, but I’m only getting hard.” He rocks forward, letting me feel his growing hardness. “Why don’t we hit the locker room instead?”
It’s easy to get distracted during our sparring sessions.
Maybe I should hire a personal trainer, someone who won’t pin me against the mat for reasons unrelated to combat technique.
The fight after Bane’s birthday looms closer, and I have serious ground to cover to be ready… it may require a miracle.
Being with Bane fulfills something deep within me.
He’s even better than I dreamed, but I refuse to let him sacrifice his dreams for our relationship.
His siblings won’t back down easily, which means we need to be ready to fight like hell.
Never once did I imagine myself as an Alpha, especially not leading a pack as formidable as Iron.
But Bane has poured everything into achieving his dream, and I won’t let it slip through his fingers because of me.
~
Josh
Bane shows up out of nowhere. “Just getting done with work?” He smiles and grabs my hands, leading me out of the doorway at the Fern and Flower.
I stop. “No, actually. Just going into work.”
“Can you take the day off?”
This shift comes with downtime when the store’s dead, giving me the opportunity to practice magic and get advice from the other witches. When I open my mouth to answer, he steps forward and kisses me. After a second, I forget how I was going to respond.
“You make a good argument.” I sound breathless when we pull apart.
“Good. I’m here to whisk you away for the weekend.”
“It’s Wednesday,” I point out.
“Okay, it’s a long weekend.”
“Bane, we can’t just—”
“I figured out what you charmed my watch to do,” he says.
“Oh.”
That’s how he found me. He wasn’t appearing out of nowhere. The watch led him right to me, just as it was intended to.
When creating the second watch for a courting gift, I decided it didn’t need a charm for punctuality after all. Instead, there’s a compass charm. The charm doesn’t point to north though, it leads to me.
It took us years to correct the mistakes that kept us apart, but we found our way to each other eventually. As long as Bane can find me, it doesn’t matter when he arrives. As long as he comes back to me, he’s right on time.
When we get back, I’ll pick up some extra shifts and get some practice time then. For now, I smile at him. “A long weekend sounds good.”
Whenever I breathe in his scent or watch a soft smile spread across his face, something in my chest tightens and loosens all at once. Everything else fades away, and I know with absolute certainty yes, this is it.
This is what I’ve been waiting for my entire life, and every moment of longing was worth finding him.