Zephyr watched him watch the contents in the box for a long minute, a slight tremor in his hand, before looking up at her, searing her with that powerful gaze.
“How?” he demanded, his voice gruff.
She let her eyes flit down to the dessert she had spent hours finding the right recipe, cooking to perfection yesterday, and refrigerating to the perfect temperature.
Alfajores.
Specifically, alfajores rolled in coconut shavings and filled with homemade jam.
When a ten-year-old Zephyr had asked a then thirty-five year-old dying Adriana why her son, who had such a pretty name like Alessandro, was called Alpha, Adriana had laughed. She’d told her it was because Alphas led the pack and she wanted him to be a good leader, that she wanted him to be a good man.
Then, she’d conspiratorially called little Zephyr closer and told her that the real reason was a secret, one she could never tell. Zephyr had promised with her whole heart, and Adriana had spilled. Her son had a sweet tooth, and Adriana used to make alfajores for him when he was a child, with coconut shavings and jam, but as a kid, he’d never been able to pronounce the word. So every time he had craved something sweet, he’d said ‘alfa’, and it had become a secret joke between mother and son as he grew older and started going by Alpha.
No one knew about the significance of the sweet. And from her interrogation of Victor the other day, she knew he still had a sweet tooth, but she hadn’t known if he’d had these particular desserts since his mother had passed.
She simply smiled at his question.
“Try one,” she urged him, and he just looked down at the box, unmoving, his jawline tight, the scar on his face lighter than usual.
She wanted to give him a hug, but she doubted he’d appreciate it right then. Zephyr turned on her heels and headed out the door, letting him have his moment in private. A part of her was so soft to be able to give him this, something from his childhood that he'd once loved. He’d understand now that she was serious about knowing him, and he’d possibly be tempted to agree to her proposal.
A few curious eyes followed her but she ignored them. Hector waited up ahead near the elevators, his bald head gleaming in the sunlight from the windows, a slight grin on his mouth.
“He say yes?” he asked her as she pressed the button.
Zephyr laughed. “Not yet.”
“I have my suit ready whenever,” Hector winked at her, before sobering. “Don’t give up. I haven’t seen him this interested by something in a while.”
God, her beautiful beast.There was no way she was giving up, and hearing those words from someone who was clearly a friend of Alpha's buoyed her heart. “I won’t.”
The elevator doors opened but before she could enter, a large hand gripped her arm and spun her around, the scent of wilderness and musk infiltrating her nose.
She looked up to see Alpha piercing her with his singular eye, his other hand coming up to hold her chin in place in a move she now recognized, his entire personality intense and aggressive in ways that made her heart begin to thunder in her chest.
He leaned closer, speaking quietly. “I’m going to Tenebrae to attend my half-brother’s wedding on Wednesday.”
Zephyr frowned, puzzled. “Okayyy.” He had a half-brother?
“You’re coming as my wife,” he stated.
Her heart crashed against her ribs, her eyes widening. “Okay.”
“And when we get back, you’re moving in with me.”
She nodded, mute.
“There will be a contract.”
Of course, there would be.
“Do you have a passport?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Tell your family. We’ll meet them before we leave.”
Oh shit.