The Alpha's Lost Mate [Completed]

Chapter Ten: The Date

Jamie covered my eyes with his hands as he led me past the tree line behind the training room. He guided me expertly over the rocks and roots until I felt the ground shift to sand underneath my feet, and he slowly pulled his hands back, settling them at my waist instead. In front of us was a beautiful canoe; it looked old and hand-crafted. Sat inside it was a huge pile of blankets, pillows and a picnic basket.

"We're going rowing?" I asked excitedly.

"If you want to," he said tersely.

I spun round to face him and gave him a quick hug. "It's all I've wanted to do since I got here!"

"You have? You never said anything, you should have told me you wanted to, we could have done it weeks ago!" He mumbled, steering me towards the boat and helping me into it before jumping in across from me.

"I don't know, I just figured you were busy with your Alpha stuff."

"Gracie, I am busy with Alpha stuff, but I'll never be too busy to spend time with you or do things that you want to do. It's my job to make you happy," he said seriously, handing me a set of oars. "Is there anything else you've been wanting to do?"

"Learn how to do a backflip," I replied without skipping a beat, hoping it would lighten the mood a little.

"You'll be learning to do a backflip right off of this canoe if you don't take me seriously when I say it's my job to make you happy," he warned, a playful twinkle in his eye. I giggled in response and he quickly showed me how to start rowing.

We rowed around quietly and happily for a while. Jamie let me take in the beautiful sights and the peace and quiet.

"The lake season opens in a little over a week, I thought you might enjoy the peacefulness out here before the tourists descend," he said.

"Does it get real busy out here?" I asked.

"Oh yeah. There's usually just the Alpha, Beta and Gamma families in the pack house, and maybe 20 single adult wolves stay there too for training, protection, company. But in the summer we move another 20 pack members into the house for work, it just makes sense to have them living here instead of travelling to and from all the time," he explained.

"What exactly do you guys do?"

"We run pretty much all the tourist services. We hire out boats, canoes, bicycles, water skis, paddleboards, all sorts. We run guided tours of the area and guided hikes, we operate an activity centre at the top end of the lake. The old pack house on another island is now a National Trust house which we run. Our pack members who live on the mainland run all sorts of businesses; some cafes, shops, we help them with those too of course. We're one big family, so we all pitch in." A smile lit up his face while he talked about it.

"Do you like this time of year?"

"The lead up is stressful, there's a lot of work to be done to get all the hire equipment ready for the season and lots of training to do for the youngsters who want to start work, but once it's all up and running and our lake is full of happy families enjoying their holiday, it's all worth it, it's beautiful."

"I can't wait to see it," I smiled. We slowly rowed up to a small island, not far from the one the pack house was on, and Jamie expertly landed the boat.

"This is Otterbield island, I thought we could have a picnic here away from the pack," he suggested, reaching out a hand to pull me to my feet.

The island was tiny, but beautiful. I could see past the shrubbery to the other side and out across the lake, and its small size meant the view was almost completely uninterrupted. Jamie laid out a blanket on the sand and we sat to eat.

Later, after we'd eaten an array of sandwiches, crisps and cakes, Jamie poured us two glasses of wine and wrapped a blanket around us both. The sun was beginning to set; the first sunset I'd ever seen on the lake, and it was breath-taking. Everything turned golden; the leaves on the trees of our island in front of us, the vast sky above us, and the lake water gently lapping at our feet all beautiful shades of gold and orange, gently giving way to pink and blue hues. Eventually, the sky darkened, and stars began to shine down on us.

"I've never seen anything like it," I breathed, leaning in close to him as I watched more stars than I thought possible appear in the sky.

"You might have," he teased, and I laughed.

"No, this feels different, it's magic."

"That's Derwentwater for you, there's a reason we've stayed here for centuries."

"Mmm," I mumbled, still lost in the view. Jamie gently moved my chin, so I was facing him and locked his eyes on me.

"You happy?" He whispered, barely audible. I smiled in response, and his lips gently fluttered over mine. Sparks ran through my entire body and I melted into him as he rested his forehead on mine, breathing out heavily.

"You have no idea how happy," I whispered back, my heart beating out of my chest.

"Oh believe me, I know," he chuckled, swooping back down for another, stronger, more urgent kiss. His fingers wrapped themselves up in my hair and pulled me even closer as I grabbed fistfuls of his t-shirt. There wasn't a millimetre of space between us, and yet it still didn't feel close enough. Eventually, Jamie pulled away, gasping for air, and I struggled to get my own breath back.

"Humans are missing out on this mate thing," I mumbled, and laughed loudly, the sound lighting up my soul.

"They sure are," he agreed.