CHAPTER 118: BREAKFAST DINER.

"So, what are we doing today?" Bethany asked, breaking the comfortable silence between them as they’d finally left the forest area into the town. She was going to miss the forest, but she was beyond excited to spend the day with Tristan.

Given his always-serious, and down to business personality, she really didn’t know what to expect.

"All are surprises." He clipped, winking at her.

"Hell, no! You have to tell me one thing at least. You can’t leave me in the dark." She argued, defiance shining in her eyes, but Tristan just chuckled, shaking his head.

"I definitely can." He teased, with mischief in his own eyes, placing his hand on her thigh, squeezing softly. "Relax, you’re going to enjoy it." He assured her. Something in his tone and the way he looked at her briefly before turning back to the road made her believe him and relax under his touch.

They fell into quietness again, none of them being able to strike a conversation, but eventually Tristan was able to think of something after successfully shoving his nervous thoughts to the back of his mind, putting them under lock and key.

He couldn’t afford to let them ruin his day with her.

"So, you’ve spent two days with us." He pointed, swallowing. "How do you feel about those days? Did anything make you uncomfortable?" He asked, glancing at her.

"Uncomfortable?" She asked, letting out a small chuckle. "No. Nothing has made me uncomfortable. What ever I don’t like, I tell you guys about it at once, and that’s all. Besides, this is our first week together, we are still getting to know each other." She explained.

Nodding in satisfaction, he responded. "Okay. I understand. I have another question." He said.

"I’m all ears." She said almost immediately, happy that they were finally talking.

"What did you think of me before we realized we were mates?" He asked, a bit tentatively, not exactly sure he was looking forward to her response, but he had to know regardless.

She cleared her throat nervously as she thought of the things she’d thought about him in the past.

Honestly, she hadn’t thought about them.

Of course she’d heard about them, she had listened to stories about them from the women in the kitchens and laundries when she helped her parents out, but she’d never really thought about them. She’d never cared about what they were up to, or what decisions they were making so long as they had nothing to do with her, and nine out of ten times try really had nothing to do with her.

When she had wished, hoped and prayed for a strong powerful partner, her soon to be Alphas were not in her thoughts at all. She actually thought it preposterous to even hope on something like that.

"Honestly, I didn’t think about you guys, at all. All I managed to know about you guys were the little bits of gossip I heard in school and at the pack house when I’m there." She responded, hoping silently he wasn’t going to ask her to say the things she’d heard.

"Oh." He said. "That’s interesting. What are they?" He asked, crashing her hopes.

"Huh?" She asked, feeling pretty nervous.

"Don’t do that, Princess. I like to believe we’ve crossed that bridge of fear and reserves. You shouldn’t hold anything back." He quipped, hints of worry in his voice.

Sighing, her slightly tensed shoulders slouched to her side. "I don’t mean to hold back, I’m just... Okay fine." She groaned, relaxing further into her seat. "I’d tell you what I heard about you, and you’d tell me what you thought about me, deal?"

"Deal." He said, smiling warmly. "But we should get breakfast first."

Just then he turned sharply into a sharp parking lot of what looked like a miniscule breakfast diner.

"Wait here." He said as he turned off the engine. He got out of the car, shutting his door and heading to her side.

"Thank you." She muttered softly as he helped her out of his plush car. He pulled her to his side with his other arm, then shut the car.

"Are we too early?" She couldn’t help but ask. She found it particularly unusual that a breakfast diner was empty at eight o’clock in the morning.

"Naa, we aren’t." He said as he led her into the diner. "I rented it out till eight thirty. It’s usually very full, and in as much as I’ve never minded the crowd, I can’t risk a repeat of yesterday." He explained, leading her to a booth at the farthest corner of the diner.

"Hmmm. But that would affect their sales. This is rush hour." She reasoned.

"Yeah, I compensated them handsomely, so don’t worry about it." He pacified, covering her palm with his. "The waiter is coming. We place our orders and you tell me everything." He said as his warm smile almost transformed to a toothy grin.

"Good morning, I’m Mia, and I’m going to be your waitress for today." Mia said softly as she offered a menu to each of them. "I’d be back shortly to take your orders." She chirped, offering Bethany a larger smile, like she knew her from somewhere.

Utterly confused, she looked down to Tristan, hoping he could explain who she was and why she was grinning at her.

Tristan chuckled a bit, shaking his head. "Mia is from our pack, but she one of those people that prefer to stay away from the pack, so you wouldn’t know her or recognize her scent." He explained.

"Oh." Beth said, nodding softly in understanding. "She seems nice."

"She is nice. She loves this place and keeps it going. She’s just like you. I think the both of you will hit off easily." He said suggestively, giving her a look.

"Uhh.. I’m not sure." She drawled, shaking her head slowly. "I don’t think I’m ready for friends. She might see me as weird as well."

"Weird?" He asked, giving her an incredulous look. " There is absolutely nothing wrong with you, Bunny. Those people who discriminate you at the pack are just idiots. I know you’d say might say they are many, but it would surprise you just how many idiots exist in our lives."

"Hmmm.."