Precoming Promises

“Bella, I hope you don’t mind, I’ve already ordered for us tonight, for your pre-coming-of-age date. Tomorrow, I will be making you mine.”

“Lu, you shouldn’t be doing all this. We could have just had a picnic under the stars; it would have been just as romantic. You’re spoiling me.”

“Of course, it’s not every day the most beautiful woman in the world that I’m lucky enough to call my girlfriend turns 18 tomorrow and has their coming of age tomorrow night, I can’t wait to meet your wolf, Bella.”

“You’re impossibly biased, Mister Big Bad Alpha.”

Lucious laughed, the sound warm and rich, filling the intimate corner of the restaurant they occupied. His eyes never left her face as he reached across the table to take her hand.

"I prefer Alpha-in-training, thank you very much. And I'm not biased, I'm observant. Besides, I’m only one of the six of us sextuplets, my love, regardless of that fact, Raymond, is the true heir; I’m just second in line." He said, bringing her hand up with his to his lips.

“You're not anything, you devil, what are you planning? Then again, I don’t want to know, or your brothers are likely to appear with Tate, and we know how things will go if they get here. ‘Lucious is just toying with the little mouse’ again. You’d think after three years, you’d think that the bullshit would have gotten old.“

“They’re fools, Bella, you, my love, are my mate, regardless of what happens after midnight when your wolf awakens. I don’t care if you are my fated or just my chosen; you are my mate, and after you have shifted tomorrow night, I am going to mark you as mine, love.” Lucious, already being of age, could already feel the pull between them growing stronger as the clock ticked closer to midnight, and that could only mean one thing: she was his fated.

Although she wouldn’t fully feel it until her wolf woke up completely. Once the clock struck midnight.

The restaurant hummed with quiet conversation and the gentle clink of silverware against china. Around them, other diners remained oblivious to the significance of this night, this moment between two wolves on the precipice of a lifelong bond.

Annabella's heart fluttered at his words. The certainty in Lucious's voice when he called her his mate made her chest tighten with both joy and apprehension. For years, she had dreamed of this moment, yet part of her, the part that had grown accustomed to being overlooked, still feared disappointment. That this beautiful dream might evaporate come morning.

"You sound so sure," she whispered, her fingers curling around his. "What if..."

"There are no what-ifs," Lucious interrupted, his eyes darkening with intensity. He could feel it in his bones, that pull that had only grown stronger with each passing day. What had begun as an attraction had deepened into something primal and undeniable. The wolf inside him paced impatiently, counting down the hours.

Across town, in the Alpha's residence, Raymond sat with the other four brothers, all identical in appearance but distinct in temperament. A map of Silver Creek territory lay spread across the table, territory borders marked in red.

"Lucious is with her again," Drake, the third-born, remarked with a smirk. "He’s still playing with the little mouse again, wonder how much longer he’s going to keep stringing her along."

Her brother Tate spoke, “He's going to keep doing it till he finds a proper she-wolf, then she’ll just find them in bed together, and until then he’ll just keep leading her on.”

Knight’s eyes widened slightly. He had loved Annabella from afar, leaving her little gifts and folded cranes in places that only she would find them as a small gesture of how he felt. Still, he didn’t deserve to after all he too was a part of the bullying as much as the rest of his brothers, Raymond the leader, Drake the one that loved to drive the knife in, Adrian the competitive one, Cage the instigator and himself the follower, even though he questioned their cruelty in the privacy of his room.

Knight averted his gaze from Tate, uncomfortable with the direction the conversation had taken. His brothers never noticed how he slipped away whenever their taunts about Annabella became particularly cruel. They'd never seen the way he'd watched her by the lake, her slender fingers dancing over her flute, creating melodies that seemed to speak directly to his soul.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Raymond said suddenly, his voice carrying the weight of his position as firstborn. "Something's different. Lucious hasn't been the same these past few months."

Adrian snorted. "What, you think he's actually serious about Beta's daughter? Please. Since when has Lucious ever settled for anything less than exceptional?"

The irony that none of them truly saw Annabella for who she was hung in the air, unacknowledged by all except Knight. He knew her quiet strength, had witnessed her resilience in the face of their collective cruelty. But saying so would only invite ridicule, so he remained silent, a conspirator through inaction.

Back at the restaurant, the waiter arrived with their meals, venison for Lucious, cooked rare as befitted a wolf of his status, and a delicate salmon dish for Annabella that Lucious had remembered was her favourite.

"To us," Lucious said, raising his glass. The candlelight caught in the ruby depths of his wine, casting blood-red reflections across the white tablecloth.

Annabella raised her own glass, the champagne bubbling like the hope in her chest. "To us."

As they ate, Annabella couldn't help but notice how Lucious kept checking his watch. A flicker of the old insecurity passed through her. Was he eager for their date to end? Was this elaborate dinner merely an obligation he felt compelled to fulfil?

"Is something wrong?" she asked, setting down her fork.

Lucious looked up, surprised. "No, nothing's wrong. I'm just..." His voice trailed off, and for the first time that evening, he seemed uncertain. "I've waited for this night for so long, Bella. I can feel it, my wolf is practically clawing to get out."