Chapter 7

The banquet ended.

Sophie wanted to take me to her place to thank me properly.

She was sweet, but sorry. She wasn't the one I was trying to win over.

Just as I was scrambling for an excuse to decline, Soren pulled up in his car.

"Get in. I'll drive you home."

I clung to the lifeline, quickly said goodbye to Sophie, and climbed into Soren's car.

The whole ride, Soren didn't say a word. He just drove fast.

It wasn't until we were nearly at my place that the words he'd been holding back finally came out.

"Why did you perform magic for Sophie?"

He kept looking at me.

"Doesn't it bother you, me and her?"

The barrage appeared before my eyes with instructions.

[This is your chance to show how thoughtful and understanding you are.]

Thoughtful and understanding?

I could do that.

I looked into Soren's eyes and said, "I know you care about her. If making her happy makes you happy, then I'm willing to help."

Soren slammed the brakes so hard he nearly hit a utility pole.

He stared at me as if he'd been struck by lightning.

After a long, stammering pause, he managed to get out a single sentence.

"Are you out of your mind?"

The streetlight filtered through the car window and fell across his face. Seeing the faint blush on his earlobes, I knew I'd said the right thing again.

"I don't even like her that much. She just grew up with me. I've always thought of her as a little sister."

Soren tried his best to sound casual.

"Is there anything you want?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like a gift... Don't get the wrong idea. I just feel bad that you had to deal with all that for nothing."

Soren had given me plenty of gifts before, and none of them were cheap.

The moonstone earrings he'd given me, for instance. When I looked them up afterward, they were worth over six hundred thousand dollars.

I really couldn't accept anything else from him.

But the barrage kept urging me.

[This is your chance. It'll bring you two closer. You have to seize it.]

[This could be your token of love.]

I thought for a moment, then looked at Soren.

"Anything at all?"

Soren nodded with total confidence, as if there was nothing in the world he couldn't afford.

"Could you take Goldie back? He'll be so lonely without his dad."

Soren stiffened.

"That's all you want?"

I nodded. "He's one of the few excuses I have to come see you."

He turned his face away. The blush on his earlobes deepened.

"Is that okay?" I asked.

"Fine."

I broke into a smile. "Thank you!"

The car was so quiet I could hear his heartbeat growing faster and faster.

The car pulled smoothly to a stop at my front door.

As I got out, I heard him clear his throat softly. "If you want to see me, you can come anytime. You don't need an excuse."

My eyes lit up.

"Really?"

He gave a small nod.

I beamed at him.

"That's wonderful!"

Soren's face was bright red, but even so, he clung stubbornly to his rule of flirting but never dating.

He stammered.

"I... only said you could come see me. I never said I'd date you. I'm... never taking a mate."

After saying it, he looked at me with something almost like anticipation.

I knew that sentence was his way of warning me not to get my hopes up.

I nodded firmly.

"Got it. I won't date you."

But for some reason, the light in his eyes dimmed.

He seemed almost angry, deliberately hardening his tone. "That's right. Don't even think about dating me. Don't even dream about it."

With that, he floored the gas and sped away.

Living with an Alpha was like living with a tiger.

His mind was impossible to read.