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“Oh, um…”
He doesn’t even wait for me to finish my thought before he flags down a waiter and orders three more waffles, a yogurt parfait, and a double portion of bacon. He orders the same for Ren, who squeals in delight.
“That’s way too much,” I insist, dabbing my napkin at the corner of my mouth.
“Then save some for later. You should never go hungry while you’re a guest in my home.”
A few minutes later, two plates piled high with food arrive, along with a serious-looking businessman. He whispers something to Ryker, who gives us an apologetic smile as he stands.
“I’ll see you two ladies in a little bit for our outing.”
He leaves, and I turn back to my breakfast.
“Are you excited for the group date?” Ren asks me as she grabs her coffee cup.
“Kind of. It will be nice to go shopping and not have to worry about prices. I’m a little nervous to be hanging out with the other girls though,” I whisper as I glance over at the other tables.
A tall brunette with flawless makeup and a silk blouse worth more than everything I own combined is glaring at me, her dark brown eyes narrowed into slits. She leans over to the woman next to her, whispering something in her ear, though she never breaks eye contact with me.
Her friend laughs, cackles, really, then eyes me up and down. I have no doubt they are making fun of my clothes, which isn’t anything out of the ordinary. Ren and I grew up in ill-fitting hand-me-downs. The only time we had designer clothes was at Christmas when local charities would pool money and donate gifts to the foster homes. Even then, we usually only had them for a few weeks before another foster kid stole it.
The other women’s obvious disdain for us shouldn’t bother me, but I really don’t want to embarrass myself in front of Ryker. There’s almost zero chance I’m his queen, since he only asked me to be part of the group to keep the other women from falling all over him, but I still want to make a good impression.
“We’ll try to keep our distance,” Ren says, reading my mind.
An advisor comes back into the dining hall a few minutes later and announces that the cars are ready to take us into town. Ren and I are the last to leave the dining hall, and she takes my hand as we head out after the other girls.
We hop into the last limo, and I’m happy to see that we’re the only ones in it. The other cars start to pull away and I lean back in my seat only to jump a second later when the door opens and Ryker slides in next to me.
“Ready for some shopping?” he asks me. I smile, the tension of the morning melting away now that I’m in his presence.
“Shouldn’t you be spending time with the other girls too?” Ren asks as we start to head toward town.
“No, I already know that my Queen isn’t one of those girls,” he says, and Ren and I share a look.
“How do you know that?” I ask him curiously. “You’ve barely spent time with any of them.”
“I just do,” he says cryptically, locking those blue and green eyes on mine. I can’t look away, caught up in the gravity of his stare. It’s like he’s picking me apart, examining every piece of my soul like a precious artifact.
The car comes to a sudden stop in front of a fancy dress store, breaking the moment we were sharing.
I blink a few times, then glance at the boutique store, and back to him. I want to ask him how he can possibly know that he won’t fall for any of the girls here, but before I can, he’s climbing out of the car and reaching back in, offering me his hand to help me out.
My hand slides into his and shivers skate down my spine. I wonder if the reason I’m so distraught is because deep down, I want to be the one he picks.
I pull my hand from his, refusing to meet his eyes as I head into the store after the others.
FIVE
Ryker
I spentfive hours yesterday shopping with the girls and I know for sure none of them are my mate. Well, aside from the ever-present riddle that is Malia. Everyone else though is a definite no.
Between the flurry of women running to grab the most expensive dresses, the obvious way some of them were modeling their finds, and the horrible way they treated the staff, I wouldn’t want any of them for my queen or mate on principle alone. Ren, of course was no trouble, but I also know she’s not my mate either. I had plenty of opportunities to sniff out my mate, and no one spiked that instinctive mating pull.
My wolf growls inside of me. He’s furious that we’re still wasting our time with this ceremony when we could be out in the world trying to find our fated mate.
I promised him we would go on a trip after this ceremony to try to find her, and that’s the only reason why he’s not snarling inside of my head twenty-four seven. Just like every time I think about leaving my kingdom without Malia by my side, something in me twists up painfully. I have no idea what fate is trying to do to me by throwing Malia in my path but not making her my mate.
