Chapter 43 Chapter 43: How Do I Ask This?

Chapter 43 Chapter 43: How Do I Ask This?
Alaric Stone's POV:

I wasn't exactly sure how to say this. How was I supposed to bring up a proposal like the one I was pondering over and over in my mind? This was rather important to me, and it would seemingly be important to her if she knew the full reason behind it. How would I be able to make this work?

As we both sat there on the bench outside the Copper Café, I turned to look at her as her words caught me off guard.

"What do you mean you will do the best you can?" She asked in that moment. "Don't tell me you're gonna act in a similar manner as before."

"I said what I meant," I responded to her comment and question.

"You said what you meant..." She repeated me whenever she stood up, walked to stand in front of me, and placed her hands on both of her hips. "And let me guess, you meant what you said ?"

"Precisely," I spoke with confidence as I leaned back, crossing one leg over the other, and reached up and placed my arm on the back of the bench where she had previously been sitting. "I will."

She took in a deep breath and sighed.

"Well, I guess there's nothing else I can ask," she said as she turned to walk back towards the entrance of the Copper Café.

"Where are you going?" I called out to her, causing her to turn around and inhale sharply.

"Don't you realize..." She asked as she took several steps towards me before she stopped. "I do have to be at work. I am scheduled to work today, despite the fact that I came in early. The last thing I expected was to see you sitting there and apparently not ordering hardly anything except a cup of coffee. Which is probably cold now.

It was in that moment that I stood up on my feet and closed the distance between us.

"Here," I said, reaching my hand into my back pocket and pulling my wallet out in front of me.

I could tell that her eyes went wide when she saw the amount of cash I had. I reached in and pulled out a single hundred-dollar bill.

"Take this," I told her as I stretched my hand out towards her.

"I can't take that," she responded, raising her hands up to her sides.

"Yes, you can," I told her in a firm tone, trying to hide my Alpha's command as I did so.

It didn't shock me when she didn't respond in a manner in which my pack members would have. She was no part of my pack. I would soon remedy that. That was all part of my plan. To take her hand in mine, therefore taking what belonged to her in due time.

"And you will," I said as I paused my thoughts, as I placed my wallet back in my pocket.

Then I reached forward and grasped her wrist, lightly turning her hand over and placing the expensive tender down on her open palm.

"But I..." Leila started to say as she brought her other hand over and placed it on top of the hundred-dollar bill she now held as I pulled my hand away. "This is too much."

"Nonsense," I said as I put my hands in my pants pockets. "This is precisely what I was intending on giving you originally."

"I hope you're not expecting anything extra from this," she said as she opened her apron and took the money down deep inside. "Because I don't do party favors."

"I never would've suspected such a thing," I told her as I crossed my arms in front of my chest, instead disappointed that she would think such a thing.

I knew exactly why she would've thought that. Most guys my age in high school are usually only after one thing. How many scores we can rack up before we finally decide to settle down. It was a number. A number most held high, but I wasn't that way. I didn't care about that.

Just then, as I turned to look across the street, I saw a car park. Leila wasn't paying any attention to the fact that traffic was coming and going, but I did make sure to pay attention to the surroundings. The last thing I would want is for someone to take advantage of the role I was trying to set up for myself.

That's when I happened to see Beta Finn. He exited the opposite side of the vehicle parked against the curb and stepped out, walking around the front of the vehicle. That's when he looked over and saw me before making sure it was clear when he decided to cross the street.

He was just about to call out as I saw his lips partaking in a deep breath. That's when I firmly shook my head back and forth. It wasn't until he was halfway across the street that Leila finally looked up to see him walking over directly towards me.

"Afternoon," Beta Finn said as he walked up to stand on my right side, crossing behind my back.

"And who might this be?" Leila asked as she looked up and saw Finn.

Finn didn't hesitate when he looked at me before looking up at her and then reaching out his hand to shake hers.

"I am Bay..." He started to say when he immediately turned to look at me, and his eyes went wide.

"You are Bay?" Leila asked in return as she reached out and took his hand in hers.

"You can just call me Finn," Beta Finn said as he looked back at her and shook her hand in his.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Finn," Leila responded, finally releasing his grip. "I take it you are a friend of Alaric?"

"You can say that," Beta Finn looked back at me before lowering his gaze down in front of him. After composing himself for a brief moment, he finally looked back up at her. "It's nice to meet you."

"I wish I could say the same," she said, turning back to look at me before placing both of her hands on her hips. "Now, is there anything else I can help you with so that I can return to work?"

"Not presently," I told her as Finn seemed to be a bit downhearted about her last comment.

Whenever I looked back at Leila, she seemed to notice the uneasiness in Finn's posture, then immediately looked at him and realized what she had said that caused such a reaction.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, reaching out and patting Finn on top of the hand. "I'm just not myself today. Forgive my former statement. If it were at a different time, then I might feel differently. However, at the current moment... Just, let's just forget what I said."

"That's quite all right," Beta Finn responded when he reached up and patted her hand, as she still had yet to remove her hand from his.

Beta Finn immediately noticed the rising unease as she still touched him.

"Forgive me."