Chapter 9 Chapter 9
Sophia's POV
The moment I stepped in front of Ethan, I felt the burn of his stare as his eyes roamed up and down my body.
“I can tell how excited he is Sophia!” my wolf giggled giddily.
“I can feel how excited you are too, Kira,” I said dryly.
I tried to make our first meeting a little less formal by reaching up, running my fingers through my hair.
I raised the skirt of my dress to curtsey, as it was when visiting another pack expected but he caught my arm to stop me with a gentle smile.
I observed him in silence as he drew a chair out for me and motioned for me to sit.
“You don’t have to bow to me, my mate,” he whispered as he sat, pushing my chair in at the table.
"Oh… okay. Thank you.”
“By the way this dress looks amazing on you. It is really your colour.” Ethan's unhidden adoration and the way his eyes wander as he looks at me lovingly made my cheeks go a little pink and I could hear the laugh of the staff that served us.
Aside from the vibe in the Shadowmoon Pack, the employees here were definitely themselves over the moon that their new Alpha had located his mate.
"My goodness! What a gorgeous young girl!"
A woman’s voice immediately caught my attention, and as I turned toward to see what said woman looked like, I was struck by the sight of a strikingly graceful woman who entered.
She had on a chic emerald green dress that was accessorized with the most exquisite jewelry I have ever laid eyes on.
Her hair color, which was exactly the same as Ethan's, was styled in a sophisticated up-do that highlighted her dainty facial features that was clear and young.
She was really pretty.
Could this be Ethan's mother, the former Luna of the Wolfalpine Pack?
When she got close, I stood straight up and smiled warmly, curtsying demurely, but she lifted me up just like Ethan had, smiling blissfully as she took a look at me.
"Well, my son was incredibly lucky to have found you after so long!"
"He's certainly landed himself an amazing woman!"
Ethan's mother took my hand as naturally as if we were old friends, and invited me to sit next to her.
"Oh, my poor child, Ethan has informed me everything about how terrible it was for you," she said with the utmost sympathy in her eyes and a pained expression on her face, "Don't you concern yourself with anything my dear. I know Ethan can be quite scary when he wants to be, but he's really a thoughtful softie with the people he cares about."
"Mother… must you really do this?" Ethan said, with a sigh as he rolled his eyes at his mother's placating tone, and her hint of worry.
"What's the problem? I'm trying to help you!" she said with an innocent protest.
I watched Their interaction with curiosity. It was such a perfect match that I could do nothing but think back on my experience with my father as I was growing up in the Darkridge Pack.
Our only encounters were when he was relentlessly driving me to new levels, or reprimanding me for taking missteps, or demanding I get better in areas he thought I was weak in.
I couldn’t point to one single instance between us that ever compared to what Ethan and his mother did. There was no fun or teasing in my home life, either.
Might Ethan be the new beginning for me?
I once was under the delusion that Marcus was an ideal candidate for a life mate, but it appeared that Marcus was quite adept at deceiving me.
"Everyone you love will abandon you," The whore’s words danced inside my mind and I even questioned if my fated mate would betray me too.
There I sat, eating the mashed potatoes that had been made especially for me in silence, my ears only half-attuned to the conversations around me.
Ethan's mother appeared to sense that I was not in a great mood, and she took Ethan from me. "Let's take Sophia for a walk later. Perhaps we could take her shopping? Some therapeutic spending always does a woman good."
Not long after, I was walking alongside Ethan as he led me to the car with Max offering to be our designated driver for the evening.
I set foot in the biggest shopping mall in that suburb and that Designer Store was among the few in the entire nation.
Rosella served a very particular type of client, one that no ordinary person could dare to dream of.
They employed only the best materials in their creations and every piece of clothing in the shop was unique and handmade by the designers on their payroll.
Only the extremely high-status wolves could shop at The House.
I never was at the level where I could shop there clearly so I was eager to browse what they had at Rosella.
In the Darkridge Pack, my father picked out my clothes; in the Shadowmoon Pack, Marcus decided what I wore. This was the first time I had been allowed to buy my own clothes.
Ethan was the first to exit the car and he pivoted, crossing the distance to me and offering his hand.
It was obvious he wanted to help me out. My heart leaped at the gentlemanly gesture.
Before we even went in the store at
Rosella, a clerk came bustling up to us and was very friendly.
"Alpha Ethan! Great to see you again! Welcome to our store."
Ethan gave a small nod in acknowledgment as he grabbed my hand with a firm grip and walked inside like it was no big deal the clerk excitedly fetched the best champagne and a set of crystal champagne flutes for us while we looked at their clothes.
Kira and I pumped excitedly in our heads, holding our excitement in as much as we could to keep the calm look on our face in our mind.
It was only because of my fathers training that I didn’t make a fool of myself in that situation.
“Sophia, pick out anything you want,” Ethan said with casual indifference as he stretched out on the red velvet sofa and took my hand, stroking it gently.
“Really? Anything I want?” I asked, a little disbelieving, knowing how costly dresses were in this store and wanting to make sure he was really not just saying it to show off.
“Sure! If you like them all, you can get them all.” Ethan laughed as he made a gesture to the shop assistant to bring out all of the most expensive gowns in the shop for me to select from.
As she drew the garments ahead, an aqua-blue dress immediately caught my attention.
It is set with different gems flashing beautifully in the light, and I reached in to grab it but all of a sudden another woman put her hands on the dress in front of me.
“Lila Scott?” I breathed in disbelief.