THE WITCH AND HER ALPHA

Chapter 15

They packed up their stuff and entered the car as Drake drove to the outskirts of the town where the carnival had been set up. By the time they had arrived, it had already gotten dark but that only added to the beauty of the place.

“Woah", she gasped in awe at the sight of it. Seeing the carnival brought back a lot of emotions she didn't realize she was holding and a tear dropped from her eye.

She had only ever been to a carnival once and that was on her 8th birthday with her dad. That was one of her favorite memories with him and seeing the carnival in front of her now made those memories come rushing forward except now, they were tainted with the knowledge that she could never relive those memories again.

Drake noticed her sombre mood and that her eyes now held some sort of pain in them and his heart ached.

“Hey, Raquelle, are you alright?" he asked her, his concern spilling through his voice.

Despite everything she was feeling, Raquelle desperately wanted to spend time with Drake at the carnival. She knew she'd never get to witness it with her dad again but she was excited about the chance to witness it with Drake.

She found herself genuinely smiling up at him. The concern on his face touched her. Other than her mom, she couldn't remember anyone who could sense her emotions so easily.

“I'm fine. It's just, being here kinda made me remember my dad. The last time I was at a carnival was with him", she said in answer to his question.

“Oh well, I had no idea. We can leave if you want to", Drake suggested.

Raquelle shook her head. “No, I.... I wanna stay".

He saw that she meant that and so he managed a smile for her and took her hand in his. They were quiet as they made the short walk to the ticket booth.

While they waited in line, Raquelle took that opportunity to break the silence. “Penny for your thoughts?" she asked Drake, her voice taking on a light playful tone.

Drake rolled his eyes at her although the evidence of a smirk on his face was present. “It's just, that's twice you've talked about your dad today. I can tell he was really important to you and well I just hope you know that you can talk to me about him".

Raquelle felt her chest swell with something she couldn't quite explain yet at this boy whom she had only known for a few weeks yet was slowly placing himself at the bottom of her heart. It both scared and thrilled her.

“I know Drake and I do want to talk about him with you but it's just too painful for me now but I promise someday, when I feel comfortable enough, I'll tell you everything you want to know", she said, squeezing his hand in reassurance.

Drake brought her knuckles to his lips and placed a feather light kiss on them, his eyes never leaving hers.

Eventually, they got to the front of the line and Drake bought their tickets. Raquelle decided to wipe away all traces of sadness as she fully intended to make the most of her time with Drake.

Like a kid in a candy store, she ushered him from ride to ride, booth to booth, making sure to save the ferris wheel for last. It was the one ride she hadn't gone on when she went with her dad because she was too scared but she felt anything but scared when she was with Drake.

With him she felt safe, protected, strong even. She knew that had majorly to do with the fact that he was a werewolf but deep down, she knew if it came down to it, Drake would lay down his life for her.

She didn't know what gave her that assurance and she hoped the situation where it would be needed to be proved never arose but deep down, she knew.

They had just gotten some cotton candy when they came across a booth with a crane that selected toys and stuffed animals.

A group of tweens were leaving it looking pretty sullen while the booth owner grinned like a cheshire cat.

From the murmurs and the expressions both parties wore, Raquelle concluded that the tweens had lost a lot of money at the booth while trying to win a prize. They were convinced the game was rigged since they ended up with nothing but an empty wallet.

Drake tried to lead Raquelle away to another booth. He was positive the game was rigged so that players spent all their money trying to win something. He could pick up the greed emanating from the con artist parading himself as a booth owner and he didn't intend to lose a single penny to him.

Raquelle however refused to follow him.

“No Drake. I wanna play and grab that stuffed wolf. It's so cute and it reminds me of you", she said.

Drake scoffed, a small smile on his lips. “Okay, first off, I am definitely not cute as a wolf. I'm ferocious, I'm regal but I am definitely not cute and secondly, you couldn't even win it if you tried. The game is obviously rigged".

It was Raquelle's turn to scoff. “Please, this is no match for me. I've got this".

Before he could say anything to stop her, she had walked up to the man and given him a dollar to play.

The man grinned greedily as he collected her money, probably happy at having found another sucker to scam.

“Are you sure you want to do this?" Drake asked her. She finished off her cotton candy and handed him the empty stick.

“What's the worst that can happen? I lose the game and I lose a dollar". She shrugged as if to emphasize her point. “Big deal".

“You do realize it's never that simple—" Drake started to say but was cut off.

“Shhh. Drake honey, you worry to much. It's just a game. Now watch me work", she said, gently slapping her palm against his cheek.

Raquelle walked up to the crane. She wasn't stupid. She knew the game was rigged but yet she was determined to win on her first try. She imagined the look on the booth owner's face when that happened and that spurred her on even more.

With determination in her, she held on to the crane and manoeuvered it until it grabbed hold of the stuffed wolf she had seen. Then carefully, she began to lift it up. Then it got to the point where it would usually fall back down into the pile of toys but Raquelle was anticipating this and just as it was about to fall, she found herself summoning the littlest bit of her magic and commanding the crane to hold on to the stuffed wolf.

The booth owner was shocked and his jaw literally hit the floor as she came up victoriously holding her prize.

He didn't understand how she won. He had specifically tweaked the device to drop the toys. Nobody was supposed to win anything. He of course, was oblivious to the use of magic in play.

Drake on the other hand was not. Being a supernatural being himself, he had sensed the use of magic even though it was very minute. As proud as he was of her for that clever trick, he hoped no other supernatural creature was nearby to sense that. He definitely didn't want to draw attention to them.

With a smug smile on her face, Raquelle walked out of the booth tugging Drake along, feeling like she had won a million dollars instead of just a stuffed toy. She was right. The face of the booth owner definitely made her day.

“Did you see his face?" she asked, giggling, “that'll teach him to cheat innocent kids".

Drake smirked at her. “That was pretty clever, what you did with the—" he lowered his voice so only she could hear—“hocus pocus but was it wise? What if Esmeralda or one of her people were nearby. They could have sensed it".

“Yeah but did you see his face? Totally worth it", Raquelle replied amidst laughter, dismissing his concerns.

He gave her a look to show her how serious he was. She rolled her eyes at him and groaned.

“Relax Drake. I only used a teensy bit of magic. I'm sure even if there were any other supernatural beings here, they wouldn't have been able to sense it".

“I sensed it", Drake reminded her.

“Well that's probably because you were close to me. Look Drake, I get that you're worried but I'm not about to spend the rest of my life hiding in fear of Esmeralda so can we just put this behind us and continue our great night?"

Drake sighed. “I didn't even know you already had that much mastery over your powers", he mentioned.

“Me neither. That could have gone really badly. It also may not have worked. I guess I really am stronger than I know".

“That isn't doing much to quell my worries but I'll let it go for tonight. So, what are you going to do with your new prize?"

“Actually", Raquelle began, looking at the toy and smiling at him, “it's for you?".

“Wait seriously? You're giving it to me?"

“Yeah. I actually won it for you. Like I said, it reminds me of you so I wanted you to have it".

“Awwn, this is actually one of the most thoughtful gifts I've ever gotten. I'll treasure it. Thank you", Drake said, meaning every word.

“I think I'll name it Hazel after my new favorite color", he added.

“What was your old favorite colour?" Raquelle asked out of curiosity.

“Black", he answered.

“Of course", Raquelle said to herself at how obvious that was. “What changed though?"

“Take a wild guess", Drake replied, staring meaningfully at her.

Then he smirked and began to walk away, his new prized possession in his hands.

Raquelle stood in the spot for a few seconds before she realized what he meant. Hazel was the color of her eyes and one of his numerous nicknames for her. She blushed a deep crimson as she hurried to catch up with him.

They continued the rest of their date and finally it was time for the ferris wheel. The carnival had announced that they were closing up soon so they managed to snag the last ride of the day.

Buckled together, the ride started slowly. “I can't believe I was ever scared to get on one of these things. It's so peaceful", she said.

“Wait, you were scared of a ferris wheel?" Drake said, trying and failing to hold in his laughter.

She playfully hit his knee. “Stop laughing at me", she demanded.

“Okay okay. I'm sorry. It's just I can't imagine you being scared of anything much less a ferris wheel". Drake's laughter didn't subside though.

“Yeah yeah, laugh it up but I wasn't always this fearless badass that I am now".

“I mean, you weren't scared of a werewolf, you weren't scared of an all powerful witch but a ferris wheel...?"

Raquelle rolled her eyes. “Okay okay we get it".

Finally managing to keep his laugh in check, he took her hand in his and rubbed soothing circles on the back of it with his thumb.

“There's no need to be scared. I got you", he said, in a serious tone.

By now, they were inching closer to the top of the ferris wheel. Everything seemed absolutely perfect with the world.

The sky was beautifully covered with stars, the wind was blowing and Drake gave her a smile that was enough to turn her insides to pudding.

She could and would never get over how ridiculously handsome he was. She wanted nothing more than to kiss him and involuntarily, her eyes flitted to his lips.

Like he read her mind, he asked her. “Can I kiss you right now?"

“Please", she replied in a breathy whisper.

He pressed his lips to hers and suddenly all was right with the world. No feeling in the world was better than the feeling of his lips on hers.

His arms wrapped themselves around her as they pulled her as close as they could possibly be in the ferris wheel car.

It felt like everything had stilled and it was just them. Their lips moved in a synchronized dance that they never had to rehearse. They were made for each other. They just hadn't realized it yet.

After what felt like forever, they pulled back both of them wearing the biggest smiles on their faces.

They noticed that the carnival had started the fireworks and Raquelle felt like a scene right out of a Disney movie. As the ferris wheel began it's descent, Raquelle felt content and happy things couldn't be better.

After the ride, they left the carnival and her dropped her off at home. “Sweet dreams", he said to her as she alighted from his car.

He wanted to add that the dreams should be of him and of them together but he didn't want to sound like a creep.

He drove himself home, feeling happier than he had felt in a long time and when he went to bed, he placed his new stuffed wolf on his bedside table, where he'd see it first thing when he woke up.

He went to sleep, pleasant thoughts of Raquelle the only thing on his mind.

.

Author's note: It's definitely been a while. An explanation is coming soon. If you missed me or the characters, please leave a comment.