THE WITCH AND HER ALPHA

Chapter 14

It had been a few days since the whole issue with Esmeralda and since Raquelle found out she was a witch. So far, things had been pretty normal. They had all been on their guard in case Esmeralda showed up again but she hadn't yet.

Mariah, Raquelle's mom had gotten some help from a witch friend of hers on a potion that was supposed to prevent Esmeralda from sensing Raquelle's magic and coming after her.

Since Mariah didn't have any magic anymore, she taught Raquelle how to do the spell. That was the first spell she had cast intentionally and it felt all kind of ways, from really cool, to really freaky.

As an extra precaution, Raquelle's mom had also been teaching her a few spells so she would be able to defend herself if the need ever arose, although she more than hoped that she wouldn't need it. Her mom had been really impressed with how quickly she had been learning the spells. It was certainly a lot faster than most witches on their first try.

Back at school, things had gotten back to normal too except that now, Raquelle and Drake were basically inseparable. At first, a lot of eyebrows were raised when the new girl, Esme didn't show up again but eventually people got over it.

Drake, more worried about Raquelle than ever had been spending a lot of time with her and because of that, his feelings for her had grown even more than he thought possible.

The students at school already thought they were a couple since they were almost always together, holding hands and touching. Raquelle even invited Drake to sit with her friends.

At first he was a little reluctant about the idea but he had already learned earlier on that he couldn't say no to Raquelle, no matter how hard he tried. It was a little awkward, the first time they all sat together but Raquelle had come through and smoothened everything out, like magic.

Currently, Raquelle was laying on her bed scrolling through her social media. It was a Saturday and she hadn't really gotten off the bed yet. She was enjoying being lazy when her phone rang.

She smiled when she saw who was calling. She quickly answered.

“Hey Drake", she greeted.

“Hey Myers", he greeted back. She could basically hear the smile in his voice. “How are you? Did you sleep well?" he asked.

“I'm alright and yes I did. Did you?"

“I slept like a baby".

There was a little silence before Drake spoke again.

“So listen, do you have any plans for today?"

“No. Why?" she asked, a smile creeping up on her face.

“Well I was wondering if you'd like to spend the day with me. We could have a picnic, go see a movie, whatever you'd like", Drake said.

“A picnic sounds lovely. I'd love to", Raquelle replied. Her entire face had turned bright red and her cheeks hurt from smiling so wide.

“Great. I'll be around to pick you up soon. See you".

“Bye", she said as he hung up.

Raquelle screamed into her pillow in excitement. She definitely got the energy to get off her bed and went to brush her teeth. Then she went downstairs to have breakfast. Her mom had gone to work so she made herself some cereal.

When she was done with breakfast, she headed to the showers to get clean. She wanted to be ready before he got here so she wanted to get started as soon as possible.

She washed her hair and took her bath and thirty minutes later, she got out. She wrapped her hair in a towel and wore her bathrobe. Then she stood in front of her wardrobe as she tried to figure out what to wear.

In the end, she went with a floral sundress that she chose to pair with white sneakers. After drying her hair, she went to work on her face.

She did her makeup taking care to make it as light and neutral as possible then she ran her hair through a curling iron to make it extra bouncy, wearing it down.

When she was done with her hair and face, she wore her outfit and accessorized with earrings and a matching necklace. She grabbed a purse and wore some of her favorite perfume.

When she was done, she admired herself in the mirror, smiling at what she saw staring back at her.

She headed down to the living room to wait for him. She didn't have to wait long because he showed up almost immediately after she had gotten down.

He rang the doorbell and she opened the door to be greeted by the sight of him. He was dressed in a t-shirt over some shorts and sneakers.

She smiled on seeing him and he smiled back. “You look nice", he complimented.

“Thanks, and you don't look too bad yourself", she replied.

“Well I have to try to be able to keep up with you. I can't exactly have people seeing us together and thinking I'm your bodyguard or something", Drake said elliciting a laugh from Raquelle.

“And what exactly are you, Alpha prince Drake?" Raquelle asked, a teasing smirk on her face.

“Well I'm definitely not your bodyguard, that's for sure", he replied, a similar smirk on his face. “Come on. Let's go".

He took her hand in his and by this point, that had become second nature to them and lead her to the car. In true proper gentlemanly style, he opened her door for her.

“Ooh, you're really pulling out all the stops", she teased.

“Well everything has to go on perfectly".

They got in and he drove off. They arrived at a park that had families and kids in it. It was beautiful and had a serene environment to it.

“Woah, this place is beautiful", Raquelle commented

“Yeah, it is. I come here a lot. It's just so peaceful. Even with all the people and the families, this is definitely my favorite part of this town", Drake said.

He opened the trunk of his car and brought out a picnic basket and blanket and he set it up for them both.

Raquelle opened the basket and the smell coming out of it was divine. “Jerry definitely outdid himself with this. It smells wonderful", she said.

Drake feigned an offended look. “How do you know I didn't do it?" he asked.

She c****d an eyebrow at him. “Fine, fine, you caught me. It was Jerry", Drake admitted.

Raquelle giggled. “Of course it was. I highly doubt you can cook to save your life".

“Hey, I can totally cook", Drake said, in his defense.

“Sure you can", Raquelle said sarcastically. “Hey, I just realized, you aren't wearing your sunglasses and we're outdoors", she pointed out.

“Yeah well, I figured since it's just you and me, there wasn't any need for that. You make me comfortable enough to want to be myself around you", Drake said.

Raquelle blushed, grateful for that. She loved every opportunity to get lost in his beautiful silver orbs.

They laid out a spread and dug into the food. Raquelle moaned in delight. “I've tasted Jerry's cooking before but he has definitely outdone himself. How does he get his sandwiches to taste this good?"

“My guess is through a special way only he knows how", Drake replied.

“You've got to give him my compliments".

They spent the next couple of hours talking and laughing and it was so much fun. At one point, some kids had their flying disk thrown in their direction.

“Can you throw it back please?", one, presumably the oldest asked.

Raquelle did as they asked and threw it back their way.

“You've got a good arm", Drake commented.

“I know. I got it from my dad", Raquelle replied in a smug tone.

“Your dad... you don't talk about him much".

Raquelle sighed. “That's because I'm still not completely over his death. It just hurts to talk about it".

Drake, sensing that the conversation was taking a heavier turn decided to steer things around. Luckily for him, his phone dinged with a message from Joanne.

He opened it and saw that she had sent him a picture.

“Who is that?" Raquelle asked curiously.

“Oh it's just Joanne. She sent me a pic of herself with her mate on their date. I'm just so happy to see her happy", Drake answered, showing Raquelle the pic.

“What's a mate? Is that like her boyfriend or something?"

They had finished eating and were lying back on the blanket.

“Well, yes he's kind of like her boyfriend but more like her soulmate. A mate is the other half of a wolf's soul. The moon goddess created two wolves for each other and when they both turn 18, they'll be able to find each other. For some people, it's really easy it could be someone they've known for years and the mate bond just kicks in when they turn 18, like Joanne. Her mate Nathan, is a member of our pack and for some people, it could take years. My grandfather for instance was pretty old when he found my grandmother. It's a good thing wolves have pretty long lives so we age really slowly", Drake explained.

“So you haven't found your mate yet because you're not yet 18?" Raquelle asked.

Drake nodded. Raquelle didn't know what to say to that. She couldn't imagine him turning 18 only to find out that someone else was his mate. The idea of seeing him with someone else hurt her more than she'd like to admit.

“So tell me more about the mate bond", she told him.

“Well I hear it's really amazing. Your mate loves you, protects you and would never hurt you. The mate bond binds you to that person forever. They become the other half of your soul. The connection between mates is unbreakable. Suddenly, your whole world is centered around that person but in a good way. I heard it's kinda like not knowing you were incomplete until you find them. They become the most important person to you and you'd die before you let them get hurt".

“Wow... That sounds... intense".

Drake nodded. “Well it's not always intense. They of course get to be happy together. Nobody will ever make you happier than your mate. Nobody will ever make you laugh more. They become your best friend, your favorite person and the love of your life".

“What if you don't like your mate? Have people ever rejected their mates?" Raquelle asked.

“Yeah. It's happened before, once or twice but it doesn't happen often. Most people are happy to find their mates and like I said, mates usually have a connection like no other so it's not everyday you see someone rejecting their mate".

“I guess that makes sense", Raquelle said.

After that, they decided to take a walk around the park. At one point, an old couple walked up to them.

“Well hello kids. I hope you don't mind me saying this but you remind me of me and my husband when we first started dating", the old lady said.

“Oh that's sweet but we're not a—", Raquelle tried to say.

“Thank you ma'am. We appreciate the compliment", Drake said cutting her off. He had on his most charming smile and even the old lady was dazzled.

Raquelle smirked at him. “Why didn't you correct her?" she asked, even though she wasn't at all offended. In fact, she loved that the old couple thought they were an item.

“I have no idea what you're talking about", Drake said, snaking his arm around her shoulder. They continued their walk and stopped on the way to get ice cream.

“Two chocolates please", Raquelle told the vendor.

“Coming right up miss", he replied.

A couple minutes later, he handed her two cones and just as she was about to pay, Drake swooped in out of nowhere and handed him the money.

“Keep the change", he said as he directed Raquelle away. He took his ice cream from her.

“What was that about? I was going to pay", she said.

“You look so adorable when you're angry. You also look like you need to blow off some steam. Here", Drake said, wiping her nose with ice cream.

Raquelle gasped in surprise. “Ugh, you're going to pay for that".

“Only if you can catch me", he replied, taking off on a run.

“I'm a pretty fast runner", she said, following him.

“You're not as fast as a wolf", he said to her.

In the end, Drake slowed so she could catch up to him and she was finally able to get her revenge.

Drake pulled her closer into his arms, smiling at her. She couldn't help but smile back.

“Now I've got ice cream on my nose", he said.

“It's a good look for you", Raquelle replied.

They were so close, they were practically breathing the same air. Drake glanced at her lips and back to her. There was nothing he wanted more in that moment than to kiss her and it looked like she wanted the same.

He leaned in close and so did she. They were about to close the gap between them when Drake felt water hit his back.

They broke apart and saw some kids playing with some water guns and they were laughing because apparently, they thought they were funny.

Raquelle simply rolled her eyes, an amused smile on her face. “Come on, let's go" she said, taking Drake's hand and leading him away from the kids.

“It's a good thing I always pack extra clothes" he said as they headed back to the car.

“I really had fun today. Thank you for bringing me out here", Raquelle said to Drake.

“It was my pleasure. I had lots of fun too. But you know, today doesn't have to be over yet", Drake said.

“What did you have in mind?"

“Well the carnival's come to town and I was wondering if you'd like to come with me".

Raquelle's face lit up in excitement. “A carnival? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes".