Dedicated to

- "'The' Date." |Part I|

"Where should I drive?" Seneca asks, turning to me with an excited grin, once we're all buckled up and ready to go.

"Um." My cheeks heat up in embarrassment because I wanted it to be a surprise, and now, the fact that I don't know how to drive—despite being eighteen freaking years old—has forced me in a situation to disclose that detail.

"How about I give the directions?" I look at her hopefully, and she considers it for a second in silence. She then nods in agreement, and I take solace in the fact that at least a semblance of surprise will be remaining. She might not know the human city that well, to guess where we're going to.

A guy can hope.

"Okay..." She sighs and pulls the car into drive, following my instructions.

☘ ☘ ☘

"Where are we going?" Seneca repeats the question for what seems like the millionth time, being surprisingly persistent and anxious about it.

It's been twenty minutes and we're nearing our destination.

A turn or so is remaining.

"You'll know." I smile, and turn back to the front, looking around the busy main road.

There's the sign.

"Turn on that right." I instruct, gesturing to the road with my hand.

"Pfft." She mock-glares at me and lets her eyes slide back to the road, nodding.

Here we are.

"The streets are too crowded from now on to drive. Park it in that lot." I point to the few empty white squares painted on the side of the road, and she rolls her eyes in dismay, taking and grumbling as she follows my words.

It feels good to be the one to order her for a change.

Though, I would never admit that out loud.

What? You thought I have a death wish?

Seneca parks the car with the efficiency of a person who's been driving this thing all their life, not struggling the slightest to turn the car, to let it idle in the square perpendicular to the road.

I should really learn to drive.

"Done." Seneca turns the car off and turns to me, looking at me expectantly as she idly taps her fingers against the steering wheel.

Even that simple action draws my attention, because she never moves when it's not necessary, and the way she remains almost too still at times, with that deep look in her eyes make her almost too unattainable, too unreal, and way beyond us little mortals.

It makes her an unsolvable puzzle, a never-ending mystery.

And that simple action, the way she's started too loosen up ever-so-slightly, the way the hardness in her eyes and stiffness in her back seem to be gone when it's just the two of us, makes me feel like I've achieved something I've been dreaming about all my life.

Her trust in me makes me love her more.

Believe in her more.

Open up and do something more.

For her. Only her.

"Cage?" I finger snaps in front of my line of vision, and I blink back to reality.

Oops, got a little carried away there.

"Yeah." I grin and unbuckle my seatbelt, getting out of the car. I look around the busy street with a wide grin, closing the door without really paying attention to it.

"This is the place?" Seneca asks, and her voice sounds dubious and slightly uncertain. The hidden panic and the slightest hint of shake in it, makes me turn to her quickly. She's clutching the handle of the door tightly, and her beautiful face, framed by the curtain of shiny red curls is pinched together in something like...nervousness.

I sigh under my breath.

I walk around the bonnet to my Mate, and cup her cheeks in my palms, forcing her eyes to meet mine.

And the wide grey orbs, staring back at me with evident panic tugs at my heart.

"Relax. No one knows that you're an Alpha here. No one expects anything of us. Heck, No one even cares about us. We can just be the way we are, when no one's around. I bet none of them would even bat an eye if I kissed you right here. It's not our Pack." I cajole earnestly, rubbing my thumb across her cheeks. She swallows as she looks uncertain for a moment, but then her eyes slide away from mine, and roam around the crowd for a second. She then looks back at me. And this time, I can see the resolve in her eyes, and the usual confidence and strength is almost back fully.

She will loosen up as time passes, I hope.

She nods, decided. I grin. I turn back around and survey the road full of people flowing from every direction, people walking in and out of every open door. I slip my hand into Seneca's, feeling her stiffen almost instantly as I do so.

She's not a fan of PDA.

Well, it's not really PDA, but in her opinion, it is.

She pulls back slightly, but before she could withdraw her hand fully, I tighten my grip, not meeting her eyes, though I'm very well aware that she's looking at me with surprise. I pull her forward and walk down the sidewalk, going closer to the direction of The Commercial Street.

Yeah, the street is literally named Commercial Street.

In the first few steps we take, Seneca is a little resistant, but after a few persistent tugs, she gives up trying to pull away and leans closer, entwining her fingers in mine.

Yes! One point for Micajah.

I bite the inside of my cheek to control a grin, as we round the turn and come face to face with the long dead end road, named, Commercial Street.

Here we'll find the most famous Diners, best Malls, best bakeries, and the best everything of the town.

You just walk down till the end of the street and you can find anything and everything. Only, this road does not lead anywhere else.

I can feel Seneca's excitement go up as she scans her surroundings with awe.

I know she would've never been here before, even if this is where she's been virtually living all her life, because, this neighborhood, though contains the best things, is a place for people with income levels ranging form Lower to Upper Middle Class.

The High end of the Society doesn't even breathe this way.

And Seneca belongs to the latter. Obviously.

"Like it?" I ask, turning to look at her shocked expression. The number of lights and signs in the street are reflected in her glossy eyes, making her look like a starry eyed cartoon. Literally.

I chuckle at her expression, because it's answer enough.

"Yeah..." She breathes, taking it all in. For the first time since I've met her, her mouth is almost hanging open in shock. I place my index finger on her chin, pushing her mouth closed.

She turns back to me, embarrassed. "Yes." She repeats, looking away.

"What are we waiting for, then? C'mon."

☘ ☘ ☘

"You are so going down." I exclaim, yelling over the sound of blasting music and cheers of teens and kids combined.

We're in the town's Game Centre.

When we'd crossed the bright sign with neon lights designed in 'Matrix' styled letters, I just couldn't resist challenging Seneca on a game of Air Hockey.

I was so sure I can win her, 'cause I'm practically a pro in it.

Now? My confidence is wavering.

"Oh, yeah? We'll see about that!" She yells back, not taking her eyes off the table as she hurriedly pushes the puck away with the pusher we use in an Air Hockey table. When the puck comes my way, I push it away brutally with the pusher, and the puck almost flies to the goal post.

Seneca intercepts it in the last moment, pushing it back.

Shit, no one would believe that this girl has never played this game before in her life.

I control the frustration from showing in my face as I hit the puck back, not giving her the satisfaction of letting her see me, getting all riled up.

Like that, we go on, to and fro, hitting the puck with extreme force, almost making the floor vibrate under our feet, inspire of it already vibrating, due to the music playing ruthlessly.

I never knew Seneca was such a quick learner.

Damn, I shoulda guessed it with the way she kisses.

Not just with her mouth, but with her tongue, teeth, and her whole mouth, practically making love to mine.

Just the thought raises the hair on my arms, making me almost yearn in desire and the sudden lust fogging my brain.

"Yes!" Seneca exclaims, and I jerk up to see that she'd scored a goal.

Crap! Get your head back in the game, Micajah! You gotta win!

I lose consciousness of time passing, as I force myself to concentrate fully on the game and not let it wander to...other things. And then the game starts to heat up. The force with which we play increases by every hit, and then we're almost breaking the table by our hits.

And yeah, we're gaining some audience.

It's a boys versus girls game now, with the guys cheering for me, and the girls cheering for Seneca.

The competition gets serious.

The score is 3 to 3. Yup, really tough competition.

I was able to actually score the goals here and there.

My arm starts to ache from how much I've been using it, but I just can't care now.

I have to win.

I look up for a second to see what Seneca's doing, and I'm surprised to see her looking at me as well. Her eyes twinkle in the blue and green strobe lights, as she smirks at me and hits the puck back, not even looking down to see in which direction it's coming from.

Curse the advanced senses of an Alpha Wolf.

I shake my head in frustration and hit the puck back, and I almost can't see it slide across the smoothened surface of the table. It's just that fast. But unfortunately, it doesn't go to the side like I expected it to. It goes straight to, exactly in the direction where Seneca's positioned her pusher. I can almost feel her smirking at me.

Fuck, Micajah. Hit it harder next time!

I wait for the puck to hit her pusher and return back to me in a millisecond, but it doesn't.

Instead, there's a clacking sound and then there's a round of cheers, all in male voices. I look up to see that it has fallen into a goal.

What?! I won?! But, there's no way it would've fallen!

I glance up at Seneca in shock, only to find her giving an embarrassed smile to girls of all ages standing around her, adding in a shrug. I get several pats on the back and yelling all around me, but I can't take my eyes off her, because I just know that she did it on purpose.

'Cause the puck was right there.

And she would've hit it with her eyes closed, just by hearing the whoosh of the air, as it travels in light speed towards her.

I know she could've.

But she lost on purpose.

The crowd starts to thin, as people move on to playing their own games or cheering for another table, congratulating me or smiling at me as they pass. Seneca is telling something to a small brunette girl, who looks around 10 or so, and then the girl smiles at her and waves, turning around and running away.

Now, everyone's gone.

Two guys come to our table, wanting to play it, and Seneca quickly moves away. I move away from my side as well, walking around the table to her. She, who is looking at a group of kids playing mock-bowling with a fake ball, turns to meet my eyes reluctantly.

"You did it on purpose," I accuse, glaring.

She looks away, embarrassment coloring her features a pale pink.

"I..."

"You shouldn't have done it." I glower, crossing my arms across my chest.

She turns to me finally. "I wouldn't have, if it was just the two of us in our home." My brows draw close in confusion. "In a room full of people watching, I would never be able to let you lose." She elaborates with a somewhat shy and firm look, shrugging once again.

I look at her in surprise.

"Well," I say, swallowing the sudden thickness clogging my throat. "Throughout the game, I admit that I wanted to win." I shake my head ruefully, "But," I add, "When I actually saw you losing, I realized that it wasn't what I wanted." I meet her eyes, head-on with emotion blazing in my eyes.

"I know." She smiles and leans forward, placing a quick peck on my lips.

I smile back softly. "C'mon. We have a lot more to do."

☘ ☘ ☘

I'm seriously impressed.

♥️

NEXT UPDATE: SATURDAY :)