Alpha Tristan

Aren greeted us with a charming smile. His hand collided with Tristan's in a firm handshake and both men gripped each other's forearms. I watched as the dominance they both exuded clashed and rolled my eyes as neither of them let go of each other's hand.

"It's good to see you again, Tristan." Aren's gaze was sharp and they both let go at the same time.

"Likewise, Aren." Tristan tapped his arm and stepped back.

Aren's dark green eyes glistened with mischief as he turned to me. He glanced at Tristan and reached for my hand, shaking it gently. "You're as beautiful as always, Kara."

"And you're a flirt as always." I smiled and took my hand from his.

It only took seconds for Tristan to wrap an arm around my waist and pull me to his side. Aren had a teasing smile on his face and he stared at me. He was a tall, well-built man, as tall as Tristan, and was ruggedly handsome. He exuded a sense of masculinity that was untamed, and from what Tristan had told me about him, he was a master of the battlefield.

Our moment of eye-contact didn't last long because right in front of Aren, he gripped my chin lightly and leaned in. Before I had the chance to pull away shyly, he kissed me deeply. It was the type of kiss that always preceded s.e.x.

I gasped lightly and pulled away, biting my lip to gain a bit of control. His azure eyes were pinned to mine and he smirked as he felt the l.u.s.t that flooded through me.

"I'm not going to take your mate away from you, Tristan." Aren chuckled deeply.

Tristan kept his gaze on me as he responded. "You couldn't even if you tried."

I ducked my head as my face heated up and placed a hand on his arm. I kept it around my waist but turned to face Aren. "How about we get down to why we're here?"

Aren sobered up immediately and nodded, extending a hand to the chairs in front of his desk. "Of course." He took a seat on the other side. "You said you found wolfsbane at the western border?"

Tristan and I sat down.

"Not an alarming amount but then again, any amount at all is alarming." Tristan laid his arms on the armrests and leaned back slightly. "Seeing as no one in our pack has been in contact with wolfsbane, we were hoping you had an explanation."

Aren sighed and the frown pulled slightly at his lips. "Yesterday, there was an accident between a group of my pack members involving wolfsbane. I don't see how it would've ended up at the border though."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Why would anyone willingly come into contact with wolfsbane knowing its lethal effect on werewolves? "What happened?"

"The teenagers are being taught about harmful poisons and how to detect them. A couple of the kids took a sample from the lab to play about with it. A dare gone wrong hospitalised one of the kids."

I gasped and Tristan leaned forward to speak. "Is the kid okay?"

Aren nodded stiffly but his frown deepened. "He's stable for now but I'm guessing the group disposed of the wolfsbane to stop me from finding out but I could feel when Hans got hurt." He sighed and waved a hand in the air. "I'm guessing the last place they thought I'd look was your borders. I'm sorry."

Tristan and I glanced at each other before sighing. I didn't know if it was a relief to know that we weren't under attack because someone in Aren's pack had been hurt. I couldn't imagine how I'd feel if anyone in my pack got hurt, especially with wolfsbane.

"No harm is done on our side." Tristan mustered up a smile but it wasn't joyful in the slightest. I knew he felt the same as me. "I hope Hans recovers well." He stood up and reached for my hand.

Aren lowered his head slightly in gratitude. "Thank you. I wish we met under better circ.u.mstances."

I stood up and smiled genuinely to lift his spirits a little bit. "Accidents happen. Hopefully next time, it will be under better circ.u.mstances."

Tristan squeezed my hand and agreed with me. "And if you need anything from us to help, just ask."

Aren followed us out and clamped a hand down on Tristan's shoulder in parting. "Thank you. And sorry for the alarm."

"It's okay."

When we left Aren and made our way back to our side of the borders, Tristan and I had spoken about the unfortunate event that occurred in Aren's pack. Luckily, we could learn from it and make sure that when the younger members of the pack were being taught about harmful poisons, they knew the dangers of 'harmlessly' experimenting.

Our number one priority would always be the safety of the pack.

"Hey," Tristan pulled me to a stop by my hand. "Alina is with your parents until tomorrow afternoon, right?"

I turned to him and wrapped my arms around his neck, beginning to smile. "Right."

He settled his hands on my waist and smiled charmingly. My heart constricted with just how handsome he was. "We can finally have our date at the new restaurant I wanted us to try." He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the corner of my mouth.

Butterflies swarmed my stomach and I stepped up onto my tiptoes to hug him. His arms wrapped around my body and he kissed my neck softly.

"Do I still make you nervous, baby?"

I pulled back and rolled my eyes playfully. "I'm not going to stroke your ego, Tristan."

He chuckled lowly and cupped my face. "Not even a little bit?" his sky-blue eyes stared into mine. "You still make me nervous. You control my every feeling."

Smiling up at him, I hooked my fingers around his wrists. "Fine. Just a little bit." I kissed his palm softly. "I feel the exact same way."

There was something about our relationship that made every day feel like the day we fell in love with each other. Even after four years together, my love for him was uncontainable and I felt it every time I looked at him. After Alina was born, and I saw how he was with her, it was like I fell even more in love.

Since he tapped into my thoughts, he could hear everything I was thinking and lifted me into the air with a grin. His arms were around my upper t.h.i.g.hs and I laughed as I settled my hands on his shoulders.

"Are we going on our date or not?"

He placed me back on my feet and laid a hard kiss on my mouth. "We are." He linked our fingers together and the smile on his face was bright. "Come on, baby."

—————

The restaurant was homey and as we walked in, Tristan smiled at the host who was a part of our pack. Ruben bowed his head with a grin.

"Aluu." He took two menus and led us to a table near the window. He began to speak in Kalaallisut and while I could keep up with some of it, I let Tristan take the lead in the conversation.

Ruben wished us a happy day and Tristan, like the gentleman he was, pulled out my chair for me. I smiled and waited for him to sit down before glancing out of the window.

"This is a nice place."

"I knew you'd like it." Tristan gently clasped my fingers and pulled my hand closer to him. "You look really beautiful today, αγάπη μου."

I tilted my head to the side slightly as I laughed. "You say that every day, Tristan." The nerves were back as he lightly brushed the pad of his thumb across my wedding ring.

His intense blue eyes watched me like they always did and he cracked a small smile. "You love it when I compliment you." That much was true. Tristan would never let me feel anything less than beautiful. He asserted his opinion verbally and more often than not, physically too.

If there was any word to encompass Tristan, it would be generous.

I lowered my gaze and picked up the menu with my other hand, scanning through the lunch options. "What are you feeling?"

"A hearty meal." He squeezed my hand and I caught the beginnings of his smirk. "I plan to burn it all of later anyway."

"Is that before or after I win the little game that you started yesterday?"

Tristan slotted our fingers together and grabbed my hand more firmly. "We both know you started it, baby. I just plan on finishing it for the sake of both of us."

I smirked. "How considerate of you. But that's not how it works."

He c.o.c.ked his head challengingly. "Really?" he pursed his perfect lips and nodded. "It seemed to work the last time—and the time before that. You know what? Come to think of it, it worked the three times before that too."

My face warmed and I shook my head as he chuckled deeply. Tristan was an observant man. Once he noticed something about me, he would find ways to use it to his advantage whenever he could. He knew that if he kissed me in a certain way, the exact same way he kissed me in front of Aren—I would be in the palm of his hands.

But I knew him incredibly well too, and I knew that all I had to do was say something daring and he wouldn't be able to keep his hands off me. Mindful of the fact that we were in public, I resorted to speaking in his mind.

'You know that's not how it went.'

He squeezed my hand tightly as he remembered what happened during those times. His dark blue eyes drifted towards the back and he stood up. 'Unless you want to be arrested for public indecency, we're going to the bathroom.'

His fingers slipped from mine and he walked away from the table. I smirked, waiting a few moments before I followed after him. In the hallway to the two bathrooms, he grabbed my hand again and pulled me into one.

Kara, one. Tristan, zero.