an Everlasting Pursuit

seventy four

"Shall we go?" Asra's voice pulled me from my trance.

I smiled bashfully, nodding and shifting to the end of the booth. Asra up before I was, his hand outstretched toward me. I gently placed my smaller hand within his, feeling the warm, soft skin of his palm. His fingers wrapped around me, pulling me to stand. He didn't let go, even as we began to walk to the bar. My head spun a little, too overstimulated and tipsy to realise I was standing.

Casually leaning against the bar, I watched Asra as he engaged in small talk with the bar staff. They were young and appeared human, the male uneasy under Asra's harsh gaze. His name tag read Connor, his hair dirty blonde and face speckled with freckles.

"Which table was it, sir?"

"Zenith." Asra quirked an eyebrow. "Twelve."

The young male swallowed as he swiped through a monitor, nodding as he came to the total. Rattling off a number with three figures, I felt the awkwardness settle in as Asra handed him his card. I didn't have any money. How was I supposed to repay him?

"Asra I..."

"I got it." He muttered.

"Was everything alright for you?" Connor asked politely.

Asra cleared his throat, taking his card and receipt with a growl.. "Nothing a few meetings cannot fix."

"Uh... S-sorry? Sir?" His eyes widened.

"Oh, stop scaring away my staff members, boy." Rosa came out, scowling at him.

Asra chuckled, pushing himself from the bar as the short female stood facing him.

"I am not scaring him away, Rosa." Asra smirked, flashing canines. "He asked if everything was okay, and I replied honestly."

"You replied like a man of power, scaring everyone with your beast."

"I am a man of power." Asra scoffed.

I rolled my eyes, nudging him. "Shut up."

His blue eyes lazily drifted to me, a small smirk on his face. "You'd love me too, wouldn't you, Tulip?"

"Listen to your mate and apologise to my staff." Rosa scowled.

Asra glowered at the short woman but drifted his eyes to Connor, who was still stood wide-eyed between the two. "I apologise you misinterpreted my words. The catering was lovely. It is the patrons we need to fix."

Connor nodded, keeping his mouth shut as he stared at him wide eyed. He scuttled away, only to be caught in a small female waitress' arms. She squealed something about Asra being the Continental Alpha, which caused the male's eyes to only widen and his face to fall pale. They both kept sneaking glances as Asra continued to bicker with Rosa.

"Your father's ways have rubbed off on you." Rosa scolded. "I know it has been a long time, but I hope that the old Asra comes back. It has been nice to see you, boy. Don't let the past haunt you."

Asra's playful smirk settled as the atmosphere did, his hand leaving mine. My head snapped to watch him as he spoke in fluent Italian before his arm came to wrap around my waist. Pulling me into his side, I felt flustered as my face pressed into his chest. My arm wrapped around the back of him, fingers clasping onto his shirt.

"It was nice to see you, Ailia." Rosa smiled before disappearing back into the kitchen.

"Ready to go?" Asra hummed, looking down at me.

My head fell back on its own accord, staring up into his night skies. "Home?"

His eyes lit up at the word that left my mouth, a broad grin erupting on his face. "Yeah. I don't want to overwhelm you too much for the first date, you've already met a billion people... and drank far too much."