3rd Times A Charm

Chapter 11

Derek's POV

We arrive at the restaurant, and I help Julie out of the car. I wrap my arm around her waist, and we walk up to the door where a man opens the door. We walk up to the hostess, and she leads us to our table that is secluded. I pull Julie's chair out for her then sit in my own. The table has a white tablecloth on it with a small bouquet of roses surrounding a candle. A waiter comes and asks us what we want to drink. I get a red wine and she gets root beer; it must be her favorite. 

"This is so beautiful. Thank you for taking me out, Derek," she comments.

"Of course. I want to make sure you get the beat of everything like you deserve." She blushes, and the waiter brings out our drinks. We order and continue to talk anything and everything. As we make small talk, our food is brought out to us. I got a ribeye steak with baked potato, and she got a filet with shrimp. She raises an eyebrow at my choice and asks, "Do you only eat meat?"

"No, but they have the best steaks here. I mean no one can beat the chefs at home, but I like the seasoning that they use here. Look at yourself, you also got steak."

"I at least got shrimp to go with it, and don't you usually get steak at a nice restaurant like this."

"Yes. I guess so." She asks me about my childhood.

"I like to think that I had as normal childhood as a royal crown prince can have. I was homeschooled but that didn't mean that I couldn't go out to play with the other kids. Xavier and I were born a couple months apart, and because he was the beta's son that meant he always at the palace, and we became best friends.

"I had a decent life and trained hard to be the next King. It wasn't something that was being given to me; I wanted to earn the title as Alpha King, so I worked really hard and Xavier was with me the whole time. When I learned about soulmates, I as in awe. Someone out there is made just for me. From that day forward, I made it my goal to make my mate the happiest person in the world." 

I grabbed her hand while I was talking about mates and rubbed my thumb across the back of her hand. "I love you so much, and I think that I am the luckiest guy in the world to get you as a soulmate." I kiss the back of her hand, and she blushes. I smile at her blush; she is just the cutest thing ever.

We finish our food and then order dessert. We end up sharing a hot fudge sundae and feeding each other. Julie was blushing the whole time but that made it even better. When we finish, I pay ad lead her out to the SUV. Going back to the palace, I take Julie to the royal garden. She gasps and takes everything in. 

"This is my favorite place to come and relax," I tell her.

"It's beautiful."

"My great-great-grandma put his garden in here, so she could have a nice pace to relax while her husband was away." I grab her hand and pull her through the garden. There was almost every type of plant you could think of in here, and channels full of water to make sure the plants are healthy. 

I take her to my favorite place in the whole garden, the willow tree. In the center of the garden, there is a willow tree with a bench underneath it which is the perfect place to relax. She gasps and goes up to the tree.

"This is favorite place in the whole garden."

"It is gorgeous."

"Not as gorgeous as you." She blushes and sits down on the bench. I kneel down in front of her and take her hands in mine.

"Julie, I love you so much that no one can love someone else as much as I love you. I will do my best as your mate to protect, comfort, and support you. Even though I am your King, that does not mean that you are beneath me. You are equal to me in every way."

I pull out a silver ring with a small diamond on it. "I want to give this you as a promise ring. I promise to love you, to cherish you, to take care of you, and to one day marry you and make you my Queen. Will you accept this promise ring?"

"Yes, of course I will," she says while crying. I smile and put the ring on her right ring finger. She smiles back at me and pulls me into a kiss. When we pull away, I sit down and pull her close to me. We sit under the willow tree and enjoy the view in silence.

When the sunsets, we head back into the palace and go to our room. Julie puts one of my shirts and boxers on and wipes her makeup off. I take my suit off and get into bed waiting for her. She comes out of the bathroom and gets into bed and snuggles up against me.

"When did you get the ring?" she asks.

"I got it today while you were shopping. I know that you like plain and simple thinks, so I got the ring that best fits you. I know that it is only second we met, but I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"The ring is perfect, and I feel the same way. I wouldn't want to be with anyone else, so I want you to mark me." My eyes widen when she says that.

"Are yo sure that is what you want?"

"Yes. I love you."

"I love you too."  I kiss her hard and run my tongue along the seam of her lips. She opens her mouth for me, and I plunge my tongue into her mouth taking in her taste. We rub our tongues against each other's, and I claim every part of her mouth while I move on top of her. She moans into my mouth, and I pull away and start tailing kisses down the right side of her neck.

Sucking and licking around the spot I am going to mark her, I find the right spot when she moans. I nibble on the spot for a bit before asking, "Are you sure? There is no turning back after this."

"Yes," she breathes out moaning. Max starts to take over, and my canines start to grow. Max drags them along her, and she shivers.

"You are mine," Max whispers before biting where her shoulder and neck meet, and she releases a loud moan of pleasure and pain. Suddenly she bites down on me. Max lets out a deep moan while still biting her.

After a bit, we let go of each other, and Max and I see that Crystal has taken over Julie. Max rolls off her, and we lay there breathing hard and panting. After a while, our wolves let us back into control, and we hug each other. We are both really tried and fall asleep in each other's embrace.