Hooking Up with The Beta

The Morning After Part II

Eva's POV

I wake up with my head perfectly resting on his chiseled chest. My phone screen indicates 5:15am. The still bedroom is radiating a surreal blissful ambiance!

I have never spent the night with anyone twice in a row. This is something new, but this has clearly come with no commitment. Early on, we both canceled out any expectations! Yet everything about him feels so familiar, so right and so aligned!

My mood starts to welcome a certain uneasiness, also known as reality. No matter how blissful I'm feeling right now, he is not mine! The attraction is beyond both of our strengths combined. Yet at the end of it, he is not mine! We've just borrowed from each other and now the time has come to file this chapter, to close the case. I hate saying goodbye and I always went out of my way to avoid it face to face.

So with a heavy heart, I carefully make my way out of his bed. I get dressed very quickly and before I know it, I'm back in my penthouse suite!

I rush to the nearest phone and call room service. I want to make sure Kris has a royal breakfast! I quickly complete the order with a special request. 15 min later, everything was set. Now all I have to do is get out of here before he wakes up and realizes that I'm not there.

A quick call to the concierge sets my emergency mission into motion. I have less than an hour to check out of this hotel and dive into the car that is already being prepared for me.

A little more than an hour later, I found myself comfortably seated in the back of a chauffeur-driven black Mercedes sedan. This time I am actually leaving Las Vegas. As the car drives away, a strange feeling of uneasiness wraps itself around me!

I should have stayed longer in his arms! I should have woken up with him! I should have had breakfast with him! I have more 'should-haves' than I have breath left in me... feeling slightly dizzy, I close my watery eyes and welcome the sad darkness.

A few minutes later, I am jolted out of my meditative state by the sound of a car door. It only takes me a few seconds to realize the car has stopped and the driver is now standing by the open trunk. Adjusting my hair, I get out of the car and stare at my surroundings.

"Sorry, Ma'am! I didn't want to wake you up!" I hear the driver say as he hands me one of my tote bags.

"Welcome back cousin!" River throws my way as he carries my luggage inside my parents' house.

"What are you doing here?" I ask him, but more importantly, how did we get here so fast? As though he was reading my mind, the driver kindly turns to me and says:

"You must be wondering how we got here so fast! Well, our car services are known for being the smoothest and most comfortable in the industry. Most people sleep like a charm just like you did! Party hard, sleep hard!" he chuckles and waves goodbye as he makes his way back inside the Mercedes and drives away, leaving me standing there still trying to process how the 5 hour-ride felt like 10 minutes! Just like that, I am back home, miles away from Kris.

"Did I really just knock myself out for 5 hours without even knowing it?" I ask myself aloud. Before I can answer my own question, I am hit with a wave of painful uneasiness as Kris' face flashes through my mind. I miss him like crazy already!

"Snap out of it Eva! He is not even your mate! You borrowed each other for 2 nights! That's it! Nothing more and nothing less! Now enjoy the memories!" I keep on repeating these words in my head as my cousin River is speaking to me. I see his mouth moving but I can't hear any sounds. My internal voice, my wolf is screaming at me right now.

"I know, I know" is all I can say to her! "I wish I was still back there with him."

"Call him and say goodbye properly," my wolf suggests. I must admit the idea of grabbing my phone and calling him is dancing on the tip of my fingers. Everything is buzzing in my head right now and I finally decide to give in and do the unthinkable:

NOTHING! I am going to do nothing! I kiss my cousin goodbye and head to the shower before meeting the girls for dinner.

Seating across from Veronica and Kate, I answer every question they both throw my way. I've arrived at our dinner prepared with all the answers needed to distract them from my 3 day-extension in Vegas. Everything is going nicely as usual. Nothing felt the same or tasted the same. I'm not bored or anything. I'm feeling stuck in place, in time with my usual surroundings, the surroundings I love from the time I was born in this town. My reveries are interrupted by the town snitch expected million dollar question.

"So Eva, ready for the Lunar Mating Reception?"

"Honestly? I don't care to attend at this very moment. I'm good! yes, I'm okay!" my answer to Kate surprised even my wolf.

"We are okay? Really?" my wolf asks me. 

"Yes, we are! We have a hot date in Vegas a year from now, remember?" I remind her. 

My wolf nods in approval and contentment as I smile brightly looking forward to my next encounter with Kris, Kris with a K.

Kris' POV

I hear a knock at the door, which instantly wakes me up. I look to my side, noticing that the other side of the bed is completely vacant. In fact, as I look around the room, all signs of her seem to be gone.

I hear another knock on the door again. I should probably go answer that. I look through the peephole and see that it's room service. Ah. Right. The breakfast in bed. I open it and the server rolls the table in and preps the meal. I don't know what she ordered, but it smells delicious. He also hands me a sealed envelope, citing that he was instructed to personally hand-deliver this to me with breakfast this morning. It must be from Eva.

I carefully open the envelope.

Kris,

By the time you receive this note and read it, I should be somewhere out of Vegas and on my way home. I am terrible at saying goodbye, especially when it comes to people I find myself drawn to.

The last two days and nights with you have been the best moments of my life. I hate that you have raised the bar and ruined it for all the other males out there.

I'll say a little prayer for you every full moon until we meet again!

Kiss!

Eva Rice.

P.S. Love the Kristobal Wallet!

In a way, it's a good thing that she left before I woke up. I would have convinced her to stay a little longer. Hell, maybe I might have convinced her to come back to my pack with me. On the other hand, I admire the fact that she left. That she knows how to practice delayed gratification. Her independent spirit is admirable. I haven't felt that way about a female wolf in a long time. She's just one of those rare beings you meet once in a while.

Right there for a moment, I feel my wolf crying out, whimpering that she was our true mate. I quickly shoved the idea right out of my head. I had too many responsibilities. I don't have the luxury to daydream. The two nights and two days I spent with her are enough to carry me until the next year. Eva has raised the bar and I can no longer settle for less than what I've had with her. Why have stale water, when you can drink champagne every day?

I look over the garbage bin and find her old wallet, which instantly brings a smile to my face. I wipe a tear streaming down my face and continue to smile.

Before I start crying, I look through the assorted breakfast items and find a plate of waffles. I catch a whiff of... no.... can it be? Fries? Awww... she didn't have to! I lift up the tray and see a bowl of fries made just the way I like it. I temporarily abandon the waffles in favor of the fries and retreat back to bed. As I pull the sheets over my lap before indulging in a bowl of fries on my lap, I replay the events of the past two days in my head: the nightclub, the dinners, the passionate nights, enjoying the arts together, the questions, all of it. I'd rub my eyes to suppress the tears, but I don't want the salt from the potatoes to get into my eyes. I'll just enjoy the crispy fries through these tears.

Until next year.