Chapter 9

Drake POV I was finally taking her home, well as close to home as I can. I still hadn t told my father I found her. Titus was worried he wouldn t approve and despite being now 27 he still hadn t handed over the Pack which was really starting to irk me and our pack members. My father was getting old and they were starting to worry he wouldn t hand the reins over. They were also starting to question why. Lana sat in the back completely ignoring us trying to engage in conversation with her. I know she was upset about leaving her family, but we gave her time, time to get used to the idea. Time to grow up yet she still denied the mate bond. Hopefully, Tate could convince her. Our relationship had become more strained as the years passed, we struggled being in the same room with each other. The only time we could talk without arguing was when it came to Lana. She sat completely unaware of the effect her scent was having on me. She was gorgeous, more so than before. She was curvier and I couldn t wait to see what she looked like underneath the clothes. Couldn t wait to cherish every part of her, but first I had to get her back to Tate s pack, where she would be safe while I broke the news to my father. He was a tough man to crack but I would do anything for Lana and as much as I hate to admit I wanted to do those things for Tate. Love him, be with him but it was never going to be an option. My brother s found out about Tate. They didn t care and said my father had his head in the clouds, they had been at me to challenge him, to take what s mine. But I can t, they don t fully understand what it was like back then. What my father did for us. They weren t born yet, they never had to live as a rogue. So, they don t know the extremes dad went to, to get to where we are today. I couldn t take that from him, he earned it not me. He built our empire; I just manage it now. But still that wasn t enough for him to step down and retire. Pulling over after an hour of driving, I needed to get fuel, and I know Lana must be getting hungry because I was starving. Pulling into the service station. I open the back door; she stares at me. "The food here is nice, they make good burgers" I tell her. She reluctantly gets out. I Grab her hand as she does, tugging her out before I wrap my arms around her shoulders pulling her against me. I loved how soft her skin was, loved how warm she was and her scent. She smelt of vanilla, my mouth watering as I pressed my face into the crook of my neck while we walked. She doesn t pull away though and I hear her breath hitch, she was affected by me and that gave me hope. She may not feel the pull like we do, but she feels something. Elias slides into the booth across from me after filling the car with fuel. A woman in her forties comes over with a notepad wearing an apron. "What can I get you?" She asks, looking between us. "Works burger" Elias and I say at the same time. I wasn t joking when I said they made nice burgers, I have even driven all the way here just to get one. "And you love?" She asks, looking at Lana. Lana puts the menu down before shrugging. "The same then" She says before pulling her phone out. I grab her phone and put it in my pocket and she glares at me. "Would it kill you to actually spend time with me instead of your phone" "Give it back" She demands, her eyes blazing. "I will when we get in the car" I tell her. She folds her arms across her chest, annoyed. I didn t mind though, it gave me an excellent view of her cleavage poking out the top of her low cut top. Elias raises an eyebrow, at her attitude before his eyes dart to her rack. I growl at him and he averts his gaze, and smirks. "So, you and Tate sorted your shit out then?" She asks, and I shake my head. "Then why are you with his Beta then?" She questions eyeing Elias. "Because we are going to Tate s Pack" I tell her and the woman from before brings out some cokes placing them on the table. "So, you re staying with Tate?" She asks again and Elias looks away knowing this conversation was about to get awkward. "I will tell you in the car not here, I don t want you blowing up in front of everyone" I tell her knowing, no matter what she would either be pissed off or shocked. "Whatever" She says, looking back out the window toward the road. "Lose the attitude Lana, if anyone has the right to be angry, it is Tate and I, for you making us wait over two years to come get you" I snap at her. Her attitude was starting piss me off and I could tell Elias was getting fed up with it too. Mate s hardly argued, and I hadn t even got her home yet and we already were. "So, have you got a mate?" She asks Elias. Her question irked me; did she fancy him? Elias shakes his head. "No, Luna" He answers, and I notice she cringed when he called her Luna. I thought it a little odd when she was technically a princess, maybe she didn t like titles. I did notice Aria preferred her name but accepted her title. Hopefully, Lana would too. "Why do you want to know if he has a mate?" I ask her. She stares at me or more like glares. "Do you fancy him?" I ask her and her face flushes red. "No, I was just asking him Drake" Our food comes out before she can say anything else. She smiles politely at the woman and says thank you. So, she is capable of being nice. I take a bite of mine, while Lana picks hers up and I smile when I see her trying to figure out how to take a bite of it. The burgers here were huge and her little hands barely fit around it holding it together, she bites into the side of it, and I laugh as she tries to bite it. Even squeezing it, she couldn t fit it in her mouth. She puts it down on the plate. "Thing is bloody huge, do they have knives and forks?" She asks. "You're going to eat a burger with a knife and fork?" I ask her. "Yes, or I will end up wearing it trying to fit it in my gob" She says. Elias gets up and grabs her some cutlery before handing it to her. "Thank you," She says before cutting into the burger. I must say I have never seen someone eat a burger like that. She even made me feel insecure by using my hands, she didn t even look out of place. "You re right the burgers are nice here" She says, before popping more in her mouth. When we finished eating, I went to pay despite her protests of wanting to pay for herself before walking out to the car. Elias takes off, jumping in the back. Lana huffs annoyed, why didn t she want to be near me? She stalks over to the passenger side and hops in. "Sorry Luna," He mumbles once she is seated. I knew why he did it, he could tell I wanted her close. Elias and I have been friends since we were kids, and even though I am constantly at war with his Alpha that hasn t changed. "Seatbelt Lana" I tell her, and she buckles herself in. We leave driving back onto the highway. "So, what is this big secret you wouldn t tell me?" "It s not a secret, you will be staying with Tate for a bit" "Why? So, you haven t sorted anything out with Tate? I am not going back and forth between Packs Drake" She states. "I don t expect you too, it s just that I haven t told my father or the Pack about you yet" I tell her trying to gauge her reaction. She says nothing, but I could tell she was taken aback by my words. "So, no one knows I am your mate? Why are you ashamed or something?" She thought I was ashamed to have her as a mate. Surely, she wasn t that insecure. "No, Drake's father is a dick and very over opinionated" Elias adds, and I give him a thankful look. "If I told my father I found you, he would have demanded I drag you back, but that s not also the only reason. My father believes werewolves should be with other werewolves, doesn t believe in mixing species" "But I am a werewolf" She says. "yes, but you are also vampire, even hybrid s, my father is funny that way, wants pure bloodlines" "What s purer than a direct descendant of the Moon goddess?" She asks, and I could see she felt insulted. She was right, she was purer, purer than us but that would probably just irritate my father more, that not only would she be stronger than him, but the fact she wasn t wholly werewolf and had no wolf. "I can t believe this shit; you keep telling me, I had two years to prepare for this and in two years you still couldn t tell your father?" she asks, incredulous. "Am I expected to be a side hoe?" She growls. "No of course not, I just need to speak to my father" I tell her.