Chapter Ninety-three

They finally made it to the dining room and were pleasantly surprised to find that they wouldn’t be eating alone. Senite was already seated at the table with a bright smile at the sight of them both, she had been out of the city but had returned as soon as possible when she was informed of what had happened.
It wasn’t just her too, Rosie was seated at the table and most surprisingly, Alec. It wasn’t that the Viceroy wasn’t allowed at the dinner table, it was just a personal decision of his to eat by himself but someone must have done a great job of convincing him because he was present.
There was a lot going on outside the mansion but both Viceroy and personal assistant kept it from their Alpha King and Luna Queen, the public could wait a few more hours.
Tragic events weren’t all bad because they made one appreciate the people they had around them all the more. Dinner was filled with lighthearted conversation, soft laughter mingling with the delicate clinks of silverware against china.
Claire half-expected Lukas to head off to the guest room that he had been spending his nights with, an inaudible sigh leaving her when he just placed a possessive arm around her waist and led her to their shared room.
If she had looked away from Lukas even for a single moment at dinner, she would have noticed that Rosie and Alec shared a lot of meaningful looks and gestures, her red-headed assistant a constant shade of red.
The only person privy to this was Senite, the older werewolf said nothing, watching the couples at the table with a soft smile.
The night was a slow one, moonlight spilling over fluffy grey clouds that slowly floated through dark blue skies. The next morning, however, was far from that.
Claire reluctantly woke up, wishing she could sleep in a few more hours right in Lukas’ arms but duty called so they both had to get up. Even though Lukas had kept her up late into the night, keeping to his words about eating her.
She lifted her head to find Lukas staring down at her, almost like he had been waiting for her to wake up. Claire’s smile was involuntary, her heart skipping a beat when Lukas gave her a returning smile.
“How did you sleep?” She asked, sitting up.
She didn’t even give any reaction to Lukas placing a hand on her waist, he had done it so often in the span of a few hours that she was already used to it. Plus it grounded her and reminded her that this soft familiarity she shared with Lukas wasn’t a dream.
“Good…” Lukas replied, his raspy morning voice sending shivers down her spine. “I always sleep good with you.”
Lukas’ confession made her want to giggle like a lovestruck teenager but she held back the reaction, making a move to get out of bed. “Good thing we share a bed now.” She noted, pushing her hair out of her face. “We should also get cleaned up before the maids show up.”
Lukas followed right after her, “Let’s shower together,”
As much of a tempting suggestion that was, Claire knew that they wouldn’t be getting any showering done if they did that. She stepped closer to Lukas, feeling his hands instantly go around her waist.
“How about we brush together and I give you a kiss?” She bargained, tilting her head to the side.
“Deal,” Lukas agreed easily, pressing a kiss to her forehead - another thing to add to the growing list of little things that Lukas did that stood out to her.
Claire had predicted right because they were barely dressed for the day when an all too familiar knock rang out on their bedroom door. It was another maid inviting them for breakfast, it was beginning to look like this would be routine for them.
They would always run late even for simple things like meals because Lukas couldn’t keep his hands off her, like right now.
Claire had a fleeting thought about how much trouble it would be if she became addicted to Lukas’ touches, at this rate, they wouldn’t be able to stay apart from each other for too long,
Breakfast was far different from dinner, Senite, Alec, and Rosie were all present just like the night before, but this time there was a lot to be done.
Alec immediately got right to filling Lukas in on what had happened ever since his mate was kidnapped, Claire could hardly listen in on what they were talking about because she also had a lot on her plate.
“Luna Claire? Lady Vaschell insists on having another dinner just to have you attend so she has requested that you both meet up on a lunch date to discuss a suitable date that will work for you.” Rosie spoke up as well, her usual pad in hand although they were at the dining table.
Although Lukas was seated right beside her, it felt like they were miles apart - Whoever said that being Royalty was easy work? Claire would like to have just a few words with them.
“Also, there’s a couple of news stations requesting a special interview with you regarding your absence from the dinner party, or at least a written letter.” She went right on, scrolling on her pad. “I’ve been keeping tabs on your college work and there’s a couple of impending assignments that you need to deal with.”
Claire had to bite back her groan, she loved Rosie, she really did but what she wanted to do right then was toss her trusty digital pad right across the dining room. Eating was less fun now after seeing only the tip of the iceberg of what she had to deal with after breakfast.
She needed to get the dinner out of the way as soon as possible, she didn’t want any more publicity on the matter because the last thing she needed was the media digging up her kidnapping and Lukas getting shot, that would be an awful mess.
So after breakfast, she said goodbye to Lukas and then headed straight to her office with Rosie to deal with the tasks on her daily schedule.
“Set up the lunch for this afternoon,” She said to Rosie when she settled behind her desk, “Sending letters to the news stations is the best option because I don’t have the energy for what is going to turn into an endless pile of interviews.” She added, watching Rosie nod and take down notes. “We can figure out what’ll go in the letters together and then run it through Alec.”
Rosie ducked her head to hide her slightly red cheeks, wondering when she would stop having such a physical reaction whenever Alec was mentioned.
“I’ll deal with the assignments and any appointment that it’s not important please put it on the back burner.”
Rosie smiled as she made more notes, she knew exactly who fit that bill off the top of her head, she didn’t even need to go through her notes for that. “I’ll get right on it, Luna Claire.” She beamed, making her way to her cubicle for the start of what was going to be a very busy day.
It almost felt like any other day to Claire but just as she rounded up her assignments and submitted them in, the door to her office opened. She lifted her head up with a frown, she didn’t remember Rosie leaving so who could…
Her frown was replaced with a smile that only one person could pull out of her. To think that she had gone from dreading Lukas’ presence to being so happy at the sight of him, but in her defense, he was the one that changed so much.
He strode over to her desk with easy grace, black hair slicked back. “Want to ditch work and grab lunch with me?” He asked with a slow smile.
Claire really wanted to, she didn’t think it was fair of Lukas to keep making these wonderful propositions to her at times when she couldn’t afford to accept them. “I’ve got a lunch date with Lady Vaschell.” She pouted, looking truly upset that she had to turn him down.
Lukas took her hand, unruffled, “Dinner then?”
“Sure,” Claire’s smile returned, now she would have something to look forward to.