Chapter 52: HARD WORK PAYS

**Alpha Sebastian**

We ate in silence.

I watched my mate through the upper corners of my eyes as she spooned food into her mouth. She was enjoying the meal, and the date I guessed.

But this was not just some ordinary day to me because I had some other plans for it.

I had planned a surprise proposal tonight.

We had met weeks ago, as mates and we should have been married now according to the Harné pack tradition.

But due to one or two problems that we had kept encountering from then on, our marriage had some how become the last thing on my mind.

And it was not supposed to be so.

My mate should have been my priority and not other things.

Her twin sister had seduced me, on our first date, the original day that I had planned this surprise proposal that I was about to deliver tonight, to her.

I was doing a redo of it.

Ellen had shown up at that date instead of my mate. Then she had drugged me, seduced me and had her way with me -did she or did I?

She had shamelessly crawled into my bed and caused a whole lot of problems for my mate and I.

She had become an imperial prisoner who had later somehow escaped the imperial prison while still pregnant with my child.

She was something else, that Ellen. And somehow, I was really kind of happy that she was gone.

She had been leading me by a leash and I had almost fallen for her honey pot trap and almost forgotten about the atrocities she had committed against my mate and I.

She was a evil as her sister said.

Last night with Elena had opened my eyes and made me realize that I had only her. She was my mate, mine.

And I wanted it to be so forever.

I decide to overlook every single thing that had occurred leading up to this moment and ask my mate to spend the rest of her life with me just like I wanted to do with her.

I hoped it was not late.

I looked up to study her through passionate eyes. She was pretty with her hair up, away from her neck.

They were in light curls that she pooled at the upper back of her head with what I supposed was fancy hair pins.

Her eyes were dark and gorgeous with eye makeup that enhanced the soft drawing brown of her eyes.

She had on a sharp red lip stick that was the fire on candle that was her.

She was hot.

She was mine.

She pushed the few remnants of her food away from her and reached for her wine glass. She lifted the glass to her mouth and took a sip of the drink with so much poise and elegance, so hot that it turned me on, on the spot.

"Did you enjoy the meal?" I could not help but ask her as I reached for my own glass of wine and helped myself to the alcohol. She took another sip before she set the glass on the table and replied me.

"Yes, I did," she said to me. "It was wonderful, thank you." I smiled at those words from her. The waiter came in behind her, signalling me with his eyes if it was safe to come over. I winked at him. He came over. His eyes scanned our entire table before he smiled broadly. I was guessing that the reason, it was because our dishes were empty.

"Shall I bring dessert?" He asked me. That sentence, it was the secret code that we had earlier agreed to as a sign to begin the surprise proposal.

I studied the atmosphere silently.

I guessed every where was good. Elena was happy with her meal. We were drinking wine in a carefree stance.

There was nothing more better than a surprise to have our adrenaline going.

"Yes," I began. "The special strawberry velvet cake, please," I reminded him. The waiter nodded with a smile that I was sure would give us away. I glanced quickly at Elena, but she seemed to have not noticed that anything was amiss.

She was rather still taking small sips of her wine.

I gave the waiter a look that said 'Don't you dare mess this up' with a tight smile. She placed her wine glass on the table then and stared between the both of us.

"I will just clear this up quickly," the waiter said with a hand gesture towards the empty dishes," and be back with dessert in a jiffy."

He swiftly cleaned up the empty dishes from the entire table and went to bring out dessert just as he had promised.

My heart began to bear faster in my chest as the moment I had long been waiting for drew closer with each passing second.

I secretly fumbled in my pocket with my fingers for the ring box that I had placed in it earlier.

I sighed inaudibly and calmed down considerably when my fingers touched the ring box, safe and secure in there.

I rehearsed the speech that I had practiced a thousand times all day, one more time, in my head.

My beta, Zedd who was also my mate's brother and My Gamma, Miller had lent me a hand in all of the preparations.

That was what I had been busy with all day long.

They helped me to choose everything, down to the ring based on her preference.

Zedd knew her better.

I hoped it would all turn out extremely perfect, just as I wanted it to be.

The cake came then, with the members of staff that I had specially paid to escort it in with lights that changed colors and a bottle of champagne.

It had not been my idea.

It had been my Gamma's.

I could see now that it was a really good one. The guy deserved a reward.

I stood to my feet and reached for the ring box in my picket before I went down on one knee to propose to her.

"Elena Evans, ever since the day that I came to know you as a person, and my mate also, I have always wanted to be with you. You are a kind and wonderful person and having you has made my life more colorful than ever. I love you Elena and I would like to spend the rest of my life with you as your husband, as your mate, forever," I recounted the speech from my head without mincing words.

Hard work pays.

It really did.

I could see the obvious surprise and confusion in Elena's eyes as she watched, saying nothing at all.

But the moment I pulled out the ring box and opened it to reveal that diamond ring that my two man assistant team had chosen, she screamed softly in delight.

I gave the waiter an eye wink and he brought the cake forward quite dramatically.

The cake was cream with designs in burgundy.

My Beta had proposed that the design team should write the words 'Elena, will you marry me?' unto the face of the cake.

It looked cool now, those words.

I really needed to reward my two man team for they were the best.

"Yes Sebastian, yes I will marry you!You did not have to ask," she agreed in a breath.

Joy, white and blinding filled every corner of my heart at her reply.

"Thank you Elena," I murmured gratefully as I slipped the diamond ring unto a finger of the palm that she had offered me.

She studied the ring with pleasure. The spark in her eyes told me how much she lived the jewelry.

"I love you Elena," I assured her as I stood and took her in an embrace.

"I love you too Sebastian."