Chapter 17 No Luck

[Ella]
I never realize until Mia tips me off that the real reason Mr. Clapton went shopping with me for a gown was likely to have me as his dance partner. After all, I always assume that Mr. Clapton's mate is Mia.
However, I can't really be blamed because Mr. Clapton didn't explicitly tell me his intention. I can't read minds and didn't know exactly what he was thinking. So far, I have relied on his expressions to guess his mood and thoughts. Still, I don't believe that an unsmiling face is enough to make someone feel the thought - "I'd like to invite you to be my dance partner at tomorrow's party."
Anyway, Mia suggests I talk to Mr. Clapton.
"Careful. I've never seen Ethie so angry." Lucas cautions me.
He wouldn't be trying to kill me, would he? I notice the champagne in my glass, breathe in deeply, and take a big sip. According to Mia, I could be extra bold when I was drunk. I once tried drinking for the first time on my 21st birthday, and it impressed Mia a lot. She said I pretended I was a bird and almost jumped out of the apartment window.
Hopefully, the alcohol will help me find the courage to get to Mr. Clapton, who is pissed off.
"Hey! Ella, what's wrong? Your boyfriend is out the door in a rage after he settles the bill." Jenny pulls me back as I reach the door.
"He paid for dinner?" I ask in surprise.
"He was generous enough to leave a big tip. By the way," Jenny whispers, "two rogues just spotted your boyfriend's wallet, and they went out with him and seemed to be getting at him. Be careful."
"What? Thank you, Jenny." My body is heating up from the alcohol, and I have to get Mr.Clapton back to the restaurant while my consciousness remains clear.
[Ethan]
I've probably become unhinged since meeting Ella Jane Ronan. Because of the mate pull, I always put my attention on Ella whenever she is near me.
As I paid more and more attention to her, I became obsessed with her stunning hazel eyes, like colored bubbles in the morning sun. Gradually, I discovered more things about her that attracted me. For example, she was a very principled girl; her grilled chicken legs tasted pretty good; she would react to my jokes in a funny and cute way. She would even give me a counterattack, even though I was a little annoyed that she used that repulsive cat to get back at me.
Before asking her to pretend to be my girlfriend, I struggled with whether or not to continue approaching Ella. My reason told me that I would simply grow fonder of her because of the mate pull. But, I never wanted to spend the rest of my life with one girl. As soon as she walked into the dining room, however, I stopped bothering with that boring question.
She must have still not found out I was her mate, so simply not letting her touch me would have prevented me from falling deeper and deeper and satisfied my desire to get to know her.
But, instead of satisfying my curiosity about her, it grew. Especially after her ex-boyfriend appeared and told me rumors about Ella. So I temporarily decided not to terminate the work assignment- had her pretending to be my girlfriend, though my father was angry because I had canceled the pack meeting again.
I couldn't stop myself from helping Ella get rid of that useless Beta because she was my mate. I was going to give the coward a bigger punishment, but I noticed that Ella didn't care about him anymore. So I just use a gentle way to let that coward get out. Count him lucky.
After Ella's excellent performance on the mission I gave her, the game of pretending to be a couple between us could have ended here. Still, I didn't and even considered having her as my dance partner for tomorrow's banquet. Perhaps I wished to continue to see my face reflected in her more-than-jewel eyes; to hear her laugh and call my nickname; to see if this girl in only jeans and a cotton T-shirt would become the brightest star in an evening gown.
However, I was so wrong.
I admitted that while she was gleefully explaining to her friends who her dance partner was, I was tempted to seek a duel with the jerk who dared to ask my mate to be his dance partner. But the real reason for my irritation was that Ella had no feelings for me. Otherwise, she wouldn't completely lack awareness that I planned to ask her to be my dance partner.
How insensitive was this she-wolf? Even if I didn't touch her, couldn't she smell something she liked on me? I canceled the pack meeting for her and came to this old small restaurant for dinner on a Friday night. She didn't even notice that I was treating her differently.
My palm is cut by shards of glass, but I don't feel the pain because the she-wolf in the restaurant is driving me crazy. I shake my head, breathe out and get ready to get my work phone from my car, so I can arrange for Ansel to do something for me.
Before I even step into the parking lot, I sense I am being followed by two guys. From the scent in the air, they are rogues, and if I'm right, they probably want to rob some valuable things from me.
Usually, rogues don't dare to piss off a big-pack Alpha like me. The Alpha leading the big pack possesses superior power. He or she can emit an aura with a strong sense of pressure, making shifters weaker than him (her) feel scared. However, I usually purposely restrain my aura. So, they don't notice who I am.
Just in time, I need to vent my anger. I feign not noticing them and stop in front of my car.
"Dude, you have a cool Porsche!" One of the rogues says as I open the car door.
My arm is against the car door, and I turn around to look at the two rogues. The tall, bald man is playing with the dagger in his hand. He appears to be 6'3"; tattoos cover his thick arms. The one who is a head shorter than him wears a hood and is equally fit. He looks at me with an evil grin, his hands in his pockets.
"Are you guys gonna just rob me, or do it after chatting with me about how beautiful the moon is tonight?" I ask.
"Smart guy, leave your wallet and car key." The man in the hood says.
"I would hate to hurt you." The bald man shows me his biceps and the dagger in his hand.
"You guys have no luck. I'm in a bad mood today. I take off the suit jacket I'm wearing, throw it back into the driver's seat, and close the car door. "Are you two going to do this together, or will you take turns?"
The bald man rushes over with his dagger, but he moves too slowly. As he raises the dagger, I can already tell he will attack from the right. I clench my fist, punch him in the throat, and kick him hard in the back of the knee. He falls to one knee covering his throat and coughing, the dagger in his hand is tossed aside.
"Hey! Don't move!" The shorter rogue finally pulls his pistol out of his pocket and aims it at me.
I raise my eyebrows, not restraining my Alpha aura, and ask him with a smile, "You wanna test who faster is? Let's see it's you pulling the trigger first, or me shifting first."