Chapter Forty-six

“Wakey wakey eggs and bakey!” was the first thing Hayden heard when he awoke groggily from sleep.
His senses were assaulted by the lovely scent of his mate as he felt the bed dip and her weight over him. Alexia, his Alex bent over him and kissed him softly on the lips as she fell like a curtain around them.
He was suddenly awake as his eyes snapped open and met her hazel-green ones. He rose and made to grab her so he could flip her back to the bed and have an early morning make-out session, but she darted away from him, fast as lightning and giggling merrily.
Then Hayden saw that her hands were laden with a tray just as the delicious aroma of the food wafted out and tickled his nostrils. His stomach growled in response and he looked embarrassed.
She smiled again and cocked her head, her eyes softening and accessing him, “You didn’t have dinner last night again,” she accused.
“Guilty as charged, my love,” and he heard her heart skip a beat. He smiled, an unguarded one of his own and again, he heard her breath hitch.
Glad to know he affected her like she did him. Alexia drew closer and settled down beside him on the bed.
“Then it’s good that I made breakfast for you, Alpha,” she said and lifted the cover off the plates.
One plate was piled high with pancakes, and there was a small saucer of chocolate syrup beside it.
The other plate contained hash browns – hash browns as big as a cookie, with melted cheese and sprinkled bacon bits. A tall glass of orange juice and a glass was on the tray, along with a small pot of tea.
Even as his stomach growled, he smiled again and asked her, “What’s the occasion? Why am I getting breakfast in bed?”
“Can’t I pamper my Wolfie Boy anymore? I’ve decided today is Hayden appreciation day, so throughout today, I’ll pamper you. There’s also a surprise for you in the evening, but you’ll have to wait. Now open wide, let me feed you,” she instructed in a tone that brooked no room for argument.
“Yes ma’am,” he said and opened his mouth for the forkful of pancake drenched with chocolate syrup.
He felt syrup on his lips but before he could like it off, Alexia tilted forward and kissed it off, swiping her tongue around his lips. His breathing quickened and his pupils dilated.
When she pulled back, she was equally as affected, but she gave him a mock frown, “Don’t make a mess that I have to clean up, okay?”
“If you keep cleaning them like that, I may be tempted to make more,’ he said, eyes hooded and voice husky.

She only hummed in her throat and continued to feed him.

***

When noon came around, someone knocked on the door and mindlinked him. It was one of the helpers that came around to help clean up the packhouse.
“Alpha. I have something for you. It’s from the future Luna…I mean your mate.”
“Come in,” he simply replied, still bent over a spreadsheet.
The person came in, a short stocky girl of not more than 17 years old. She carried a tray with a small plate, a glass of chocolate milk and a handful of blue juniper flowers. There was a note stuck to the cover of the plate and when she got closer, he could smell peanut butter cookies. He smiled, a welcome distraction.

“Place it on my table, here,” he said, clearing a spot on his busy table.
She dropped the tray and bowed, before turning to leave. Her cheeks were flushed. His smile turned wry at her flaming face and rapidly beating heart. Then he looked down at the tray, and his smile brightened at the sight of the loopy scrawl of Alexia’s handwriting.

**“Roses are red, Junipers are blue, and some may be green. That’s not the point. Here’s something I made for you, just a little replenishing fuel. Prepare for the evening, and follow my clues. At the end of it all, you’ll find me, waiting for you. It starts at sunset, just when the sky begins to turn orange and the birds start to fly home.
P.S: Turn to the back.”

He flipped the little Post-It note, and there was something else scrawled on it.
“Dress warm. We’re going to be outside.
<3, Alexia.”**

She drew a silly smiley face on the note that elicited a brighter smile from him. Hayden tucked the note into a drawer, between one empty notebook there.
He opened the plate and the warm cookies enticed him, each one as big as a griddle cake. He noticed that she used some sort of utensil to scratch different shapes into the cookies.
The aroma reminded him of fond childhood memories, and he wondered how she knew it was his favorite. She probably asked Ace, he figured as he started to eat.

After finishing the cookies, he drank his milk and then swiped his lip over his forehead, recollecting how his mum told him he had a moustache every time he finished his cup. He’d then lick it off before she wiped it with a napkin, giggling. He sighed. Those were good times.

A temporary scowl flashed on his face when his mind went back to his work. Compiling the names of his dead wolves so that he could settle their families.
Also, taking inventory of their armory, purchasing rare supplies for the Warlocks and their charms, more blood for the vampires, and planning for building a proper training ground. The daily life of the Leader of the Werewolf clan.

However, it wasn’t enough to put a damper on his mood, because he looked forward to seeing Alexia in the evening. The smile returned.


***

Hayden willed the clock to move faster with his mind. It felt like he had been stuck in the same minute for an hour. The clock face mocked him, ticking loudly with its short arm on 4 and the long hand inching like a snail towards 12.
His hand fisted in his hair and pulled as he groaned. He had packed up his work, left it till tomorrow because he couldn’t concentrate, and Ace wasn’t around to continue because he was tending to Vanessa. It’s been a week, and she was still unconscious, trapped in a trance.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the clock chimed 4 and he scrambled out of his office, like a wolf with rogues at his heels. He hurried into the bedroom, peeled off his casual clothes with lightning speed and dashed into the bathroom. He chose the shower and set it to a hot, pulsing spray. Then he slowed down to carefully wash off the day’s dirt from his skin.

Curious, he opened a bottle of Alexia’s body wash and sniffed it. It smelled like lavenders and vanilla and he was tempted to use it but he decided against it, knowing that she liked how he smelled. While bathing, Hayden heard a door unlock and footsteps, but he paid it no heed.
When he was done, he walked out of the bathroom only to meet an outfit carefully laid on the bed, with a note and another handful of juniper flowers. He snatched up the note and it read,

“**Wear this. Dark blue brings out the tempest in your eyes. Don’t dally. I’m waiting.
<3, Alexia.”**

The note spurred Hayden into action, and he was a blur as he slid into the dark blue t-shirt, blue jeans and a dark blue sweater. He noticed they were new, but they fitted him perfectly. He sprayed some perfume on his clothes, combed his hair then walked out of the room. As he turned to lock the door, he saw another note on the door. It simply said,

“**The beach. Don’t forget your parka.
<3, Alexia.”**

He wondered how she was able to plant the notes without him knowing. Then he deduced that she sought the aid of the helpers, as he saw one of them ‘innocently’ sweeping the stairs, refusing to meet his gaze head-on. He chuckled and continued down the stairs, taking it two at a time.

When he got to the back-door door, he stopped for a moment, shrugged on his parka, then darted out of the door like a thunderbolt. When he reached the juniper path, he was surprised to see fairy lights threaded into the bushes and trees that shielded the path. They shone and twinkled, lighting his way. It was then that he realized she must have been planning it for days.
Hayden walked slowly, in awe. Also, he didn’t want to meet Alexia looking ruffled and out of breath. However, his heart beat faster with each step that he took, the sea breeze coming out to whip him in the face.
The fairy lights stopped as soon as he stepped onto the sand, and then his eyes took in the view before him, the splash of waves providing a backdrop of sound.

Alexia sat down on a huge patterned quilt with a large picnic basket and lit candles all around the quilt, holding it down. She turned when she sensed his presence and smiled at him.
Suddenly, meeting her hazel-green eyes, all the breath knocked out of Hayden.