"Training at five in the morning," Inaaya groaned to herself as she set an alarm for quarter to five on her new phone. Jermaine had stopped by her room to give her the timings of her routine starting tomorrow. The first thing on the list was making Inaaya regret ever visiting Dielle in the first place. She hadn't expected the Alpha would want her to attend the pack training too when she had so casually told her the whole pack trained together at five in the morning.

When she had expressed her dejection over the news to Jermaine, the blonde man had laughed it off saying, "When you become part of the pack, you become part of the pack. For the good and the bad."

"Breakfast at eight. Work from ten to five, though I can make my own work hours as best suited to the team. That's something, I guess," she commented, reading the schedule. "Then sessions with Jace at six," she murmured, sulking about the mornings still as she fell on the bed on her back.

A knock sounded on the door and Inaaya huffed, getting up and opening it. Seeing Axel, she gave a small smile before walking back to her bed. Axel quietly followed her inside, letting the door shut behind him.

"You seem upset," Axel stated, watching Inaaya with his brows furrowed.

Inaaya rested her back against the headboard, shaking her head with a slightly amused smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "No, just moping."

"Over what?" he asked, sitting on the sofa beside her bed. Inaaya handed him the schedule Jermaine had given her. Axel studied it with narrowed eyes. "So you did go to see Alpha Dielle," he said softly, not taking his eyes off the paper.

Inaaya sat up straighter, wringing her fingers in her lap. "Yes. I'm sorry I went behind your back. Are you angry?" Axel and she had developed a congenial relationship that she didn't know how to label. Either way, she didn't want to jeopardise it.

Axel looked at her and sighed. "No. It's just... it would have been nice to have known about it beforehand."

"I... I thought you wouldn't let me if I had told you. You wouldn't tell me how I could contribute no matter how many times I asked," she reasoned, eyes reflecting her guilt.

"Yeah, I know. I got to hear lots about how unfair that was of me. Towards you, towards the pack..." Axel trailed off, shaking his head and exhaling in slight irritation as he looked at the schedule once again.

"Dielle?" Inaaya asked and Axel nodded. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you'd be in trouble because of it. I wouldn't have told her otherwise."

Axel brushed it off, giving Inaaya a smile. He handed the schedule back to her. "Looks like you'll be a lot busier starting tomorrow, eh."

Inaaya glanced at the paper before placing it on her bedside table. "Looks like it."

"How about we go out on a date before that happens?" Axel asked suddenly, raising his eyebrows at Inaaya while giving her a charming smile. "I understand that you also need some new clothes? If I'm not wrong, you're wearing those white jeans for the third day in a row today?" he asked, tilting his chin towards her legs. Inaaya blushed, rubbing her thigh to straighten a crease on her jeans. "We can go shopping and then maybe you'd let me buy you a dinner?"

Inaaya bit her lower lip, thinking. She did need clothes. But she didn't have the money. Not to forget the second part of his question. A date with him? Was she ready yet?

"I don't have the money," she said, hoping to deflect the situation with her first problem so she wouldn't have to think of an answer for the second.

"Inaaya," Axel said, sighing. "You know I can buy them for you."

"And you know I don't want you to." She just didn't want to depend on him like her mother depended on her father. That would do no one any good.

Axel sighed again, rubbing his forehead with three strained fingers before shaking his head at her. "Well, then the pack will. You're a part of the family now and you've already started taking your responsibilities." When Inaaya still looked reluctant, Axel added, "I could go to Alpha Dielle too, you know. We both know who she will side with this time."

Inaaya's lips parted in shocked amusement at his words and she rolled her eyes. "Fine."

"And dinner?" Axel asked, a slight nervousness in his words.

Inaaya looked at him, her nose scrunched in slight guilt as she wondered whether to crush the hopeful expression in his eyes. She could imagine a mini-her dressed in a red devil outfit sitting on her left shoulder and another dressed in an angel outfit on her right, both debating what her response should be. The devil wanted her to go. More so, she wanted her to come. The angel, of course, was horrified at that suggestive counsel.

Inaaya shook her head, reminding herself to stop watching so much TV in the rec room. It was influencing her for the worse. Inaaya breathed deeply, thinking and overthinking the situation at hand until a rational argument won. She was staying in a foreign country amongst strangers, one of whom she found herself in intimate situations with on numerous occasions. She had agreed to stay in the room next to his to see where this thing between them could go. Hell! The man had already become a part of her days. A dinner date with him was hardly out of the blue!

"Inaaya," Axel called, shaking her shoulder. She blinked, looking at him with startled eyes. He was kneeling in front of her, gazing at her face with worried grey eyes. "You okay? Where did you go?" he asked, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Inaaya shook her head, her fingers gently brushing the tingling skin of her ear he had touched. "Sorry. Yes, dinner sounds wonderful," she told him, smiling softly. Her cheeks pinkened with the realisation of the short distance between Axel's face to hers. Just a bit more and they could skip to the end of the date. Inaaya resisted the urge to groan at the direction her thoughts were taking.

Axel gave her a broad smile and kissed her cheek before standing up. He extended his hand towards her, palm up. "Shall we?"

Inaaya smiled and placed her hand in his, letting him pull her to her feet. She felt the roughness of his skin against her soft one and yet, not once did it make her want to pull away. She found herself relishing in the deep callouses of his palm.

Axel didn't let go of her hand as he led her out the castle and towards a sleek black car. Inaaya couldn't place the model but she could identify it to be a Jaguar.

The drive to the mall was about an hour and a half and filled with idle chatter. Inaaya learned that Axel favoured whiskey, wasn't really into music and had a soft spot for peanut butter. In return, Inaaya confided in him of her preference to beer, partiality towards Country music and while she couldn't resist several foods, a savoury Indian snack called Gol Gappe topped that list.

"Morning person or a night owl?" Axel asked, exiting the car as Inaaya followed. Axel rounded the car and held her hand in his again as they walked into the mall. The action felt so natural to Inaaya that she didn't notice it for a while.

"Definitely a night owl," Inaaya answered and Axel chuckled. "Which reminds me, seeing as Dielle wants me to train tomorrow, would you please ensure I'm awake by a quarter to five? I tend to turn off my alarm and continue sleeping," she admitted sheepishly, causing an amused smile to appear on Axel's lips.

He nodded, bringing their hands up and placing a chaste kiss on Inaaya's knuckles. "For sure!" Axel led them into a Zara store, the brand Inaaya had picked. "But don't you think that's a little early to wake up? Fifteen minutes before the training starts? I'm sure you could still catch up on more sleep." Axel said, smirking cheekily at her and Inaaya rolled her eyes, chuckling along with him.

"If I can get a minute's extra sleep in the morning, I'll take it. Fifteen minutes is the exact time I need to get ready," she answered, shrugging her shoulders. Inaaya went to the first section on the left of store's entrance, gliding through the several shirts hanging on it.

Axel leaned against a counter, watching Inaaya shop with his arms folded against his chest. "Inaaya, if you don't want to train, just say the word. I will talk to Alpha Dielle for you," he offered as Inaaya turned around with a beige shirt in hand.

She shook her head at him, giving him a small smile. "No. Thank you but there's no need. I don't want any differential treatment. Also, I think a bit of exercise might do me good," she answered, smiling wider as she brought the shirt up to her neck, showing it to Axel. "What do you think?"

Axel smiled, glancing at the shirt. "It's lovely."

Inaaya grinned, adding the shirt to her shopping bag. She turned to the rack again, continuing her perusal. "Favourite sport?" she asked.

"Hockey," Axel answered, following Inaaya to the next section. He watched her add two jeggings, one black and one blue, to her bag. "Here, let me take this so you can shop comfortably," he said, extending his hand for the bag. Inaaya shrugged and handed it to him, murmuring a thank you. Axel smiled then asked, "A hobby no one knows about?"

"Mmm," Inaaya mumbled, her brows furrowed as she thought about it. She turned to Axel with two tunics in her hands, one blue and one brown. She wiggled her brows at him.

"Both," he answered. Inaaya let out a short laugh, smiling broadly as she handed the tunics to Axel and he put them inside the bag. "So, the hobby?" he asked again, smiling at her.

"Mmm... Dancing in the shower," Inaaya answered jokingly, chestnut eyes twinkling with mirth. She went into another section of blouses.

"I'd love to see you in action sometime," Axel murmured in her ear and she jumped, her breath caught in her throat at the sparks she felt. She hadn't realised when Axel had come up so close. Now though, she was highly aware of the warmth radiating off from his body and into hers.

Inaaya tried to calm her laboured breathing and heated cheeks. She turned, swatted his arm and walked away, hearing his chuckles as he followed her. This was an everyday occurrence for her now. He would flirt and tease and she would shyly run away.

Moving on to a different topic, she asked, "Your spirit animal?"

Axel let out a booming laugh. "Really, Inaaya?" he asked amused, causing Inaaya to turn around in confusion. Axel raised his eyebrows at her and when she caught on, her cheeks tinged pink in embarrassment. Axel laughed harder and a moment later, Inaaya joined in. Shaking her head, she picked up a black blouse and showed it to him. "Beautiful," he said, taking it from her and adding it to the bag.

Inaaya frowned and turned to the racks again. Shopping had never been as easy as it seemed to be with Axel. His approval for every outfit was starting to make Inaaya feel dubious. She picked up a funny-looking blouse and turned to Axel. "What do you think?" she asked, eyes narrowed slightly in observation.

"I like it."

Inaaya gasped, shoving the blouse on the counter. "You're not even paying any attention! You're just nodding along to whatever I pick!" she accused, crossing her arms against her chest. Her eyes reflected the annoyance as well as the amusement she felt.

Axel looked confused for a moment, then he glanced at the blouse Inaaya had discarded and his expression morphed into a chastened one. "It's not like that, Inaaya," he began, walking closer to her.

She rolled her eyes, snatching the bag from him. One by one, she pulled out the articles inside the bag, looking them over. "If you don't like shopping, all you had to do was tell me. I wouldn't have minded. But now, I'll have to look over these tops again just to be sure," she rambled on, tossing out two blouses and putting the rest of the articles back inside the bag. She turned around to find Axel standing right behind her.

"It's not that I wasn't paying attention," he began and Inaaya raised her eyebrows with a half-smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth. Her expression was the exact picturisation of the phrase 'Is that so?'

Axel grinnd as he continued with his explanation. "It's just that, to me, everything looks stunning on you. You're absolutely gorgeous, no matter what you wear. You make even this ugly thing look ravishing," he murmured, picking up the discarded blouse before dropping it back on the counter.

Inaaya was arrested by his words and the intensity of his eyes. Axel cupped her cheek, caressing her cheekbone with a gentle thumb. Inaaya's heart was thudding, dedicated to breaking out of her ribcage. Her breathing had become erratic and a bashful smile curved at her lips.

She placed her hands on Axel's shoulders, leaning up on her toes and pecking his cheek. "Thank you. You're one smooth flatterer," she whispered, stepping back from his arms and walking towards the billing counter.

Shaking his head, Axel followed her. Once he stood next to her, he leaned down and whispered in her ear, "It's not flattery if it's true."

Inaaya jumped, feeling his lips brushing her ear. She looked up into his eyes, her throat suddenly feeling dry. His light grey eyes were the most effective way of her incarceration. She bit her lip, unable to look away.

"Sir? Ma'am?" a female voice called loudly, bursting their little bubble of intimacy.

Startled, Inaaya looked at the employee behind the billing counter waiting for them to approach with an amused smile on her lips. Inaaya blushed, moving forward and handing her the shopping bag.

"You're both so cute together!" the lady cooed as she folded the clothes into a neat pile.

Axel wrapped an arm around Inaaya's waist, glancing down at her before turning to the employee again. "Thank you, miss," he said, then leaned down and pecked Inaaya's cheek. "You're cute," he whispered in her ear, making her cheeks tinge pink yet again.

Once Axel had paid the employee, he accepted the Zara shopping bag from her and began leading them out the store and towards another. "Where to next?"

"H&M?" Inaaya asked, pointing towards the store. Axel nodded and they began walking in the store's direction.

"Oh, before I forget, Alpha Dielle asked you to buy a nice dress for the reception."

"Axel," Inaaya said, stopping in her tracks and turning to him. "You haven't even proposed yet," she continued with a straight face, holding back her laughter at the confused and stricken expression on Axel's face.

"W-what?" he murmured and Inaaya let out a boisterous laugh, causing a few passersby to look at her with intrigue.

"Your face!" she said, chortling. Axel smiled in amusement, shaking his head.

"Would it be that easy? I just have to ask?" he whispered and it was Inaaya's turn to stare comically. Her cheeks reddened and she hastily entered the H&M store. She could hear Axel's laughter as he fell in step with her. "So, as I was saying, a reception will soon be organised to officially welcome you into the pack," he said, clasping her hand again, allowing her to steer him inside the store. "Alpha Dielle said you should buy a dress for the occasion. A gown would be most appropriate."

"Oh," Inaaya mumbled, focussing on getting her heartbeats back to an acceptable rate.

"Where do you want to get the gown from?"

She turned to Axel, forehead creased as she brought her attention to his words and loudly exclaimed, "No, no, no!" Axel looked startled. "I'm not buying a gown with you. You're no help! You'd just stand there and say I looked beautiful even if I was wearing a sack!"

"And you're complaining, why?" asked an older lady standing near them with her eyebrows raised at Inaaya and a wide smirk plastered on her lips. The woman strutted away while Inaaya and Axel looked at each other, both bursting into a riotous laughter.

A/N:

They went on a date! ❤︎ ❤︎

What do you guys think of their chemistry so far?

Are they... Cute? Sweet? Slow? Annoying?

Do let me know! ^_^

PS I'm in Switzerland right now y'all and I'm absolutely loving it! :D