"THE TRIP WAS a long one, and I... uh... lost my shoes along the way," Darius explained with an embarrassed smile.

He never thought a day would come when he would be embarrassed in front of a woman.

"Oh... um, okay. Anyway, I have to go back to my desk now, I can feel my friend's glare from here," his mate said, chuckling.

Darius turned to see that indeed Monica was glaring at them. He wondered what was up with that human.

His mate had moved past him and began to walk to her desk when he heard the Earl Delta Captain whisper under his breath, "Her name, Alpha."

"Wait," the Alpha King called out, and she halted, turning back to stare at him. "I do not know your name."

The smile she gave him was blinding. "It's Ophelia. What's yours?"

His wolf purred on hearing his mate's name. It was as beautiful as she was.

"Darius."

"Darius," she repeated back with a nod. His name rolled off of her tongue so smoothly, that Darius couldn't help but shiver as he bit his lip.

He instantly found a new appreciation for his name.

"Do you have any plans tonight?" He asked and almost growled at the animosity that came out of Monica.

The Alpha King made a mental note to warn his mate of that human later. Speaking of humans, he had no idea what his mate was yet, but something at the back of his mind, told him that she wasn't human.

Ophelia tilted her head as she thought for a while. "I can't think of anything for now, so I guess I am not doing anything."

He slowly walked to her. "Then, can I take you out tonight?"

If Ophelia had lived with humans for a long time, he needed to court her like a human first before telling her about his kind if she didn't already know.

Hopefully, she would let him mark her before his birthday, or else that would be the end of him. No matter what her decision might be, he wouldn't force her.

"I'm sorry but no," she told him without missing a beat, immediately crushing Darius' happiness.

"Why not?" Darius immediately blurted out in confusion.

Wasn't she supposed to be attracted to him, too?

"I just can't, I'm sorry," Ophelia responded.

The sound of Darius' heartbreak, resounded in his mind as his mate went over to the front desk, not looking back at him.

Numb to the pain, Darius stood in his place, waiting. He watched her work, paying no attention to him like their conversation didn't happen, not once, and his heart shattered even more.

"Let's go, Alpha. We will try again later," Samuel spoke in a hushed voice.

Reluctantly, the King began the walk back to his room with the Captain trailing behind him. He paused to steal one last glance at his mate: the phone against her ears, talking rapidly.

With much struggle, Darius peeled his eyes off her small frame and continued his journey, unaware of the eyes following his movements.

~•~°×°~•~

"Samuel, you are to gather the men and return to the kingdom. Once there, you are to spread the good news to my people.

"I have found their Luna and will hopefully be returning to the kingdom with her-" Darius paused for a few seconds before saying,

"-If she allows it."

"Ten other Earl Deltas and I will remain here with you to accompany you here. I will send the rest back home. I won't be able to rest easy, knowing that you are here alone and unprotected," Samuel protested.

"You sound so much like Noriel," the Alpha King muttered, and the Earl Delta Captain smiled, happy to be compared to the Duke Beta.

"Fine, have it your way."

"Thank you, Alpha," Samuel said, thankful that he would still get the opportunity to protect his King.

Darius had one more problem on his mind. How do human males court their females?

IT IS SAID that good things happened when they are least excepted, and Ophelia couldn't believe her luck.

Just when she thought she would die as an old lady with four cats, a handsome stranger came and swept her off her feet. His captivating green eyes drew her in and it took everything in her to stop herself from swooning.

She did want to give him a chance but her fear of getting hurt overcame that want. She would rather admire him from afar than go close and get hurt in the end.

She found it charming how confused and lost for words he was. And the way he stared at her, it was like she was the only woman in the world.

His pointed gaze and blatant staring were enough to get her heart racing nervously.

"Can you stop acting like a lovesick puppy and focus on your work?!" Monica snapped, bringing Ophelia out of her daydreaming.

"I'm sorry, I was just thinking." Ophelia blushed, mortified by her friend's outburst.

Monica rolled her eyes. "Don't you see it?"

"See what?" A confused Ophelia asked, unsure about what Monica was referring to.

"He is obviously trying to get into your pants. I mean, how would someone like him be interested in you?" Monica stated in a condescending tone.

"But..." Ophelia tried to argue.

"But nothing! For all we know, he might just be another Tobias waiting to break your heart."

Ophelia frowned as she began to see what Monica meant. Darius looked like a demigod, standing over six feet tall with a face fit for the fashion magazines and a body for days.

And she was just... well her. As much as she hated to admit it, Monica was right: there was no way a guy like that was actually serious about her.

"Now you see what I mean," Monica said with a fake expression of concern.

"Yeah," Ophelia responded with a sad smile.

"Let's get back to work."

With a nod, Ophelia continued working robotically as her mood was ruined for the day. She had no idea why it hurt so much to learn that he was not interested in her.

Every once in awhile, Ophelia couldn't help but shift her eyes to the entrance of the hotel rooms. She was hoping that Darius would appear and prove Monica's assumptions wrong.

But as the hours passed, she gradually began to lose hope.

At the end of her shift, Ophelia packed up her things while staring at the main entrance to the hotel rooms one last time. Letting out a disappointed sigh, she picked up her bag and left the hotel building.

{•}

Thank you for reading.