LOOKING BACK AT Governor Efrain, Darius could see him and the Governor working together for a long time.

'If he survived,' his inner voice added.

Of course, he had to survive first. He had been in New York for three days yet it seemed like he wasn't making any progress with his mate.

At this rate, the Alpha King was certain that his mate wouldn't let him mark her before his birthday. No matter how much he tried to be optimistic, things didn't seem to be looking up for him.

The Governor's voice brought the King out of his thoughts.

"I have texted the previous head of the operation, he will be at the lobby of Hotel Aqua tomorrow morning to discuss the details."

"Alright, then I will be on my way now, Governor. Thank you for the invitation," Darius concluded then stood up to leave.

"Wait a second, I just remembered you mentioned over the phone that you are in New York to look for someone. Have you found the person or do you want me to have my people look into it for you?" Governor Efrain said, as he stood up quickly.

"No need, Governor Efrain, I have found who I was looking for," Darius responded, then paused for a while, contemplating if he should go ahead and ask what was on his mind.

But the Governor spoke first before Darius could open his mouth.

"Then I suppose you will be going back to Montana soon, then?"

"Not yet. I may have found the person but my purpose here remains unfinished for now," Darius replied.

Governor Efrain nodded thoughtfully before saying, "If the Alpha King can let me know his concerns, I can help you with whatever it is."

"Err... this may sound odd but..." Darius paused again, looking around to see if anyone else besides Samuel and Governor Efrain were listening.

The Alpha King never thought a day would come when he would be embarrassed to speak out his thoughts. He cast a glance at the Earl Delta Captain who nodded in encouragement.

"How exactly do human males court their females?" Darius asked, finally letting the heavy words out of his mouth.

At his question, Governor Efrain blinked twice, probably unable to believe that this was what got the Alpha King tongue-tied. It took him some time before he was able to muster a befitting response.

"Have you perhaps found a human of interest?" Governor Efrain asked slowly.

Darius' words were confident this time. "Yes, I have, and I plan to court her."

"No woman would be able to turn you down, King Darius. Give me a name and I will have her go to your room before midnight.

"You do not need to go through the trouble of courting her if all you want is to sleep with her," Governor Efrain said with a smile.

Darius shook his head, as he internally facepalmed himself . "You do not understand, Governor Efrain. I do not just want to get intimate with her."

Governor Efrain frowned in confusion. "But I thought you werewolves have soulmates. Won't your soulmate be against you keeping a human by your side? Or can you also keep concubines in a harem?"

"Are you going to tell him about your mate, Alpha?" Samuel asked through the mind link.

"I know I probably shouldn't because there is a possibility he might use her against me. But something tells me I can trust him," Darius responded.

"Then I trust in your judgement, Alpha," The Earl Delta Captain concluded and the Alpha King closed the mind link before responding to the Governor.

"The female in question is my soulmate."

~•~°×°~•~

Darius wanted to leave New York without regrets. If he failed in his quest, he wanted it to not be from lack of trying.

When Governor Efrain brought up the idea of a date, Darius let out a disappointed sigh. His mate didn't want to spend five minutes with him, let alone go on a date.

Still, he decided to give it a try anyway. If he can spend some time with her, he would get the chance to tell her everything about himself.

On the way home, the King logged onto the wolfnet to check out date ideas. He was surprised to see that going on dates was normal for werewolves, too.

The next video that popped up was that of a wolf who took his mate skydiving. He quickly slid past that. Ophelia didn't look like the type to enjoy things like that.

The next video was even worse than the previous one, and with a deep sigh Darius tossed his phone to the car seat.

"I take that as a sign that you found nothing to your liking," Samuel said from the front seat.

"Everything is either too extreme or too embarrassing. I don't think Ophelia would appreciate dangerous things like rock climbing, car racing and hiking.

"Hiking might not be too bad but it's not good enough for the first date. She needs to be comfortable around me first before she can trust me enough to let me take her for a hike," Darius told him.

"Then perhaps you should do it your way, Alpha. Besides, Luna Ophelia does not seem like the kind to enjoy things that are too much.

"A simple picnic or a walk in the park might do the trick," the Earl Delta Captain advised as he glanced at the Alpha King through the front mirror.

Darius shifted forward so that he was even closer to the front seat.

"Don't you think it's too simple? I fear she might not take me seriously if I come to her with a picnic or ask her to take a walk with me."

"What's important are your sincerity, intentions and what lies in your heart.

"I get that you might want to give her the best but at the same time, you shouldn't forget that it is more important to make her feel that your intentions are pure and that you are serious about pursuing a long-term relationship," Samuel advised.

Darius fell back with a soft sigh. "Isn't there like a shortcut or something?

"I have barely nine days left and I haven't even gotten my mate to stop running away whenever she sees me, let alone allow me close to her neck."

"Well, unless you want to kidnap her, take her back to the pack, force your mark on her and deal with the repercussions later, I do not think there is another shortcut," the Captain responded.

The King shook his head. "I may be desperate but not desperate enough to do that to her. I would rather die than cause harm to her with these two hands."

That promise was one Darius planned to keep for as long as he lived.

{•}

Thank you for reading.