by the sea

"Until when will you be staying here?" I question him, assuming that he had to go back as soon as possible.

"Until you leave."

"How about the pack?"

"They can handle a few days without me." was all he answered and I was satisfied. Besides, I won't lie that I'm happy that he was here with me right now.

My eyebrow raised once we got to my suite. I'm pretty sure I didn't leave it this way. See, I wasn't at my best when I came here yesterday so I merely stacked everything wherever there was space, but now, everything was clean and even that weirded me out.

"I take it you're staying here alone?" Archer asks as he closes the door and looked around. I nodded towards him. "And it was Suzy who arranged this?"

"Got that right, she said that--" I stopped when I realized something. I slowly looked towards my mate and when I looked into his eyes, I knew that we were thinking the same thing.

This. This was Suzy's plan?

That mischievous girl! She looks all dainty and innocent on the outside, but it seems she instigated all this!

Well... not that I'm mad or anything.

I shook my head as if shaking the thought away. "Uhm, well, I'm gonna take a shower, you should too." I say to avoid talking about the subject.

Archer noticed and chuckled and sat down at the sofa and grabbed the TV remote. I remembered once more that he was shirtless from the walk to the beach until here.

"Wait-- where are you stuffs? Clothes?" I question, crossing my arms across my chest. He clearly didn't have anything in hand, did he leave them in his car?

He was already changing channels and looked up at me to answer. "Don't have any. I rushed here so I didn't really think of taking anything."

My jaw dropped in shock. How careless! What, was he planning to go around like this the whole time? And he planned to stay here until we left which was only three days from now on!

Ugh, sometimes I don't understand how guys think.

I grabbed the shirt that I was wearing which belonged to him and took it off. When I was done, I realized the wrong that I had committed. I probably shouldn't have done that in front of him.

Archer was staring at me intently, his lips slightly parted and all I could think of was our kiss earlier.

The embarrassment set in real quick and I quickly turned around, grabbing the damned shirt so tightly.

I hate how I sometimes act without thinking! Hazel, you're such an embarrassment!

Oh, gosh. How will I face him now? It totally looked like I was undressing in front of him!

I almost jumped when I felt Archer's arms lace my waist from behind me and his lips came closer to my ear.

"That was dangerous, Hazel." he whispered and grabbed the shirt from my hands before pulling away.

I bit my lip and mustered my courage before turning back to him.

"I did not do that on purpose." I inform him and I knew he didn't believe me because all he did was raise an eyebrow at me. "Anyways, there's a nearby mall here, we can go buy you clothes. There's no way I'm letting you wear one pair of clothes for three days."

After saying that, I quickly left the living room to go to the bedroom and take a shower. All the while, I was scolding myself for what I did.

And when I was putting shampoo on my hair, I remembered what he said, that he came here because of me. And-- and he was jealous when other guys approached me?

I found myself giggling like a teenage girl who was falling in love for the first time.

Besides, jealous Archer was cute to look at! And now he should know I feel whenever Jessica hangs around him!

Ah, Suzy. I love you. I must really take notes from that girl.

After finishing with the shower, I decided to wear a mini skirt with a silk long-sleeve because although we were at the sunny beach, it still got pretty chilly during the night.

I was drying my hair when I got out of the room and found Archer watching with a bored expression. He looked up and when he saw me, he quickly turned the television off.

He was now back to wearing his grey shirt and he ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to fix it, but when he got closer to me, I beckoned for him to bend his head.

When he did, I quickly fixed it for him.

"Let's go, I'm getting hungry." I say and smiled at him.

"Yes ma'am." he answered and out we were.

It didn't take long for us to get to the mall. In fact, when he arrived at the outside of the hotel, a kind hotel worker who was driving a golf cart offered to drop us near the mall.

Happily, we obliged.

On the way, I was showing Archer the places that Suzy and the others have taken me to and the shops that I would like to visit.

When we passed by an area with water activities, I told him which ones I wanted to try. He wasn't saying much, but I was happy that he was listening.

The kind driver laughed at the front and Archer and I both turn to him.

"Are you guys a newlywed?" he asks. I took a while before answering. He was talking about human marriage which was almost like mates.

I was about to answer, but Archer beat me to it.

"Yes, we are." he said. I quickly turn to him and find him smiling, clearly amused.

"Great! You guys look great." he says and laughs out loud. He makes a turn and slows down. "Well, I hope you two a happy marriage. You take care of your wife, lad." he advises Archer before leaving us.

"Th--thank you." was all I managed to say as we waved goodbye to him. When he was gone, I turned to Archer. "You heard what he said." I tease and he also chuckled.

We shopped quickly because unfortunately, the stores are not open all day and were almost closing when we got to the mall.

Archer had a taste for dark coloured clothes, which I have not failed to observe, and he still wanted to get only those clothes!

"No, you're at the beach, why would you wear such a depressing colour! Besides, you're gonna get really hot if you wear black on a sunny day." I say and put back a black cotton shirt which he was suggesting.

I got him bright colours and even ventured to get him a blue and white Hawaiian shirt which he was strongly against.

"There's no way I'm wearing that." he complains and took it off the bag on an attempt to put it back on the rack.

I pouted and quickly blocked him.

"Oh come one, Archer. I have a blue one piece with this same colour, you have to get this so we can match!" I argued.

He looked at me in the eyes, full of defiance, but he simply took a deep breath and released it. "Fine, but I'm only wearing this once." he answers and puts it back on our shopping cart voluntarily.

I squealed quietly, excited and laughed.

We obviously got him shorts and other things that he would need.

When a worker, which was a werewolf, approached us to tell us that they were closing, we paid for our items and left. Since we got quite a lot of things, we went back to our room and set them down before going back out for dinner.

When we were back at the lounge, I took one of their tour guide books to look for a restaurant, but I wasn't able to do so because Archer took it away from me.

"I know a place here." he says. He grabs my hand and started walking ahead.

"You've been here?" I asked, curiously.

"Uhm... this hotel is one of the human businesses the pack holds, so I've been here numerous times."

My eyes widen. What?

They had commercial activity in human territories too? Well, damn. Just how big is Luna Flumine?

"Why has no one mentioned this to me and I've been here for two days?"

Archer laughs. "Our pack holds more businesses in the human territory than you would like to know. I'll teach you all about it when the time comes." he says.

He led me to a restaurant by the beach. I recognized it as one of the restaurants I wanted to try, but I was never able to because it always so full and the line was always too long.

I worried that we'd wait long in the line, but then I remembered that I didn't mind waiting as long as I was with Archer. However, instead of standing in line, Archer kept leading me towards the backdoor.

The door had a digital keypad lock which required a numbered password to be able to open. I was surprised when he freely punched a few numbers and opened the door.

"After you." he says and opened the door widely. Baffled, I simply decided to get in. It was the kitchen and as soon as I entered, everyone stopped and looked at me.

I immediately noticed that the kitchen staff was a mix of humans and werewolves. Some looked at me questioningly, some were ready to throw me out for intruding, but then Archer also came in.

A guy immediately approached us. "A-Alpha!" he said and bowed his head briefly. He turned to the staff and motioned them to continue. Those who were werewolves also bowed their heads briefly before returning to work and the humans simply didn't mind anymore.

"I hope you've been doing fine, Rowell." Archer greets and stands closely behind me.

Rowell washed his hand quickly and wiped it with his apron. He extended his hand and Archer shook it and then to me.

"This is my mate, Hazel." he introduced. Rowell's eyes widened in surprise but he quickly recovered and shook my hand.

"The name's Rowell, Luna. I manage this restaurant." he says chirply.

"Nice to meet you! I've always seen how packed it was here so I thought I'd never get to eat here!" I tell him. He chuckles, clearly flattered.

"Oh, yes. We're always full and it seems we need to renovate the place to fit more people. I'm happy to hear you took an interest, you could've just told me your were our Luna and I'd arrange all that for you." he says and laughs.

"I'm sorry for coming out of the blue, Rowell, but can you fix us a table?" Archer asks.

"Of course! You know there's always a table reserved for you!" the man said and led us to the second floor of the restaurant.

The second floor was full of people once more, but I was surprised when Rowell opened a door and led us to a place and suddenly, we were the only ones there!

There was a table for two there as if they knew that we were going to come here. There was a view of the beach and the boats that were stationed from afar. I must say, the setting looked pretty romantic.

"I already called someone to prepare, it shouldn't take long. While waiting, is there anything you'd like in particular as a dish?" Rowell asks.

Archer turned to me.

"What do you want to eat? Rowell's a good cook so you don't have to worry about it tasting bad." he says. I slightly felt bad for Rowell because Archer had to assure me of his skills although he looked perfectly trustworthy.

"Hmm, nothing. I just want to why people line up here." I answered.

Rowell smiled and nodded. Just in time, a few staff came in and set the table up.

"Well, if you'll allow me to excuse myself. I don't want you to wait too long." he says and left us be.

Archer and I waited for the table to be set up. I watched as they lit up candles around us and set up the plates and cutleries. We thanked them them when we left.

"This is so pretty! Is this one of the packs' business too?" I ask as Archer pulled out a chair for me.

"It used to. Rowell's family had been handling this restaurant for a long time now. It used to be small, but they made it a big success. It was purely Rowell and his family's talent in cooking that kept this restaurant going. It was only right to give it to them, so now they own it." he explained.

Well, that's nice of him.

I asked him more questions of the packs' business as we waited for our food. It turns out that aside from the hotel we were staying at, the pack was also handling a few other restaurants and shops around here.

It amazed me and I realized that they were at another level.

"In the coming years, other packs will be doing the same and we'll need to put a control on it. As of now, only Panselínos, Luminare and Caelum are doing the same."

"Chase never told me about that." I say absent-mindedly.

Archer squinted his eyes at me and then he looked like he was hit with a realization.

"Right, you're friends with Chase." he remembered. Well, it was a well known fact. Since I was always in Luminare when I was a child and since our parents were close, I had no choice but to befriend the poor guy.

Our food came and my mouth watered upon seeing it. There were different dishes of sea food and they all looked delectable.

"Enjoy." Rowell says with a smile as he served us the food.

When he left, I got right into the job and ate as much as I could.

I couldn't help but gasp every timeI tried something new.

The calamari was absolutely heavenly, a perfect balance of saltiness and crispiness. The shrimps in lobster sauce almost made me cry. The stuffed crabs were chef's kiss.

AND.

The lobster paella with mussels.

I shed a tear with how good it was.

"I completely understand why people line up for this!" I tell Archer.

He laughed at me as he cracked another lobster open and gave it to me. Without much thought, I took it and finished it not too long after.

"I'm glad you like it." was all he says and we continued eating and I continued being taken aback with Rowell's talent.

When we finished ravaging the dishes, desert followed.

My stomach was bursting, but who was I kidding. There's always room for desert.

We were served with an amazing chocolate mousse, the sweetness perfectly contracted the saltiness of all the sea food we ate. They also served fruits and champagne, but sadly I didn't drink so Archer was the only one who got to enjoy it.

"We have to come back here, Archer." I was telling him as we were going down the stairs.

"Alright, alright we will. Just look where you're going, you're gonna trip." he warns and tells me to look ahead which I did.

When we got to the first floor, I saw a table and recognized three familiar ladies.

Upon seeing us, they waved their hands excitedly. I took Archer's hand and led him towards the ladies.

"Well, look who bailed on us." Frances poked at me. "Good evening, Alpha."

"Oh please, you guys look like you're having all the fun without me."

They all laugh.

"We didn't want to get in your way, so we stayed clear out of the way. You guys can take all the time you need." Suzy says and winks at me. I hit her lightly.

With everything that went on today, I was starting to feel tired. And so, Archer and I said goodbye and we went back to our room.

By the time we were at the elevator, my body felt so heavy and my eyes were starting to close on me. I even had to hold onto Archer so I wouldn't involuntarily fall.

I was so glad when we got into the suite. I left Archer and quickly changed to my silk pyjamas. I also washed up and when I was done, I quickly went into the bedroom and saw Archer already sitting on one side of the king sized bed.

He was holding a book and where he got that, I had absolutely no idea.

"Right, there's a problem." I say and sat at the other side.

"What would that be?" Archer asks and puts the book down on the night table by his side.

"Although this is a suite, it only has one bedroom." I say, extremely tired and just wanting to go to sleep.

"And why would that be a problem?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. All of a sudden, I was awake. I swallowed hard.

"Y-you're gonna sleep here with me?!" I ask, panicked.

I--I'm not ready!

Archer looked at me deadpanned.

"Correction, I'm going to sleep beside you. But if you want me to sleep with--"

"That's not what I'm saying!" I raised my hands and shook them along with my head. I was starting to get embarrassed again.

"N-no, that's not what I'm saying it's just--"