CHAPTER 7

Nadine’s First Life: First Kiss*

Marcus helped Nadine stand up, and then he brought her outside. As he was still holding her hands, she was a little uncomfortable about it. Or should she say that she was thrilled while he was holding her hands?

"You mentioned there was something you wanted to tell me, Princess. What is it?"

For a moment, she was hesitant to tell him the truth, but she couldn’t lie to him. For sure, he would know that she was just lying, so she had no choice but to tell him the truth. "I told them my boyfriend was coming tonight," Nadine said in a barely audible voice, but his reaction was priceless! Was he angry?

Marcus narrowed his eyes at her and said, "I see, but who is this guy? I mean, who is your boyfriend? You never mentioned anything about it before," he argued while glaring at her.

When he questioned her about the identity of her boyfriend, her heart sank in disappointment. It seemed he had no plan to court her when almost everyone had expected them to become a couple. They have been friends for a long time! "You are my boyfriend," she claimed.

When Marcus heard what Nadine had to say, he was completely taken aback! His pupils ballooned out in surprise! After that, he made the decision to make fun of her. "When did you declare your love for me, Princess? "I don't recall we had a conversation about this before," he teased, but when she became enraged, he backed down and apologized.

"I’m sorry I had to tell them that you are my boyfriend," she said, also apologizing for making up a story.

"You shouldn’t apologize to me, but I admit, it was shocking to hear you say it. "I mean, I was supposed to ask for your hand tonight, but you beat me to it as usual."

"You can just deny it, but are you going to make a fool out of me in front of my friends?" She asked in a tone that was supposed to manipulate his emotions. As the only daughter of Alpha Frederick, she had used that tone several times, and it worked on her father!

"Have you given any thought to what might take place after you tell everyone that I'm your boyfriend?"

Nadine had grown weary of his justifications, and she glared at him. "Don't force yourself to do it if you don't feel like it!" She retorted in an irate manner before walking away from him.

The outburst that Nadine made took Marcus completely by surprise! Before coming to celebrate her birthday, he had no idea that any of that would happen. "Nadine!"

She immediately turned around after hearing her name being called out by him. "Well, have you reconsidered your position? Are you prepared to act as my boyfriend at this point?"

"No," he replied.

"Then, what was the reason that you called my name?" Her tone indicated that she was irritated.

"I am so sorry, but I forgot to give you my gift," he told her, and after handing her a small box, he was prepared to do something that would infuriate her. "Here," he said, handing her the gift he had purchased for her.

As she accepted his gift and proceeded to graciously open it, Nadine rolled her eyes and showed her appreciation. "A necklace?" She asked with a tone of disbelief because he was aware that she possessed a sizeable amount of jewelry in her collection.

"Don't you like it?"

Nadine concentrated all of her attention on the pendant that dangled from the necklace. To her delight, she discovered that the pendant bears the owner's initials, and she couldn't help but grin widely. Due to her excitement, she was on the verge of choking herself.

"So, don't you like it?" He inquired once more.

"You've got to be kidding me, Marcus!"

Marcus broke into a smile after hearing her response. She had a wide collection of jewelry in her room, but since it was a gift from Marcus, she was filled with joy and excitement. She didn't think twice about dragging him over to the refreshment table and getting him a glass of cocktail after that.

However, he gave her a stern look. She wondered if she had made a mistake, but before she could ask him, he opened his mouth to speak. Nadine was left wondering if she had done something wrong. After taking a sip of the cocktail, Marcus started to speak.

"It has alcohol in it," he noticed. "Did Alpha Frederick give you permission to have this alcoholic beverage served tonight?"

"Are you kidding me, Marcus?"

"No, I am not kidding, Nadine," he replied while he clenched his jaw.

She reasoned that since it was her eighteenth birthday, she ought to be allowed to partake in alcoholic beverages for the first time. "By the way, you promised to do something on my eighteenth birthday," she casually reminded him of the words he said about five weeks ago, and he appeared to have forgotten about it. She was referring to the words he said about her turning eighteen years old.

"Nadine, I must have been joking at that moment," he responded.

"What the heck is wrong with you?"

"You are a cruel person, Marcus!" She exclaimed in disbelief before walking away. She heard Marcus calling for her name, but she just ignored him and proceeded inside the ballroom.

Then, she paused for a moment as she admired the young girls dancing along with the party music. They had fun at her party, so what’s stopping her from having fun too? She raised the hem of her gown as she sauntered toward the dance floor to join them.

She was sweating a lot as a result of her excessive dancing, but no one seemed to notice she was faking her smile. Kate also didn’t notice. She was busy dancing with a dashing teenager. Everyone was having fun…except for her!

Nadine pouted her lips as she decided to go to the garden to cool down a little bit. The party music, the crowd, and the loud noise from her guests were all suffocating! She needed to be alone for a little bit!

Her chosen destination was the garden because it has a swing. It was her favorite place in the entire household. She could just sit in the swing and forget about her worries. She just turned eighteen, but her wolf wasn’t awake yet. She suspected that it was the reason why Marcus hesitated to propose to her. He knew they were mates! She couldn’t think of another reason why he was delaying their engagement!

Nadine inhaled deeply as she made her way toward the garden, and she was almost there when she recognized the sound of the swing in the distance. She didn't move an inch as she contemplated the possibility that there was a ghost in the swing. After her father put up barriers to prevent their guests from entering their garden, nobody dared to go there.

She made an effort to calm down by convincing herself that it wasn't a ghost. She made her way to the swing slowly, and as she neared it, she noticed something sitting there. The man appeared to be preoccupied with his own thoughts because of the extreme calm with which he stood. At the same time, she questioned whether he was disoriented or intoxicated. When he turned around, she was about to make an announcement about her presence.

"Marcus!" she shrieked out in utter disbelief.