“To be honest, my relationship with my father is quite complicated.”
“How so?”
He paused. “You see, my father is a womanizer. He left my mother for her sister. Anika and Jeremy are my half-siblings—”
“Your stepmother is also your aunt? Wicked.”
“Wicked. If I could describe her in one word, ‘wicked’ would be my choice.”
“Wait, you have a brother too?”
“Half-brother, yes. Jeremy is three years younger than me.”
“Do you get along with him?”
Daniel let out a sigh. “I wish it to some extent. My stepmother wanted Jeremy to replace me as the alpha of our pride and take control of our family fortune. But by birth right, Jeremy isn’t qualified, and it has strained our relationship since we were children.”
Charlotte was intrigued. Daniel’s personal life rivaled a soap opera. “What about Anika? You seem to get along with her.”
A weak laugh. “Ah, my dear Anika. She’s the wickedest one in the family. Anika has no loyalty to either side. She sticks to whoever entertains her the most. Once she gets bored, she’ll move on to a new green pasture. Hence, her three ex-husbands.”
“Oh, I get it now. That explains the odd last names. Is she dating someone right now?”
“Anika is always dating someone. I heard she’s dallying with a Spanish actor at present. She just returned from the Bahamas with her new paramour last week.”
Charlotte thought about it for a moment. “Do they—her exes—know about your family secret? Are they Netherworlders too?”
“Her first husband, Alexander Ruis, is one of us, but he belongs to another pride. It has become an unspoken rule among us that we don’t disclose our condition to humans.”
“I’ve never met another Netherworlder besides you. Are there… plenty of them out there?”
“Not as many as humans. I’d say it pales in comparison. If I’m calculating it right, it’s approximately three percent of the world’s population.”
“Three percent, huh? That’s a lot.”
“I agree.” Daniel ate the last bite on his plate. “Now, are you ready for dessert?”
“What’s for dessert?”
“Traditional wagashi, Japanese sweets. I had someone pick up some peach mochi from Minamoto on Madison Avenue. They’re really fresh.”
“I didn’t know there was such a place here.”
“New York is a melting pot for many cultures; one can find anything in this city. You just have to look for it.”
The mochi was sweet, delicate and bursting with fruity flavor. It was made from rice flour dough with peach flavored red bean paste. Charlotte savored every morsel. She could eat the whole tray for breakfast, lunch and dinner and never get bored.
“So,” Daniel began. “Shall we talk business?”
“Yeah. The answer is no. But I don’t mind if we stay as friends as long as you invite me for sushi and mochi now and then.”
“Ah.” Daniel tapped his fingers on the table. “Regretfully, I don’t take no for an answer. I want you as my woman. We can do it the easy way or the hard way.”
“How about the semi-easy hard way?” she joked.
Daniel leaned over his plate. “I’ve never pursued anything half-heartedly, Charlotte. I’ve always known what I wanted since a very young age. I want you as mine, no matter what it takes. If I must climb a mountain and swim an ocean to get you, I’ll do it. I believe we are meant to be together.”
Charlotte paused. The half-chewed mochi in her mouth suddenly tasted bland. She swallowed. Was that a trait of an alpha? How Neanderthal, considering this day and age. Why didn’t he just select a woman, club her and then drag her into his cave? Wait… that was what he was trying to do with her. “You can’t just expect somebody to fall for you like that. I don’t even love you.”